Jennie: Wife/Child (1968)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Jennie is 'Lolita' and 'Candy' wrapped up in one ...!

Plot Keywords:

Female Nudity | Sex | Independent Film

Cast

Jack Lester	...	Albert Peckingpaw
Beverly Lunsford	...	Jennie Peckingpaw
Jim Reader	...	Mario Dingle
Virginia Wood	...	Lulu Belle
Richard Cowl	...	Doctor Hill
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Davie Allan	...	Himself (Singer) (uncredited)
Don Epperson	...	Singer in Bar (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Carl Cohen		(uncredited)
James Landis		(uncredited)

Produced by
James R. Enochs	....	producer
Angelo Grici	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Harley Hatcher

Cinematography by
Vilmos Zsigmond		(as William Zsigmond)

Production Management
Robert Carl Cohen	....	in charge of production

Music Department
Harley Hatcher	....	conductor
Michael Terr	....	composer: additional music (as Mischa Terr)

Production Companies

• Robert Carl Cohen Productions
• Talent Arts

Distributors

• Emerson Film Enterprises
• International Film Distributors (1969) (Canada)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (2003) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Robert Carl Cohen Productions

Soundtrack:

Mario's Theme

Halfway between rural roadshow "hicksploitation" and an Andy Warhol art film

This movie is alternately called "The Tender Grass" or "Jennie Wife/Child". While the first title is just strange, the second seems to connect it to the old rural roadshow "hicksploitation" movies like "Child Bride" and "Poor White Trash" where horny, slobbering hillbillies try to marry twelve-year-old girls. The female lead here though is actually twenty (and played by an actress who looks even older than that), so this is really more of a conventional sexploitation potboiler about a younger woman who is married to a much older dirt farmer, but lusts after his hunky but dimwitted farmhand (who is himself rooting around with the town tart).

Although the acting is not too great, all the roles are played fairly straight, but the goofy intertitles and even goofier songs suggest that the filmmakers themselves weren't taking this thing entirely seriously. It isn't ever exactly laugh-out-loud funny, but it seems to have the kind of wry, self-conscious irony of an Andy Warhol film. However, the great black-and-white cinematography by renowned Hungarian cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond is well above the level of either a typical roadshow flick OR a "Warhol factory" art film.

As a sexploitation flick it's pretty tame for 1968, not showing much more than one of the old roadshow films of the 40's--i.e. longshots of the cute little backside of the heroine as she skinny-dips in the local "waterin' hole" to the catchy tune of a song called "My Birtday Suit" (but at least she isn't twelve years old like the girl in "Child Bride"). I'm basically a sucker for any of these rural "hicksploitation" flicks, but I'd especially recommend this one for the incredible cinematography and because it's just so damn weird.