Score

This vintage piece exudes a sense of adventurous sensuality, artistry and style that has been lost in the intervening decades, both in the now cheap and voluminous porn industry, and the edgy sexualised segments of the Indy "mainstream" film industry. "Score" is a creature if its time, and whilst it gives a somewhat contrived view of the magical but brief post-sexual-revolution/pre-AIDS era, it speaks to certain freedoms and a sense of adventure and newness that is lacking in our age of internet-annihilated innocence and clinical political correctness. This film reminds me of the more philosophical prognostications I snuck readings of from my step fathers antique 1970s Playboy and Penthouse magazines - those where they laid out musings about a more sexually liberated future, where open sensuality and psychedelic exploration of our bodies, minds and the world around us would usher in a new era of universal love, sharing and luxurious living. Whilst we may be far more sexualised and open minded than the average suburbanite was in 1974, and unquestionably far less innocent and naive, we have also lost a certain warmth and exploratory openness that seems to be in the DNA of this film and the era it gives a window to. Our loss; but at least the spirit of the era has been preserved on film to be peered at in wonderment by future generations.

enjoyed watching this movie late one evening. one of the better movies out there that dealt with sexuality openly and explicitly from the seventies. well-written and directed by the auteur of erotica, radley metzger who went on to do more films of the same nature ie. the lickerish quartet, carmen baby, the alley cats. a very simple plot that involved a married couple who make a wager to seduce a newlywed and somewhat naive couple. Lynn lowry and Calvin Culver (a.k.a Casey Donovan) are the newly hitched couple who meet the more mature and experienced couple played by Claire Wilbur and Gerald grant. interestingly enough there's an un-cut/un-censored version that has just been released that shows a couple extra minutes of full-front nudity and other inserted shots. Lynn lowry would later say that during the shoot of the film, Claire Wilbur learned that Lynn was making three times the amount of money she was and for the duration of the shoot, there was tension between the actresses. Wilbur also stated that she only did the movie to earn enough money to finance a friend's film and was disappointed that she was only remembered for this role in particular. as one movie reviewer said, 'there's something for everyone' in this film. i agree.

This is a pretty good movie but I'm not exactly sure who it was aimed at. Straight guys that want to see the gorgeous Lynn Lowry in hot, sapphic action might be tempted to watch it, but they will no doubt be left pretty jarred by the way Metzger intercuts the gay and lesbian sex scenes at the end. I would think the (in some versions hardcore)gay footage might ruin the mood a little for heterosexuals. There is a good softcore hetero scene at the beginning between Claire Wilbur's character and a TV repairman while Lowry's character looks on, but if you just want to see Lowry and/or a lot of heterosexual and lesbian sex you might do better with the contemporary cult film "Sugar Cookies" which features her and a young Mary Woronov. Gays, on the other hand, probably won't relate too much to a movie about swinging married couples, although they will no doubt find it pretty funny how obviously gay the two "husbands" in this movie are to begin with (especially Lowry's husband played by gay porno actor Casey Donovan). That leaves swinging bisexual types like the characters in the film (although I imagine those kind of people don't have too much time to watch movies)and weirdos like me who don't really watch sex movies for the sex (and there can't be too many of us around).

On the plus side, this is a Radley Metzger movie. Metzger is perhaps the only American who can make graphic sex movies that have any class at all. The word "erotic" is overused almost as much as the word "pornographic", but whether they're erotic or not Metzger makes movies that really look great visually, and whether you're turned on by the action or not, at least you're not crying over the wasted celluloid or cringing at the cheesy music and atrocious acting and dialogue. The acting here is also excellent, especially Lowry, Wilbur, and Gerald Grant--Donovan is good too but a little stiff (no pun intended). I'm not exactly sure who I'd recommend this TO, but I'd definitely recommend it.

"Score" is more or less a period piece now, filmed as it was in that post-sexual liberation/pre-AIDS window when it seemed that sexual, political and aesthetic freedom were essentially linked. The film is a manifesto for sexual liberation purely, brushing only briefly by sexuality's darker aspects (the somewhat creepy Mike, and a certain core hollowness in Elvira and Jack's marriage). The characters are psychologically simplistic (Betsy's nun fixation, Eddie's glaringly obvious repressed homosexuality), but--important in a film of this type--extremely likeable. Claire Wilbur and Gerald Grant are particularly good in their roles.

All of this is wrapped up in good-natured sex and spot-on stoned dialogue. Even the music's entertaining--particularly the early-Rolling Stones ripoff that functions as a recurring motif and perhaps as well the goofy thematic heart of the film.

The trailer for "Score" recommends, "Watch it with someone you want to excite!" Well, it might not be as libidinally exciting now as it was thirty years ago, but it's still fun, and sweet, and highly recommended.

This film, from the early 70's, was a milestone for adult sex comedies. It presented an attractive couple who are into both sexes without shame or guilt about their sexual proclivities. Indeed, it is the "straight" couple (played by Claire Wilbur and Calvin Culver) who question their own sex life. After lifting the barriers of guilt, the young couple are able to enjoy sex with whichever partner they're with, whether they are male or female. The relaxed pacing of the film, combined with the restrained performance make the same sex lovemaking seem almost childlike. This "forbidden" topic has rarely been seen or handled as deftly since.