Review of Cry Uncle

Cry Uncle (1971)
Soft Core Comes to the Neighborhood Theater
8 September 2014
A rotund private dick is hired to find a killer, and has to get naked in the process.

I can't figure out if the movie amounts to serial copulation with whodunit overtones or a whodunit with serial copulation appeal. One way or the other, a naked Allan Garfield did keep my popcorn untouched. Actually, the 90-minutes is so smoothly directed and the girls so fetching that I did stay glued. Also, catch the symbolically placed donut and banana in the opening slow pan. I guess that tells you what's coming up. As I recall, the movie was much ballyhooed at the time. After all, what could only be hinted at before 1969 now became permissible, thanks mainly to the counter-culture's clash with censorship. Also, the Swedish ground-breaker I Am Curious (Yellow), (1969)-- the first commercial film to show copulation on screen-- drew lines around the block when I saw it. Now Hollywood, even Troma, could cash in on the novelty.

The movie itself may look like an oddity after 40-years. Certainly, the sex scenes take up as much time as the narrative. Still, the production is smoothly done, with about the right amount of tongue in cheek, Garfield included. And I like Madeleine LaRoux (!) who has a different movie look, sort of like an elongated Goldie Hawn. But a screen name like that suggests plans for a big porn career, which I don't think happened. All in all, guys could do a lot worse than Uncle, plus you don't have to feel inferior to the stud (Garfield). And, oh yeah, let the girl viewers figure out the plot.
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