Blonde Fire

It's all about the chicanery, the subterfuge, and the sex (...and not necessarily in that order...) when everyone's favorite porno action hero, John Holmes (as Johnny Wadd), is put to the task of purchasing and bringing home safely an extraordinarily rare and expensive South African diamond. Of course, no one is to be trusted in this endeavor and just about everyone is--and turns out to be--a potential threat. Such is the case in I-Candy's "Blonde Fire", a very good, 1979 release from director Bob Chinn that features Holmes in yet another, acting-heavy, protagonist-type role that presents him again as the suave, cool-under-pressure, up-to-the-challenge hero.

Indeed, despite being beset by obstacles throughout, John and his massive tool manage to calmly sex their way through friend and foe alike--raping one, romancing others, and so on--until their job is done and done well. As his accompaniment in the film, the viewer is treated to the luscious likes of such Golden Age stars as Seka, Jesie St. James, Dorothy LeMay, and more...all of whom look great and play their roles well. Also adding value to the production is its plot, which--despite a couple of minor disconnects--is relatively strong and engaging.

The settings--which are quite realistic--further aid in driving home the authenticity of the work, as well. As such, for fans of features, the classics, Holmes, and/or any of the fine ladies on display here, this one's worthy of a watch.

Sadly, this marks the end of the Johnny Wadd series as far as Bob Chinn's involvement was concerned. The next two planned Johnny Wadd films Waikiki Wadd, some footage had already been shot for the film during the filming of Prisoner of Paradise, and Magnum Love were never made due to John Holmes' escalating drug use.

In 1986 Penguin Films released another entry in the Johnny Wadd series, The Return of Johnny Wadd, reportedly with Penguin Films and John Holmes obtaining Bob Chinn's permission to do so. Bob Chinn eventually ended up turning the script for Magnum Love into a film in 1999, altering the script to make it the start off for a private dick series around a new character named Peter Magnum.

Thanks to terrific femme casting, BLONDE FIRE is one of my favorite Johnny Wadd movies. Filmmaker Bob Chinn went out with a bang with this one, among eight significant titles he cranked out in 1978 - a prodigious output of quality.

Setting is South Africa, though studio sets and stock footage substitute for location filming. Holmes as Wadd is there to buy the Blonde Fire diamond for $2,000,000, and is being bamboozled by slick Jon Martin and his femme head of security (!) Jesie St. James (just two big names of a truly top-notch cast roster).

Chinn gave stag loop star (and my personal favorite) Kitty Shayne her best career role in TROPIC OF DESIRE, and she's well-cast here as Jesie's secretary who seduces the Waddster, for a quite sensual XXX scene in the shower together. The payoff scene where it's revealed that Kitty is hiding the REAL diamond in her snatch is unfortunately poorly photographed in terms of omitting the needed TCU insert shot.

Dorothy LeMay and Phaery Bird also deliver high quality sex scenes, and for balance and exoticism the loops star (of Swedish Erotica) Fatima Hamoud makes a terrific impression as belly dancer and later humper opposite Holmes in her only feature film role.

St. James, THE superstar of this era, is quality all the way both in the sack (lesbian and hetero scenes) and acting-wise, and the storyline is quite interesting. Chinn omits the infamous action scenes that one associates with the Wadd series (especially after they were spoofed in BOOGIE NIGHTS), but otherwise this is top-notch porn.

Seka gets an "introducing credit" (one of several such film designations for her, alongside LITTLE ORPHAN DUSTY and HEAVENLY DESIRE), but her role is a superfluous add-on near the end of the film. Her real intro movie was TEENAGE DESIRE, a highly recommended but still unappreciated little sleeper for which she went uncredited.