THE ADVENTURES OF FLASH BEAVER is slapdash soft porn, hard to watch except to see the divine Alice Friedland, under whose name it has been recently reissued by ABA on DVD.
Film answers a mystery I had long wondered about -the myth that mainstream TV directors were moonlighting anonymously in the adult industry. Turns out this film was directed by Richard Benedict, an undistinguished but prolific Hollywood actor and TV director, so the continuum between X and mainstream was true.
Similar to many other superhero porn projects of the '70s, it basically is a takeoff on SUPERMAN, with statuesque Alice as Linda Gluck who at a snap of her fingers turns into Flash Beaver, a caped crusader for sexual freedom. Like Clark Kent she has a sidekick named Jimmy.
Episodic format has her magically arriving in couples' bedrooms to show them how it's done in the sack. Repetitive simulated sex scenes are a drag -the film would likely have been more successful had it been done hardcore. First couple is George and his wife played by Cyndee Summers, whose presence links it to early hardcore features of which she was a prominent star.
Film has many drawbacks, chief of which is a crude laugh-track trying aimlessly to simulate those terrible crutches used in TV sitcoms to stimulate an audience reaction. Also annoying is the interruption of the action with lame commercials as the program is being presented as a Cinema Showcase late show on station KLIT69 Duluth, Minnesota. During a Jimmy/Linda cunnilingus scene a title interrupts the action to announce a reel change. Also occasional pop art "SNAP" style inter-titles are inserted during the action as if left over from the '60s BATMAN TV series.
One sequence briefly strays into hardcore territory, as penetration via a dildo is shown when Flash uses a strap-on to demonstrate humping technique on Marge for her premature ejaculation husband Harry. After she leaves Harry finds a silver pubic hair left behind by Flash -this movie's answer to The Lone Ranger.
It's all staged on the cheap and all tease, no sizzle.
