Stacey

As an elderly and exceedingly rich widow, "Florence Chambers" (Marjorie Bennett) is concerned about which members of her family are deserving of her inheritance and to that end hires a private detective by the name of "Stacey Hanson" (Anne Randall) to live in her mansion so that she can observe all of them first hand. It's during this time that she discovers that Florence's son "John Chambers" (John Alderman) is gay and that his wife "Tish Chambers" (Anitra Ford) seems to be having an affair with one of the servants named "Frank" (James Westermoreland). What she doesn't know is that Frank is in debt to a vicious loan shark and plans to blackmail Tish in order to get enough money to pay his debt. So when Frank is brutally stabbed to death it now falls upon Stacey to figure out who was behind the murder-and this puts her life in immediate jeopardy as well. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an okay film which had various amounts of action and intrigue along with several beautiful actresses like Cristina Raines (as "Pamela Chambers") along with the aforementioned Anne Randall and Anitra Ford to brighten the scenery. On the flip side, however, both the acting and the script could have clearly used some improvement and as a result I have rated this film accordingly. Average.

Superwoman in detective guise, the inimitable Stacey solves family murder caper involving adultery and a large inheritance. The lovely Stacey (played by ex Playboy pin-up Anne Randall), is hired by wealthy matriarch Marjorie Bennett to unravel web of lies and deceit spun by her entourage of sleazy servants and randy relatives, all vying for inheritance honours. Stacey and her sidekick (Alan Landers) soon discover an elaborate (and equally confusing) plot to frame certain members of the family for the murder of a blackmailing minion.

Tacky dialogue, shaky photography, disjointed editing, overbearing music and frequent over-dubbed scene fillers, are mildly compensated by lots (and lots more) bare flesh, coupled with the odd stroke of humour (Stacey's pyjama top reads "Fondle With Care", and is promptly torn off by her eager male companion, revealing a Superman blouse). The cast is diverse with veterans John Alderman and James Westmoreland whilst Stewart Moss appears uncredited in a major supporting role.

Fans of the sexploitation genre will be more than a little disappointed, despite the vast array of motifs, as this film plays like a montage of fast cars and wild women, without continuity or an effective climax and resolution. Randall is aptly cast and gets good support from Anitra Ford and Cristina Raines, especially if you mute the volume. Whilst it's easy to be enamoured by the lusty Randall, you're likely to be left dazed and confused by the last hour and twenty. But that's okay, you can just watch her again ... "Stacey", that is ...

The female James Bond/Derek Flint/Columbo. Poor production, script, acting. Femme-fatale attempt fails horribly. Cop out ending has nothing to do with first 88 minutes of film. No continuity to story. Tries to be a good serious film and fails. Playmate not attractive enough to divert from overall pathetic production. Don't waste your time or money.

Sidaris jumped on a bandwagon here. He just made everybody white instead.

Stacey, Stacey, Stacey, you are one gorgeous lady.

She's also a decent actress and played the strong feminine heroine perfectly. She wasn't aloof or self-righteous about it. And the action scenes were realistic as well. Or at least as realistic as the budget allowed.

The obvious obsession with her breasts was actually done with semi-realism as well. And showing her with her boyfriend, working and playing with him, while at the same time letting him look good, was VERY different.

A feminist heroine we can all respect.