Truly one of the cinema's great dabblers, multinational producing impresario Dick Randall tried his hand at most everything at one time or another: nudist pics (SHANGRI-LA, LUST FOR THE SUN), gialli (THE FRENCH SEX MURDERS), slashers (SLAUGHTER HIGH, PIECES, DON'T OPEN 'TIL CHRISTMAS), action rip-offs (INVADERS OF THE LOST GOLD), superhero rip-offs (SUPERSONIC MAN), kung fu rip-offs (THE REAL BRUCE LEE, CLONES OF BRUCE LEE) and much more. He even dabbled in mondo during the genre's boom (ECCO, THE WILD WILD WORLD OF JAYNE MANSFIELD), and brings that dubious skillset to HISTORY OF THE EROTIC CINEMA, a desultory tour of sex in movies that mostly counts as a clip show from classic stags.
Starting all the way back with Edison's THE KISS - along with a brief and interesting detour into proto-cinema - the film then commences a fairly chronological procession through classic stags from around the world, though with a marked focus on French productions like LE MENAGE MODERNE DU MADAME BUTTERFLY, the landmark bisexualism of which is surprisingly alluded to, even if it's never shown. (That being said, the entire version of the film I watched had no explicit footage - it's unclear whether a XXX version exists as well.)
Randall tries to keep interest up through cheeky narration a la the classic mondo, but even that - mixed with real-time translation of the foreign language intertitles for the many sources - grows stale, as it becomes increasingly clear the film is little more than a clip show without more of the promising historical context provided in the first few minutes. Naturally, the conclusion brings us back to present day, with a few random shots of sex shops and porno palaces, along with a sex film being - quite interestingly - produced on early broadcast-quality video. Random clips of Barbara Bouchet (MILAN CALIBER 9) and Laura Gemser (VOLGIA DI DONNA), as well as some alternate tracks from Nico Fidenco's BLACK EMANUELLE scores, round out the package.
