Depraved sleaze? Most definitely. Awful film? I disagree. While Common Law Wife certainly is no great nor good film, I thought much of it was better than one could or should expect. The story is about a rich oilman Uncle Shug who has been shacked up with a woman he picked up five years ago and has become bored with. Now, he wants to bring his stripper niece Baby Doll back home for...I'd like to say comfort but old Uncle Shug has different ideas. Well, Baby Doll returns, making men drool at her while Linda, Shug's old woman, discovers that in her state she is legally "wed" to Shug by common law. She won't leave and baby Doll wants her uncle's fortune at any price. The film has a seedy quality about it which cannot be denied: none of the characters are nice or even relatively decent - except by the film's end you might make a case for the common law wife, sex, deceit, and greed lurks from ever angle, and the end exudes a very naturalistic attitude to life and society. The director(s) do shoot many of the scenes well, exemplifying tension and moral baseness throughout. The actors are decent as each gives at least a mediocre performance. There is no real nudity in the film, though Lacey Kelly as Baby Doll is a sight for the sorest of eyes. A real life stripper, Kelly is like a ripe apple just dying to be picked from a tree. She gets picked a few times in this film. The budget is obviously threadbare, but directors Eric Sayers and old reliable Z film giant Larry Buchanan make the most out of what is at hand. I thought the film's ending, while pretty predictable, was done with some style. Cheers!
12 Reviews
A Humanity-Hatin' Cesspool of Sleaze
malthursday3 May 2005
"Common Law Wife," a made-in-Texas drive-in quickie directed by exploitation maestro Larry Buchanan ("Mars Needs Women," etc.) has it all: inept cinematography, bad acting, dubbing that's reminiscent of a Sir Run Run Shaw production, and, best of all, twisted, hate-filled characters like lusty old Uncle Shug, who wants to get rid of his aging common law wife, a shrieking harridan played by Anne McAdams (who would go on to have a lengthy career), so he can shack up with his niece, Jonelle, who wants to get rid of HIM -- permanent-like! Jonelle (stripper name: Baby Doll) has been takin' it all off in New Orleans, and damn if they didn't cast a real stripper in the part!
No nudity here, just your garden variety sleaze and down-home depravity. They don't make 'em like this any more, which is either a good thing or a bad thing...
No nudity here, just your garden variety sleaze and down-home depravity. They don't make 'em like this any more, which is either a good thing or a bad thing...
Taking Out the Trash
richardchatten17 August 2017
In her film debut in the title role, veteran exploitation queen Annabelle Weenick (under her original alias of Anne MacAdams) really brings the opening and closing scenes of this misanthropic trash shot in Forney in Texas to life; and it lags badly during the interminable middle section when she's offscreen.
That the script is by a woman may account for why the scenes between the female characters are far more entertaining than those with the men - with the notable exception of those between Linda and her rancid old sugar daddy Shugfoot Rainey. Did the sheriff's wife pleading with her sister Jonelle not to steal her husband inspire Dolly Parton?
The uncredited jazz score - presumably library music - gives kick to the proceedings.
That the script is by a woman may account for why the scenes between the female characters are far more entertaining than those with the men - with the notable exception of those between Linda and her rancid old sugar daddy Shugfoot Rainey. Did the sheriff's wife pleading with her sister Jonelle not to steal her husband inspire Dolly Parton?
The uncredited jazz score - presumably library music - gives kick to the proceedings.
Okay Time Killer
Michael_Elliott25 January 2018
Common Law Wife (1963)
** (out of 4)
A rich and mean old man (Shugfoot Rainey) decides to throw Linda (Anne MacAdams), his lover of five years, out of his house because (WTF?) he wants his young and sexy niece Jonelle to come live with him. This sends Linda into a rage until she realizes that she's legally his common law wife.
COMMON LAW WIFE is a rather weird film that was sold as an exploitation movie but it barely fits into that genre. I guess the idea of you living with someone and then legally being considered married was a "shocking" subject to some back in 1963 but the film itself isn't quite as good as one would have hoped. With that said, there are enough weird moments to make it worth watching.
I thought the first half of the film was better than the second half. During the opening we get to have fun meeting all of these strange characters including the niece who seems to have no problem being sexual with her old uncle. This is a rather creepy but funny moment and we also get some rather funny dialogue dealing with the lover character seeking revenge as the new wife. The second portion of the film gets bogged down in a bunch of melodrama but it does lead up to a rather shocking ending.
The film was directed by Eric Sayers but for years it was rumored that Larry Buchanan had a hand in it. It turns out that some footage from a Buchanan movie was used here and that's the reason for the confusion but according to the audio commentary on the Something Weird Video disc it seems that very little of his footage made it into this film. COMMON LAW WIFE is a mild entertainment if you're looking for a cheap "C" movie.
** (out of 4)
A rich and mean old man (Shugfoot Rainey) decides to throw Linda (Anne MacAdams), his lover of five years, out of his house because (WTF?) he wants his young and sexy niece Jonelle to come live with him. This sends Linda into a rage until she realizes that she's legally his common law wife.
COMMON LAW WIFE is a rather weird film that was sold as an exploitation movie but it barely fits into that genre. I guess the idea of you living with someone and then legally being considered married was a "shocking" subject to some back in 1963 but the film itself isn't quite as good as one would have hoped. With that said, there are enough weird moments to make it worth watching.
I thought the first half of the film was better than the second half. During the opening we get to have fun meeting all of these strange characters including the niece who seems to have no problem being sexual with her old uncle. This is a rather creepy but funny moment and we also get some rather funny dialogue dealing with the lover character seeking revenge as the new wife. The second portion of the film gets bogged down in a bunch of melodrama but it does lead up to a rather shocking ending.
The film was directed by Eric Sayers but for years it was rumored that Larry Buchanan had a hand in it. It turns out that some footage from a Buchanan movie was used here and that's the reason for the confusion but according to the audio commentary on the Something Weird Video disc it seems that very little of his footage made it into this film. COMMON LAW WIFE is a mild entertainment if you're looking for a cheap "C" movie.
Tame and cobbled together
Leofwine_draca28 November 2017
Warning: Spoilers
COMMON LAW WIFE is a Z-grade exploitation feature with a supposed 'controversial' subject matter that barely raises an eyebrow in our modern, jaded age. An old feller throws out his long-term mistress and has his young niece come to stay with him, but the women in his life have over plans. It feels like one of those old 'sensation' films of the 1930s updated to the 1960s with a mildly swinging atmosphere, although it's very tame even if one of the characters is a stripper. The film was cobbled together from a couple of features, one of them directed by the notorious Larry Buchanan, and the ineptitude shows.
Go back to school Jody boy you need a lot of learning
kapelusznik1818 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
***SPOILERS**** Hard to watch and ever harder to figure out 1963 exploitation flick about this old geezer Shugfoot "Don't Rain on my Parade" Rainy who's getting sick and tired of his middle age live in girlfriend Linda and decides to trade her in for a new and improved model his hot to trot 22 year old niece Baby Doll a strip tease dancer just back from her job, entertaining the horny oil rig workers, in the red light district of New Orleans. With being threatened to be thrown out in the cold Linda with her lawyers help come up with her ace in the hole in that she's Shugfoot's common law wife. That makes it illegal for him to shack up with Baby Doll without breaking the law and facing jail time.
With all this going on Baby Doll soon sets her sights on the towns handsome sheriff Jody who happens to be her, what seems like, step brother an former boyfriend. That despite Jody now being "Happily Married" to local girl Brenda. The plot thickens and gets even more complicated with swamp rat and moonshiner Bull trying to take Baby Doll away from sheriff Jody who, after a bar room brawl, ends up taking a pot shot at the sheriff when he comes to Baby Doll's aid whom Bull is or seems to be holding hostage.
***SPOILERS*** With the movie just about over in pops Shugfoot who's gone missing for almost the entire film who-being unable to stand on his feet- looks like he's dead drunk or had one too many. And just as he's about to make out with his niece Shugfoot suddenly- after gulping down a oversize glass of booze- drops dead on the spot in her lap. This leaves both Linda and Baby Doll having it out in who's to get the old guy's money and well as his real estate holdings with both,Baby Doll getting shot to death and Linda suffering from wood alcohol poisoning, dead by the time the movie's over. Despite the hot subject matter there's was very little if any nude scenes in the film but the Edward Wood like story-line and directing made it far more interesting as well as entertaining then it could have been.
With all this going on Baby Doll soon sets her sights on the towns handsome sheriff Jody who happens to be her, what seems like, step brother an former boyfriend. That despite Jody now being "Happily Married" to local girl Brenda. The plot thickens and gets even more complicated with swamp rat and moonshiner Bull trying to take Baby Doll away from sheriff Jody who, after a bar room brawl, ends up taking a pot shot at the sheriff when he comes to Baby Doll's aid whom Bull is or seems to be holding hostage.
***SPOILERS*** With the movie just about over in pops Shugfoot who's gone missing for almost the entire film who-being unable to stand on his feet- looks like he's dead drunk or had one too many. And just as he's about to make out with his niece Shugfoot suddenly- after gulping down a oversize glass of booze- drops dead on the spot in her lap. This leaves both Linda and Baby Doll having it out in who's to get the old guy's money and well as his real estate holdings with both,Baby Doll getting shot to death and Linda suffering from wood alcohol poisoning, dead by the time the movie's over. Despite the hot subject matter there's was very little if any nude scenes in the film but the Edward Wood like story-line and directing made it far more interesting as well as entertaining then it could have been.
Let's Tryst Again!
bobvend17 March 2018
Another in the so-bad-it's-good barrel, Lacey Kelly is the K-Mart Anita Ekberg in this fun, totally trashy backwater potboiler. It has all the pedigree of the best (if there is such a thing) Russ Meyer productions, which were being churned out around the same time. Great bad acting, with editing to match, sexy jazz score, and gowns by Orry-Kelly (just kidding).
When old Uncle Shug tires of his live-in girl (Annabelle Weenick), he plans to replace her with his gold-digging stripper niece, Baby Doll (Kelly), but she aint abut to go without a fight. While Shug is trying to work out the details, Baby Doll has lots of time to sample the local male cuisine, and she's got quite an appetite. What could possibly go wrong? Make some popcorn and find out!
When old Uncle Shug tires of his live-in girl (Annabelle Weenick), he plans to replace her with his gold-digging stripper niece, Baby Doll (Kelly), but she aint abut to go without a fight. While Shug is trying to work out the details, Baby Doll has lots of time to sample the local male cuisine, and she's got quite an appetite. What could possibly go wrong? Make some popcorn and find out!
Yes, it's a trash-fest!
planktonrules8 October 2011
I rented this DVD because the auteur of crap, Larry Buchanan ("Zontar: Thing From Venus" and "Mars Needs Women") made part of the film. Originally, Buchanan started a project named "Swamp Rose" but ran out of money. And another bad movie maker incorporated this into his film "Common Law Wife".
"Common Law Wife" is a super-low budget film--made with a minuscule budget, no-name actors and lots of strippers--strippers that show practically nothing. It's a lot of tease and no please--the sort of crap-fest that was relatively common in sleazy drive-ins in the 1960s.
The film begins with a nasty old rich guy telling his live-in girlfriend to get lost. According to this old rogue, she's seen better days and he intends to bring his very sexy stripper niece to move in with him. Wow...an old pervert looking for a good 'ol case of incest! Talk about your family-friendly plots! However, the old girlfriend (who looks a LOT like Rose Marie from "The Dick Van Dyke Show") is not about to just wander off and die. She consults a lawyer who informs her that according to the rules of that state, she is actually the old goat's common-law wife, as they've been posing as a married couple for five years. So, when the nymphet niece shows up, the slighted girlfriend announces to both of them that she's NOT leaving. And, since the niece is a total gold-digger who wants the uncle's fortune, you know sparks are going to fly. What happens next you'll need to see for yourself...if you even care!
While the plot is sleazy, it could have actually worked. However, the film has a lot working against it. Crappy acting, of course. But much of the film looks like aimless filler--with dancing and swimming and stripping scenes which are obvious filler. Another problem is that the two films seem to have nothing in common. And none of it fits together seamlessly. For example, in one irrelevant scene, a sexy lady is cavorting in the pool with her boyfriend. She then runs inside and her hair is instantly dry. Why? Because it's NOT the same lady nor the same boyfriend--they are from the other film! And, I loved how some of the film stock looked very different from previous reels! How did they handle this? Well, they sloppily inserted voice-overs to try to hide that which was impossible to hide! Duh. But, since the film is a low-budget trash-fest, the filmmakers didn't seem to care in the least. And, considering the audience of the time wasn't made up of film connoisseurs, I assume they didn't care very much either. I just appreciated how the whole thing was a textbook example of incompetence on every level--the sort of film Ed Wood or Al Adamson would be proud to have made!
So is it worth seeing?! After all, I gave this one a very well-deserved 1. Well, no...not if you are sane. But, if you occasionally like a bad movie for a laugh, then this film is for you! Plus, the ending is pretty cool. Just don't let your mother catch you watching it!
By the way, I loved how the sheriff in one film has grey hair and the other it's jet-black!
"Common Law Wife" is a super-low budget film--made with a minuscule budget, no-name actors and lots of strippers--strippers that show practically nothing. It's a lot of tease and no please--the sort of crap-fest that was relatively common in sleazy drive-ins in the 1960s.
The film begins with a nasty old rich guy telling his live-in girlfriend to get lost. According to this old rogue, she's seen better days and he intends to bring his very sexy stripper niece to move in with him. Wow...an old pervert looking for a good 'ol case of incest! Talk about your family-friendly plots! However, the old girlfriend (who looks a LOT like Rose Marie from "The Dick Van Dyke Show") is not about to just wander off and die. She consults a lawyer who informs her that according to the rules of that state, she is actually the old goat's common-law wife, as they've been posing as a married couple for five years. So, when the nymphet niece shows up, the slighted girlfriend announces to both of them that she's NOT leaving. And, since the niece is a total gold-digger who wants the uncle's fortune, you know sparks are going to fly. What happens next you'll need to see for yourself...if you even care!
While the plot is sleazy, it could have actually worked. However, the film has a lot working against it. Crappy acting, of course. But much of the film looks like aimless filler--with dancing and swimming and stripping scenes which are obvious filler. Another problem is that the two films seem to have nothing in common. And none of it fits together seamlessly. For example, in one irrelevant scene, a sexy lady is cavorting in the pool with her boyfriend. She then runs inside and her hair is instantly dry. Why? Because it's NOT the same lady nor the same boyfriend--they are from the other film! And, I loved how some of the film stock looked very different from previous reels! How did they handle this? Well, they sloppily inserted voice-overs to try to hide that which was impossible to hide! Duh. But, since the film is a low-budget trash-fest, the filmmakers didn't seem to care in the least. And, considering the audience of the time wasn't made up of film connoisseurs, I assume they didn't care very much either. I just appreciated how the whole thing was a textbook example of incompetence on every level--the sort of film Ed Wood or Al Adamson would be proud to have made!
So is it worth seeing?! After all, I gave this one a very well-deserved 1. Well, no...not if you are sane. But, if you occasionally like a bad movie for a laugh, then this film is for you! Plus, the ending is pretty cool. Just don't let your mother catch you watching it!
By the way, I loved how the sheriff in one film has grey hair and the other it's jet-black!
White-trash exploitation at its best!
joe-t126 April 2001
Common-law Wife is a sleazy exploitation drive-in movie that is so awful it's good. The story is about a cheap dancer named Jonelle--nicknamed Baby Doll--who returns to her small southern home town to shack up with her aging, wealthy Uncle Shug, who has just kicked out his longtime live-in girlfriend Linda. Unfortunately for Baby Doll, Linda claims she is Uncle Shug's "common-law wife," and she refuses to leave. While Uncle Shug tries to straighten things out at the mansion, Baby Doll has sexual encounters with her brother-in-law Sheriff Jody, and with a swamp-livin', moonshine-makin' bruiser named Bull. The ending is unexpected and memorable. Great fun!
Southern fried sleaze.
Hey_Sweden3 November 2016
There's histrionics galore in this stark, trashy melodrama that should do the trick for hicksploitation aficionados. Annabelle Weenick stars as Linda, the live-in girlfriend for miserly old coot Shugfoot Rainey (George Edgley), who's made his fortune in oil. Shug is about to kick the over the hill Linda to the curb in favor of his own niece Baby Doll (Lacey Kelly), a stripper from New Orleans. Linda isn't about to go quietly - Hell, she isn't about to go at all, once she learns that according to Texas law, she is Shugs' common law wife. But the nasty, conniving, trampy Baby Doll is equally determined to lay claim to Shugs' money.
"Common Law Wife" was begun as a color feature by Texas based schlock purveyor Larry Buchanan (of "Mars Needs Women" fame) in 1960, under the title "Swamp Rose". Eventually, it got recut, and supplemented by new footage shot by director Eric Sayers, with the final film completely shown in black & white. It's basically fun, but the unaware should know that for a movie running just over 76 minutes, it IS padded to a degree. (Lots of cutaways to ducks in this thing!) It also isn't quite as interesting when it starts exclusively focusing on Baby Doll, and the way that she plays up to a moonshiner named Bull, while also making time with Jody the Sheriff. (And he's already married.) Still, Kelly, a stripper in real life as well, is compulsively watchable, especially when she does a steamy dance routine.
This may be a somewhat rough slog for some viewers, seeing that the principal trio of characters are not exactly nice people, but this will only add to the experience for others. The performances suit the material, with Weenick - to eventually gain her greatest fame in S.F. Brownriggs' "Don't Look in the Basement" - making the most of her starring film debut.
Worth a look for those that dig regional exploitation features from decades past.
Seven out of 10.
"Common Law Wife" was begun as a color feature by Texas based schlock purveyor Larry Buchanan (of "Mars Needs Women" fame) in 1960, under the title "Swamp Rose". Eventually, it got recut, and supplemented by new footage shot by director Eric Sayers, with the final film completely shown in black & white. It's basically fun, but the unaware should know that for a movie running just over 76 minutes, it IS padded to a degree. (Lots of cutaways to ducks in this thing!) It also isn't quite as interesting when it starts exclusively focusing on Baby Doll, and the way that she plays up to a moonshiner named Bull, while also making time with Jody the Sheriff. (And he's already married.) Still, Kelly, a stripper in real life as well, is compulsively watchable, especially when she does a steamy dance routine.
This may be a somewhat rough slog for some viewers, seeing that the principal trio of characters are not exactly nice people, but this will only add to the experience for others. The performances suit the material, with Weenick - to eventually gain her greatest fame in S.F. Brownriggs' "Don't Look in the Basement" - making the most of her starring film debut.
Worth a look for those that dig regional exploitation features from decades past.
Seven out of 10.
A Delectable Piece Of Trash
josephbrando26 April 2011
Originally shot as Swamp Rose a few years earlier, then chopped up and added to new film shot by a different director and even featuring 2 different actresses playing one character - somehow strange forces intervened and created this booze-soaked trashfest of enjoyability. Baby Doll is coming to town to stay with and "take care of" her Uncle Shug, but unfortunately he's having a problem getting rid of his common-law wife who refuses to leave (played by the ever overacting, always entertaining cult star Annabelle Weenick). Baby Doll is played by 2 different actresses, but I didn't notice until after I read it - and is a beautiful atrocious monster who you just can't take your eyes off of. Trashy fun with a great ending.
Enjoyable slice of hicksploitation sleaze
Woodyanders28 August 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Lecherous old Texas oilman Shugfoot Rainey (a perfectly slimy portrayal by George Edgley) decides to kick his aging and bitter line-in girlfriend Linda (fiercely played with venomous aplomb by Annabelle Weenick of "Don't Look in the Basement" fame) to the curb so he can shack up with his conniving stripper niece Jonelle (voluptuous brunette knockout Lacey Kelly). However, Linda claims to be Shugfoot's common law wife and stakes the foul geezer's house out as her territory, so Jonelle concocts a plan to bump off Shugfoot so she can still inherit his considerable fortune. Directors Eric Sayers and Larry Buchanan do a solid job of crafting a seedy atmosphere while the engrossingly sordid story delivers the satisfying white trash drive-in exploitation goods: We've got incest, blackmail, betrayal, a rough'n'tumble brawl in a nightclub, murder, poisoned moonshine, and a real doozy of a violent bummer ending in which everybody loses. Grace Nolan's seamy script offers a troika of remarkably reprehensible main characters; these three rotten folks are without a doubt amongst the most hateful, selfish, and morally bankrupt individuals to ever ooze their vile way onto celluloid. As a tasty bonus, the delectable Mrs. Kelly shows off her fine full figure with pleasing frequency. The stark black and white cinematography gives this picture a suitably scroungy look. The groovy jazz score hits the swinging hepcat spot. A real scuzzy hoot.
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