In the pantheon of Alpha France in-house directors, top spot is occupied by the intellectuals : Francis Leroi, whose good-natured attacks on the bourgeoisie rival Bunuel's, and the darker to the point of disenchanted Claude Mulot a/k/a "Frédéric Lansac". These are followed by the kicking 'n' screaming revolutionary Gérard Kikoïne, Claude Bernard-Aubert a/k/a "Burd Tranbaree" reigning over the middle classes that made up most of the dirty movie-going audience and Jean-Claude Roy a/k/a "Patrick Aubin" as his blue collar counterpart, with the usually unfairly dismissed because rather uneven Jean Desvilles a/k/a "Georges Fleury" hesitant between styles. Like his colleagues, Roy came from a "proper" film-making background, grinding out programmers for the undemanding masses starting in the late '50s with PRINTEMPS A Paris, his subsequent very early sex education drama PIERRE ET IRENE rapidly sending him on a downward slope towards "risqué" fare like the deeply moralizing DOSSIER PROSTITUTION and a saucy rendition of the Comtesse De Ségur's PETITES FILLES MODELES. As with Leroi's PLAISIRS SOLITAIRES and Bernard-Aubert's FESSEE, it was but a small step to full color penetration flicks for the director and the charmingly titled LES CUISSES EN CHALEUR (literally : Hot Thighs !) was the movie that marked the transition from which there would be no turning back. Contrary to his blue movie brethren, Roy never bothered much with the intricacies of "real" film-making like showy compositions and discreet lighting that would only have eaten into his meager budgets and production schedules. Being of the hard 'n' fast variety, he pretty much presented penetration unfettered by aesthetics though generally joyfully performed by professionals who understood their trade. Speaking of trade, Roy's flicks were so down to earth that they would even show their working class heroes actually making sometimes even scraping a living, invariably emphasizing the importance thereof as a contribution to society. If there had been such a thing as Marxist porn, Roy could have been its prime purveyor !
With a title that virtually describes the porn genre as a whole, ACCOUPLEMENTS POUR VOYEURS (literally : Couplings for Peeping Toms !) proves par for the course for Roy, brightly lit and unimaginatively if clearly photographed by his regular contributor Pierre Robès with its unflinching view of reality firmly in place. A down-market call girl, Gina (well-played by the underrated Christine Lodes, who was Joël Charvier's level-headed girlfriend in the same director's more twisted than it first appears MAITRESSE POUR COUPLE), has received an eviction notice from her landlord and teams up with sympathetic client François (the ubiquitous Alban Ceray) in setting up a modest massage parlor. Gina's dour professionalism as she gives her john his money's worth contrasts nicely with the newfound enthusiasm she exhibits once she becomes part of this joyous joint venture. A second girl, Sabine (the magnificent Morgane, who was the devious domestic in Bernard-Aubert's disquieting SOUMISSION), is quickly found but with the opening date rapidly approaching François vows to accept the first applicant who walks through the door to make up the roster. Enter seemingly shy, bespectacled Sylvie, engagingly portrayed by smoldering Lucie Doll as the token brunette, another overlooked actress best recalled for her work in Gérard Grégory's in urgent need of re-appraisal ADOLESCENTES AU PENSIONAT. Set to go, customers arrive and Roy barely allows his limited but eager cast a break from boinking. Stud supreme Dominique Aveline plays the single part he seems capable of, the no nonsense working class stiff in search of straightforward sexual relief. Gabriel Pontello is the stereotypically gesticulating Italian, perpetuating the Rinaldo Talamonti tradition as it were, who can only get off through a slap to the face ! Hardest working man in jizz biz, Richard Lemieuvre, turns up as Gina's unwitting erstwhile landlord. Star attraction is surely visiting American Serena, who did a whole slew of Continental flicks on her green card sojourn, as the elegantly depraved Véronique, performing Sapphic chores with more skill and passion than her French colleagues usually managed to muster. Halfway through, Roy briefly returns to plot as the salon has to make up for disappointing business by allowing its clientèle the added voyeuristic frisson of a two-way mirror and closed circuit video camera to double both their pleasure and fun. Darling Doll goes out of her way to please, even providing an early double penetration with Dom and Dick once business is booming and she has been left to man the phones. Roy may have eschewed the frills the other Alpha France alumni adhered to, but he certainly knows how to deliver the goods. Too hot to be considered a mere hack, his in your face approach should appeal to all fans of good dirty fornication flicks, that means you and me both, bro' !
