Tendre et perverse Emanuelle (1973)

Director:

Jesus Franco

Writer:

Jesus Franco

Release Date:

1973 (France)

Genre:

Thriller

Plot Keywords:

Lesbianism | Lesbian Sex | Female Nudity | Sex

Cast

Norma Kastel	...	Barbara Orst (as Norma Castell)
Jack Taylor	...	Michel Dreville
Lina Romay	...	Greta Douglas
Alice Arno	...	Yvonne
Pierre Taylou	...	Vishma
Monique Van Linden	...	Barbara's Secretary
Roger Germanes	...	Policeman
Richard Kennedy
Alberto Dalbés	...	Gordon Douglas
Richard Bigotini	...	Commissaire
Raymond Hardy	...	Mathias
Carmen Carbonell	...	Gordon's Mother
Dan van Husen	...	Inspecteur Siodmak
Antonio Mayans	...	Richard Scary
Susana Taber
Verónica Llimera
Pierre Quérut
Gilda Arancio

Directed by
Jesus Franco		(as J.P. Johnson)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jesus Franco		(as A.L. Mariaux)

Original Music by
Daniel White

Cinematography by
Alain Hardy
Stephen Rosenfeld

Film Editing by
Claude Gros

Camera and Electrical Department
Raymond Hardy	....	still photographer (as Ramon Ardid)

Distributors

• X-Rated Kultvideo (Germany) (VHS)

Also Known As:

"Tender and Perverse Emanuelle" - USA (dubbed version)

Runtime:

UK:75 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:16 | UK:18

Watch at your own peril

This is not an official French "Emmanuelle" film, nor is it an unofficial "Emanuelle" ("Black Emanuelle") Italian copycat from the series created by Albertino Bitti and Joe D'Amato; it is a Franco film all the way with the title slapped on only as an afterthought. Unfortunately though, it's just not a very good Franco film. It's really a murder mystery where the main character, an unhappily married pianist (alternately called both Barbara and Emanuelle) is found dead at the bottom of a cliff at the very beginning of the movie--a victim of either suicide or murder--and it's up to her shrink (Jack Taylor) and sister-in-law (Lina Romay)to investigate.

Truth be told, I was drawn to this movie by some tantalizing stills of Lina Romay wearing some very 70's-style sunglasses (and pretty much nothing else), the version I saw of this movie though was pretty skimpy on the nude scenes of both Romay and another equally beautiful Franco regular, Alice Arno. There were only some lesbian scenes between Romay and the more obscure lead actress who played "Barbara/Emanuelle", but they were pretty obscure in a different sense--I could barely make them out. I suspect this problem will be taken care of when, like pretty much the entire Franco back catalogue, this movie gets an official DVD release. A more permanent problem is that it simply does not have a very compelling plot and it seems to be a pretty lackluster effort by Franco and everyone else involved. It's better than the execrable WIP films Franco and Romay made right after, but definitely a step down from the interesting stuff Franco was doing in the late 60's and early 70's. See it if you've got a sunglasses (or Lina Romay) fetish, but for everyone else, watch it at your own peril.