Little Me and Marla Strangelove (1978) User Reviews

An okay adult film, thought it should have been better

[Aaron1375 · 6/10 · 5 September 2017]

This film had such promise as the two stars in this one are really cute and look like real people; unlike a lot of adult movies today where they are slathered with makeup and such. Unfortunately, the film is hampered by the fact the film seems to rely to much on jump cuts to different things while the girls are enjoying sex. At one point the two girls watch a stag film and the film cuts to the the film, but then on the version I have it cuts to a film that looks like it would have been made in the 90's or 2000's. Not sure why they did this, my guess is they wanted to vary up the stag film, or perhaps there was an underage performer in it, but it seems to me they could have found something from the 70's to insert so it would not have seemed so out of place.

The story is about two friends. One who really enjoys sex, Marla, and one who enjoys sex, but likes to act like she is innocent, Debbie. They go from one sex filled adventure to the other. Not much of a plot to this one, but not a lot of dead time either as it pretty much moves from one scene to the next. They go from sex in a van, to a lesbian scene, to a strange couple where the story is told two different ways to the finale at Debbie's house with two guys.

The two girls are really cute. The girl who played Debbie has a really good look about her as she looks so surprised at times during the sex. She has a real girl next door type look that really makes her scenes work. The other girl, Marla, could pass for Drew Barrymore as she has the same mouth. Though you cannot say she is copying the actress as this film predates Drew. Both are so attractive, but the film is hampered by the fact the sex scenes are so rushed. You get a trade off, films in the 70's has hotter situations and more real like sex; however, adult films today have the ability to get better angles during the sex due to the fact the equipment is probably easier to maneuver. Back then you have film so it covers the girls' blemishes, but today you get way longer sex scenes. I mean, I like the stories and how the sex unfolds better, but it is always so rushed in some of these films and the only thing that lasts a long time are the scenes of oral sex on the guys and I am not wild about looking at other guy's dongs and seeing their sweaty faced reactions. Not sure why guys do like watching these, I like seeing the girls having sex, getting oral and their reactions.

So, it was not that great of an adult film. The girls were cute, but the scenes suffer from the typical rushed mentality or to many cutaways during the actual sex. The last sex scene was pretty good, but they really needed to pace it better and make it hotter. Actually, just reduce the guy getting oral sex, so again this is a personal preference. However, once he was finished it was hot watching Debbie get down and dirty, only they needed to focus on her more, kept cutting away. Still, it was the best scene in the film with the longest sex shown. Too bad they cannot somehow make films like this today using the technology so they appear on film and with a story, but with the longer sex scenes.

Craftily made crypto-kiddie porn; quite entertaining

[lor_ · 16 March 2011]

As balance to the no-nothing review previously posted on IMDb, LITTLE ME AND MARLA STRANGELOVE is a quality porn film, forgotten but still arousing decades later.

Director Kirdy Stevens and his scripter Helene Terrie were soon to hit the big time with the classic TABOO and its sequels, but LITTLE ME is a mini-classic in its own right. It's not as famous as LITTLE GIRLS BLUE and other hits in the "underage sex" category, but is perhaps the best example of this misunderstood genre.

Long before attorney general Alberto Gonzales discovered the billion dollar kiddie porn industry, and failed to wipe it out despite the cooperation of leading banks and credit card companies going after the kingpins, there existed a lucrative and legal version of this material. It consists of the dozens of films employing adult actresses to portray underage teens engaged in XXX sex.

Unlike 21st Century all-sex videos, these early films have story lines and the fun (and arousal value) comes from the situations. Even the many, many loops in the field, often starring the likes of Tawny Pearl and consistently dirty old man (at a young age) John Leslie, present interesting vignettes.

For LITTLE ME Stevens & Terrie concocted a very effective bait and switch. The principal protagonist, who is the focus of the narrative and does most of the talking and instigating is Marla Strangelove (played by one-shot actress Dianne Dale), a bad influence on schoolmate Debbie (cult star Nancy Hoffman).

In a key scene, when challenged Marla recites a lengthy laundry list of activities and hobbies that she loves and thinks about, but concludes that sex is always on her mind. For that reason, she's constantly having sex and always egging Debbie on to do the same.

Film opens with Debbie balking at making it with one of their boyfriends in a van, so Marla is inside servicing both boys as poor Debbie walks home (estimated 5 miles) right next to the slow-moving van, while the young driver mocks and titillates her by giving color commentary on what's going on in the back.

Debbie is not inexperienced, as we find out she has had sex with boys and enjoyed it, but is simply not willing to go whole-hog like Marla. This being a porn film, there is no greater sin than that reluctance.

The vignettes of the girls getting it on are humorous and consistently stimulating, including a bizarre and comical bondage sequence after they stupidly let a guy in a Cadillac give them a ride ("there are two of us and only one of him -what could go wrong?"). Lengthy middle section of the film has them watching what they thought would be home movies made by Debbie's dad, but they turn out to be stag loops featuring Serena, Sandy Dempsey and John Holmes, introducing the girls to the wonders of double penetration and anal sex.

Unlike his later TABOO melodramas, Stevens is strictly light-hearted here, pursuing the equally taboo (as incest was his gravy train) subject of sex with underage girls. My favorite film in this genre is completely forgotten: the Victorian comedy FLOSSIE, A VENUS OF 15, reissued by Alpha Blue Archives to zero reaction. LITTLE ME is also effective, due to the sexiness and convincing youthfulness of its two heroines.

Though Hoffman is in the subsidiary role, she is simply so cute and innocent looking, despite the rigors of hardcore sex in her performance, that she became a minor cult star in the genre. Not only co-starring in LITTLE GIRLS BLUE, but also such hits as TEENY BUNS and CANDY STRIPERS. Why her co-star here Dianne Dale never made it is a mystery.

Male cast is unimpressive, with the ubiquitous Ric Lutze, nearing the end of his successful porn run, making little impression late in the film humping Dale.

Beautiful girls, if only they could act...

[Hans-56 · 2/10 · 13 October 2010]

After finishing high school Marla (Dianne Dale) and Debbie (Nancy Hoffman) are having their first serious sexual experiences. These include a lesbian affair and a SM-session. You might think this movie has a story or a plot. But it has not. We are treated to one sex scene after the other. The SM scene makes the movie just a little bit less boring than usual. Contrary to many other high school movies, Dale and Hoffman could pass as girls fresh out of high school. Just before the lesbian scene we see the girls watching an old fashioned 8mm movie. It consists of archive footage and has John Holmes in it, among others. Technically the movie is so so. But it's the very bad acting that is killing this movie. The director shows little talent directing the porn scenes and no talent directing the few non porn scenes.

As a porn movie I rate this one a 5 out of 10, but as just a movie, it is a 2 out of 10: a simple waste of time.