The Stud

Like most seventies softcore the film that put Joan Collins back on the map contains far more talk than rutting; and like anything thinking it's being really with-it it now looks far more dated than anything made in the fifties; compounded by the constant pounding disco music on the soundtrack.

As it meanders along it's garrulous way you also have plenty of time to marvel at the fact such a sorry collection of fashion disasters got so much more sex than any other generation before or since.

I'd managed to avoid this film for decades but, in the end, my curiosity got the better of me and I thought I'd take a look.

My expectations were set pretty low, which was just as well as it's laughably naff, cheesy and low budget.

I won't go into the plot (such as it is), but it's really a vehicle for Joan Collins to hone her bitchy cougar persona to the hilt - while getting caught up in a predictably doomed love and lust tangle.

Oliver Tobias is suitably sullen as her love-interest, and the sex and orgy scenes (which presumably at the time were very racy and made the film so popular for cinema goers) are now very tame and even a bit silly.

There is of course the late 70s disco soundtrack which adds to the cheese - as well as providing lengthy scenes of disco dancing in a nightclub that just feel like padding in a film that was pretty thin on the ground to start with!

Some of the locations are good (villages in Berks & Bucks, and the indoor swimming pool), but as whole this film is extremely tedious, risible, and very much a bi-product of its time.

I enjoyed this movie, Joan Collins is the only actress that could pull it off. She has the ability to play these roles without letting it become silly, or needlessly pornographic. She has the charisma of a true golden era movie star, but her roles are daring, unique and push the envelope. She brings an energy that is so youthful to her roles; which is great in these movies and Dynasty where she is at an age where most women are no longer seen at all, never the less sexy and beautiful. She shows that there is life after you are mature, and she makes it look fun. The messages in the film are interesting; both the men and the women have their own angles on each other and what is happening, neither is really a victim. Infidelity and promiscuity are seen in all socioeconomic levels in society. From peasants to kings sex is happening and has happened. There are also consequences for each character but they happen and life goes on. Some people are put off by the sexuality of the film but Fontaine is a jets disco owner in the seventies, it fits the character.

The Stud (1978)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Incredibly silly but sleazy "drama" about Fontaine (Joan Collins), a woman married to a very rich man but whose having an affair with Tony (Oliver Tobias), the stud running their club. Poor Tony is good looking and has an unlimited number of great looking women wanting to sleep with him but before long the stud begins to feel sorry for himself.

THE STUD is a pretty awful movie that came out of nowhere and somehow became a very big hit. Who knows why something like this would have become a hit but I'm going to guess that part of the reason was the awful disco era that was going on at the time and the fact that someone like Collins was going full nudity and trashy with the material. Yes, the film is sleazy, campy and at times trashy but that still doesn't make for a lot of entertainment.

The biggest problem with the film is that none of the characters are all that entertaining. I've read some reviews that complained that none of them were likable but that I really don't care about. You don't have to have likable characters for a movie to work but you do need to have some that are interesting. All of the characters here were rather forgettable and boring. The same could be said for the performances but it seems the two leads are having fun with their roles and especially Collins and her bitch quality.

The film became somewhat notorious for the various bits of nudity and sex. The highlight of all of this is a bizarre pool orgy sequence, which is just campy enough to where you can have a good laugh at its expense. The film is certainly a very bad one but it remains mildly interesting just because of the weird stuff going on. Did I mention the awful title song, which was clearly ripping off the SHAFT theme?

although the movie was not as explicit as the book, it had it's moments.

joan collins plays the part of the bitchy hedonistic adultering wife( a role she embodied in Dynasty as Alexis for almost 9 years!!) to the tee. she has all the moves, the look and the body language. she plays the part of the manipulative, dominating and captivating 40 yr old woman in her prime to such perfection,that it leaves oliver tobias, to play his role as the "stud" with all the enthusiam one could muster for such a role(not much to do but perform on call and bonk the remaining women in the cast).

walter gotell ( the head of the kgb in bond flicks) is wasted in what could have been a meaty role.

emma jacobs does her best as she transcends from an innocent girl who beds the "stud"(after she meets him the first time and finds out he is "doing" her step mom)to one who uses sex as revenge(when she rejects his amorous advances during his visit to her mother's house) and is then promptly not shown until the end of the movie. sad, because it could have been penned into a longer and more interesting role.

the rest of the movie is pretty slow as it follows the tacky night life of the 70's in london, especially the end where after a new year's party, tony blake is happy to be out of the night ife( i would have thought it would be from too much sex)

A part not to be missed is the "orgy scene" in the swimming pool...that was quite a scene!!!!

only worth a watch for joan collins fans who want to catch a glimpse of the early shades of Alexis Carrington Colby..