Al Adamson's work included films such as Satan's Sadists (1969), Hell's Bloody Devils (1970), and Blood of Ghastly Horror (1972), to name but a few. These were destined for a different market, and he was tagged by some as the Ed Wood of the 70's. When Adamson's body was discovered under his house, murdered by an independent contractor who had been hired to remodel Adamson's home but instead assumed his identity and stole his credit card, the papers framed the grisly event as an ironic end within the context of Adamson's sensationalistic world. This background may seem beside the point when discussing Adamson's foray into supposedly sexy and nudie pictures, such as the recent double-feature dvd release of Blazing Stewardesses (1975) and Naughty Stewardesses (1974), but for the uninitiated it may help answer the ultimate question of what his work was about and why it came into being. It is understood that the desire to make money was involved, but the Independent International approach was certainly unique.
In the case of Naughty Stewardesses, Sherman reveals in the commentary that some financial backers were so impressed with how much business was made by a foreign quickie with a stewardess in the title that they asked him to pick up distribution for as many stewardess films as possible. Sherman at first demurred, citing the lack of such items in the marketplace, but then decided to go ahead and make one. He also remarks on how the film came out during a time when the patriarchal delineations that marked the friendly skies were so decidedly un-p.c. that all stewardesses were, in fact, hot young women in short skirts and Sherman even goes on to suggest that there simply wouldn't even be a market nowadays for a film about stewardesses since they no longer exist as such, having been replaced by "airline attendants" of both sexes and in all sizes, shapes, and ages. Sherman, obviously, has not heard of Hooters Air, or he'd be hard at work on the stewardess fetish as a full-time franchise.
To remember this strange time in the 70's just before pornography took to the mainstream, Sherman makes it clear that he did not want to simply make some sleazy 42nd Street grindhouse film, and he justified his creation as a way to honor a favorite actor from Republic westerns - Bob Livingstone, a man who among many other roles found time to hide behind the mask of both The Lone Ranger and Zorro. The result is a strange mixture of a few, brief and bland erotic moments that are stranded amidst various pedestrian backdrops (although "pedestrian" might seem an unfair word for Adamson's house, since Sherman says it once belonged to Harold Lloyd). But despite a haphazard approach that defied genre classifications and any cult following, Sherman points to the fact that, in its day, it was a big success, making "mega millions." And that, of course, goes on to explain how this odd duckling could go on to spawn a sequel.
Blazing Stewardesses tried to capitalize on the success of Blazing Saddles (1974) in both title and promotional artwork, but after that the comparisons dry up. Blazing Stewardesses goes off in a myriad of strange and idle directions that have even less to do with sex than its naughty predecessor, and instead it just piles on silly arrangements, one after another. It also spends most of its time in the desert, with some bits about caped horsemen and other cowboy shenanigans worked into a meandering plotline that evaporates under the obvious and frustrated desires behind two filmmakers who really wanted to be shooting an old fashioned depression era western, but instead reached into their bizarre grab-bag where anything goes. Sherman's commentary on this film spends an inordinate amount of time talking about the folks who almost made it into the film, such as The Three Stooges, or who he approached but refused, or died, or both, with the overall result being one where the listener almost wonders if the film was cursed (although some might argue the actors who missed this particular casting call were actually saved by divine intervention). Viewers hoping for serious titillation were certainly cursed to have very few shows of skin to excite their pulses, and it's doubtful that Sherman¿s revelations that "hotter versions" might exist for oversea versions will do much to make them feel better.
It's tempting to dismiss both these efforts as hack jobs that just happened to make money based purely on lascivious titles and various marketing ploys that allowed the films to continuously be repackaged and re-released into changing markets from theatrical runs, to drive-ins, and then video (and now dvd!), but there is comfort in knowing that both Adamson and Sherman had a genuine love for the films they grew up with, and that they felt strongly about paying homage to the old actors and actresses that once shined so brightly on the screens that still played in their mind. In Sherman's commentary during one particular scene in Blazing Stewardesses he generously credits an older actor by saying "This is so good. He does this so well. You talk about actors and what they can do - we just turned him loose." Now put this into the context of said actor screwing a blow-up doll and, well, if you can ignore the pathos and instead focus on the genuine affection Sherman shows toward his subjects then, maybe, you'll understand the drive that helped give birth to these strange celluloid misfits.
This "Limited and Numbered 2-Disc Edition" by Retro-Seduction Cinema shows both films in their original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, with the first disc including an interview with Marilyn Join, a "rare combo trailer," and commentary by both producer Sam Sherman and historian Ed Hulse (who also writes liner notes in the dvd booklet). The second disc includes "never-before seen outtakes," a commentary by Sherman, an original trailer and tv spots, plus a "Retro-Seduction Cinema Trailer Vault."
by Pablo Kjolseth
