Moonlighting Wives

Directed by Joseph W. Sarno
USA 1966

1960s suburbia becomes a hotbed of rampant adultery and illicit sexual encounters in legendary sexploitation director Joseph Sarno s early erotic classic, Moonlighting Wives. Joan Rand is a shrewd, sexy, disgruntled housewife and mother who yearns for the better things in life. Unbeknownst to her husband, and with the help of a friend, Joan turns her office stenography service into a thriving yet well-concealed prostitution ring that has local law enforcement baffled. Needing more and more willing young housewives to grow her business with wealthy clientele and to satisfy the town s increasing demand for naughty female fun, Joan gives adulterous and well-connected golf pro Frank a piece of the action. Joan s appetite for the good life soon leads her on a sensual and glamorous odyssey of blackmail, wife-swapping and orgiastic nightlife as she and her stable of gals mingle and swing with the country club set. As the money continues to roll in, Joan s dereliction of her domestic responsibilities leads her disgusted husband straight into the arms of a nubile, 18-year-old babysitter...and brings her one step closer to the police.

From the DVD liner notes.

Theatrical Release: September 21st, 1966

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DVD Review: Retro-Seduction Cinema - Region 0 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Retro-Seduction Cinema - Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	1:23:30
Video	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.12 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Subtitles	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Retro-Seduction Cinema Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Interview with director Joe Sarno (11 minutes) • Two restoration documentaries • Trailer vault of Sarno films (Suburban Secrets, Abigail Leslie is Back, Laura's Toys, and Confessions of a Young American Housewife). • Extensive color liner notes with essay by Michael J. Bowen DVD Release Date: November 14th, 2006 Keep Case Chapters: 10

Comments:

Where once this was exploitation cinema - it now is being flogged under the guise of retro-camp. But both monikers seem accurate though. The frugal single-layered transfer is interlaced and the 'restored' image still shows extensive scratches but they seem to have got the colors looking good. Detail is better than one might expect and there are no subtitles. Audio is unremarkable and wavers a bit but I suspect that was a function of the production - not the DVD.

The DVD inferiorities are matched adequately by the weak production values of the film - making it all seem quite appropriate. There are some interesting supplements - an interview with director Sarno and some restoration information, plus some of the trailers of his other films. There are some substantial liner notes so definitely some work was put into this. I'm unsure how this got in my hands but it improved my appreciation of this 'genre' that I had previously dismissed. Most won't get much more than a few laughs out of this, but it does have something to offer to those who are keen - either from a nostalgic standpoint or simply interested from a historical kitschy perspective.

Gary W. Tooze

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