I'm a great believer in the force of will.
April 30, 2010 12:30 PM   Subscribe

RIP: Joe Sarno, one of the progenitors of sexploitation in the 1960s.

The director of such fine films as All The Sins of Sodom, Scarf of Mist--Thigh of Satin, the Swap and How They Made It, Inga, and Butterflies. He was one of the early supporters of new wave porn stars like Annie Sprinkle, and his wife, Peggy Steffans, was an actress in many of his film.
posted by Potomac Avenue (13 comments total) 9 users marked this as a favorite


 
Pouty young Danish teen Katja has a really big problem. Her widowed dad Eric spends too much time away on business, and whenever he gets home, she gets just a little bit too excited to see him.

Phwoar!

Um, sorry.

.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:40 PM on April 30, 2010 [1 favorite]


In case anyone misses the "porn" tags and words like "sexploitation" in the fpp, the videos border into NSFW-ishness.

I guess it's true that I'm getting old, because I look at films like these and notice the funky period decor (the wallpaper!) and the costumes (the mustaches!); even with the nudity, mostly what stands out for me is the lack of plastic surgery. Fascinating windows back in time, thanks.
posted by Forktine at 12:47 PM on April 30, 2010 [2 favorites]


That trailer for Scarf of Mist - Thigh of Satin was good enough to send me to the Something Weird site. No luck though.
posted by ecurtz at 12:57 PM on April 30, 2010


Another couple of reviews of his work.
posted by zarq at 1:02 PM on April 30, 2010


Teacher says, every time a Wah-wah pedal is made, an angel gets laid.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:14 PM on April 30, 2010 [4 favorites]


.
posted by brundlefly at 1:39 PM on April 30, 2010


8===>
posted by Bathtub Bobsled at 2:34 PM on April 30, 2010


...Annie Sprinkle, and his wife...

Annie Sprinkle is male? The horror. I thought the bulk of his/her empowerment came from her lesbian and trangender identity.
posted by vhsiv at 2:48 PM on April 30, 2010


Joe Sarno's wife was Peggy Steffans. I think the commas got you.
posted by wildcrdj at 4:25 PM on April 30, 2010


So, was the James Caan character in The Way of the Gun named for this guy? I'd never heard of the name elsewhere, but it's always fun to learn about the history of (soft-core) porn.
posted by Ghidorah at 4:33 PM on April 30, 2010


Good-night, sweet perv.
posted by gordie at 6:02 PM on April 30, 2010


I'd first heard of Joe Sarno in the Re/Search publication "Incredibly Strange Films," and I have seen one of his films ages ago, but not enough of them. Time to rectify that. I love the "B-movies" for their earnestness - maybe they didn't have huge budgets but they tried really hard with what they had and, in the light of truly terrible filmmakers such as Uwe Boll, stand head-and-shoulders above them.

That link has an excerpt from the Sarno interview and I highly recommend it for not only a starting guide to anyone who's interested but also for insights as to how and why these (more often than not) overlooked directors did what they did.

"The big thing with films—a film is the result of a human relationship, and when you write it to begin with, it's got to be about a real human relationship. Each actor or actress must filter the character through their own personality. And that's the whole secret of the thing. Without that, you have nothing."

Truth. Thanks Joe.
posted by Zack_Replica at 6:54 PM on April 30, 2010


Joe Sarno's wife was Peggy Steffans. I think the commas got you.

wildcrdj: I think vhsiv's sarcastic naivety got you.
posted by IAmBroom at 11:08 PM on April 30, 2010


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