Score (film)
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| Score "The Score" |
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 DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Radley Metzger |
| Written by | Jerry Douglas |
| Starring | Claire Wilbur Calvin Culver Lynn Lowry Gerald Grant Carl Parker |
| Release date(s) | 1972 |
| Running time | 91 min |
| Country | USA/Yugoslavia |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Score is the name of a sexploitation film directed by Radley Metzger that was one of the first films to explore bi-sexual relationships. It was part of the brief porn chic fad in the early 1970s that also included The Devil in Miss Jones and Deep Throat
It was based on an off-Broadway stage play that ran for 23 performances at the Martinique Theatre in late 1971 and that featured Sylvester Stallone in a brief role (Mike). The play was written and directed by Jerry Douglas, who later became a mainstream screenwriter, and was set in Queens.
The film, however, was filmed in Yugoslavia on a relatively high budget and was set in a mythical land. It has been released in both soft-core and hard-core versions. The most recent DVD release, a soft-core version, shows a renewed copyright date of 1976 but the film itself was first shown in 1972. Even the hard-core version, however, reflected its theatrical origins and had relatively little graphic sexual activity compared to today's typical sexually explicit film.
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[edit] Cast
- Claire Wilbur (Elvira, the swinging wife)
- Calvin Culver (Eddie, the naive husband)
- Lynn Lowry (Betsy, the naive wife)
- Gerald Grant (Jack, the swinging husband)
- Carl Parker (Mike the telephone repairman)
[edit] Plot summary
In an unidentified sea-(or maybe lake-)side town, married couple Jack and Elvira have an ongoing bet regarding who can seduce whom. This comes up in the wake of swinging night with a couple picked up via newspaper ad. But they are bored. Elvira has bet she can seduce newlywed Betsy, married to a the handsome Eddie. If she fails by a certain time, then Jack gets to seduce Eddie.
When Jack (and of course Eddie, separately) goes to work, Betsy comes round to visit her new friend Elvira. She's very intrigued by Elvira's open admission of her swinging lifestyle, including spouse-swapping and drugs. When Mike the telephone repair man arrives (Elvira had sabotaged the phone earlier just in hopes of a handsome man showing up), Betsy is fascinated and shocked when Elvira seduces him right before her eyes. She also admits that she's not really happy, especially after catching Eddy masturbating in the bathroom. But she says Elvira's actions are not for her, because at heart she is still a Catholic schoolgirl. Elvira tells a story about Jack, about just before they were married, and how he said he would "screw a porcupine" if he had a mind to.
The two couples get together that night, and get slightly high on pot. Pulling out a trunk of costumes, they decide to play dress up. Jack dons a sailor's uniform while Betsy wears a very revealing modeling outfit. To Betsy's shock/tititalation (and Jack's huge amusement), Elvira's costume is based on a nun's wimple, but with nothing underneath. They tease Eddy into putting on a cowboy outfit.
As the night progresses, the two wives and two husbands pair off to wander and chat. During the course of their conversations, each of the naive couple admit to disatisfaction, including a questioning whether they ever should have gotten married. Eddy, it turns out, was Betsy's brother's best friend. There is a hint that he and Eddy were maybe closer than friends, although Eddy doesn't seem to know that Betsy might realize that. Betsy, meanwhile, is letting her hair down, is even a little worried something might "happen" between her and Elvira. She also gets giddy at saying the word "Fuck" for the first time. Jack, meanwhile tells a story about Elvira, about just before they were married, and how she said she would "screw a porcupine" if she had a mind to.
Elvira and Betsy end up in the upstairs bedroom, with Jack and Eddy in the downstairs living room. A quick phone call between the swinging couple has them agree that midnight is the deadline for them both. As the late night progresses, both introduce their perspective seductees to amyl nitrate (each says the same line as they do: "Bingo!") and when asking for the time, interpret the respective watches as either "slow" or "fast" depending upon their own desires.
Both Eddy and Betsy are simultaneously seduced, receiving and giving oral sex. Betsy is even penetrated with a strap-on (while wearing a collar and leash). Eddy, penetrated by Jack, has a brief hallucination that the person making love to him is Betsy.
In the morning, Jack and Elvira consider the score pretty much even. Betsy and Eddy are confused, each thinking perhaps the other is the "normal" one. Betsy even makes a remark about them both being "porcupines." But when Mike (the telephone repair guy) comes for a visit, as Jack and Elvira are getting ready to have a menage a trois with Betsy, he is invited. A chance remark brings out the fact he and Eddy both enjoy bowling. Somewhat to the swingers' surprise, Mike leaves with Eddy and Betsy--all amid promises of getting together soon.
[edit] Trivia
- The entire film was shot in what is now Zagreb, Croatia.
- There is a sixth speaking role in the film, the actress who plays Gerald Grant's photography assistant. She is uncredited for her one line, and has never been identified.
- According to Radley Metzger, the interior scenes of the house owned by the swinging couple were shot in two different homes. This was necessary as they lost the rental of the first home before shooting was completed.
- According to the biography on Lynn Lowry's homepage, Claire Wilbur (a veteran stage actress) became upset during filming on discovering that Lowry (a newcomer) was earning three times as much money as Wilbur. This created tension that lasted throughout the shooting.
- Of the five main actors in the film, only Lynn Lowry and Carl Parker are unquestionably alive as of January 5, 2007. Culver/Donovan and Grant died from complications related to AIDS, and Wilbur died from cancer in 1995. Contrary to popular belief (and what a Score DVD featurette might claim), Parker is not dead. He is now a real estate broker in Delaware County in central New York State.
[edit] External links
