Barbara Broadcast

Radley Metzger followed his masterpiece THE OPENING OF MISTY BEETHOVEN with this light 'n' breezy comedy of bad manners that offers nearly wall to wall sex mixed with the director's customary wit and elegance. Many longtime adult film fans regard this as their favorite Metzger movie, undoubtedly based on a couple of knockout erotic sequences that are among the most memorable he – or any other carnal creator for that matter – has ever put upon the blue screen. Personally, I think the film is a bit uneven with a faltering narrative primarily designed to accommodate the required number of frequently hot sex scenes, which makes it forever a runner-up to the likes of MISTY and THE PRIVATE AFTERNOONS OF PAMELA MANN.

Exception to the rule is the first 20 minutes or so, set in the restaurant where celebrity prostitute – à la Xaviera Hollander – Barbara Broadcast (industry icon Annette Haven) is interviewed by eager beaver journalist C.J. Laing. This lengthy sequence is bustling with all sorts of naughtiness, rendered even more arousing by the surreal humor sprouting from the casual attitude adopted by the participants, like an extended version of MISTY's airplane footage. Customer Zebedy Colt, who played the bisexual manservant in Gerard Damiano's STORY OF JOANNA, is served lunch in the form of waitress Clea Carson, a reliable second-stringer in both Armand Weston's TAKE OFF and Chuck Vincent's BAD PENNY. Well-endowed waiter Peter Andrews (nicknamed "the Horse" for obvious reasons, memorable as the star's partner in the opening scene of ALL ABOUT GLORIA LEONARD) supplies his own brand of salad dressing on the spot before he's whisked away by extremely hungry customer Susan McBain (the lonely call girl from Damiano's ODYSSEY) for one of the all time great oral encounters. She also has one of the film's funniest lines as she remarks how you really have to keep track of your waiter at a Caucasian restaurant because they all tend to look alike ! A lovely black actress identified in the credits as Shirley Peters, who also appeared with Harry Reems in Tim McCoy's ultra-obscure EROTIC DR. JEKYLL, shows up for her salad at Barbara's table but is quickly distracted by the amorous advances of handsome Alan Marlow. Waitresses break dishes all over the place, for which they have to pay the Maitre d' (the late Bobby Astyr) in kind, and admirers (watch for a youthful David Savage, the frisky office boy who kept unloading onto secretary Day Jason's face in one of PAMELA MANN's most memorable running jokes) keep interrupting Barbara's interview for signatures and "a little head" ! The pace and structure of this entire sequence shows Metzger at his finest and made me wish the whole film had been like that.

Unfortunately, the movie tends to fall apart somewhat at this point or at least settles into a more conventional adult film format. Barbara excuses herself to turn a trick across town at the office of busy business man Michael Gaunt, an excellent actor in Richard Mahler's American BABYLON, that is almost entirely devoid of dialog in sharp contrast to the previous scene. C.J., a vastly underrated performer with a distinctly submissive slant in fabulously filthy fare like Shaun Costello's SLAVE OF PLEASURE, does her one better however in the legendary kitchen encounter with sweaty dishwasher Wade Nichols, star of Chuck Vincent's ambitious VISIONS. Great build-up as they longingly stare at each other from across the steam-filled room. Laing grins in defiance as she squats to urinate into a bowl before receiving a killer rectal reaming that's on pretty much everyone's short list for best sex scene ever.

It's off to the disco next with Annette and C.J. making out on the dance floor while burly guys arm-wrestle at a nearby table (huh ?), oblivious to the girls' groping. They retreat to a stairwell where they are joined by Barbara's business partner Jamie Gillis for an intriguingly shot threesome that employs extreme close-ups to obscure the identity of the participants for a good part of the scene. Finally, Jamie and Annette flash back in horror to their experiences with a stuck-up PAP (Protestant American Princess) who worked for them, just an excuse to stick in some left-over footage from MISTY with Jamie and Constance Money that's heavy on B&D with ropes and nipple clamps. After that, the movie just stops rather than ends.

The way I see it, Metzger got a bit frustrated with the limitations of the hardcore format, having taken it as far as he could go with MISTY. The luxurious restaurant scenes, shot in the grand lobby of New York's bankrupt and boarded up Royal Manhattan Hotel at 44th and 8th - furnishings and fancy dinner ware being actively auctioned off while filming was still very much in progress ! - currently living out its life as the Milford Plaza (as was part of his last porn film, MARASCHINO CHERRY, shot semi-simultaneously but released the following year), suggest that he entered into the project with great enthusiasm but much of what follows feels slightly formulaic, as if he felt thwarted in the lofty ambitions he hoped to achieve but couldn't because of time and budgetary restraints, not to mention MISTY's arduous post-production period. Don't get me wrong, it's still a terrific adult film. Lighting and cinematography in particular are as good as you're ever going to find in the porno field.

Set in a dystopian New York, Barbara Broadcast takes place entirely in a restaurant with an usual menu, sex, fellatios, cunnilingus, and most kinds of fetishes. Waiters and waitresses stop by tables quite frequently to satisfy their customers or find somebody who can in due time, and quick-witted questions like, "Barbara, is your business still open for pleasure?" and "It's past my head-time" are exchanged amongst waitresses and customers.

Director Radley Metzger, who gave us the decorative and elaborate pornographic film The Opening of Misty Beethoven, gives us Barbara Broadcast in the same sort of light and position as his other films. For one, this film is captured in a surrealist state of mind, in a world where casual sex, most specifically public sex, isn't a taboo or something to bat an eye at. Metzger keenly imagines a world robbed of the societal taboos and double takes people do upon seeing public displays of affection, much less sex. Secondly, he conducts everything in a very beautiful, almost picturesque manner, with soft lighting not over-embellishing the light colors on-screen and very mood-sensitive music to compliment the decadent setting.

Our titular character is played by Annette Haven, and is being interviewed by a local women determined to get to the bottom of Barbara's seasoned history as a server of her valued customers. Right in the middle of her interview, Barbara stops to give a young customer a blowjob and, immediately after asking is he could finish in her mouth, she stops her performance to say that he is not old enough. "How old do I have to be to cum in a woman's mouth," the young customer asks Barbara. "Old enough not to ask," she states before batting her eyes and devoting her undivided attention back to her interview.

Metzger, who serves as the film's writer and director, joyfully plays with the film's tone here and doesn't skimp on the eroticism. While a plethora of sex scenes have that occasionally jarring series of closeups on the actions, but Metzger is always one to make his sex, whatever the position or the situation, classy in a way that a great deal of early pornography could struggle with. Consider the sex scenes of Mona the Virgin Nymph, a film I proclaimed limp and remarkably forgettable had it not been the first pornographic film to obtain a wide, theatrical release in theaters. That film beared so many washed out sex scenes ruined by angles and cloying music.

Barbara Broadcast has a much more elegant presentation, with sex scenes that emphasize eroticism, music that is actually immersive to what's occurring on screen, and a plot that's somewhat interesting based on the simultaneous inanity and the destruction of sexual taboos. With this and The Opening of Misty Beethoven, Metzger has firmly shown his true colors for pornographic filmmaking and they are colors that shine brighter than a great deal of his contemporaries.

Starring: Annette Haven. Directed by: Radley Metzger.

Radley Metzger is a director I will always know best for his fantastic 'The Punishment of Anne', which also happens to be one of my very favourite porn films of all time. He would go on to make Barbara Broadcast two years later and while it's certainly a good and interesting little film; it doesn't have much on Metzger's earlier masterpiece. The film does attempt to be a bit more than merely another porn flick and it seems like the director is trying to make some sort of social commentary, though of course the sex is always the star and for the most of the duration; I couldn't really care much less about what the film is trying to say. In terms of the sex scenes themselves; I have to say that there isn't much here that I haven't seen already in other porn films, but what makes this one stand out really is the music, which features throughout most of the film and gives it a feeling all of it's own. The film is a bit choppy and doesn't really follow a strict narrative - there are times when you are likely to know what is going on, and many when you won't have a clue. I can certainly recommend that hardcore fans check this one out because it is well worth seeing; but I wouldn't put it at the very top of the genre.

This movie is another sub-realist creation of Henry Paris. The stetic aspect is more elaborated than The Opening of Misty Bethofen, but the movie is plot less.

The good: Very good looking actress, perfect photography in some scenes, and that subreal world.

The Bad: Most scenes are just a waste of time, and even not erotic or exiting at all.

If you want to see this movie just FastForward to the Disco sequence. Is like a short movie inside the movie, and maybe the only cool thing to see.

I strongly don't recommend this movie unless your a fan of the 70's porno genre.It is quite tame by today's standard,but the plot is just as incoherent as the modern porn plot.Barbara Broadcast is a author who takes tricks on the side because its so much fun!She is not that bad looking of a lady,kind of like a Julieann Moore type.Only thing is she is not nearly as attractive.Attractiveness is not found at all in this movie,plastic surgery wasn't as relevant as it is now.A guy could probably see better looking girls at his local watering hole.There is a dude who has a cool porno mustache that was amusing.If going to the XXX movie theater's remind you of the gold old days than see this movie.Than seek help.