Maybe the ad for the movie pulled me in to watch it 2 or 3 times when it was new--Deep Throat and Singing in the Rain in one movie? It does have some funny moments, but I never once thought it was worth watching on video where it loses appeal on the small screen. Could it have been the live act promised to play at the same theater? Covered in shadows, that delivered little. The film has so many British characters. Richard Balla has a terrible fake accent and David Morris wears a fake bald cap on his long hair. There are maybe 3 good routine sex scenes built up with fancy photography and loud music, but the plot gets boring and unpleasant in the last third where you'll find zero. Mostly, it reminded me of my unhappy twenty something years, parking where I hoped nobody I knew saw me to watch in an empty house with 3 or 4 people in the back rows. The narrator at the start calls the two dancers "The Gaine Sisters" instead of the Kane sisters.
4 Reviews
Suzy goes to Hollywood (well NYC actually)
gavcrimson9 March 2006
A has to be see to be believed homage to Hollywood comedies of the 1950s that also happens to be an XXX rated porno flick, as the ads put it "if you liked Deep Throat and Singin' in the Rain you're gonna love Blonde Ambition". Directed by the infamous Amero Brothers who'd been making their own quirky brand of sex film, both straight and gay, since the early 60's, the Ameros somehow get away with marrying both genres rather wonderfully, as well as providing a showcase for the comedic talents of its two stars Dory Devon and Suzy Mandel.
"Dory Devon" is something of an enigma, possibly British, or at least able to do a convincing accent, and not a bad actress at all, yet appears to have no other film credits at least not under that name. Less of a mystery, Suzy Mandel had risen from being a Benny Hill girl to becoming one of Britain's top sex comedy actresses, before emigrating to the States in 1979. Suzy was considered such a box-office good luck charm that one film producer even went as far as naming a racehorse after her. Albeit a castrated male horse that its not unfair to suggest may have suffered from some gender confusion issues on account of being castrated and called "Suzy". Long legs aside, its hard to see the resemblance.
Blonde Ambition centers around the Kane sisters, a struggling British vaudevillian duo who have somehow found their way to performing at a rundown saloon in Coyote Fang, Wyoming. Candy Kane (Dory) has the brain cells, while Sugar Kane (Suzy) has the squeaky voice and one-liners, together they are . spectacularly bad. Their awful stage act consisting of bumping into each other level choreography, tuba playing and tuneless wailing of a song that ends with them proclaiming "up yours" to a clap free response. Seeking the big time the Kanes hop foot it to NYC, where among other things they become implicated in the disappearance of a priceless brooch, dress as drag queens in order to gatecrash a gay bar where Sugar exposing herself on stage causes a leatherman to faint, and embark on a film career culminating in them appearing in a porn remake of Gone With the Wind. Only for things go once again pear shaped when Sugar, a delightful combination of Monroe dizzy blonde ('Sugar Kane' being the name of the Monroe character in Some Like It Hot) and Suzy's own Playbirds/Benny Hill girl persona, has a 'blonde' moment and accidentally blows up the set, leaving a fuming director (Jamie Gillis) to shout through his megaphone "frankly my dear I don't give a damn, you're fired".
As Blonde Ambition is itself a hardcore film, the Kanes end up in several below the belt adventures as well, Candy is torn between the dashing Stephen (Eric Edwards) and mustachioed lothario Max (Wade Nichols). Sugar meanwhile, when she can work out of the difference between the front door and the broom cupboard, manages to seduce a gay neighbour ("just try and think of me as a man") and catch the attention of a swinging couple in an elevator. In by far the weirdest scene in the film, and of Suzy Mandel's entire career, the swinging couple's living room doubles as an ice rink, on which Sugar strips and ice skates at the same time before ending up in a threesome. It warrants a mention that Suzy used a body double for such hardcore scenes, and 'stunt' private parts and a women wearing a large, feature disguising blonde wig were on hand to relieve Suzy of the dirty work. Still her scenes with porn fixtures George Payne and David Morris are far more explicit than anything she ever got up to back home, and as her British films generally co-starred such the not quite in the same league male totty as Bob Todd and Alfie Bass maybe thats not a bad thing.
Campier than a row of pink tents full of gay men doing camp things, the episodic narrative is held together by some priceless narration "there's nothing like a riot in a fag bar and a night in the slammer to ensure show business immortality", and a storyline that has the Kanes pursued around NYC by Stephen's Aunt Sybil, a charity loving aristocrat in public, and expletive spewing gold digger in private marvelously played by Molly Malone seemingly as a combination of Edith Massey and Barbara Cartland.
Although the Amero's humour at its best when its also at its most bawdiest, and as a result several set-pieces like the Gone with the Wind gang bang have to be seen in the full version to be fully appreciated and some of the best lines, thinking especially of Sugar's remedy for "keeping the hornets away", are sadly unquotable here, Blonde Ambition actually works well as a straightforward comedy and reportedly had a life outside of porn finding success as a midnight movie and in a not quite hardcore, not quite softcore version prepared for cable TV. By rights it should have lead to a career in mainstream comedy for the Ameros, much as Polyester did for John Waters. Unfortunately their follow up film R.S.P.V, fails to recapture the same magic, leaving Blonde Ambition the Amero's crowning sex comedy moment.
For Suzy the film lead to several minor roles in an eclectic bunch of films, as well as a walk on in The Love Boat. Before she embarked on an American acting career, she had actually enrolled in a famous method acting school with disastrous results. When -in a scenario that wouldn't be out of place in Blonde Ambition- her attempts to portray the role of a wheel barrow resulted in an accident that left her with three slipped discs and one leg temporary shorter than the other. Given such calamities, maybe its just as well she eventually left acting, but we've always got stripping on ice to remember her by.
"Dory Devon" is something of an enigma, possibly British, or at least able to do a convincing accent, and not a bad actress at all, yet appears to have no other film credits at least not under that name. Less of a mystery, Suzy Mandel had risen from being a Benny Hill girl to becoming one of Britain's top sex comedy actresses, before emigrating to the States in 1979. Suzy was considered such a box-office good luck charm that one film producer even went as far as naming a racehorse after her. Albeit a castrated male horse that its not unfair to suggest may have suffered from some gender confusion issues on account of being castrated and called "Suzy". Long legs aside, its hard to see the resemblance.
Blonde Ambition centers around the Kane sisters, a struggling British vaudevillian duo who have somehow found their way to performing at a rundown saloon in Coyote Fang, Wyoming. Candy Kane (Dory) has the brain cells, while Sugar Kane (Suzy) has the squeaky voice and one-liners, together they are . spectacularly bad. Their awful stage act consisting of bumping into each other level choreography, tuba playing and tuneless wailing of a song that ends with them proclaiming "up yours" to a clap free response. Seeking the big time the Kanes hop foot it to NYC, where among other things they become implicated in the disappearance of a priceless brooch, dress as drag queens in order to gatecrash a gay bar where Sugar exposing herself on stage causes a leatherman to faint, and embark on a film career culminating in them appearing in a porn remake of Gone With the Wind. Only for things go once again pear shaped when Sugar, a delightful combination of Monroe dizzy blonde ('Sugar Kane' being the name of the Monroe character in Some Like It Hot) and Suzy's own Playbirds/Benny Hill girl persona, has a 'blonde' moment and accidentally blows up the set, leaving a fuming director (Jamie Gillis) to shout through his megaphone "frankly my dear I don't give a damn, you're fired".
As Blonde Ambition is itself a hardcore film, the Kanes end up in several below the belt adventures as well, Candy is torn between the dashing Stephen (Eric Edwards) and mustachioed lothario Max (Wade Nichols). Sugar meanwhile, when she can work out of the difference between the front door and the broom cupboard, manages to seduce a gay neighbour ("just try and think of me as a man") and catch the attention of a swinging couple in an elevator. In by far the weirdest scene in the film, and of Suzy Mandel's entire career, the swinging couple's living room doubles as an ice rink, on which Sugar strips and ice skates at the same time before ending up in a threesome. It warrants a mention that Suzy used a body double for such hardcore scenes, and 'stunt' private parts and a women wearing a large, feature disguising blonde wig were on hand to relieve Suzy of the dirty work. Still her scenes with porn fixtures George Payne and David Morris are far more explicit than anything she ever got up to back home, and as her British films generally co-starred such the not quite in the same league male totty as Bob Todd and Alfie Bass maybe thats not a bad thing.
Campier than a row of pink tents full of gay men doing camp things, the episodic narrative is held together by some priceless narration "there's nothing like a riot in a fag bar and a night in the slammer to ensure show business immortality", and a storyline that has the Kanes pursued around NYC by Stephen's Aunt Sybil, a charity loving aristocrat in public, and expletive spewing gold digger in private marvelously played by Molly Malone seemingly as a combination of Edith Massey and Barbara Cartland.
Although the Amero's humour at its best when its also at its most bawdiest, and as a result several set-pieces like the Gone with the Wind gang bang have to be seen in the full version to be fully appreciated and some of the best lines, thinking especially of Sugar's remedy for "keeping the hornets away", are sadly unquotable here, Blonde Ambition actually works well as a straightforward comedy and reportedly had a life outside of porn finding success as a midnight movie and in a not quite hardcore, not quite softcore version prepared for cable TV. By rights it should have lead to a career in mainstream comedy for the Ameros, much as Polyester did for John Waters. Unfortunately their follow up film R.S.P.V, fails to recapture the same magic, leaving Blonde Ambition the Amero's crowning sex comedy moment.
For Suzy the film lead to several minor roles in an eclectic bunch of films, as well as a walk on in The Love Boat. Before she embarked on an American acting career, she had actually enrolled in a famous method acting school with disastrous results. When -in a scenario that wouldn't be out of place in Blonde Ambition- her attempts to portray the role of a wheel barrow resulted in an accident that left her with three slipped discs and one leg temporary shorter than the other. Given such calamities, maybe its just as well she eventually left acting, but we've always got stripping on ice to remember her by.
All Singing ! All Dancing ! All...
Nodriesrespect10 September 2010
Quite possibly the most laugh out loud porn comedy ever made, running a close second to Radley Metzger's THE OPENING OF MISTY BEETHOVEN and this only because most of the sex isn't particularly stimulating (at least not in the, ahem, "traditional" sense as that aspect too provides ample fodder for your funny bone) nor was intended that way. It was the crowning achievement for the New England bred Amero brothers, two gay siblings whose cinematic credentials stretch all the way back to '60s sexploitation (BODY OF A FEMALE, THE LUSTING HOURS) before branching out into their own unique brand of hardcore with 1970's avant-garde oddity BACCHANALE and the flamboyantly funny DYNAMITE and EVERY INCH A LADY, both of which already extensively showcased their queer sensibilities. Still, nothing could prepare predominantly straight adult audiences for BLONDE AMBITION, a brazenly poof spoof of classic Hollywood musicals with big production numbers (well, as big as its reportedly $30,000 budget would allow anyway) alternating with intimate interludes that left little to the imagination.
The witty screenplay by Larue Watts, an Amero acolyte with a legit Broadway background, liberally borrows from GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES as it chronicles the rise to fame and fortune of the Kane sisters, arguably one of the worst vaudeville acts ever inflicted upon a paying audience (one taps while the other diligently plays the tuba), from their humble beginnings in Coyote Fang, Wyoming, right up to their becoming the toast of the Great White Way. Once the show's over, encores not being much of an option, dizzy Sugar (British soft-core siren Suzy Mandel) rushes off to the stable which doubles as their dressing room for a romp with her slow-witted cowpoke beau Luke (an early appearance by David Morris whose assurance as an actor would increase considerably over years to come) while level-headed Candy ("Dory Devon", actually a "proper" NY stage performer who would use a different name on each adult project she participated in, most notable among which Sam Weston's CONFESSIONS OF A WOMAN and ORIENTAL BABY SITTER) desperately tries to figure out a way for them to get out of this dump.
As luck would have it, aristocratic Stephen Carlisle III (Eric Edwards) and his faithful manservant Eric (Robert Kerman) just happened to be celebrating their good fortune at the bar after recovering the priceless Buckingham broach thrown down a mineshaft several generations ago. Taken with the Kane combo's ample attractions, they invite them over for drinks and small talk which concludes with the altogether startling revelation that Sugar possesses a dime store replica of the gem. As an aborted barroom brawl breaks out, naturally the two artifacts are unwittingly exchanged. While Stephen jets off to London to reunite his beloved aunt Sybil (a scene-stealing turn by the incomparable Molly Malone) with the family heirloom, the sisters have the run of his New York apartment as they attempt to secure employment.
Acquiring notoriety of sorts as apparently inseparable loop ladies, invariably teamed up with the comically vain Max (the late Wade Nichols, showing seldom explored comic talents), they get their big break as stars of a priceless GONE WITH THE WIND porn remake as Southern Belles (toothsome Victoria Corsaut from Chuck Vincent's VISIONS among them) are duly ravished by Confederate soldiers to the barked orders of their swishy director, a rare yet highly effective non-sex performance from the recently deceased, much-missed Jamie Gillis. Watch for blink-or-miss stud appearances by the likes of Peter Andrews and Pepe Valentine (incidentally, the featured star's banana cream pie combo from INSIDE JENNIFER WELLES) as well as future Pussyman David Christopher during this particularly accomplished sequence.
Intrigue abounds as Sugar loans drag queen neighbor Bill (acid-tongued character actor Kurt Mann's standout screen work) the broach, blissfully unaware of its value, for a fag bar fund-raiser at a dive all too aptly called The Pitts. Informed by an irate Lady Sybil, who caught the Concorde across the pond with her nephew in tow, Candy and Sugar end up posing as transvestites to gain access to the men only club although an overly enthusiastic striptease quickly blows their cover. A mass riot involving most main characters ensues with the lot of them winding up behind bars as a slew of last minute revelations assure the Kanes of their destiny the opening scene hinted at.
Way more fun than the proverbial barrel of monkeys with consistently side-splitting one liners exceptionally well-delivered by the two appealing actresses. The initial plan was to cast two Brits in the parts, with Heather Deeley (from Derek Ford's amazing DIVERSIONS) bowing out at the last minute because of boyfriend problems, but Devon proved a real bargain and essays a mighty convincing Blighty accent to boot. Mandel's cooperation could only be secured under the agreement that she wasn't to perform any actual hardcore so a (fairly obvious) body double was employed to fill the position as it were. As stated earlier, sex isn't really the deciding factor as to the film's greatness anyway, Devon's double exposure fantasy shower solo (not the work of Roberta Findlay, who shot the bulk of the movie, but rather Larry Revene who supplied most of the explicit insert footage after the fact) about as close to genuine eroticism the action ever gets. On DVD, the only way to go is the resplendently restored 2 disc "Platinum Elite Collector's Edition" from Video-X-Pix which contains both hard and soft versions along with the original theatrical trailer and two separate commentary tracks by John Amero (Lem died from AIDS in 1989) and Jamie Gillis as well as a "video tribute" to the latter which amounts to little more than a shameless plug for the company's admittedly impressive back catalog.
The witty screenplay by Larue Watts, an Amero acolyte with a legit Broadway background, liberally borrows from GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES as it chronicles the rise to fame and fortune of the Kane sisters, arguably one of the worst vaudeville acts ever inflicted upon a paying audience (one taps while the other diligently plays the tuba), from their humble beginnings in Coyote Fang, Wyoming, right up to their becoming the toast of the Great White Way. Once the show's over, encores not being much of an option, dizzy Sugar (British soft-core siren Suzy Mandel) rushes off to the stable which doubles as their dressing room for a romp with her slow-witted cowpoke beau Luke (an early appearance by David Morris whose assurance as an actor would increase considerably over years to come) while level-headed Candy ("Dory Devon", actually a "proper" NY stage performer who would use a different name on each adult project she participated in, most notable among which Sam Weston's CONFESSIONS OF A WOMAN and ORIENTAL BABY SITTER) desperately tries to figure out a way for them to get out of this dump.
As luck would have it, aristocratic Stephen Carlisle III (Eric Edwards) and his faithful manservant Eric (Robert Kerman) just happened to be celebrating their good fortune at the bar after recovering the priceless Buckingham broach thrown down a mineshaft several generations ago. Taken with the Kane combo's ample attractions, they invite them over for drinks and small talk which concludes with the altogether startling revelation that Sugar possesses a dime store replica of the gem. As an aborted barroom brawl breaks out, naturally the two artifacts are unwittingly exchanged. While Stephen jets off to London to reunite his beloved aunt Sybil (a scene-stealing turn by the incomparable Molly Malone) with the family heirloom, the sisters have the run of his New York apartment as they attempt to secure employment.
Acquiring notoriety of sorts as apparently inseparable loop ladies, invariably teamed up with the comically vain Max (the late Wade Nichols, showing seldom explored comic talents), they get their big break as stars of a priceless GONE WITH THE WIND porn remake as Southern Belles (toothsome Victoria Corsaut from Chuck Vincent's VISIONS among them) are duly ravished by Confederate soldiers to the barked orders of their swishy director, a rare yet highly effective non-sex performance from the recently deceased, much-missed Jamie Gillis. Watch for blink-or-miss stud appearances by the likes of Peter Andrews and Pepe Valentine (incidentally, the featured star's banana cream pie combo from INSIDE JENNIFER WELLES) as well as future Pussyman David Christopher during this particularly accomplished sequence.
Intrigue abounds as Sugar loans drag queen neighbor Bill (acid-tongued character actor Kurt Mann's standout screen work) the broach, blissfully unaware of its value, for a fag bar fund-raiser at a dive all too aptly called The Pitts. Informed by an irate Lady Sybil, who caught the Concorde across the pond with her nephew in tow, Candy and Sugar end up posing as transvestites to gain access to the men only club although an overly enthusiastic striptease quickly blows their cover. A mass riot involving most main characters ensues with the lot of them winding up behind bars as a slew of last minute revelations assure the Kanes of their destiny the opening scene hinted at.
Way more fun than the proverbial barrel of monkeys with consistently side-splitting one liners exceptionally well-delivered by the two appealing actresses. The initial plan was to cast two Brits in the parts, with Heather Deeley (from Derek Ford's amazing DIVERSIONS) bowing out at the last minute because of boyfriend problems, but Devon proved a real bargain and essays a mighty convincing Blighty accent to boot. Mandel's cooperation could only be secured under the agreement that she wasn't to perform any actual hardcore so a (fairly obvious) body double was employed to fill the position as it were. As stated earlier, sex isn't really the deciding factor as to the film's greatness anyway, Devon's double exposure fantasy shower solo (not the work of Roberta Findlay, who shot the bulk of the movie, but rather Larry Revene who supplied most of the explicit insert footage after the fact) about as close to genuine eroticism the action ever gets. On DVD, the only way to go is the resplendently restored 2 disc "Platinum Elite Collector's Edition" from Video-X-Pix which contains both hard and soft versions along with the original theatrical trailer and two separate commentary tracks by John Amero (Lem died from AIDS in 1989) and Jamie Gillis as well as a "video tribute" to the latter which amounts to little more than a shameless plug for the company's admittedly impressive back catalog.
Extraordinary X-rated rags to riches epic
fertilecelluloid11 March 2006
Warning: Spoilers
What an amazing achievement was John and Lem Amero's "Blonde Ambition", a hardcore rags to riches epic that represented a giant leap for the X-rated industry. For mine, it was the only porn film ever made (at the time) that presented a convincing argument that the porn industry and Hollywood could share a bed and perhaps a marriage. "The Opening of Misty Beethoven" was another attempt to make a cross-over picture, but its mainstream credibility was sabotaged by a misogynistic streak. From a pornographic perspective, that's what gave the film its sleazy edge, but it still alienated non-porn audiences. "Blonde Ambition", on the other hand, is a campy comedy first and porn film second. Handsomely shot by Roberta Findlay, a seasoned porn cinematographer and horror director (the nasty "Tenement"), the film follows the trials and tribulation of vaudevillian-style song and dance duo The Kane Sisters (ex-Benny Hill girl Suzy Mandel and Dory Devon) as their desire to get out of Smalltown USA takes the naive lasses to New York on the dime of millionaire playboy Eric Edwards and his pal Robert Kerman ("Cannibal Holocaust").
The girls get involved with a series of men and various off-Broadway productions -- the most notable becomes a "Gone With The Wind"-style orgy that has to be seen to be believed. Watching the ditzy Mandel jumping from one bed to another is a sheer joy. She is a ball of energy and her sex scenes are cheery and erotic. The erotic quotient, in fact, is high throughout because the Amero boys focus on how enjoyable sex can be, and everybody appears to be having such a great time that you just want to jump in there and lap some of that fun up yourself.
The song and dance numbers are staged with great affection and professionalism, and the original music score, by Lem Amero, is extraordinary. From the campy narration to the heavy doses of irony, the film reminded me a lot of Russ Meyer epics such as "Supervixens" and "Beyond the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens".
The cast are a who's who of the New York porn scene including George Payne, Jamie Gillis, John Christopher and Wade Nichols. The camera assistant was Larry Revene, who later forged a successful career as a cinematographer working with luminaries such as Chuck Vincent.
I don't know what the budget was, but the film is an amazing, accomplished piece of X-rated history anchored by an intelligent, witty screenplay and produced by truly talented people, not hacks with access to a cheap video cameras and edit suites.
The late, great Benny Hill would have approved.
The girls get involved with a series of men and various off-Broadway productions -- the most notable becomes a "Gone With The Wind"-style orgy that has to be seen to be believed. Watching the ditzy Mandel jumping from one bed to another is a sheer joy. She is a ball of energy and her sex scenes are cheery and erotic. The erotic quotient, in fact, is high throughout because the Amero boys focus on how enjoyable sex can be, and everybody appears to be having such a great time that you just want to jump in there and lap some of that fun up yourself.
The song and dance numbers are staged with great affection and professionalism, and the original music score, by Lem Amero, is extraordinary. From the campy narration to the heavy doses of irony, the film reminded me a lot of Russ Meyer epics such as "Supervixens" and "Beyond the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens".
The cast are a who's who of the New York porn scene including George Payne, Jamie Gillis, John Christopher and Wade Nichols. The camera assistant was Larry Revene, who later forged a successful career as a cinematographer working with luminaries such as Chuck Vincent.
I don't know what the budget was, but the film is an amazing, accomplished piece of X-rated history anchored by an intelligent, witty screenplay and produced by truly talented people, not hacks with access to a cheap video cameras and edit suites.
The late, great Benny Hill would have approved.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews