The Opening of Misty Beethoven

Henry Paris (= Radley Metzger): The Opening of Misty Beethoven (1976), with Constance Money in the title role.

Misty Beethoven åbner sig.
    US (c) 1976 Crescent Films. P: L. Sultana.
    D: Henry Paris (= Radley Metzger). SC: Jake Barnes (= John F. Goff). DP: Robert Rochester – Super 16 mm – distributed in 35 mm – colour – 1,66:1. AD: Anton Stone, ass. Isabelle Stone. Original M: Elephant's Memory. Other M: Gioacchino Rossini. Music Supervisor: George Craig. S: Harold Keller (editing), Joe Masefield (effects). ED: Bonnie Karrin.
    Loc: New York, Pariisi, Rooma.
    C: Constance Money (Dolores "Misty" Beethoven), Jamie Gillis (Dr. Seymour Love), Jacqueline Beudant (Geraldine Rich), Terri Hall (Tanya), Ras Kean (Lawrence Lehman), Gloria Leonard (Barbara), Calvin Cutler (impotent art dealer), Mary Stuart (cigar smoking air stewardess), Janet Baldwin (= Jenny Baxter) (stewardess), Cynthia Gardner, Helene Simone, Marlene Parker (= Marlene Willoughby) (Final Maid).
    This print 85 min.
    A DFI print viewed at Cinema Orion (Cinema and Sexuality), Helsinki, 5 March 2010.

A print with the colour intact, with the photochemical hues of the Super 16 mm source in evidence.

Although there are more pornographic films than anything else I have kept arguing that there is not a single good porn film. The Opening of Misty Beethoven has been suggested as an example of a hard core pornographic masterpiece, also championed by women. I don't understand why.

The Opening of Misty Beethoven is a story of prostitution and pornography. Men pay women for their sexual services. The Pygmalion story is about Misty Beethoven's "growth" into a virtuoso prostitute.

The most frequently recurring image is the fellatio.

Positive aspects: the happy and carefree approach, the fleshy imagery, the juicy carnality of the sexual acts.

The opening music theme, repeated towards the end, has also been used by Visa Mäkinen in Finland.

In the current cultural atmosphere it seems that women can celebrate accounts of prostitution and submission. I'm still looking forward to seeing a good hard core pornographic film. It might be an anime.