X-Rated: Adventures of an Exploitation Filmmaker by Long and

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X-Rated: Adventures of an Exploitation Filmmaker by Stanley Long and Simon Sheridan (Titan Books, 2012 (Kindle))


Blurb:

The movie titles say it all...Nudes of the World, West End Jungle, The Wife Swappers, Sex and the Other Woman, Eskimo Nell, Adventures of a Private Eye... The saucy diet of cinemas for three decades and all from the wild imagination of one man, Stanley Long - Britain's most successful independent X-Rated filmmaker. Dubbed the “King of Sexploitation” by the Sun newspaper, Stanley made movies bursting with bare boobs, sexy thrills and plenty of big laughs, breaking box office records along the way, both in Britain and across the world. X-Rated tells Stanley's incredible true story - the beautiful girls, the battles with the censor, his associations with directors like Roman Polanski and Michael Reeves, and stars such as Boris Karloff, Diana Dors and Harry H Corbett, as well as revealing how he made a fortune from cinematic naughtiness. Funny, sensational and utterly compelling... this is strictly X-Rated!

Starting with his film The Wife Swappers in 1970 and his battles with the censor, the book then goes back to Long's childhood and how he got into photography and later films, working chronologically through his various projects from the 'nudist' movies of the 60s, association with horror, the sex comedies of the 70s, and many more. There are many laugh out loud anecdotes and fascinating accounts of how he made his movies and brought them in on budget. There are also many accounts of people he has met over the years: actors, models, directors, eccentric millionaires, seedy pornographers, censors and others. Several times he recounts instances of when his life has imitated the most stereotypical scenes in sex comedies, such as at age 17 or 18 knocking on a client's door who wanted some photographs copying to find her wearing a see-through negligee, and discovering she wasn't interested in photographs at all. He's very complementary about some people he's met, others not so much; Mary Whitehouse is definitely in that latter category. There are surprises regarding actors who starred in his productions early in their careers such as Anna Karen and Jill Gascoigne. All-in-all it is a must-read for those interested in the sexploitation movie business in the UK in the 60s and 70s, and even if you aren't particularly interested in that it is still worth a read for the interesting and often very funny anecdotes.

At the moment, Stanley's 'Adventures' series of films, Taxi Driver, Private Eye and Plumber's Mate are free to watch for Am*zon Prime members.