THE STEWARDESSES (1969/1971)
Director: Allan Silliphant
Shout! Factory/SabuCat Productions

With the promise of images popping out from the screen and into your lap, three-dimensional movies were a revolutionary fad that just never wanted to go away. At the most productive era, the early 1950s gave us a number of gimmicky 3-D Hollywood efforts (both good and dreadful), but the trend was pretty much eradicated with the advent of Cinemascope. The 1960s would only bring a small handful of 3-D releases, but later on in the decade with the MPAA ratings system in full swing, sex on the big screen was a hot commodity and 3-D would again make a big comeback. Believe it or not, the cheaply made sexploiter THE STEWARDESSES became the highest grossing 3-D film in history and despite its initial X rating, had mainstream audiences lining up in droves to see it in all its perverse glory.

There’s not much of a plot to THE STEWARDESSES. On what seems to be a single given night, a number of young, attractive airline hostesses spend their layover time in various sexual shenanigans. One girl gets stoned and proceeds to hump a lamp (in the form of a Greek statue head) in a laughable attempt at kinky psychedelia, two babes remove each other’s threads and experiment with lesbianism (one of them a novice, the other a seasoned vet), and a studly pilot and a returning Vietnam soldier easily charm their way into the nether regions of the promiscuous flight attendants. The closest thing to an actual plotline has one pretty blonde stewardess (Christina Hart, JOHNNY FIRECLOUD, HELTER SKELTER) romantically latching on to a handsome passenger (Michael Garrett), who works in commercial advertising, in the hopes of furthering her career as an actress. The result of this relationship ends the film on a surprisingly dark note, as its played rather lightheartedly throughout until this unusual climax.

Only in a decade known for its frivolous, non politically-correct outlook could an independent movie like THE STEWARDESS become a major box office draw, but that’s part of the reason why we miss the 1970s so much. There were many, many sexploitation pictures made during this period, most of them better than THE STEWARDESSES, but it’s the 3-D gimmick as well as a surprisingly sophisticated and enticing advertising campaign that helped the film make back its initial investment manifold. The history of THE STEWARDESSES is quite interesting, as it actually played in theaters for over two consecutive years. Initially released in San Francisco in 1969, the film soon garnished a favorable buzz and a notable reputation from the raincoat crowd. Producer/director Allan Silliphant then decided to shoot new scenes and add changes to the film, resulting in a number of versions. Never being a porn film, it eventually got the “R” rating (the original “X” wasn’t the same back in these days, remember, MIDNIGHT COWBOY was originally rated “X”) and the version seen widely in 1971 (and represented on this DVD) became number one at the box office, out-grossing mainstream Oscar-nominated Hollywood fare.

THE STEWARDESSES is no more than a string of typical bedroom softcore sex loops and vinettes which are only meant to utilize the 3-D effect, and these proceedings are practically null without them. Some of the best of these are a woman’s feet sticking up into the air from underneath her love-making partner, a sexy pool shark’s cue stick thrust forward and the neck of a longhaired rock musician’s bass protruding from the screen. You also get to ride on a roller coaster and a retro amusement park haunted house for good measure! The cast is mostly made up of no-names, but the standout star (at least in terms of looks and personality) is the glamorously perky Christina Hart. In the early 1970s, the pretty and shapely blonde could be seen in R-rated drive-in smut like THE ROOMATES and GAMES GIRL PLAY, while at the same time you could catch her in prime time dramas like “Ironside” and “The Rookies” and Saturday morning wholesomeness like “Shazam!”. Only in the 1970s! Those familiar with exploitation films will recognize cutie Monica Gayle (SWITCHBLADE SISTERS) here meditating in the nude whilst a background of other undressed beauties scatter about. Also in the cast are Donna Stanley from Ed Woods’s TAKE IT OUT ON TRADE (which also featured Monica Gayle) and Suzanne Fields, the heroine of FLESH GORDON and many other 1970s hardcore romps.

With three different presentations of the film spread across two discs, they all represent the uncut 93 minute 1971 version. First, Disc 1 carries 3-D versions in both color and black and white. For this 3-D transfer, they went back to the original "unsqueezed" camera negative and created a brand new "left" and "right" master, allowing you to experience the process wearing those familiar red and blue glasses (two pairs which are included, so you can enjoy this with a friend or loved one). The 3-D recreation actually works well here, even if some images are a bit rough around the edges. The reason for the black and white 3-D alternate is that it noticeably works better, but I prefer the color since it still comes off fine and that’s the way the film was originally intended to be seen. Disc 2 contains a flat, color version which if anything, shows off some very bold colors and despite some fine grain in the original negative, the image is quite clean, as blemishes are infrequent. All three versions are presented full frame which is in accordance with the film’s intended 1.37:1 Academy ratio. The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track shows its age fairly well, with no noticeable problems.

The extras make this disc a must for 3-D historians and enthusiasts, but I would also recommend this release to any serious grindhouse/drive-in film completist. All of the supplements on Disc 1 are basically raw footage with no sound, but all of it’s in 3-D. First, there’s the original 3-D title sequence from 1969 followed by over nine minutes of deleted scenes and outtakes. The section of 3-D lens tests lets you witness a party girl blow bubbles, blow a blowout party favor (a great 3-D effect) and toss balloons while another one toys around with what looks to be a retractable coat hanger. The most significant extra on Disc 2 is the excellent featurette, "How the Stewardesses Took Off" (21:35) that features a roundtable discussion with Allan Silliphant (writer/director), Chris Condon (producer/cinematographer), Dan Symmes (crew member) and Bill Condos (make-up artist who also acts in the film as “William Basil”), all of them proudly reminiscing about the movie’s success. The featurette also contains interviews with Eric Schaefer (a Visual and Media Arts Professor), Victoria Condon-Silliphant (art director/set decorator) and actress Christina Hart who despite being treated well by the crew, today deems the film “appallingly bad” and is ashamed to have been in it. "The Stewardesses: How It Was Shot and Shown" has Jeff Joseph of SabuCat Productions (the main force behind THE STEWARDESSES’ restoration and this DVD release) explaining the 3-D process used for this film better than anyone else could. An 11-minute history of 3-D looks at the process from its origins up to today, but the real treat is that it concludes with some extra 3-D footage including the full trailer for THE MAZE (1953). Along with the original theatrical trailer, topping off the extras is a hilarious 1981 clip from the greatest sketch comedy show of all time, SCTV. On “Monster Chiller Horror Theatre”, horror host Count Floyd (Joe Flaherty) introduces clips from the simulated 3-D classic "Dr. Tongue's House of Stewardesses" in which Dr. Tongue (John Candy) and his hunchbacked assistant Bruno (Eugene Levy) hold a quartet of attractive stewardesses (one of them played by Catherine O’Hara) in their power. Shout! Factory, please, please release more volumes of SCTV on DVD!

Along with the two pairs of 3-D glasses, the DVD also includes a booklet with liner notes by Daniel Symmes. For more information on this film and the DVD release, please visit the official website HERE. (George R. Reis)

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