Another successful Joe Sarno suburban erotica opus, this one is executed in a decidedly minor key, more of a chamber drama than a critique of social mores. It rearranges the themes and plot strategies of his earlier works (such as Sin in the Suburbs) with a more subtle mise-en-scene and a surprising tinge of misogyny. There isn't much nudity or on-screen lovemaking, but the attitude of the principals and some clever imagery makes it quite lascivious nonetheless. There's no occultism this time, but the de rigueur masked party serves as the nasty climactic scene.
5 Reviews
Prototypical Sarno is entertaining
lor_8 June 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Suburban swappers get an interesting examination in this very typical Joe Sarno flick from one of his most creative periods. It was created and distributed as porn, and as such stands out for quality in that genre.
I wish Joe had gotten a mainstream assignment, as his take on PEYTON PLACE or the like would have been fascinating. Sexy young heroine Karen is matter-of-fact about sex, with plenty of "neglected housewives" dialog in place of the expected action (and bed time).
Karen's husband is Louis Waldon, porn staple who in fact co-starred with Viva in the first XXX fiction feature, Warhol's BLUE MOVIE. The main cast is quite familiar from other '60s Sarnos, except for Crystal Snow as Penny, who organizes swapping parties. Crystal is a ringer whose day job was probably working as a stripper, even though she looks like a porn equivalent to Joan Baez (!).
With a spare musical score, mainly trademark percussion (plus water torture by the monotonous pinging from a faucet), plot unfolds very slowly, teasing the viewer. Karen finally goes topless for the fans -worth waiting for (the actress Sheila Britt steals Joe's later movie, MARCY). Essentially, Sarno stages the actual sex action just below the bottom of the frame, a clever way of avoiding censorship.
Mrs. Sarno, with cute Loiuse Brooks hairdo, is way classier looking than the rest of the cast, and is fun doing a tasteful striptease to seduce her friend Mona's husband Les (George Wolfe).
SPOILERS ALERT:
Melodrama intrudes when teens figure out the swapping routines of their elders, leading to sleazy subplots involving blackmail and rape. Monica Davis reveals the biggest breasts in the movie, paired off in a sex scene with young Jay. The older generation's swapping activities are unmasked when Jay randomly picks his own mom during one of their party match-up games.
At this point Sarno heads for the gutter with an ultra-sleazy sequence of Crystal as Penny ordering all the men to gang-bang Kathy (Sarno's go-to best actress Joanna Mills), taking incriminating photos in order to prevent her from squealing on all of them. Crystal's poor acting ruins this climactic scene.
Tacked-on happy ending has Mona (Patricia McNair) and hubby Les packing their bags to leave this sordid community and start a new life.
Clearly Sarno knows his way around soap, and presaged the nonsense of a "Desperate Housewives" 40 years ahead of time. A major studio giving him seasoned thesps might have resulted in a fully-realized, quality film. Instead we have these merely guilty pleasures, heads and shoulders better than their underachieving contemporaneous porn counterparts.
I wish Joe had gotten a mainstream assignment, as his take on PEYTON PLACE or the like would have been fascinating. Sexy young heroine Karen is matter-of-fact about sex, with plenty of "neglected housewives" dialog in place of the expected action (and bed time).
Karen's husband is Louis Waldon, porn staple who in fact co-starred with Viva in the first XXX fiction feature, Warhol's BLUE MOVIE. The main cast is quite familiar from other '60s Sarnos, except for Crystal Snow as Penny, who organizes swapping parties. Crystal is a ringer whose day job was probably working as a stripper, even though she looks like a porn equivalent to Joan Baez (!).
With a spare musical score, mainly trademark percussion (plus water torture by the monotonous pinging from a faucet), plot unfolds very slowly, teasing the viewer. Karen finally goes topless for the fans -worth waiting for (the actress Sheila Britt steals Joe's later movie, MARCY). Essentially, Sarno stages the actual sex action just below the bottom of the frame, a clever way of avoiding censorship.
Mrs. Sarno, with cute Loiuse Brooks hairdo, is way classier looking than the rest of the cast, and is fun doing a tasteful striptease to seduce her friend Mona's husband Les (George Wolfe).
SPOILERS ALERT:
Melodrama intrudes when teens figure out the swapping routines of their elders, leading to sleazy subplots involving blackmail and rape. Monica Davis reveals the biggest breasts in the movie, paired off in a sex scene with young Jay. The older generation's swapping activities are unmasked when Jay randomly picks his own mom during one of their party match-up games.
At this point Sarno heads for the gutter with an ultra-sleazy sequence of Crystal as Penny ordering all the men to gang-bang Kathy (Sarno's go-to best actress Joanna Mills), taking incriminating photos in order to prevent her from squealing on all of them. Crystal's poor acting ruins this climactic scene.
Tacked-on happy ending has Mona (Patricia McNair) and hubby Les packing their bags to leave this sordid community and start a new life.
Clearly Sarno knows his way around soap, and presaged the nonsense of a "Desperate Housewives" 40 years ahead of time. A major studio giving him seasoned thesps might have resulted in a fully-realized, quality film. Instead we have these merely guilty pleasures, heads and shoulders better than their underachieving contemporaneous porn counterparts.
The Swap Tops
spelvini17 March 2014
Warning: Spoilers
There's bad (I'm not talking Andy Warhol's Bad, which utilizes style to make statements about bad movies like these), and then there's really bad, and ultimately it comes down to a matter of taste, and how a filmmaker uncovers his subject.
Director Joe Sarno cleverly understands the basic urge of the viewer and slowly reveals more and more of the relationships that develop within his narrative. This keeps this otherwise vapid piece of filmmaking afloat as the essential prurient interest that exist in all of us is satisfied as characters undress, and the flat-footed development of the plot moves toward its dénouement.
Static camera set-ups transfer a mind-numbing presentation from all the actors because the basic plasticity of the medium is not being used to make their performances and the subject matter better. The static camera does actually work well in some scenes in which the characters appear as vacant uninspired ciphers lost in a world of banality and seeking the only activity they can understand which will give their lives meaning.
The inability of the camera to move from its base reflects the inability if the characters to move within their own social levels. Sarno handles the stasis of his well-done black and white cinematography having characters enter into rooms with deep focus, and moving within the limited frame. The feeling of claustrophobia permeates scenes as sometimes as a many as six characters are boxed into the frame in medium close up further translating the idea of inertia weighing on this community.
This inert existence that is the world of the film has interesting moments of humor. When Mona and Les plan a night of love-making and Les falls asleep Mona shrieks and slaps him awake, and then storms away insulted. This is funny stuff and it appears that if director Sarno had been more aware of this natural inclination he could have made one great comic film is the vein of the kind of films John Waters or even Andy Warhol was making in the 60s.
Director Joe Sarno cleverly understands the basic urge of the viewer and slowly reveals more and more of the relationships that develop within his narrative. This keeps this otherwise vapid piece of filmmaking afloat as the essential prurient interest that exist in all of us is satisfied as characters undress, and the flat-footed development of the plot moves toward its dénouement.
Static camera set-ups transfer a mind-numbing presentation from all the actors because the basic plasticity of the medium is not being used to make their performances and the subject matter better. The static camera does actually work well in some scenes in which the characters appear as vacant uninspired ciphers lost in a world of banality and seeking the only activity they can understand which will give their lives meaning.
The inability of the camera to move from its base reflects the inability if the characters to move within their own social levels. Sarno handles the stasis of his well-done black and white cinematography having characters enter into rooms with deep focus, and moving within the limited frame. The feeling of claustrophobia permeates scenes as sometimes as a many as six characters are boxed into the frame in medium close up further translating the idea of inertia weighing on this community.
This inert existence that is the world of the film has interesting moments of humor. When Mona and Les plan a night of love-making and Les falls asleep Mona shrieks and slaps him awake, and then storms away insulted. This is funny stuff and it appears that if director Sarno had been more aware of this natural inclination he could have made one great comic film is the vein of the kind of films John Waters or even Andy Warhol was making in the 60s.
exciting and ever interesting relic of a most specific period of sexual social history
christopher-underwood12 January 2007
Not the non stop swaparama one might expect and the participants may show as much angst as flesh but this is still one hell of a movie. Just a little overlong but it boldly covers much ground and the 60's were barely swinging by this time. In the beginning it appears that the movie will be about the seduction of college kids by bored housewives but this keeps broadening out until we have a sleazy (mostly off screen) rape as seeming finale but no there is more. In the end we have (again, mostly off screen) gang rape and suggestions of incest. Heady stuff and for the most part all treated most seriously and if some of the performances lapse occasionally, the sexy mood, aided by simple yet effective spasmodic drumming sustains the movie throughout it's gradual spiral towards depravity. Well shot and for the most part well performed. An exciting and ever interesting relic of a most specific period of sexual social history. Fun too!
One of Sarno's Best
Michael_Elliott24 January 2018
The Swap and How They Make It (1966)
*** (out of 4)
A couple bored housewives constantly talk about how unhappy they are that their workaholic husbands don't pay them any attention. One day driving home they pass up a couple college boys who pay them a visit and before long both wives are having affairs. Soon this here has its own problems and they learn about a wife swap party.
THE SWAP AND HOW THEY MAKE IT is a winner from writer-director Joe Sarno. It's funny that Sarno has become a cult figure in the sexploitation genre even though his films pretty much stay away from the trappings of that genre. Sarno is a weird figure in film history because his movies aren't trashy enough to appeal to most sexploitation fans and they're not art enough for the highbrow critics to enjoy. That pretty much makes Sarno his own little genre and he's got some really bland movies but also some really good ones including this one.
The screenplay is certainly one of the strongest points here and especially when you consider that it keeps you glued to what's going on for 101-minutes. That's a long running time for this type of film but Sarno manages to hold your attention because all of the characters are interesting ones as is the situation that they're in. This is especially true for the wives who open up a door and instead of regretting it, both want more of it.
Another thing this has going for it are the performances. The entire cast are very good and believable in their roles including Stella Britton (Sheila Britt) and Celo Nova (Peggy Steffans). Another good thing is the wonderful B&W cinematography, which perfectly soaks up the atmosphere created by Sarno. Those wanting a lot of nudity or sex aren't really going to find that here as it's more melodrama than anything else but it's well-made and entertaining.
*** (out of 4)
A couple bored housewives constantly talk about how unhappy they are that their workaholic husbands don't pay them any attention. One day driving home they pass up a couple college boys who pay them a visit and before long both wives are having affairs. Soon this here has its own problems and they learn about a wife swap party.
THE SWAP AND HOW THEY MAKE IT is a winner from writer-director Joe Sarno. It's funny that Sarno has become a cult figure in the sexploitation genre even though his films pretty much stay away from the trappings of that genre. Sarno is a weird figure in film history because his movies aren't trashy enough to appeal to most sexploitation fans and they're not art enough for the highbrow critics to enjoy. That pretty much makes Sarno his own little genre and he's got some really bland movies but also some really good ones including this one.
The screenplay is certainly one of the strongest points here and especially when you consider that it keeps you glued to what's going on for 101-minutes. That's a long running time for this type of film but Sarno manages to hold your attention because all of the characters are interesting ones as is the situation that they're in. This is especially true for the wives who open up a door and instead of regretting it, both want more of it.
Another thing this has going for it are the performances. The entire cast are very good and believable in their roles including Stella Britton (Sheila Britt) and Celo Nova (Peggy Steffans). Another good thing is the wonderful B&W cinematography, which perfectly soaks up the atmosphere created by Sarno. Those wanting a lot of nudity or sex aren't really going to find that here as it's more melodrama than anything else but it's well-made and entertaining.
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