"The Dark Side of Porn" Debbie Does Dallas Uncovered (2005)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Francis Hanly

TV Series:

"The Dark Side of Porn" (2005)

Original Air Date:

27 April 2005 (Season 1, Episode 3)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

A look at the making of the film Debbie Does Dallas and the mystery surrounding Bambi Woods. |

Plot Keywords:

Porn Industry | Behind The Scenes | Pornography Documentary | Female Full Frontal Nudity | FBI

Cast

Bob Burge	...	Himself
Robert Burge	...	Himself (as Bob Burge)
Robin Byrd	...	Herself
Jim Clark	...	Himself - Interviewee
A.J. Cohen	...	Himself
Eric Edwards	...	Himself (as Rob Everett)
Dan Hanks	...	Himself
Francis Hanly	...	Narrator (voice)
Bill Kelly	...	Himself
Robert Kerman	...	Himself
Pat Livingstone	...	Himself (as Patrick Livingstone)
Herschel Savage	...	Himself (as Herschel Cohen)
Bambi Woods	...	Herself (archive footage)

Runtime:

47 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:TV-MA

Filming Locations:

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Company:

Boomerang

Quotes:

Bill Kelly: He suffered a heart attack and dropped dead on the spot. Lucky for us.

Movie Connections:

References Car Wash (1976)

No new news on the porno front

What was probably the last "big" news "erotic" film before video took over and the porno industry went where it belongs, on the home VCR, Curse of Debbie Does Dallas could have made an interesting jumping point for a discussion on the porno industry, the country that supports it and the psychology that drives it.

Instead we are given yet another "dregs of humanity" portrait that's been done before. A telling point is that the "moral" voice of the film is given to the FBI agent who tells of his disdain for erotic films several times. Granted that the man spent years chasing the criminals who ran the industry but his position is the easy way out. Actually the story of his exploits, which are very interesting, have been done elsewhere in more detail. A strange point is when he tries to categorized which type of child pornography "really" bothers him. Yes, the porno industry is a sad, sleazy place but we know that already. What we need to know is what drives it, why do people hate it yet spend billions of dollars to get the product. Why is it a shameful place to work for all but a few uninhibited people?

Questions that come up are ignored so the film can focus on the shame and misery and exploitation of the performers. The documentary spends time on "all" the performers who died, implying that they either overdosed or committed suicide while giving no real statistical evidence that the rates are higher then in the general population. Possibly it is but we need to see some real evidence not anecdotal comments from the interviewees. "R. Bolla" seems like a sad case until you check out how many porno films he has done. How can someone do dozens of porno films over the span of a decade and then wonder why the "normal" entertainment industry doesn't want anything to do with him. Why are people bigoted against him and why is he unaware of the position he put himself into? More questions unasked. When the only actress interviewed, Robin Byrd, says that she has nothing to be ashamed of, the statement is just left there. Most of the other interviews are interesting on their own but don't add up in the film. It would have been interesting to explore why some of the female performers are so ashamed of their participation in the film that they refused to be interviewed yet the men have no qualms. The difference between the late 1970's and now could have been interesting. And the similarities.

You're better off renting "Boogie Nights". It's a fictional story yet has more real answers.