The wonderful Joan Devlon gets a rare shot at stardom in LACEY BODINE, another "big deal once upon a time" but forgotten '70s porn movie. Fortunately it's still in print for interested fans.
Surprisingly sincere in its soap opera format, picture is structured as wistful reminiscences by Joan as Lacey, waxing nostalgically (and bitter) about her failed marriage. Her bags are packed, jazz plays in the background and she's sipping a cocktail as she narrates her tale of woe.
First flashback is the wedding night, where she and groom Jason (Ken Scudder) can't wait and are having oral sex on the stairs leading up to their bedroom. Sad for her, it's only a month's time before her new hubby is pimping her out, and the next flashback shows him verbally abusing her and having rough sex.
She's assigned by Jason to seduce his best friend Ashley's wife Eve (Valerie Franklin), as the film becomes increasingly kinky. Lacey masturbates to get Eve's attention (I'm betting that's guaranteed to work!), and the femmes are soon hot and heavy utilizing an immense double dong dildo.
This turns out to be all engineered by the guys so that they can storm in, express disgust at the lesbian antics, and proceed to tie up the women and rape each other's wife. That takes care of several kinks (bondage, rape) at once.
Next flashback has Lacey turning voyeur, extremely turned on at the sight of her husband making love to Eve, while avant garde jazz comps the scene. This turns out to be her downfall; Lacey discovers she has to be a voyeur to get excited.
She vows to get a divorce and lead her own sex life. Aiding this new leaf is neighbor Anne (Veronica Taylor), who contrives to exploit Lacey the voyeur by having her watch black boyfriend Charley (superstar Johnnie Keyes, very effective in a meanie role) abuse her. Charley "notices" Lacey half-way through the scene, grabs her, "forces" her to make love to Anne and then has a rough threesome with both girls at once. It's mixed combo action at its finest, and was undoubtedly a big draw when this film played theatrically.
Film ends on a plaintive note, of Lacey examining the court papers that permit her to drop the name (from Scudder) Bodine, and she exits down those long stairs, memorable from her wedding night.
Devlon is one of XXX's true beauties from the Golden Age, and I can't get enough of her performances, rarely in starring roles like this one. She was unfortunate to work mainly with hack or worse directors, ranging from S.F.'s clunky Bob Kirk to many more anonymous creeps. Both BODINE and another starring vehicle LITTLE ANGEL PUSS were made by the mysterious De Neuve sisters, worthy of some heavy duty research by the horde of mainly brain-dead "sexploitation historians" roaming around out there in these decadent times.
Devlon's sex scenes are hot here, and she's matched and complemented by good turns of the Vs: Veronica and Valerie. They can't hold a candle to Joan's beauty, but get down in the humping department.
