The
Telephone Book (1971)
Director
- Nelson Lyon
Writer - Nelson Lyon
Starring - Margaret Brewster, Roger C Carmel, David Dozer,
Jan Farrand, Lucy Lee Flippin, Arthur Haggerty, James Harder,
William Hickey, Sarah Kennedy, Geri Miller, Barry Morse, Ondine,
Norman Rose, Dolph Sweet, Matthew Tobin, Ultra Violet
Review by Noel Baily
I would suggest to you ladies and gentleman of the jury that
what we have here is a filmed work of unclassifiable obscene
content, uniquely inoffensive and with no precedent in the
film world...before or sub,
Who
is John Smith? why....every man's deepest fantasy of course.
As he utters at one point and which sums up this incredibly
original and black-humored ode to left wing sexuality..."I
have perfected the obscene call to the point where I could
seduce the President, his wife and his family - but I have
no political ambition!"
Poor
old Alice, cute little Goldie Hawn wannabe and who is a couple
of bra-sizes short of average intelligence, she decides to
answer her telephone! Big mistake - it is the world's most
experienced serially-obscene phone caller. Does she care?
No, she falls in love with him. She must embark now on the
ultimate sexual odyssey to discover the joys of true spoken
obscenity.
This
film is unlike anything else ever made - as original as ERASERHEAD,
as meaningless as an Osmond Brothers album. You have to see
it...if for no other reason to witness Barry Morse's cameo
to end all cameos. They surely COULDN'T have paid him to do
it...he MUST have paid them!
I
have had this film for twenty years and STILL haven't let
my kids see it! I think mine is the only copy in Australia,
if not the southern hemisphere. A deep deep underground film
that could NEVER have found theatrical release I imagine.
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