Sometimes, in lieu of any particular narrative or artistic ambition, a porn film can bungle into success through luck and a good stolen soundtrack. That's the case with THE LIVE SHOW, an oddly charming hour-long programmer from Harry Lewis.
Ruby (Jessie Chandler) runs a strip club that's on the ropes, featuring desultory dancing from its female performers who elicit more boos (and even some hurled produce!) than catcalls. Looking to spice up his repertoire, he contacts local music producer Ralph Tinkle (Lee LeMay) searching for an innovative erotic act. Thankfully, Tinkle knows just the people, calling on a young couple looking to make it in the music biz. As luck would have it, the lady of the pair is already a stripper at Ruby's, and she and her boyfriend are able to take over the headlining gig from her bored coworker, who spices up her situation by joining Ralph's associate Dick Mustard (Jesse Adams) making porn films.
Writing this out, it all sounds like haphazard nonsense, yet the film weirdly makes it work. Somehow, the contrived web of associations (the owner of a failing strip club is somehow landlord to a semi-successful music producer?) serves to make what little action takes place seem more meaningful, and there's a pleasantly consumable quality to the low-stakes problem-solving. No sooner is a want identified (stripper is bored, strip club is losing money, young couple wants to make it in the music industry) then the film offers a solution (stripper becomes a porn star, club starts hosting sexual music acts, the couple can perform in them). If porn is about wish fulfillment, THE LIVE SHOW takes it to its logical conclusion - if only every real-life problem were solved as easy as here!
It helps that all the sex scenes employ a good mix of stolen music and well-selected library tracks, which helps this kind of filler go down smoothly. The film also has a healthy sense of humor, and is packed with weird industry in-jokes like the character of porn producer Dick Mustard (a reference to prolific XXX director Richard Mailer, known as Mr. Mustard). The actor even wears a shirt from Mailer's real production company (along with one for Lasse Braun's SENSATIONS in another scene!). Most of the cast isn't too well known, though many have a fair number of credits - sort of a who's-who of porn's character actors, if you will. Blair Harris pops up with a beard (unusual for him) as Bob the boyfriend, and pulls both the look and the role off with aplomb. He must earn some kind of award for Sensitive Porno Boyfriend, as he welcomes his girl home with a cuddle and a cold beer! Forget artistic ambition - if more porn were just this relaxed and congenial, it would still be far more pleasant to watch!
