The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington (1977) User Reviews

Happy Hooker, Chapter two.

[Captain_Couth · 3/10 · 22 June 2004]

Happy Hooker Goes to Washington (1977) was the best of the "Happy Hooker" trilogy (but that's not saying much). This time around, "The Happy Hooker" is portrayed by Joey Heatherton (who's steaming hot in this picture and the best of the bunch). This time around the "World's famous Madame" takes her act to Washington D.C. There she meets one of Hollywood's top ten mack-daddies, Mr. George Hamilton who co-stars as a Washington insider.

The film tries not to be sexy or "adult" but more campy. Joey Heatherton looks good and makes a very welcomed screen presence. The movie is okay. It's not great by any means but it's a definite improvement over the first film. The film (like

many during this time period) is extremely dated and doesn't hold very well over the past twenty some odd years. Great film if you're in the mood for some campy fun. Other than that I wouldn't go out of my way looking for a copy. The final chapter to the Happy Hooker trilogy is "The Happy Hooker goes to Hollywood".

Recommended for fans of the genre or for Happy Hooker completists.

B

Her patriotic duty

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 2 February 2015]

Joey Heatherton takes the place of Lynn Redgrave in using the name of the famous Xaviera Hollander as the Happy Hooker. Joey's in some serious trouble, she's being held up as an example of the moral decay in America. A Senate subcommittee consisting of David White, Ray Walston, Phil Foster, and Jack Carter is holding hearings on that issue and Heatherton is her star witness.

But often one hand of the government doesn't know what the other is doing. At the same time she's being pilloried in this Senate committee, the CIA wants her to seduce an Arab sheik played by Jerry Fischer. If only handling Osama Bin-Laden was this easy. Heatherton is nothing if not a patriot though and her duty is clear.

In the end the sheik and Heatherton come to a meeting of minds that solves all their problems.

The film is dopey and God only knows what a whole lot of recognizable faces were doing in this thing. But it's also kind of fun. In fact it would take more than a dozen years before topics like these were discussed in the Halls of Congress. I refer to the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings.

But if you're loving large female breasts, this film is for you.

Guilty Pleasures

[TonyDood · 4/10 · 15 March 2008]

Who thought the world needed a sequel to the original "Happy Hooker" film? Was the first one really that popular? Guess you had to be there. History tells us this movie was made at the tail end of the sexual revolution, ground zero in the disco era, and it shows--I can't imagine anyone being shocked by this turkey. It's also a true bridge between the first film, which was sexless TV-movie camp, and the third one, which was mindlessly dull soft-core.

Xaviera Hollander, famous hooker and now magazine magnate (oh sure) gets summoned to Washington for a trial about indecency involving...well, does it really matter? I've seen this film about 20 times since I was a kid and it would play on cable and I still couldn't tell you what it's "about." The first half is best and I usually turn it off about the time Xaviera gets kidnapped by Billy Barty (don't ask). The draw of the first half makes it all worthwhile to me, it's just berserk: Rip Taylor screaming and throwing fake snow around while photographing a topless extra from "Jesus Christ Superstar." Joey Heatherton looking beautiful and probably stoned out of her gourd, trying to act sexy and free but appearing a tad confused as to what she's accomplishing by being in this film (doesn't look like it helped her career much). A host of has-been 50's and 60's TV stars with bloodshot eyes doing cameos (Ray Walston? George Hamilton??). Bad 70's costumes and set designs, strange editing/foleying choices and enough teen-age-humor sex puns to fill a blow-up sex doll. Which is not to say it isn't entertaining--it is, I still laugh at the commercial parodies and the ding-bat sexpot stenographer who has trouble spelling a certain very naughty word (by the way...DO you hyphenate it, I wonder?)

But it's not sexy, just fyi. Despite a preponderance of exposed breasts, it's very like the first film, all innocent fun, the sex is at the level of a geeky teenager, which I was when I saw this, so it suited me fine. The second half is dull and disjointed; Xaviera has to seduce a stereo-typed Middle Eastern character and everything falls apart--they either ran out of money or everyone was zonked on drugs by the time they wrapped shooting. It just literally runs out of steam and simply stops at about the 90 minute mark.

I will always have a fond place in my heart (or somewhere) for Xaviera and her filmed exploits and so I'm glad this dumb film exists, but if you want titillation or even good exploitation you'll have to keep looking. Oh, and the new DVD transfer is absolutely stunning--talk about polishing a...well, never-mind...

Horrible.....

[gibbog · 1/10 · 11 May 2004]

The first "Happy Hooker" movie was actually watchable. It kept your interest fairly evenly. As for this piece of trash, it was not all that interesting, and was very horribly acted. You can't even value it for the camp value, or write it off as "well it was made in 1977". Cheesy story, and as I said the acting was less than amateur. The scenes with "The Shiek" were embarrassing, and the perpetually tanned George Hamilton as Xaviera Hollander's lawyer was awful. Billy Barty as a vertically-challanged CIA agent was just wrong. Harold Sakata was billed as Harold "Odd Job" Sakata, and his character was just as the credit suggests. Joey Heatherton looked great, but that's about it. For a film with the words "Happy Hooker" in the title, one would expect to see more nudity. Minor titilation wrapped around one badly-made movie. 0 stars out of 5.

Pretty Vacant

[gavin6942 · 5/10 · 27 August 2015]

The world's most famous madame (Joey Heatherton) is called to Washington to testify before Congress.

If you are looking for a high-class film or something artsy, you might want to look or something that does not include "happy hooker" in the title. This is basically one tasteless joke after another, and an ongoing parade of topless women. (Not many nude men, but that just goes to show you what was considered acceptable in the 1970s.) This seems like a good movie to watch with some friends and get drunk with. By no means do I think it deserves the low rating it has on IMDb. While not a great movie, it is too harsh to call it a bad movie.

Another happy hooker

[BandSAboutMovies · 3/10 · 21 August 2022]

"She served her country... the only way she knew how!"

Lynn Redgrave? Out.

Joey Heatherton? In.

World-famous prostitute Xaviera Hollander is called to testify in front of the United States Congress for an indecency trial, which means that we're about to get tons of cameos as senators, like Phil Foster from Laverne and Shirley as Senator Krause, David White from Bewitched as Senator Rawlings, Ray Walston as Senator Sturges and Jack Carter as Senator Caruso. Really, this movie was cast by the 70s, as Billy Barty, George Hamilton, Rip Taylor, Joe E. Ross, Harold "Oddjob" Sakata, Edy Williams and Larry Storch are all in the cast. So is Cisse Cameron, the wife of Reb Brown!

What are we to say to Sydney Lassick and Louisa Moritz, who just two years before were both in the Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and now were together again in a softcore sex comedy? That's Hollywood?

Cannon must have had a deal with director William A. Levey because they also picked up his Slumber Party '57 and later Lightning the White Stallion. Writer Robert Kaufman also wrote Love At First Bite, Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs and Freebie and the Bean. Barney Cohen, his uncredited co-writer, was the man who created the TV series Forever Knight. He also wrote Killer Party, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter and was the executive consultant for the Sabrina the Teenage Witch TV series.

Goofy spoof of Washington investigating sexual misconduct.

[TxMike · 17 June 2015]

Joey Heatherton and I are almost the same age, I clearly remember when we were both in our 20s back in the 1960s and early 1970s, and how to me she seemed the most perfect embodiment of a cute girl who could sing and dance and with a gorgeous figure. My what I would have given back then to just talk to her. But alas we traveled in completely different worlds.

So now, via the magic of Netflix streaming movies, I can see her. This movie can never be mistaken for a really good movie, but taken as it is, a silly and sexy spoof of Washington hearings on sexual misconduct, it is much better than its low rating would suggest.

Joey Heatherton plays the real Xaviera Hollander who quit her day job to become a high-priced call girl then madame. However the whole story is fictional and the characters are fictional. The whole idea is that she has been called before a Congressional committee that deals with censorship in TV and movies, and they want to get to the bottom of alleged sexual misconduct.

George Hamilton is her lawyer, Ward Thompson, and several of the high-profile Congressmen are played by veterans Ray Walston, Jack Carter, and Phil Foster. Nothing in this movie is to be taken seriously except maybe a jab at some puritan attitudes. In the end Xaviera shows up with several call girls who had actual sessions with the various Congressmen, this throws off their hunt.

Many scenes seem somewhat arbitrary, and many to expose nicely formed female breasts, overall it is a corny movie. But for me it was a nice chance to see Joey Heatherton in just about every scene. She sure was a cutie pie.

Amusingly lowbrow sequel

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 31 May 2010]

This is a rare example of a sequel being an improvement on the first film because it's a lot more rowdy and explicit than the disappointingly chaste original. Granted, we ain't talking award worthy celluloid work of art here, but this cheerfully silly nonsense nonetheless entertains due to William A. Levey's competent direction, a constant brisk pace, a blithely bawdy tone (the racy TV commercial parodies in particular are absolutely sidesplitting!), a lively and swinging get-down groovy score, a bevy of beautiful women who include Edy Williams, Louisa Moritz (as ditsy aspiring tennis player Natalie Nussbaum), "Playboy" Playmates Pamela Zinszer and Bonnie Large, celebrity astrologer Joyce Jillson, the ever-delicious Marilyn Joi, and Cissy Cameron as air-headed court stenographer Miss Goodbody, and, of course, plenty of tasty female nudity. The adorable Joey Heatherton gives a sunny and vivacious performance as the sassy and vampy madam Xaviera Hollander, who's forced to testify before Congress after being charged with engaging in indecent acts that threaten the moral fabric of our country. George Hamilton is likewise solid and likable as Xaviera's smooth and hunky attorney Ward Thompson. The rest of the cast have a ball with their broad roles, with especially enthusiastic contributions by Ray Walston as the uptight Senator Sturges, Jack Carter as the gruff Senator Caruso, Billy Barty as a wacky CIA agent who gives Xaviera a special -- ahem! - "undercover" assignment, Larry Storch as lecherous tennis coach Robby Boggs, Sydney Lassick as a wimpy TV censor, Rip Taylor as a jolly photographer, and Harold Sakata sending up his signature part as Oddjob as evil Oriental baddie Wong. A total raunchy hoot.

Underrated

[rgcustomer · 7/10 · 28 September 2008]

I'm not sure how this gets such a low rating. Only 2.1? I've seen a LOT of worse movies. This one actually has a plot, some lighthearted humour, and (if you like them) lots of breasts. Not a great film, but not bad either. And I think it has a lot to say about our current times, not just the era it is from. This movie could not be made today because nobody with a recognizable name would dare be in it. I recognize there are serious films today that even go so far as to include actual sex to make their points, but nothing is as satirical as this, nothing pokes fun at those who need to be poked at. There are also films like A Dirty Shame which try to be funny, but they all seem to fail because they don't really believe in their own premise, and pull back. Anyway, I found this film enjoyable and refreshing.

How Sexy Can You Be?

[FORREST136 · 2 May 2001]

Joey Heatherton a sex kitten from the 60"s turns in a great performance as Xavier Hollander (the happy hooker) ! As the great tagline suggests "She served her country the only way she could", Joey makes your blod boil without taking off her clothes as in todays films! This gem of a movie is not available on video but is occasionally shown on cable! Catch it if you can!

A Superb Performance by Joey Heatherton In Landmark Film

[jlthornb51 · 9/10 · 16 June 2015]

Director William Levy's film based upon the exploits of Xaviera Hollander and from an insightful script by screen veteran Robert Kaufman. A cultural touchstone of America's Sexual Revolution, this film features an all star cast, including George Hamilton and Ray Walston in excellent supporting roles. It is, however, Joey Heatherton who gives what is nothing less than the performance of a lifetime as The Happy Hooker. She is superb in the role, funny, bright, engaging, and stunningly sexy. There is also subtle pathos in her work, reflecting a certain existential uncertainty that she artfully brings to her portrayal. This is indeed Ms. Heatherton's film and certainly her talent that overall sustains it. It also is an important statement regarding profound changes in the moral view of a nation and an incisive look into a time of massive societal transformations. An under-appreciated and often overlooked film, this remains one of the landmark motion pictures of the era.

This movie is no zirconia!

[tyork97624 · 19 July 2001]

Forrest was right, this movie is a real gem. A diamond waiting to be unearthed by real movie fans. The performance by Joey Heatherton is so on target, it is a shame that it was overlooked by the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences. The supporting performances deserve equal attention! Why were there no sequels ever made? This is a real moneymaker!

"I'm Just An Honest Hooker Looking For A Little Peace!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 17 May 2021]

In THE HAPPY HOOKER GOES TO WASHINGTON, the title character, Xaviera Hollander (Joey Heatherton) is going about her daily work, unaware that senate hearings are being convened to look into "sexual excesses in America".

Meanwhile, photographer, Rip Taylor, in his best fiberglass wig, takes pictures of call girls.

Next, we're off to an extremely bland orgy, where Ms. Hollander is subpoenaed to testify before the senate. Much 1970's-style, very creaky humor follows. When Xaviera struts onto Capitol Hill, she finds herself up against the self-righteous, hypocritical perverts who turn the wheels of government.

Cue the naked flashbacks.

Not that this movie has to have an actual point to it, but just what the hell is going on? Watching this is like having been slipped a drug that causes sensuality to be insufferably dull!

FACTS LEARNED FROM THIS FILM: #1- Joey Heatherton is hot enough to boil the Mediterranean Sea! #2- The disco era must not have been as fun as it's purported to have been!

WARNING: Watching this movie may cause your skull to splinter outwards like a grenade!...