Recently released on DVD is The Stewardesses, the 1969 softcore romp that became an international success thanks largely to its 3-D presentation. Shout! Factory’s new DVD includes 3-D spectacles so that home viewers can also (as the tag line promised) “See the lusty stewardesses leap from the screen onto your lap.”
The review will run in next week’s View from the Couch column, but we’ve decided to go ahead and publish it here as well. Check it out (along with some photos) after the break.
(WARNING TO THE EASILY OFFENDED: Some of the photos contain nudity.)
THE STEWARDESSES (1969). Back in 1969 and throughout the early ’70s, The Stewardesses became a smash hit not only because it was a softcore sex flick but because it was a softcore sex flick in 3-D. During a period in which cinematic standards had been loosened and hardcore porn was just around the corner (Deep Throat and Behind the Green Door, both 1972), the makers of this film found an ingenious hook by reviving the 3-D craze of the 1950s and employing it in the service of a skin flick. The Stewardesses was an instant success, and (as explained in one of the bonuses) in order to add a “message” and thus lessen the chances of its makers being hauled into court at some point for debasing moral standards (as happened with Deep Throat), additional scenes involving a semblance of a storyline were filmed and added during its run. The main storyline, however, is wafer-thin: A group of shapely flight attendants spend their downtime getting drunk, getting high and (especially) getting laid. The Stewardesses is largely worthless as a movie but utterly absorbing as a relic of its time, with many scenes more risible than titillating (e.g. a woman has sex — sort of — with a lamp). As for the three-dimensional aspect of the project (the characters themselves remain woefully two-dimensional), the two-disc set includes both the color and black-and-white versions of the movie (there’s also a 2-D color version, but what’s the point?). As noted in the enclosed booklet and on the DVD menu itself, the 3-D is a bit crisper in the b&w version (protruding objects include a pool cue, wine glasses, a bedpost, and — oh, yeah — boobs), but don’t watch either version expecting Beowulf or Coraline quality.
In addition to two enclosed pairs of 3-D glasses, extras in the set include a making-of piece featuring interviews with cast and crew members; a 3-D screen test; an informative look at the history of 3-D; and “Dr. Tongue’s House of Stewardesses,” an amusing SCTV skit featuring John Candy, Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara.
Movie: **
Extras: ***
This article appears in Feb 17-24, 2009.
