NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (April 2026): Kino Cult have transferred Allan Silliphant's "The Stewardesses" in 2-D and 3-D to Blu-ray. Kino produced this title in 3-D on Blu-ray HERE in 2016. The new Kino Cult presents the same core 1080P 3D transfer (with 2D options) as the earlier Kino editions, restored by the 3-D Film Archive. It retains the film’s inherently soft, grainy, low-budget aesthetic with fine to moderate natural film grain, bright saturated late-’60s colors, healthy flesh tones, and solid black levels. The gimmicky StereoVision effects leave an impression (3-D breasts, pool cues, feet, and objects thrusting toward the viewer) and remain, relatively, vivid, though some shots still show the original production limitations like minor alignment quirks or flat staging. The overall image is grainy, somewhat soft, and cheaply lit, with a vibrant but dated color palette dominated by the era’s bright mod fashions - beehive hairdos, mini-skirts, go-go boots, and stewardess uniforms in pastels and primaries that scream 1969 swinging chic. Damage marks, scratches, speckles (see examples below,) and other source imperfections from the aged elements are unchanged from previous releases, preserving the authentic grindhouse feel. In 3D it continues to deliver fun immersive thrills, while the 2D view highlights the raw, amateurish photography - overall a faithful presentation rather than a dramatic visual overhaul.

NOTE: We have added 46 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

Sonically, the experience is even more rudimentary. On their Blu-ray, Kino use DTS-HD Master dual-mono tracks (24-bit) in the original English language. This is an upgrade (16-bit to 24-bit) making dialogue a touch more intelligible in quieter scenes and the music less harsh. Like the previous Kino edition the sound is still thin, tinny, and limited by the original monaural source elements. Post-dubbed dialogue remains inconsistent in clarity and sync, with some lines sounding distant or muffled amid the era’s rudimentary location sound, while the repetitive lounge/psychedelic score and basic effects come through without major hiss or dropouts but lack any real dynamic range or spatial presence. It’s perfectly serviceable for what it is and gets the job done for this grindhouse artifact, with no significant degradations over the older disc. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The second Blu-ray disc is packed with excellent contextual material for cult enthusiasts that substantially improves on the previous Kino Blu-ray by adding several fresh and welcome supplements while retaining (and in some cases expanding) the core 3D content. The standout is a brand-new audio commentary by film historian David Del Valle (Lost Horizons Beneath the Hollywood Sign) and producer/archivist Miles Hunter, which should offer deeper production insights than the older track. Returning or upgraded are the 2006 documentary How The Stewardesses Took Off (20-minutes, 2D only), an alternate opening title sequence (in both 3D/2D), outtakes and lens test footage (1/4 hour, 3D/2D), plus the fun bonus shorts Experiments in Love (1977, 1/2 hour, 3D/2D) and Parisienne Life* (1953, a dozen minutes, 3D/2D). Rounding out the package are the theatrical trailer and radio spot, both in 2D only. Overall, the extras feel more generous and better curated than the prior release, giving fans richer historical context around the film’s shoestring production and 3D novelty. There is a reversible sleeve (see below), slipcase and the Blu-ray package has anaglyph glasses.

*Regarding Parisienne Life: "MURDER IN PARIS (aka PARIS AFTER MIDNIGHT aka FRENCH LIFE) was the second of five burlesque shorts presented in anaglyphic 3-D by Oakland and San Francisco burlesque theater magnate, Harry A. Farros. Photographed in Los Angeles circa May 1953, the title was changed to PARISIENNE LIFE shortly before release in September 1953. It’s likely that while working with George Weiss at Screen Classics in the spring of 1953, Edward D. Wood Jr wrote the script for this 3-D short. While it is not listed on his resume, it was photographed on the same day as CLEOPATRA FOLLIES (aka FLAME OF ISLAM) which Wood does list as a writer’s credit. This short has been restored from a very faded 35mm anaglyphic print. Thanks to advanced digital techniques developed by 3DFA Technical Director Greg Kintz, we have been able to extract the original left/right data from this 35mm print. Due to the severe fading on this original element, you will see occasional double imaging on the left side."

The Sewardesses was directed and written by Allan Silliphant under the pseudonym Alf Silliman Jr., and it stands as a landmark artifact of late-1960s sexploitation cinema - an episodic 3D softcore comedy that captures the era’s hedonistic excesses while exposing their underbelly through a deliberately threadbare narrative. Set over a single 18-hour layover in Los Angeles for a crew of Trans-Pacific Airlines stewardesses returning from Honolulu, the film unfolds as a series of loosely connected vignettes: the women party, experiment with drugs (including an acid trip that leads one to make out with a Greek-bust lamp), engage in straight and lesbian sexual encounters, and navigate fleeting romances, all while the 3D Magnavision process thrusts feet, pool cues, breasts, and everyday objects toward the audience in a gimmicky bid for immersion. At its core is a thin framing story centered on ambitious Samantha (Christina Hart - her first feature film followed by Charley Varrick, The Mad Bomber and many TV appearances,) who seduces ad executive Colin Winthrop (Ronald South, billed as Michael Garrett) in hopes of breaking into show business, only for genuine feelings to complicate matters; this subplot collides with darker threads, including a pilot’s abusive encounter and a 30-story suicide leap by one stewardess, before the film circles back to the flight deck where a fresh-faced newcomer (Monica Gayle - Switchblade Sisters) reads the credits aloud in a cheeky meta flourish. Production was gloriously shoestring: shot in Burbank on a budget of roughly $100,000 (originally conceived as six 16mm softcore loops expanded into a feature), the film relied on unknown actors, post-dubbed dialogue, jerky editing, a repetitive three-tune score, and amateurish performances. Thematically, The Stewardesses embodies the sexual revolution’s double edge: it celebrates swinging free love and female sexual agency (the stewardesses are active pursuers of pleasure, not mere victims), yet its darker detours - drug-fueled despair, casual abuse, sudden suicide, and a Vietnam veteran’s one-night stand - hint at misanthropy beneath the camp, suggesting the “anything goes” ethos of 1969 could just as easily lead to emptiness or tragedy. Ultimately, The Stewardesses endures not for artistic merit but as a time capsule of post-Hays Code Hollywood’s pivot toward explicit content, the fleeting 3D revival of the late ’60s, and the commercial power of novelty-driven exploitation. It proved that low-budget sleaze could infiltrate mainstream theaters and mint fortunes, influencing a wave of similarly gimmicky adult films while foreshadowing the harder-core shift of the 1970s. For today’s viewers - especially in restored Blu-ray 3-D - it offers campy laughs, historical voyeurism, and a poignant reminder that the “Summer of Love” hangover was already setting in by 1969: pleasure without consequence was a fantasy the film both sells and quietly undermines. Kino Cult’s 2026 Blu-ray of The Stewardesses is a worthwhile upgrade for fans of this campy 1969 sexploitation landmark, particularly those with 3D-capable setups. While the core film remains a delightfully shoddy time capsule, the expanded extras - including a new commentary - add substantial value over the previous Kino release. It’s not a reference-quality disc by any stretch, but it presents this low-budget curiosity in the best possible light, making it an essential purchase for exploitation enthusiasts and 3D collectors alike.

Gary Tooze