tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8823340817818385797.post8452814089021566420..comments2024-03-24T14:03:33.932-07:00Comments on Every 70s Movie: Ginger (1971) & The Abductors (1972) & Girls Are for Loving (1972)By Peter Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11385971732301020652noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8823340817818385797.post-4492412475708714402023-02-23T22:56:09.441-08:002023-02-23T22:56:09.441-08:00Don Schain actually had another phase to his caree...Don Schain actually had another phase to his career that's very different from these films: he produced a bunch of films for television for Disney in the 2000s, notably the High School Musical films. Not quite sure how one experience leads you to the other, but the film business can be strange sometimes...noplothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17887119171733045767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8823340817818385797.post-83384686116432914002020-04-12T10:08:11.076-07:002020-04-12T10:08:11.076-07:00It should be noted that "Ginger", as hil...It should be noted that "Ginger", as hilariously tacky as it was, was a hit at the boxoffice if not with the critics. Curiously, the only professional actor on hand was not the pathetic director's untalented wife (Cheri Caffaro) but a good-looking young blond stud (and former English teacher) who went by the name of Calvin Culver and provided the film's only total nudity (still a rarity in 1971, especially in a softcore porn film aimed at straight middle-aged hetero male audiences). Under the name of Casey Donovan, however, this likably uninhibited and enthusiastic young fellow became the first and foremost superstar of the then new and thriving hardcore gay cinema, his name above the title guaranteeing hefty profits from low-budget junk to well-received classics like "Boys in the Sand" and Radley Metzger's smash hit "Score" in which Calvin/Casey displayed his versatility by showing he was equally capable of coupling with the women as well as the men in this bisexual frolic. Off-screen, he also gained prominence as the boytoy/lover of Tom Tryon, the Hollywood hunk best-known for playing the lead in Otto Preminger's "The Cardinal" and other mainstream movie hits of the 1960s who, in the 1970s, proved to everyone's astonishment that he was much more than a handsome face by penning terrific best-selling novels such as the spine-chilling "The Other" and "Harvest Home", the former turned into a first-rate movie and the latter a bulls-eye TV mini-series starring Bette Davis. Meanwhile, Calvin/Casey apparently grew tired of typing the manuscripts of Tryon's novels and, nearing 40, returned to his former occupation of being a highly-paid male 'escort' as well as making his cinematic comeback in "Boys in the Sand--Part II". While the film was a resounding hit, it was Casey's last. Sadly, the still-young superstar succumbed to AIDS in the early 1980s. But his fame/notoriety far outlasted that of his "Ginger" co-star, Cheri Caffaro, from a decade earlier. Not unlike too many hack filmmakers who made millions from his "Ginger" trilogy, Cheri's filmmaker husband Don Shain lusted after respectability, sank his fortune into a "serious" (though still X-rated) drama "A Place Called Today" (a vehicle designed to demonstrate his wife's expertise as a first-rate dramatic actress), hired the prestigious publicity outfit Rogers & Cowan to promote it, and even lavished a World Premiere at the swank East Side art-house he paid to book it. He even made the fatal mistake of screening his magnum opus for the hornets' nest known as the New York Film Critics, but it turned out those killjoys missed his "Ginger" movies (which were at least perversely entertaining) and went after "Today" with tomahawks. The NYTimes critic Vincent Canby, usually even-tempered even when he panned a new movie, managed to outdo his assessment of Cheri Caffaro from one of her "Ginger" movies where he was put off by her "shark's teeth" while admitting "her skin is still tight" though adding her age was "pushing forty"! Since the theater showing "A Place Called Today" was forced to evict it after one week, Ms. Caffaro and Mr. Shain were never heard from again.<br />I should add, however, that members of the crews of movies I worked on had also worked with Cheri, Shain, and Calvin Culver, and said they were all very sweet, nice people.<br />I don't doubt it. I should also admit that I miss the 1970s. At least, they were fun!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15013059093627721779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8823340817818385797.post-66056215893469993802015-06-14T14:18:34.897-07:002015-06-14T14:18:34.897-07:00I saw The Abductors at a local video store, back i...I saw The Abductors at a local video store, back in the very early 90s, and rented it. It's pretty pathetic as either an exploitation film; or soft-core porn/fetish film. Thank god I never encountered the others. The Doll Squad it ain't (and that one isn't the greatest exploitation film around, either).Jeff Nettletonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16525003344109418240noreply@blogger.com