Miss Melody Jones
Cast & Crew
Bill Brame
Philomena Nowlin
Ronald Warden
Peter Jacob
Jacqueline Dalya
Garth Howard
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
While preparing for her big break in Hollywood, aspiring black actress Melody Jones works nights as a stripper and rooms for free with her friend Jack, a homosexual who uses Melody as a front. Having failed to land a part in a serious play, Melody accepts a job playing a half-naked assault victim in a low-budget biker movie. During the one-day shoot, Melody meets black assistant director Tim Robinson, a sympathetic University of California graduate film school student. After filming, Tim takes Melody to a fast-food restaurant, where he compliments her on her acting skills and offers her the lead in his upcoming film project. Thrilled, Melody accepts the role and later insists to the paternal Jack that Tim's film is not the usual exploitation but a poignant drama about man's failure to communicate. Meanwhile, after viewing Melody's footage with his editor, Scott, the director of the biker movie, becomes convinced that Melody is going to be a big star. Scott concocts a plan to make Melody fall in love with him, cast her in a string of his exploitation films, then demand large sums of money to suppress the unsavory pictures once she becomes a success. The starstruck Melody readily agrees to appear in Scott's next five projects and, as hoped, becomes sexually involved with him. At the same time, Melody continues to work with Tim, who jealously calls Scott a phony "skin flick guy." Melody defends her relationship with Scott as "just business," but when he takes her to a wild party and asks her to sleep with a lecherous would-be investor, she sees through his scheme and slaps him. Admitting he was right about Scott, Melody seeks comfort with Tim and recommits to appearing in his student film. To Tim's dismay, however, Melody stipulates that their relationship remain platonic, even while she is spending the night at his apartment. Melody enjoys acting in Tim's desert island film, which they shoot over several weekends at a nearby beach, and understands that the conflicted castaway character she plays is a female version of Tim. When Melody offers to help Tim financially with money earned at the stripper club, Tim declines, insisting he must make his own way. Tim explains that as a young black growing up in Virginia, he experienced much prejudice and now sees films as a way of educating the world about the human condition. Although Tim again questions Melody's Hollywood ambitions, Melody dismisses his concerns. Melody's continued refusal to have sex with Tim soon boils over on the set, when Tim reacts jealously to a love scene between Melody and her leading man. Later that night, Tim apologizes for his on-set outburst, and touched by his honesty, Melody finally allows him to make love to her. Soon after at Jack's house, Melody receives a call from Helen Rendell, a top talent agent who witnessed Melody's assault on Scott and was impressed by her spunk. After attending a screening of Tim's film, however, Helen tells Melody that, given the seriousness of its subject matter, it will do little to help her career. Helen nonetheless agrees to represent Melody, who then tries to convince Tim to make a few exploitation films as a way to advance both of their careers. Tim angrily rejects Melody's suggestions to sell out, and the two separate. Later, when Helen, a notorious "casting couch" lesbian, invites Melody to spend a weekend with her, Melody understands her true intentions and declines her offer. Later, Melody returns to living full-time with Jack and, despite having to continue as a stripper, is still confident that her Hollywood dreams will someday come true.
Director
Bill Brame
Cast
Philomena Nowlin
Ronald Warden
Peter Jacob
Jacqueline Dalya
Garth Howard
Roger Robles
Steve Roberson
C. H. Streek
John Kimbro
Georgette Dante
Peter Jacobs
Rick Turner
Jack Coob
Pamela Palm
Kimberly Kaye
Crew
James Bowie
Bill Brame
Bill Brame
Bill Brame
Bill Brame
Joseph Bryan
Frank Burnaby
Robert Caramico
Dan Carlin
Joseph Dixon
Scott Fieldsteel
Sterling Franck
Sterling Franck
Lawrance Hill
Lawrance Hill
Isaacson & Baker
Isaacson & Haskell
Robert Isenberg
Wes Kuney
Mary Mccreary
Mary Mccreary
Russell Nannarello
Ellen Prince
Ellen Prince
Roger Robles
Stephen Snow
Larry Wood
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Bill Brame's onscreen credit reads: "Written, Produced and Directed by Bill Brame." Sterling Franck and Ellen Prince's onscreen credit reads: "Makeup and Wardrobe by Sterling Franck and Ellen Prince." Miss Melody Jones marked Philomena Nowlin's screen acting debut. No reviews for the film were located, but information in the AMPAS Library file on the film reveal that it opened at various Los Angeles theaters in August 1974. Although onscreen credits include only six song titles, the song "Wrong Kind of Make-up" is heard in the film and is listed in press material. In press material, the song "Till I Find the Way" is listed as "Come Share My Dream." The film was shot in and around Los Angeles, including Griffith Park and on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
