Black Emanuelle
| Black Emanuelle | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Bitto Albertini |
| Written by |
Bitto Albertini Ambrogio Molteni |
| Starring | Laura Gemser, Karin Schubert, Angelo Infanti, Isabelle Marchall, Gabriele Tinti |
| Music by | Nico Fidenco |
| Release dates |
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| Running time | 94 minutes |
| Country | Italy, Spain |
| Language | Italian |
Black Emanuelle (Italian: Emanuelle nera) is an Italian-Spanish softcore sexploitation film from 1975 directed by Bitto Albertini. Black Emanuelle follows an erotic adventure of Mae Jordan (Laura Gemser), a globe-trotting, hedonistic investigative journalist and photographer known to her readers as 'Emanuelle'. The African setting of the film (shot mostly in Kenya) was particularly used to justify the title featuring a non-black lead actress.
Background
Black Emanuelle was basically made to cash in on the success of the French film Emmanuelle with Sylvia Kristel, which was released the year before. The one "m" in the name of the lead character was deliberately omitted to avoid claims. On the other hand, casting an "exotic" (nevertheless non-black) actress for the lead role was mainly an effort to capitalise on the earlier popular erotic-themed films that starred Zeudi Araya.
Later films
By 1976 came two Black Emanuelle follow-ups, one in title (Black Emanuelle 2 by Albertini) and one in plot (Emanuelle in Bangkok by Joe D'Amato), also triggering four quasi-sequels from 1977 to 1978 by D'Amato (under the title Emanuelle) and two Emanuelle women in prison films by Bruno Mattei in 1982 and 1983.
Black Emanuelle films by Bitto Albertini
- Black Emanuelle (1975) (with Laura Gemser).
- Black Emanuelle 2 (aka The New Black Emanuelle) (1976) (with Shulamith Lasri).
Black Emanuelle 2 differs greatly in plot than the first film, featuring Israeli actress Shulamith Lasri as Emanuelle Richmond, a supermodel going through a state of amnesia and locked in a mental institution in New York. The lead actor, as in the first film, is Angelo Infanti.
Albertini's later movie, Il Mondo dei sensi di Emy Wong (1977, starring Chai Lee) was released as "Yellow Emanuelle" in some markets.
Emanuelle films by Joe D'Amato
- Emanuelle in Bangkok (1976)
- Emanuelle in America (1977)
- Emanuelle Around the World (1977)
- Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals (1977)
- Emanuelle and the White Slave Trade (1978)
Emanuelle in Bangkok that stars Laura Gemser as the journalist lead character 'Emanuelle' of the first Black Emanuelle film has the original Italian title of Emanuelle nera - Orient Reportage and is considered a genuine sequel directed by Joe D'Amato. The later D'Amato sequels that all have the same lead character but do not use the word nera (black) in their titles are noted to feature scenes of extreme violence and depravity (one controversial scene in Emanuelle in America shows a naked woman masturbating a horse).
Emanuelle films by Bruno Mattei
- Violence in a Women's Prison (1982)
- Emanuelle Escapes from Hell (1983)
Four years after the release of the last Emanuelle film by D'Amato, the journalist character 'Emanuelle' played by Laura Gemser was revived by Bruno Mattei in two women in prison films: Violence in a Women's Prison where the real name of the character is given as Laura Kendall and Emanuelle Escapes from Hell (Emanuelle fuga dall'inferno aka Blade Violent - I violenti). Emanuelle Escapes from Hell was directed by Mattei and Claudio Fragasso under the collective pseudonym Gilbert Roussel.
Uncut versions of several Emanuelle films contain scenes depicting actual penetration. Also Black Emanuelle and Emanuelle Around the World contain scenes where the Emanuelle character is seen having explicit sex. These scenes were created with hardcore inserts, using a body double. Laura Gemser never performed explicit sexual acts on film, nor was she informed that a body double would be used.
Other films
There are films that star Laura Gemser as a character other than Mae Jordan / Laura Kendall / 'Emanuelle' but that have, at one point or another, been promoted as Emanuelle films, especially in foreign releases. These films included even an earlier film that featured Gemser, Amore libero (1974), which saw a release with the English title "The Real Emanuelle". The name of Gemser's character had often been changed to Emanuelle in the English dubbing of such films.
- The Real Emanuelle (Amore Libero - Free Love, 1974), directed by Pier Ludovico Pavoni.
- Emmanuelle on Taboo Island (La Spiaggia del desiderio, 1976), directed by Enzo D'Ambrosio & Humberto Morales.
- Black Cobra Woman / Emmanuelle Goes Japanese (Eva nera, 1976), directed by Joe D'Amato.
- Black Emanuelle, White Emanuelle / Emanuelle In Egypt (Velluto nero, 1976), directed by Brunello Rondi.
- Sister Emanuelle (1977), directed by Giuseppe Vari.
- Emanuelle & the Porno Nights (Le notti porno nel mondo, 1977), directed by Bruno Mattei.
- Emanuelle in the Country (L'Infermiera di campagna, 1978), directed by Mario Bianchi.
- Emanuelle's Daughter: Queen of Sados (I mavri Emmanouella, 1979), directed by Elia Milonakos.
- Divine Emanuelle: Love Cult (Die Todesgöttin des Liebescamps, 1981), directed by Christian Anders.
- Emanuelle: Queen of the Desert (La Belva dalle calda pelle, 1982), directed by Bruno Fontana.
- Emanuelle's Perverse Outburst' (Le dechainement pervers de Manuela, 1983), directed by Joe D'Amato. Comprises archive footage from previous Emanuelle films.
Mario Pinzauti's 1976 film Emmanuelle bianca e nera ("White Emmanuelle and the Black [Woman]") was an attempt to capitalise on the success of both Black Emanuelle and Mandingo. The film, starring Malisa Longo (Emmanuelle) and Rita Manna (Judith) also saw theatrical release as Passion Plantation.