Barbara Broadcast

I am sure that anyone interested in the production details about the filming of this striking film from the late 70s will find a lot of information on the Internet, so I will focus on the essentially cinematic aspect, if you can call it that, of a unorthodox film with overtones of Buñuelian surrealism (The discreet charm of the bourgeoisie).

The room of a restaurant (a real one, by the way, not a set) serves to offer on a silver platter any à la carte sexual demand that customers require from their waiters, to the rhythm of a waltz. Each with their own demands, the mistakes of the female servants are paid for with fellatio to the head waiter. All very strange and at the same time so magnetic.

I haven't really found a specific plot thread to intertwine the different scenes, but the majestic setting and the appearance of a spectacular Annette Haven seem like two essential arguments for reviewing this title once again. And then another.

P. S.- The sensational oral study that actress C. J. Laing performs on one of the waiters, and which ends with one of the most morbid facial discharges that I can remember, will be etched in your retina in perpetuity. You are welcome.

A classy porn, to be sure, but for a real classic, check out Metzger's The Opening of Misty Beethoven. The opening scene of Barbara is set in a fantastically realized sex restaurant, where the items on the menu are the waiters and waitresses themselves. The plot is much less intricate than Misty Beethoven, but Metzger is still very clever in the ways he fills the screen with the requisite amount of flesh and fornication while maintaining a level of wit and sophistication. C. J. Laing, as the reporter, has an amazing scene with a beefcake-y dishwasher dude in the kitchen of the sex restaurant. You get the impression that these two people were really having sex with each other and enjoying it and the camera was simply recording. In most modern porn the sex seems like a contractual obligation rather than any real expression of sexuality. Hoo-rah for classic porn!

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.

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.