The Partnership (1972) User Reviews

For Bond Fans Only

[Michael_Elliott · 18 May 2010]

Partnership, The (1972)

** (out of 4)

A pretty straight-forward adult film has a few couples going to a house to mess around while a nerdy, good girl sits around refusing to take part in the action. Being an adult film, it's just a matter of time before she changes her mind. There's really not too much plot here but I guess that's to be expected since this here was clearly just meant for the grindhouse market. I guess the main draw this film will have today is it featuring cult actress Rene Bond (credits list her as Reni Bond) who appears here with her boyfriend Ric Lutze. Those wanting to see Bond in every type of "action" will get that shot here and you'll also notice some scars under her breast, which clearly means this was shot shortly after her breast implant surgery. None of the sex is really erotic but then again, perhaps it wasn't meant to be. Those wanting nothing more than sex are going to get it here as we get mostly girl-boy scenes until an eventual orgy (Bond and Lutze don't appear here).

Slipshod all-star porn

[lor_ · 12 September 2011]

Both the previous IMDb reviewer and the shill/fakir who wrote booklet notes for the After Hours video release missed the boat on THE PARTNERSHIP. This is an all-star, sloppily made porn programmer.

How folks can pretend to know anything about pornography and not recognize by sight several of the biggest early stars in the business is beyond me. The party line adhered to by both the "AHC Collector" and the low-IQ IMDb maven is that this is a Rene Bond movie, with Ric Lutze in tow. That's how they sell this junk nowadays, but both are merely supporting players, not shown to advantage here.

Instead, film concerns partners Rick Cassidy (how could anyone fail to recognize the early gay/straight XXX icon??) and Bill Scott, latter ailing or at least pretending to -introduced here with an ice pack on his head. Cassidy arrives at Bill's abode with secretary Becky Sharpe (also not recognized by these supposed porn "experts"), anxious to get Bill to sign liquidation papers to put an end to their company.

Film's slipshod, 1-take-only nature is evident early on, when Bill's wife Starlyn Simone addresses Cassidy and muffs her lines. Similarly, Lutze calls up a masseur to come over & massage his boss Scott, but calls the guy Charlie, when in fact Cassidy is Charlie.

Beyond this thin plot line, it's wall-to-wall sex, with giggly Lutze humping Bond (post-breasts enlargement surgery) for the umpteenth time, to show Sharpe how it's done. A newcomer (getting an "introducing" credit upfront) Joannie Bunns is effective servicing Scott in his bed. Her stage name apparently stems from her anal sex scene later in the picture, and she was impressive portraying Helen of Troy, no less, in a Becky Sharpe vehicle titled "JEANIE'S MAGIC BOX".

Cassidy makes love to Starlyn in another bedroom. Becky is playing solitaire, but eventually the prim & proper girl enters the bedroom, declaring "I'm tired of playing the old maid!" and joins Rick and Starlyn for a threesome. Fans should be pleased with Becky's Ally Sheedy-lookalike appearance here.

After Rick's money shot, the trio goes to the other bedroom for a climactic orgy.

Ruining the film for video fans is After Hours' usual gambit of removing much of the music track, afraid of copyright infringement (per the booklet notes). None of the other video companies (SWV, ABA, Gourmet, etc.) do this, but the result is to substitute 30-years-later boring synthesized music plus some lame dubbed-in-groans. This policy is both hypocritical and ineffectual, as shown here by retention of a lengthy infringing track from Jimmy Smith & Stanley Turrentine (recorded circa 1961) lifted from a classic Blue Note LP -theoretically EMI should sue the New Jersey critters. Making matters worse, THE PARTNERSHIP is presented in letterbox format, losing 20% or so of the image from an originally square (1.33: 1) porn movie.

Original soundtrack and closer to proper ratio are used on the Alpha Blue Archives edition, part of a four-movie DVD tribute to Bond.