Bella (1980)

Fetching and eager teenage lass Bella catches her mother Susan having an adulterous tryst with next door neighbor Tom while her father Bob is away on a business trip. Bella confronts Tom ... See full summary »

Director:

Alexander Kubelka

Writer:

Alexander Kubelka

Stars:

Eric Edwards, Jake Teague, Diana Sloan

Cast

Cast overview:
Eric Edwards	...	Tom
Jake Teague	...	Bob - Bella's Father
Diana Sloan	...	Susan - Bella's Mother (as Dana Stone)
Arcadia Lake	...	Patty
Tracy Adams	...	Bella

Storyline

Fetching and eager teenage lass Bella catches her mother Susan having an adulterous tryst with next door neighbor Tom while her father Bob is away on a business trip. Bella confronts Tom and demands that he makes love to her the same way he did with Susan. Complications ensure when Bella and Susan find themselves in a fierce rivalry over which woman will Tom to herself.

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Plot Keywords:

wagner's ride of the valkyries | slow motion scene | sex by fireplace | love triangle | threesome | 

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Genres:

Adult | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

X

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bella e o Sexo

Filming Locations:

New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

J. Marc - Rainbow Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min 79 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although credited on screen only as cameraman, Carter Stevens - better known as a director and producer in his own right - claims to have been this film's director of photography. Since the film contains no director of photography credit and since Stevens' credit as cameraman appears quite prominently in the head credits, it seems entirely credible that he was in fact the film's d.p.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Tom: Oh, yes!
Susan - Bella's Mother: No, I can't. No.
Tom: Susan, it's alright.
Susan - Bella's Mother: No. Bella's coming home.
Tom: She won't be home for a half an hour. Come on, kiss me.

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Connections

Referenced in The Dark Side of Porn: Debbie Does Dallas Uncovered (2005)

User Reviews

Romantic porn classic -needs to be seen

No idea why the classic XXX film BELLA has been forgotten -it is definitely worth rediscovering. IMDb has it dated as released in 1980, but the Arrow DVD bears a copyright date of 1974, agreeing with the year listed in Alan Goble's ground-breaking movie index book.

Confusion may have come about due to the title role being played by beautiful Tracy Adams -she is not the famous porn star of that name (I'm submitting a fix to IMDb right now). Both are beautiful women but do not even vaguely resemble each other, as this Tracy is nearly six inches shorter than the famous Tracey (please watch BELLA and see for yourself). I suspect that since Tracey would have been underage at the time someone has altered the film's date erroneously.

Credited to writer-director Alexander Kubelka and scored by a legitimate composer, BELLA is an atmospheric romantic drama that perhaps is too artsy for the mainstream porn consumer of today, or 1974 for that matter. At the time my favorite hardcore film was Damiano's MEMORIES WITHIN MISS AGGIE, which like BELLA shows the influence of great filmmakers like Ingmar Bergman.

Or closer to the point, a craftsmanship recalling Joe Sarno's many excellent soft-core dramas. This comparison is interesting since Kubelka uses the same approach but includes XXX content, while Sarno stubbed his toe and cranked out many horrible hardcore features, apparently unable or unwilling to extend his scope to take explicit sex seriously (Russ Meyer was another artist who completely eschewed hardcore pornography).

Simple and effective story begins with young Bella seeing her mom (odd looking but sexy twin actress Diana Sloan beginning her career without sis Denise in tow) humping neighbor Tom (Sarno regular Eric Edwards), while daddy (porn's favorite old guy Jake Teague) is away on business. Bella's reaction is unexpected: after dad returns home and dutifully humps his wife, Bella visits Tom and asks him to service her the way he did her old lady. Given that Tracy Adams as Bella is a fresh young beauty, he complies, setting the melodrama into motion.

As photographed by Carter Stevens, not usually associated with romantic movies, BELLA is quite beautiful to watch, both the star and the picture. Its atmosphere is enhanced by the score, which only gets silly when lapsing into "The RIde of the Valkyries" to over-hype the climax.

Plot development is engrossing: Bella's scheming to win Tom's affections away from her mom, while also maintaining a lesbian relationship with her BFF Patty (Arcadia Lake). The fact that Lake was Edwards' real-life lover adds to the bait & switch interest of this 5-character chamber drama.

Kubelka even manages to effectively inject a scene of b&d wherein Bella handcuffs Tom at gunpoint and forces him to watch in frustration as she makes love to Patty. A later twist of mom & daughter surprisingly agreeing to share Tom between them is a forced gimmick, but leads to the film's very well-executed incest finale. Sloan acting with her sister built an entire career around appearing in incest movies, but this one is different dealing with the intergenerational rather than sibling variety.