Chained Girls

UNNATURAL LOVE OF WOMEN FOR WOMEN! A DARING FILM ABOUT LESBIANISM TODAY! Today is 1965 and the forbidden world of Lesbos is treated like some kinda strange disease. Our "guide" informs us that all lesbians seem to have normal jobs (!) and consist of femmes and butches. By the way, teenage dykes are called babybutch! Staged scenes are shown to inform/scare us with the help of "actual" statics (25% of all school girls have dabbled in lesbianism etc.). From the producer of Ed Wood's "Glen Or Glenda", so you know you're in for a mindboggling treat!

Chained Girls (1965)

** (out of 4)

This is a fake documentary from director Joseph P. Mawra and producer George Weiss (GLEN OR GLENDA?) who at the same time were releasing the Olga series. This documentary tries to protect people and inform them on the serious subject, which could lead to more lesbians taking over society. This earnest documentary tries to warn people what to look for so that they don't come down with the lesbian virus. Seem stupid? Well this documentary certainly is and it certainly falls in line with stuff like REEFER MADNESS as it's just so downright idiotic yet I'm sure some will get laughs from it. I think if any lesbian were to watch this today they're obviously going to be very offended as the word "dyke" is thrown around like it's a scientific word for lesbians. We learn that many women between 30-35 are single because they're lesbians. We're learn that a quarter of girls who go to college or lesbians. We also learn that most lesbians come from fathers who wanted boys instead. These are just some of the "facts" that we're told throughout the 61-minute running time so obviously no one should be coming to this thing expecting anything to take serious. The running time is thankfully short but even so the film runs on a bit too long and runs out of gas around the thirty-minute mark. Those expecting a lot of nudity will be disappointed as there's very little and the majority of the running time just features some silly make out scenes. Narrator Joel Holt is priceless in his job because he's able to be so straight while reading his ridiculous words. CHAINED GIRLS isn't going to appeal to very many people but I think grindhouse fans might enjoy it after a few beers.

For what it is "chained girls" is one of the best cinematic experiences I've ever had. This is the perfect companion/foil to the film "Before Stonewall." Rarely has a movie made me laugh so hard and so deeply. It could just be that it's a girl/girl thing, but there's something about seeing these stereo-types so sloppily portrayed. Really this film is a treat if you are in the right frame of mind and/or watching it with someone who truly has a firm grasp of irony. Invite some friends over, grab a bottle of wine and enjoy. One serious note though, this flick will actually make you respect the old-timers for the horrible misconceptions they had to face on a day to day basis. So not only do you get a truly ironic delight, but you get a moral as well. Again, I can't stress enough, watch this only when you're in an appropriate frame of mind--that alone will make the difference between whether you'll laugh or weep! Girl/Girl.

I saw this movie out of pure interest to see how they felt about lesbianism back then. It is rather funny if you watch it with a good company and don't take it seriously, though if you really take in consideration the "results of surveys" it mentions it can be totally depressing.Is is old-fashioned, outdated conservative nonsense made up by silly psychoanalysts and others who obviously had no idea about homosexuality. It is black and white and has no sound, except the narrators voice.It is mostly dramatizations with slightly bad acting and an amateurish aesthetic. It is definitely not objective and overstates things. Although if you keep in mind the political and social reality in America during those times (cold war, beatniks & hippies movement, McCarthyism etc) it's interesting that they actually made such films. Overall I would recommend you saw it, back take your distance from it...