Kirandeep Yoder
The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.
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For reasons I no longer can remember, I made an index card out for Joseph Jacoby some 40 years ago and popped him in my film directors file for future reference, but he never fashioned much of a career. Finally seeing his debut feature film it seems he hadn't much to offer.SHAME, SHAME is similar to other soft porn from the NYC school of its time, right before hardcore movies made the scene. Karen Carlson, who went on to a solid mainstream career is another of the hapless women who come to the Big Apple to make it big and are subjected to endless abuse (see: Doris Wishman, Barry Mahon and the Findlays).The milieu is authentic, with scenes at clubs like the Purple Onion and the Dogwood Room, but Jacoby's script is hokey, repetitive and unconvincing. Central gimmick is that Carlson rooms with a predatory lesbian (Getti Miller in an okay performance) who hires an unscrupulous "Dating Service" rep (in more recent decades it's called Escorts) to fix Carlson up with rotten guys in order to turn her off completely regarding men.The requisite NYC party scene is hosted by a creepy guy (Stuart Coffee) who appears to be a Zero Mostel wannabe judging from his appearance. Conclusion has Karen stuck with an S&M nut who puts her in bondage, with Miller and the dating service guy rushing to her rescue. The freeze-frame ending is awful, as if Jacoby were in a hurry to wrap things up.Lensing is unimpressive and film has the usual earmarks of porn -a topless guest shot by fan fave Rita Bennett as a go-go dancer and editing by the mysterious, but busy, Kemper Peacock, who's magnum opus WHIP'S WOMEN remains high up on my want list but currently has only its lengthy trailer in circulation.
