My review was written in October 1984 after watching the movie on Unicorn video cassette.
"Gemini Affair -A Diary" is emblematic of a recent phenomenon, unreleased films finally surfacing for the home video market. Shot in 1973, pic is a mildly interesting but woefully underproduced drama about young women "making it" in Hollywood and is reviewed here for the record.
Marta Kristen and Kathy Kersh, both good-looking blondes stuck in a near-sex film format which would probably get a soft X rating if submitted, topline as two girls from Indiana now in Los Angeles. Jessica (Kersh) has become a high-priced callgirl, while newly arrived Julie (Kristen) is an aspiring actress in town for her first screen test. Both have a warring relationship with the housekeeper (played by vet character actress Anne Seymour), taking care of a lavish mansion where Jessica lives as a "kept woman".
Producer-director Matt Cimber, moe famous for his star vehicles for late wife Jayne Mansifeld, Pia Zadora and latterly Laurene Landon, errs in rooting almost the entire film at the mansion, giving a claustrophobic (read cheap) effect. The heroines talk about casting sessions and going out for tricks, but nothing is staged. After Julie unsuccessfully tries out prostitution, there is a rather tamely handled lesbian subplot between the two women, leading to an open ending implying each person has to find and be herself.
Gauche and smutty dialog (credited to a writer with the phony-sounding name of "Harry Houdydu") has Kersh swearing enough to qualify for Brian DePalma's recent "Scarface" remake. Acting and technical credits are okay, with "Gemini" containing one outstanding sequence in its latter half when Marta Kristen recalls an erotic incident of years ago, shot outside in one continuous take. This scene works in the same way as Bibi Andersson's erotic monologue in Ingmar Bergman's classic "Persona", and is almost strong enough to justify one's perusal of this minor failure.
