THE
NAUGHTY STEWARDESSES (1974)Retro-Seduction Cinema/EI Independent Cinema
Director: Al Adamson
THE
NAUGHTY STEWARDESSES (1974)After Hemisphere Pictures made a huge profit with the German import THE SWINGING STEWARDESSES, producer Sam Sherman detected a new drive-in tend and set out to find another foreign-shot film of its ilk. Discovering that nothing similar was available, he produced and co-wrote his own "stewardess" picture with Al Adamson at the helm, and the result was one of Independent International's biggest smashes.
THE NAUGHTY STEWARDESSES follows
the typical pattern of a Roger Corman "nurse" film (very popular at
the time), only with stewardesses. The plot follows the exploits of four sexy
flight attendants, and each of them disrobes in f
ront
of the camera and/or engage in intercourse at one point. There's raunchy action
with a captain and a lass aboard his plane (in which a small child looks on
to get a first hand sex ed class), and a wild party where a nude dude is actually
a cake (he gets slobbered by one of the stewardesses!).
The stewardesses include African-American
starlet and Adamson regular Marilyn Joi (here using the name Tracy King) who
does a poolside striptease. But the real attraction is cute shorty Connie 
Hoffman.
This cupcake has a body to die for and she plays a half-witted blonde torn between
a young photographer/pornographer (Richard Smedley) and a much older wealthy
playboy (Robert Livingston). Smedley plays a slightly cracked impotent character
that devises a plan to hold the stewardesses at ransom for $50,000 in hopes
that old man Livingston will come running with the dough. Instead, he comes
running with a shotgun.
Nothing too exciting or even that
racy for the matter here except for the usual Al Adamson drive-in shenanigans.
Livingston was a former cowboy film star of the 30s and 40s, and big fan Sherman
brought him out of 15 years of retirement to star in this R-rated opus (he would
also appear in two more features for the Sherman/Adamson team). Smedley also
starred in other Adamson films, but he's probably best remembered as the zombie
from BLOOD OF GHASTLY HORROR. Hoffman was in a sequel of sorts -- BLAZING STEWARDESSES
-- in 1975, but more on that one when the DVD comes out.
Although the packaging says "Restored From Original 35mm Negative," the cheapness of the production comes through in the DVD transfer. NAUGHTY STEWARDESSES is presented full-frame at 1.33:1, but that doesn't distract from Gary Graver's cinematography too badly, other than the fact that some scenes look a bit cropped on the sides. Although the source elements used are in pretty good shape, there is still some damage noticeable (mostly at film reel changes), and overall the movie has a very grainy appearance. Colors are somewhat dull and washed out but acceptable. The mono sound is fine and dialogue comes though with no noticeable distortion.
A
second audio track contains a commentary with Sam Sherman. Sherman's commentaries
continue to be fascinating, like "Drive-In 101" for us ardent fans.
Sherman remembers just about everything about the cast and crew, and the anecdotes
are abundant. Some of the best include his recollection of Adamson wanting to
walk off the project (the only time he ever threatened to do so), and a furious
visit from Lana Wood (married to actor Smedley at the time and fearing he was
participating in a porno!) who was appeased by Sam's knowledge of John Ford!
Sherman was also able to dig up
some never-before-seen extras for the 
disc.
The first is an unused dialog scene involving Smedley and the abducted stewardesses,
and the second one is an extended sex scene between the elated 70-year-old Livingston
and beautiful starlet Mikel James. The old man gets to grope and nibble to his
heart's content, and it's a wonder he didn't have a heart attack in the process!
This is somewhat softcore and was most likely used for European screenings of
the film. Also included is a 30-second TV spot, the R-rated trailer, and trailers
for other Adamson titles.
(George R. Reis)