Remembering the
grand dame of American sexploitation films
Doris Wishman, the most prolific woman filmmaker of all time, died on August
10, 2002 in Miami, after a long battle with cancer (lymphoma). She was still
making production notes and joking that she was writing the screenplay for
another film within days of her passing. “After I die I will be making
movies in hell!” Wishman quipped several times. Most of her 30 films
were sexploitation films with a few exceptions. She made films that played
double and triple bills at drive-in movie theaters, 42nd Street
grind houses, and theatres specializing in adults only features. She made
26 features between 1959 and 1977. The 27th feature, a gory horror
film, was released in 1983. After a long semi-retirement Wishman made three
more films between 1999 and 2002.
Wishman was an innovative low budget filmmaker. Her directing, editing and
marketing of her films was all self-taught and almost all of her films were
self-produced. Wishman's films often featured hand held tracking shots that
would be interrupted by cutaways to bizarre shots of ashtrays, bric-a-brac,
and characters' knees, hands, and feet. It was easier to dub voices into
her films if she didn't have to worry about matching the actors' (and non-actors')
lips to the dialogue. Her cutaways were not only creative cost saving devices,
she sometimes used them to build suspense or display a dark quirky sense
of humor.
Doris Wishman lied about her age and it was recently discovered by her nephew,
Norman Wishman, that she was born on July 23, 1912. She was 90 years old
at the time of her death. Michael Bowen has been working on an extensive
and comprehensive biography of Wishman for nearly four years. “She
liked to make up stories about herself and make things even more exciting
and interesting than they really were,” he explained. “She can
also be a very difficult person to deal with sometimes,” he said several
months ago when I was trying to co-ordinate an interview with Wishman for
a magazine article.
.
Doris was the cousin of low budget film producer Max Rosenberg (he was one
of the founders of Britain's Amicus Films), but she carved out her own career
completely on her own. She made her first film (Hideout in the Sun)
in 1959, the year after she became a widow. This film had a strong influence
on prolific exploitation producer Dave Friedman and the entire exploitation
industry in general. Friedman would eventually produce the H. Gordon Lewis-directed
classics, Blood Feast (1963), Color Me Blood Red (1964) and
2000 Maniacs (1964). Friedman and Wishman were in some ways competitors
but also wound up being friends.
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Nude
on the Moon
|
Wishman's best-known films are Nude on the Moon (1960), Bad Girls
Go to Hell (1965), Deadly Weapons (1973), and Double
Agent 73 (1974). Her last commercially distributed film released was
1983's A Night to Dismember (now available as an Elite DVD with the
only commentary track she ever recorded). However she completed two more
films, Satan Was a Lady (2001) and Dildo Heaven (also known
as Desperate Desires, 2002) and was in postproduction on a third
film, Each Time I Kill, at the time of her death. This last film
features cameos by Fred Schneider of The B-52s, former 1980s scream
queen Linnea Quigley and, if all goes according to plan, John Waters will
still film his planned cameo as well. It was right after principal photography
on the film ended in June, that the seriousness of Wishman's lymphoma was
discovered and she began intensive chemotherapy treatment in an effort to
prolong her life. “Unfortunately the chemotherapy was too much for
her to take and there was all kinds of complications,” Bowen said.
She was not able to speak during the last couple of weeks of her life, but
Wishman scribbled notes to family, friends and doctors. She also wrote instructions
on how she expected the film to be finished.
The eight 'nudie cuties' she made from the late '50s and early '60s are
naïve, dated films, while the 'roughie' films which Wishman helped
pioneer were usually extremely misogynistic (slightly less so in Wishman's
own films) and violent, and the soft core films of the '70s were the fore-runners
of the direct to video erotic film or what is often referred to as the 'Skin-emax'
cable movies. These are not in the same league as hardcore porno films.
Wishman for years denied she ever directed any X rated films but she as
much admitted in interviews and certainly in conversations to others that
she might have had something to do with the x-rated Satan Was a Lady
in 1975 and Come with Me, My Love in 1976 (see Filmography).
“These two pictures were NOT made by Doris….”, explains C.
Davis Smith, a good friend and the cinematographer on 17 of Doris' 30 films,
“…or at least that's what she told people for many years. I, however,
was there behind the camera with Doris at my elbow - she's short you know.
One thing though, Doris would not shoot the explicit scenes. She would say,
'Go ahead and do what you have to!' retiring to another room until we told
her we were done shooting.”
“My Aunt Doris was the baby in a family of five children, three girls
and two boys,” explained 77-year-old Norman Wishman. “My father
was next to the oldest. My Aunt Pearl is the only one left. I think she's
94 and lives in Coral Gables, Florida, where Doris also resided. There were
two sides to my Aunt Doris. She was very family devoted, and was on call
whenever she was needed. Very rarely talked about her movies. That's why
my sister and I were surprised of how many people loved her. My sister,
Sheila Lipitz (70), who lives in Miami, told me if she and Doris were eating
in a diner, little kids somehow were attracted to my Aunt, and would come
over to their table. There was just that 'something' that was in her body
language.”
It was Pearl who lent Doris Wishman the $10,000 needed to make her first
film. The money was paid back and most of Doris' films were made from then
on through a combination of personal funds and credit, at least until A
Night to Dismember.
Wishman did not just film 'nature girls (and boys)' in a nudist colony,
but instead created a plot, and character. Yes, the characters liked to
watch nudists play volleyball and swim, but Wishman revolutionized and suggested
how to almost legitimize the adult's only sexploitation film. She loved
the process of making movies, writing outlandish plots, experimenting with
camera angles and figuring out how to put it all together in the editing
room. She tried to make decent films that offered the audience something
a little different, even if she didn't have even a fraction of the money
she needed to succeed. Few filmmakers made so much with so little.
She was also a woman making films in the utterly male-dominated sub-genre
of exploitation, in the already male-dominated film business. She wasn't
working for a man, nor given a film by a studio head who believed having
a woman direct an exploitation movie was a great gimmick. In fact often
Doris used her husband's name or made up a male name rather than use her
own. Independent low-budget exploitation, and sexploitation filmmakers were
also concerned with censorship laws as several parts of the country enforced
their blue laws while others were inconsistent regarding their own local
ordinances and the still-enforced Hayes Code. Wishman found the money to
make her movies, produced nearly all of them, wrote, directed, cast and
often edited them as well. She turned down offers to work with her cousin
(Rosenberg), or as a director for Dave Friedman, Sam Lake and others. She
made her films exactly the way she wanted to make them. Sometimes she had
to get tough and collect money from exhibitors as well. She was also one
of the few low budget filmmakers who paid her bills on time and had a reputation
for being trustworthy and honest. She might have made nudie cuties, roughies,
and sleazy soft-core movies, but there was nothing sleazy about Doris' character
or business practices. She was tough, salty, full of quirks and idiosyncrasies,
but she was a smart, sharp, authentic, self-made businesswoman and artist
-- all 4 feet, 11 inches of her.
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John
Waters and
Doris Wishman
|
Artist? Yes, artist. Her love for the process of making films led her to
explore techniques, and ideas that were original, innovative and artistic
– intentionally artistic. She never worked with a budget substantial
enough to use her ideas in a mainstream film, but others took her ideas,
techniques, and innovations and created entire careers with them. You might
be surprised to learn how many independent filmmakers actually studied a
Wishman film or two. Corman, Friedman, Larry Cohen, Carpenter, Waters, and
many others have been inspired by her work.
Doris Wishman is not merely the Grand Dame of bargain basement sexploitation
films, she is the Godard of low-budget genre films. She carved out a new
way of looking at film and pursued new possibilities with the medium, in
a completely original and groundbreaking way that will one day be recognized
as important as the contributions of the Italian Neo-Realists, French New
Wave, or the American Independents of the 1970's.
Her films can of course be enjoyed in the same way that films by Ed Wood,
Phil Tucker, Ray Dennis Steckler or Ted V. Mikels can be enjoyed —
but there is more to a Wishman film than there is to most. Doris was not
blinded by her ambitions or deluded into believing she was making superb
low budget films. She never believed her films were very good in the grand
scheme of things — but she knew they could be sold to an audience and
later in life she was more than delighted at how many people truly enjoyed
her films.
Doris Wishman challenged the common notion of what a low budget (or no budget)
exploitation film was and what it could be. Her films might have had nudity
and violence in them, but few would call them sexy films. Her mise-en-scène
is unique, original and, while born of some fiscal necessity, it is groundbreaking
enough that there should be little hesitation in mentioning her name alongside
Jean-Luc Godard, Chris Marker or David Lynch as a filmmaker whose technique
and experimentation broadened the horizon of film language and art. Wishman's
career itself paved the way for woman directors such as Agnès Varda,
Catherine Breillat, Lina Wertmuller, Gilliam Armstrong and others. Doris
invented herself as a filmmaker and was in complete control of all but one
of her films (Satan Was a Lady [2001]) from pre-production through
post-production and often chased film distributors and exhibitors for her
money. Few men and fewer women have ever maintained the consistent control
over their work and career as Wishman did. She made her films for a specific
marketplace but created definite subversive subtexts that were statements
on the exploitation of woman. In most of her films, Wishman twisted male
ideals of female sexuality and male fantasies in previously unimaginable
ways. Her long and mostly successful career in the utterly male-dominated
world of exploitation films was itself an important statement and inspiration
to filmmakers who must overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles and handicaps
to get their projects finished. Although Wishman did not define herself
as feminist, she was a pioneer and succeeded over and over again in the
mostly male-dominated film business as only a handful of women were 'allowed'
to produce or direct films prior to the 1960s. Wishman didn't wait for any
chances, she simply borrowed money from her sister Pearl and started making
films and, in the end, made more films than any woman has ever made before.
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Bad
Girls Go to Hell
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When Smith first met Doris in 1964, he had not seen any of her films. The
market was changing and the naïve era of the nudie cuties was over.
Smith explained, “…she was going with the market and the viewing
audience wanted 'roughies'…she asked me how I felt about photographing
nude women and I told her 'it was my favorite past-time.' So we joined forces
and that year, 1964, we made Bad Girls Go to Hell and The Sex
Perils of Paulette (1965).
“I'm told by archivists and historians that I worked on 17 features
for Doris,” Smith continued, “I know that I shot footage that
appeared in other 'Doris' films on which I received no credits. But it was
the way I earned a living, my job. My philosophy was, and still is, 'I don't
care who gets the credit as long as I get the check!' Doris had much the
same philosophy. Although she did all the work on the films she produced...
writing, directing and editing... she made up names for the screen credits
so that it would look like a bigger picture.”
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Double
Agent 73
|
Two of Doris' best known films – Deadly Weapons and Double
Agent 73 – are ones she made with a stripper named Chesty Morgan,
who was endowed with one of the largest (73 inch) busts ever exposed on
camera.
“Although a lot of people don't know it Deadly Weapons and Double
Agent 73 were shot at the same time.” Smith explained. “Doris
had filmed a bunch of sequences with Chesty Morgan but had not been able
to complete the film with her original cameraman. I was working on more
lucrative projects at the time she called me but I agreed to complete the
shooting with her. These are two of the pictures on which I received no
credit...but I did get the cash. Doris, unlike a lot of the producers in
the business, always made a point of paying at the end of the day or the
end of the shoot.”
Wishman was originally going to do three films with Chesty Morgan. But Morgan
believed she should be treated like a star and was also constantly showing
up on the set very late. After Morgan cost them nearly one full shooting
day with her tardiness, Wishman had enough of the Polish stripper. Wishman
decided to make the sequel to Double Agent 73, without Morgan. She
didn't need the aggravation. In the first scene of The Immortal Three
(1975), a character playing Agent 73 is killed and three new characters
are introduced at her funeral. “This was the Daughters of Double
Agent 73.” Smith said. "The Immoral Three was shot
in New York, Miami and Vegas. Now that's film making!”
By the 1970s, the market place was changing. Doris did not want to make
hard-core porno movies and the market for soft-core sexploitation was disappearing.
In 1978 she made the remarkable Let Me Die a Woman, a dramatized
pseudo-documentary about transsexuals, featuring some rather gruesome footage
of actual sex-change operations. In the late '70s, there were still enough
grind-house and drive-in theaters around for her to make a little money
off her past features, however to continue making movies, Wishman would
have to again change genres.
In 1978, Halloween (directed by John Carpenter) became a huge independent
hit and ushered in the era of low budget slasher films. In this milieu,
Wishman decided to make a horror film. She didn't particularly like the
horror genre, but she knew she could sell it to the marketplace. She cast
porno actress Samantha Fox as the lead and began shooting A Night to
Dismember in 1979.
The film wound up being a fairly incomprehensible mess, but in this case
it was not the fault of the director. The film was nearly finished and was
at a processing lab when the lab declared bankruptcy and dismissed all of
its employees. A disgruntled worker vandalized the facility and in the process
destroyed footage from several films. More than 50 percent of the original
negative of Dismember was destroyed. Wishman had raised money for
the film by pre-selling it to distributors and exhibitors. It was thought
Wishman's reputation was solid and the risk was minimal so they gave her
money to finance the film's production. Unfortunately Doris had spent the
money she had received making the film and she owed several people a movie.
She didn't have money to re-shoot the film or pay people back, so she took
some alternate takes and odds and ends and bits and pieces from other films
and put the film back together as best she could. She shot two or three
new scenes as well. It took her nearly eight months to fix and finish the
film. The film was minimally released in 1983. Granted, it is a mess of
a film but fascinating to watch nonetheless. In fact, it is unlike any other
low budget slasher/horror film you'll ever see. A couple of the gore effects
are quite effective, while most wind up being pretty funny. It might be
confusing, cheap, sleazy, exploitative, gory, inane and cheap - but it is
by no means boring.
C. Davis Smith remembers the film: “A lot of people say that it is
the worst 'Doris' picture ever made. Unfortunately, I'll have to agree.
But there's the story that half the negative got ruined in the lab and Doris
had to reconstruct the film from what she had left, re-writing and re-editing
and even shooting new footage with a new leading
lady.”
Wishman was unhappy with the experience and she decided it was time to retire
from the film business. So she moved from New York to Florida to be with
her sister Pearl. Doris figured she and her films would soon be forgotten.
Her time in the sun had passed and she convinced herself she could be content
and happy without making movies.
However her still-growing base of cult movie fans wanted to see Doris. As
she began thinking about starting a new film, she was the subject of a profile
on The Incredibly Strange Film Show. More cult film fans discovered
her films. Wishman decided to make another film (Dildo Heaven). She
would shoot it on video in Florida and work on it as she had the money to
do so. For several years Doris wrote, and then she filmed the majority of
the film, but did not have the money to edit and finish it.
Elite was restoring a print of A Night to Dismember and re-united
C. Davis Smith and Doris Wishman to record the now legendary commentary
track for the DVD release of the film. “I've been asked by people who
have heard the commentary if I knew how many times Doris called me an 'idiot'
during the DVD commentary track,” C. Davis Smith explained. “Well,
it's all a muddle! I stopped counting after the umpteenth time …. maybe
a million?”
The money Doris was paid for the DVD release was enough to do some editing
on what would become Dildo Heaven. While editing, Doris met a struggling
film producer, Beau Gillespie, who was trying to complete his own film,
Pueblo Sin Suerte (2002). Doris and Beau talked about movies and
before long Doris was telling Beau several ideas she had for a film. Beau
liked one that Doris called 'Satan Was a Lady' even though the title had
been used in the past for one of the porno films Doris made. He convinced
Doris that he would produce and raise the money for the film. Doris planned
on using the money she made to finish Dildo Heaven.
Wishman died an untimely death. Recently, David B. Wilson, a fan of Wishman,
began a website dedicated to her and was working with her to sell videos
and collectibles to raise money to make movies. Producer Beau Gillespie
was working with Doris on casting the new film (Gillespie would wind up
doing the final edit on the film and releasing it on his own DVD label).
Honey Lauren agreed to play the lead in Satan Was a Lady after meeting
Gillespie and Wishman. The shoot lasted about two weeks and Wishman shot
the film in 35mm with sync sound in several Miami locations. “Doris
was constantly changing the script and coming up with new ideas,” Lauren
said. “And we would rehearse the new ideas before we shot, which I
really liked. Doris would sometimes act out all the parts in this over-the
top melodramatic way. She was such a wonderful drama queen. Then she would
sometimes stop and add something else to script. It was such an interesting
exciting way to work.
Of Wishman, Gillespie said:
“She was tough, willful and tireless. She would not be deterred.
She worked at it until she just ran out of steam. Her trump card was
that precocious, impudent, dirty-minded little girl imagination: romantic
and sentimental with a delicious touch of cruelty -- a great asset
for an artist. Once, regarding a prop, she asked, 'Do you know how
many people I've killed with that ashtray?' I was infatuated with
her. I wanted to strangle her. I will miss her intensely. I owed her
another cup of coffee, and a lot more.”
Doris Wishman attended the world premiere of Satan Was a Lady in
March 2001, She then finished editing Dildo Heaven, which had its
official world premiere at the New York Underground Film Festival in early
2002. Then, after more than a 21-year hiatus, Wishman re-united for the
17th time with cinematographer C. Davis Smith, to begin shooting
Each Time I Kill in May 2002.
Michael Bowen, who has been a close friend of Wishman, the line producer
on Each Time I Kill, as well as writing an extensive biography
on her, helped verify and correct some information for this article. “I
can not begin to tell you how much she will be missed by a great many people
who worked with her over the years,” he said. “She could be very,
very difficult at times, but she had so much energy and love for making
films she would wear absolutely everyone around her out, and I'm not just
saying that. I mean quite frankly this little 80+ year old woman would run
circles around every single person on the crew.” Bowen was strongly
encouraging several editors and writers earlier this year to interview Doris
Wishman. “She was terrible at marketing herself and her projects. Once
she was done with a film she was ready right away to move on to the next
one. I tried to help her out when I could.”
I was about to interview Wishman in April, for Cult Cuts Magazine
but Doris suddenly got very busy making what would be her last film, Each
Time I Kill. She probably knew she had very little time left (though
she kept the seriousness of her cancer a secret from almost everyone) and
so she devoted her energies almost exclusively to finishing the film. She
was still willing to be interviewed for an article, but only if I was able
to come talk to her and hang out with her in person while she was shooting
her film in and around Miami and Coral Gables, Florida. At the time, Doris
seemed immortal, and I couldn't afford the trip on my own and the magazine
didn't have any budget for such expenses. We would do the interview later
on.
So, as Doris Wishman would have done (if she needed another shot for a film
and her star wasn't available) we'll just have to proceed without her actual
participation. Perhaps I'll pretend Doris' hand is beside that ashtray over
there as I type up this article. Doris Wishman, in her polka dot dress;
big sunglasses; glass of orange juice, barking orders and giving praises
in her distinctive New York accent, will be remembered not just for her
innovative techniques, and original style, but also as a pioneer, and a
trail blazer for women filmmakers throughout the world.
“Doris said many times that when she dies she will be making films
in hell,” said C. Davis Smith. “Damn, I guess that means I'll
have to finish doing the uncredited cinematography on another batch of features
for Doris.”
© Christopher J. Jarmick, September 2002.
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Doris
Wishman
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Filmography
Hideout in
the Sun (1960)
Directed by Doris Wishman (credited as 'Lazarus Wolk', a derivation of
the cameraman's name). Written by DW. Produced by DW and Martin Kaplan.
Camera: Larry Wolk. Featuring: Karl Bauer, Dolores Carlos, Greg Conrad,
Mary Line, Carol Little, Pat Reilly, Ann Richards. Color, Astor Films.
Doris claimed her first feature film was shot mostly at The Sunny Palms
Lodge in Homestead Florida - a famous nudist colony (and where a lot of
the original footage in Doris' first eight pictures was shot). However
Doris' first two films were not actually shot in the nudist colony at
all (according to her biographer Michael Bowen). Doris lied about this
for legal reasons. The loose plot concerns two bank-robbing brothers who
kidnap a girl, who winds up leading them to a nudist colony, where they
hide out, watch nudists play volleyball, swim etc. Credits on several
Wishman films are misleading. Doris wore several hats: producer/co-producer,
director, writer, and she usually supervised and directed all of the editing
on her movies. Note: on this film Wishman decided to use a pseudonym of
cameraman Larry Wolk as a credit for the director. She supervised the
shooting and post-production on this film. Sometimes she used her name,
sometimes others' (such as her second husband Louis Silverman's). She
did this for various reasons but mostly to make the picture as marketable
as possible and to make it appear more people were involved in the film.
From the original advertisement: "Escape to a modern Garden of Paradise
where Nature's sun-kissed daughters walk forth in all their natural beauty!"
(1)
Nude on the Moon (1960)
Directed by Doris Wishman (as Anthony Brooks). Written by DW (as Doris
Chasnik). Produced by DW. Featuring: Lester Brown, William Mayer, Pat
Reilly, Marietta, Shelby Livingston, Joyce Brooks, Ralph Young, Doc Severinsen.
Color. Juri Productions/ JER Pictures Inc. Also known as Moon Dolls
or Girls on the Moon.
Doris' second feature was filmed partly at The Coral Castle (in Homestead,
Florida), which is a sprawling mansion, built from Coral rocks and has
an interesting history itself. The film concerns the exploits of two rocket
scientists who blast off to the moon in a toy rocket ship. A three million
dollar inheritance financed the expedition. They sit right next to each
other but talk to each other via radio mikes and headphones, and they
sleep through their landing. When they get out of the rocket shop in goofy
pajama-type outfits, they find an area on the moon that looks a lot like
a nudist camp in Florida. The woman are topless with bathing suit bottoms,
they have fuzzy pipe cleaner antennas and speak telepathically to each
other. Wishman makes a cameo in the first scene. You'll see a theater
marquee' that says 'Hideout in the Sun' on it. Shelby Livingston is one
of the moon cuties and would later have a bigger part in H.G. Lewis' 2000
Maniacs (1964) as the gal who gets her arm axed off. Ralph Young (of
Sandler and Young) sings “Moon Doll" backed by a young Doc Severinsen
(not seen) and his band (words and music by Judith J. Kushner). - (2)
and (3)
Diary of a Nudist (1961)
Directed by Doris Wishman. Screenplay by Melvin Stanley (which might be
a Doris Wishman pseudonym). Produced by DW. Camera: Raymond Phelan. Featuring:
Davee Decker, Norman Casserly, Dolores Carlos, Joan Bamford, Maria Stinger,
Allison Louise Downe, Harry W. Stinger, Charles Allen, Ronald M. Ziegler.
Color. Juri Productions/ JER Pictures Inc. Also known as Nature Camp
Confidential.
A newspaper editor is outraged that a nudist camp is located just 60 miles
outside of town so he sends a blonde ace reporter to do an expose on the
place. The reporter however enjoys frolicking in the buff and writes a
positive piece about the place. The editor fires her and goes to nudist
colony to do his own exposé. Of course he winds up charmed by the
nudist life and it all ends happily ever after. A naïve, innocent
and very hokey nudie cutie. From the advertisements: "Woman Reporter
Poses as Nudist!", “Live as a Nudist with utmost Gorgeous Campers
in the World.”, “To write this story she had to live it !“
(2) and (3)
Blaze Starr Goes Nudist (1962)
Directed by Doris Wishman. Screenplay by Melvin Stanley (which might be
a Doris Wishman pseudonym). Produced by DW. Camera: Raymond Phelan. Featuring:
Blaze Starr, Russ Martine (Ralph Young), Gene Berk, William Mayer, Sandra
Sinclair, Stephen Bloom, Allison Louise Downe, Joan Bamford, Lee Abel,
James Antonio, Warrene Gray, Richard Johnson (XIII), Mary Jo Walls (Wells),
Craig Maudslay Jr., Dolores K. Norris and Doris Wishman. Color. Juri Productions/
JER Pictures Inc. Also known as Blaze Starr: The Original or Back
to Nature, Blaze Starr Goes Wild.
Blaze Starr, the redheaded stripper who was once involved with Louisiana
Governor Earl Long, escapes from her grueling nightclub work and her somewhat
sleazy agent/fiancé (with a drawn on moustache) by ducking into
a movie theater playing a movie about nudism. She checks into Sunny Palms
and loves the life of nude checkers, volleyball and naked archery! The
underwater footage is 'borrowed' from Diary of a Nudist. She falls
for the accordion-playing camp director Andy played by Ralph Young (though
he's billed as Russ Martine), of Sandler and Young, who sings the theme
song backed by a young Doc Severinsen and his band. Eventually the agent/manager
crashes the party of course. From the advertisements: “A starlet
during the week, a Nature-Girl EVERY weekend!”, "A Nudist Starr
is Born!". (2) and (3)
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Gentlemen
Prefer Nature Girls (1962)
Directed by Doris Wishman. Screenplay by Melvin Stanley (which might be
a Doris Wishman pseudonym). Produced by DW. Camera: Raymond Phelan. Featuring:
Lou Alexion, William Mayer, Sandra Sinclair, Stephen Bloom, Joan Bamford,
Lee Abel, James Antonio, Warrene Gray, Richard Johnson (XIII), Mary Jo
Wells, Craig Maudslay Jr., Dolores K. Norris and Doris Wishman. Color.
Juri Productions/ JER Pictures Inc.
Anne and Tom work in a real estate office. They are married and nudists.
When the boss finds out Tom is a nudist he is fired right before he closes
a big deal with Al Jenkins. Tom goes to the Sunny Palms Lodge nudist camp
to forget his troubles and takes over as temporary nudist camp director.
Al Jenkins turns out to be a member and they decide to get the boss and
Anne to the nudist camp to close the big deal. The boss is pretty upset
at first but is given the tour of the nudist life-style nude volleyball,
basketball, teeter-totter, archery and naked landscape design and…
well it's a happy ending. From the advertisements: "The elemental
beauty of nature... so intimate, so revealing!", “See what working
girls do after a hard day at the office!” (2)
Playgirls International (1963)
Directed by Doris Wishman. Written by Cy Eichman (which might be Doris
Wishman pseudonym). Produced by DW. Camera: Raymond Phelan. Featuring:
Betty Andrews, Kenneth Andres, Sylvia Bayner, Sam Butera, Janice Coughlin,
Leslie Daniels, Louis Prima, Martha J. Pryor, Lee Sinclair, Harry W. Stinger,
Maria Stinger, Eileen Traynor, Betsi Warton. Color. Wishman Productions/Westfield
Productions Inc.
Leslie Daniels narrates this international mondo-sexy dancing 'documentary'
which shows sexy dancing in several countries in Europe, Japan, Hawaii
and Mexico. It features a lady magician in Hamburg, a Parisian dance routine,
and Louis Prima's Las Vegas twist show (featuring Sam Butera and the Witnesses).
At the end, nudists in Sunny Palms Lodge dance The Twist, the Hula and
an Apache War Dance. From the advertisements: “A whirling twirling
panorama of Nature's Playgirls in a new dimension!” (Note: information
on this film compiled from press kits which included plot synopsis - no
known prints in circulation.)
Behind the Nudist Curtain (1964)
Directed by Doris Wishman. Written by DW (as Cy Eichman). Produced by
DW. Camera: Raymond Phelan. Featuring: Betty Andrews, Lee Abell, Janice
Coughlin, Leslie Daniels, William Mayer, Martha J. Pryor, Sandra Sinclair,
Harry W. Stinger, Maria Stinger, Betsi Warton. Color. Juri Productions/
JER Pictures Inc.
A Private Eye named Sam is relaxing at a nudist camp (that he is also
trying to buy from the owner) when he gets an assignment to find international
spy Mr. X, who receives information from night club entertainers around
the world. Sam travels to Vegas, Hong Kong, Thailand, Paris, Haiti, Mexico,
Hawaii, Berlin and Tokyo, watching lovely women perform, solves the case
and stops back at his favorite nudist camp. From the advertisements: “It's
all new, and oh, so intimate…a private eye's discovery of what makes
Nature Girls tick!”, “Filmed around the World and in Florida's
Leading Nature Camps!” (Note: information on this film compiled from
press kits which included plot synopsis - no known prints in circulation.
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The
Prince and the Nature Girl (1964)
Directed by Doris Wishman. Featuring: Lee Abel, Sandy Sinclair, June Roberts,
Jeffrey Niles, Warrene Gray, Barbi Taylor, Stephen Bloom, Dolores K. Norris,
Ingrid Martinsen, Shirley Perratto. Color. Juri Productions/ JER Pictures
Inc.
The leader of a mythical kingdom falls in love with a beautiful nudist
from Ohio, who has a twin (disguised in a wig). Filmed in Florida and
New Jersey. From the advertisements: "A kingdom of girls is yours
to behold!", “You'll flush, you'll blush, your head will spin
when you frolic with the fairest maidens this side of Heaven!”, “It's
all New. What a Paradise…What a Fascinating Adventure!” (Note:
actual on screen credits were not verified for this listing).
The Sex Perils of Paulette (1965)
Directed by Doris Wishman. Written by DW (as Dawn Whitman). Produced by
DW. Cinematography: C. Davis Smith. Featuring: Anna Karol, Alan Feinstein,
Tony Lo Bianco, Susan Stewart, Darlene Bennett, Pamela Fields, Bob Oran,
Darlene Cotton, Barry Lane, Marlene Starr, Tracy Lee, Sam Stewart and
Doris Wishman as the Narrator. B&W. Juri Productions/ JER Pictures Inc.
Also known as Paulette.
Paulette from Ohio is searching for fame and fortune in the big apple
and moves in with Tracy (Wishman regular Darlene Bennett) who says she
is a model and will help Paulette get into the business. Tracy takes all
of Paulette's money for rent and then insists she goes to a swinging party
where she meets Sam (Wishman heavy Sam Stewart) who is not a theatrical
agent but a pimp. Paulette is shocked with the near nakedness of the partygoers
and the striptease she watches. She tries to get Tracy to give back her
rent money, but Tracy laughs in her face. Paulette false in love with
nice guy Allan (Lo Bianco) and they of course walk in Central Park. But
after losing her job as a waitress and getting stood up by a movie producer,
Paulette winds up working as a hooker. She's even beat up by a sadist
(Wishman bald guy regular Bob Oran). It was a move to what was called
the 'roughies' for Wishman, and her first film with C. Davis Smith. It's
a film full of interesting, somewhat bizarre editing manipulations, and
includes Wishman's own narration. Some of the mise-en-scène and
editing matches the narration, some are jump cuts in time and some bend
linear logic. With this film, a Wishman style began to emerge, one independent
from financial considerations. From the advertisements: "The WILD
get-togethers of a SEX conscious generation", “You had to go
all the way if you wanted to belong!”, “The film that dares
to be different.” (2)
Bad Girls Go to Hell (1965)
Directed by Doris Wishman. Written by DW (as Dawn Whitman). Produced by
DW. Cinematography: C. Davis Smith. Featuring: Gigi Darlene, Harold Key,
George la Rocque, Sandee Norman, Barnard L. Sacket, Marlene Starr, Darlene
Bennett, Sam Stewart. B&W. Juri Productions/JER Pictures Inc/Sam Lake
Enterprises Inc.
An obvious blueprint for early John Waters films. Here is Doris Wishman's
first official 'roughie'. Meg is a housewife in either Boston or Chicago,
who, after making love with her husband, takes a shower and then is attacked
by a buck toothed janitor. She kills him with a bowl. We get a dead man's
POV shot of the bowl. Meg arrives via bus to the Big Apple, changing her
name to Ellen Green, and she says she is from Chicago. There are close
ups of feet, and we hear birds too loudly chirping on the soundtrack when
we go to Central Park. A friendly guy takes a sip of alcohol and starts
beating Meg/Ellen with a belt. A newspaper headline states: “Police
seek blonde suspect in Boston murder!” Ellen rooms with Della, a
lesbian, and claims she is an acrobatic dancer. She stands on her head
in her bra and panties to prove it. Later she rents a room for 20 dollars
a week and is then attacked by the landlady's husband. She flees that
scene and becomes a companion for an elderly woman but then discovers
the woman's son is a detective working on the Boston murder case. Just
as the long arm of the law closes in on Ellen/Meg, she wakes up. It has
all been a nightmare. So that's why it all seemed so strange and over-the-top….Uh
oh, wait a minute - Meg then makes love to her husband. He goes to work
and she takes a shower and while she is taking her shower the janitor
with big buckteeth sneaks into her apartment and…. … oh no…!!
From the advertisements: "Possessed with sex, they know no shame!"
(2) and (3)
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Another
Day, Another Man
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Another
Day, Another Man (1966)
Directed by Doris Wishman. Written by DW (as Dawn Whitman). Produced by
DW. Cinematography: C. Davis Smith. Featuring: Gigi Darlene, Rita Bennett,
Darlene Bennett, Tony Gregory, Barbi Kemp, Mary O'Hara, Bob Oran, June
Roberts, Sam Stewart. B&W. Juri Productions/JER Pictures Inc.
After a montage of stills and jazz music, a couple walks in Central Park.
Ann (Kemp) and Steve (Gregory) are newlyweds who move into a furnished
apartment. Ann's ex-roommate is Tess (O'Hara), a prostitute who works
for Bert the Pimp (Sam Stewart). When Bert visits Tess he falls asleep
and has a flashback/dream, which he narrates in a deep cartoon voice.
Dolly and Daisy (the Bennett twins) like being whores. Bert picks up Meg
(Darlene) fresh off the bus (hmm… almost a sequel to Bad Girls),
the girls bond by dancing in their underwear until Meg's boyfriend shows
up wanting to marry her. When the dream ends, we spend some time with
the newlyweds Steve and Ann. Ann has quit her job to be a housewife after
Steve gets a raise. Then Steve gets sick. He becomes bed-ridden and as
the bills pile up, Ann has to figure out something to do. So she works
for Bert as a call girl. By day she takes care of hubby, by night she's
a hooker. Steve makes a miraculous and complete recovery and rushes off
to tell his wife Ann the good news and then makes a shocking discovery
about what she has been doing!! Shots of potted plants, radios, underwear,
odd hand held camera work and some truly mind bending editing lets you
know you are in Wishman-land. From the advertisements: “Sex without
Shame”. (2) and (3)
My Brother's Wife (1966)
Directed by Doris Wishman. Written by DW (as Dawn Whitman). Produced by
DW. Cinematography: C. Davis Smith. Featuring: June Roberts, Susan Stewart,
Rita Bennett, Darlene Bennett, Tony Gregory, Barbi Kemp, Mary O'Hara,
Bob Oran, June Roberts, Sam Stewart. B&W. Juri Productions/ JER Pictures
Inc.
The film opens with a billiard room brawl over a woman who has killed
herself and the entire film is a flashback. Mary (Roberts) is married
to Bob (Oran), a dull man who is a wrestling fan and dresses in black
shirts and white ties. Bob's slimy brother Frankie (Stewart) comes visiting
and likes Mary. Mary is tempted but tries to be a good girl. However she's
ignored by Bob and before long is having an affair with Frankie. Frankie
however likes the wild Zena (Darlene Bennett) more than Mary. Zena leaves
New York for LA when her bull dyke cousin, Della (Rita Bennett) gets too
demanding. Frankie must now con Mary for some money to go after Zena.
In this film there is a wild party that's almost identical to the one
in The Sex Perils of Paulette (but not completely). We have plenty
of feet, ashtray and Buddha statue shots. We also have a shot where Zena
sits right down on the camera lens giving new meaning to an ass shot.
This film proves Doris was a demented genius! From the advertisements:
"Sex was her master! Lust was her destiny!" (2)
A Taste of Flesh (1967)
Directed by Doris Wishman (as Louis Silverman). Written by DW (as Louis
Silverman). Produced by DW (as Louis Silverman). Cinematography: C. Davis
Smith. Featuring: Michael Alaimo (Lawrence), Darlene Bennett, Layla Peters,
Buck Starr, Peggy Steffans-Sarno (director Joe Sarno's wife, billed as
Cleo Nova). B&W. Juri Productions/ JER Pictures Inc.
Doris asked her cameraman C. Davis Smith for a plot idea. Smith had seen
Suddenly (Lewis Allen, 1954) with Frank Sinatra, and told Doris
the plot of that film. From this, Doris created an ultra low-budget film.
Two assassins claiming to be plumbers hold two lesbian roommates and their
visiting friend hostage, while they wait to assassinate the prime minister
of 'Netia' from the apartment window. This means we have time for showers,
lesbian lovemaking, strip-teases, whilst women are whipped, beaten, raped
and even killed. Then there is the dream sequence, which involves characters
in drag that is something which must be seen. (2)
Indecent Desires (1967)
Directed by Doris Wishman (as Louis Silverman). Written by DW (as Dawn
Whitman). Produced by DW (as Louis Silverman). Cinematography: C. Davis
Smith. Featuring: Michael Alaimo (Lawrence), Sharon Kent, Trom Little,
Jackie Richards, Lee Taylor, Peters, Buck Starr. B&W. Mostest Production.
After Zeb finds a doll and a ring in a garbage can, he sees Ann going
to work with her friend and fantasizes that she looks like the doll. Zeb
caresses the doll and Ann feels invisible hands on her breasts and thighs.
Zeb then discovers that Ann has a fiancé named Tom. Zeb begins
to torture the doll, burning it with a cigarette, whipping it etc. which
Ann feels. Ann now believes she is going insane. The film has a jazzy
score, dialogue that is overdubbed in an even more bizarre fashion than
Wishman usually employed and which has the effect of all the characters
talking in slow hypnotic tones. Surreal, unique, disturbing and laughable,
sometimes all at once. From the advertisements: "He controlled the
secret of evil love... She was tortured by a strange force within her."
(2)
Too Much Too Often! (1968)
Directed by Doris Wishman (as Louis Silverman). Written by DW (as Louis
Silverman). Produced by DW (as Louis Silverman). Cinematography: C. Davis
Smith. Featuring: Sharon Kent, Darlene Bennett, Michelle Fox, Bob Oran,
Stephanie Collins, Rita Bennett, Lee Taylor, Peters, Buck Starr. B&W.
Mostest Productions/Juri Productions.
Slime-ball sadist Mike appears to be a pretty cool guy, combing his hair
and posing but Mr Dite, an advertising executive who likes being whipped,
knows exactly what he is. Mike gets a cushy job and starts climbing up
the social ladder by stealing Dite's clients and seducing his daughter.
Mike likes a lot of different woman, and uses and abuses them. Naturally
his past eventually catches up with him. The Wishman touches are here
but there are several locations utilized in this one. From the advertisements:
"The animals are here!", “Whip me, Whip me.” (2)
The Hot Month of August (1966/1969)
Produced and directed by Socrates Kapsaskis, additional scenes produced
and directed by Doris Wishman (as Louis Silverman). Additional scenes
were probably shot by C. Davis Smith. Featuring: Petros Fyssoun, Betty
Aruaniti, John Fertis, Vania Aksar. Also known as Zestos minas Avoustos
(Greek title). B&W. Juri Productions/JER Pictures Inc.
Doris Wishman bought some films from a struggling film company while vacationing
in Greece. She spent 4,000 dollars on two films (this one and Passion
Fever [see below]). She lost the script to the film however. She also
decided to spice up the films a bit and filmed some additional love scenes
and nudity with actors who didn't look anything like the people who originally
appeared in the films. So she framed them so you couldn't see their heads,
only their bodies. She also filmed furniture, ashtrays, potted plants
and feet, dubbed her own dialogue, and made up her own plot. Jason is
on his way home from Athens and meets Hope and Alexis. A private eye is
watching Alexis for her rich husband Yarkos. Jason falls in love with
Hope but has hot sex with Alexis. Alexis is married to Yarkos who gets
upset and kills Alexis. The private eye is injured and Jason is the number
one murder suspect. Hope has to come up with a good alibi to save Jason.
A quarter of the film is made up of faceless naked fornicators (added
to the original footage by our ever-creative Doris). From the advertisements:
"He blew her cool... she blew his... and her husband blew all in..."
(Note: actual on screen credits were not available to verify credits.)
(2)
Passion Fever (1969)
Directed by Nikos Ikonomous, additional scenes produced and directed by
Doris Wishman (as Louis Silverman), additional camera probably by C. Davis
Smith. Featuring: Pano Katteri, Katerina Helmi, Mbeka Yiouranti, Dora
Mbarnia, Costas Daras
Theano Ioannidou, Marie-France. B&W. Juri Productions/ JER Pictures Inc.
Yorgos loves women. He meets and flirts with women and they like him a
lot. Della wants to show Yorgos her favorite place. Then there's the hot
romance between Yorgos and Micki. She's also fooling around with an older
girl. There's some great music, Congo-line dancing, a female masturbation
scene and much more. Doris again adds some original footage that doesn't
match, so again we have bodies (without heads) in various stages of undress
and having sexploitation type sex. (Note: actual on screen credits were
not available to verify credits.) (2)
The
Amazing Transplant (1970)
Directed by Doris Wishman (as Louis Silverman). Written by Doris Wishman
(as Dawn Whitman).
Produced by DW (as Louis Silverman). Cinematography: C. Davis Smith. Featuring:
Juan Fernandes, Linda Southern, Pat Barrett, Olive Denneccio, Sandy Eden,
Larry Hunter, Suzzan Landau, Kim Pope, E.B. Priest. Color. Juri Productions/
JER Pictures Inc.
Once-nerdy Arthur (Fernandez) has turned into a man who has strangled
his fiancé, and raped other women. A detective (Hunter) discovers
women wearing gold earrings make Arthur psychotic. Why? Well you see Arthur
was jealous of his very sexually active and well-endowed friend Felix
who also went crazy for gold earrings. Felix died and Arthur blackmailed
a doctor into performing The Amazing Transplant. Seems men really do think
with their penis. Wild Wishman outing that predates films that covered
similar themes such as Percy (Ralph Thomas, 1970). (Note: actual
on screen credits were not available to verify credits.) (2)
and (3)
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Love
Toy (1971)
Directed by Doris Wishman (as 'Louis Silverman', which was the name of
her second husband). Written by Judy J. Kushner (and Doris Wishman). Produced
by DW (as 'Louis Silverman'). Cinematography: Juan Fernandez & C. Davis
Smith. Featuring: Bernard Marcel, Pat Happel, Uta Erickson, Larry Hunger,
Vic Lester. Color. Mostest Productions Inc.
Perhaps the sleaziest non-hardcore film Wishman made. A gambler, out of
money, bets his daughter and loses. His daughter, Chris, becomes the property
of Alex, the sex fiend, who uses her in a catalogue of perversions that
includes domination, spanking, incest, oral sex, bondage, fetishism. The
daughter becomes the ultimate Love Toy role-playing slave, mistress, mother,
and daughter. At first she's reluctant and then she's a convert to the
perversions. Alex even gets his wife to play some games with him and his
'love toy'. This all leads to incest and murder. But wait… was it
all a dream? It's pretty strong perverted stuff, but still full of Wishman
touches. From the advertisements: "He knew all the games... she was
the plaything!" (2)
Keyholes are for Peeping (1972)
Directed by Doris Wishman (as Louis Silverman). Written by Louis Burdi
& Doris Wishman. Produced by DW (as Louis Silverman). Cinematography:
C. Davis Smith. Featuring: Sammy Petrillo, Phillip Stahl, Lou Silverman,
Saul Meth, Tony Armada, Angel Spirit, Pamela Mann, Alex Mann, Kirsten
Steen, Cocoa Stahl. Color. Juri Productions/ JER Pictures Inc.
Jerry Lewis look-a-like Sammy Petrillo is cast in a Doris Wishman sex-comedy,
but Wishman insisted Sammy stick pretty close to the script and not do
too much of his Jerry Lewis schtick. He plays nebbish Stanley Bebble.
After he does a correspondence course on marriage counseling, he delivers
hand written business cards to the neighbors and finds the apartment building's
superintendent Manuel peeping into keyholes. Stanley decides to help Manuel
get a real girlfriend to have sex with. If at first you don't succeed
try and try again. In between the strained comedy, there are tinted black
and white sex scenes (footage I think is the same as the one used in Hot
Month of August and Passion Fever). Stanley runs into trouble
with his own girlfriend. Sammy also gets to play his own dim-witted mother.
From the advertisement: “Will titillate the cockles of your heart!” (Note: actual on screen credits were not available to verify credits.)
(2)
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Deadly
Weapons (1973)
Directed by Doris Wishman (as Louis Silverman). Written by Judy J. Kushner
& Doris Wishman). Produced by DW (as Louis Silverman). Cinematography:
started by Juan Fernandez and finished by an uncredited C. Davis Smith.
Featuring: Chesty Morgan, Harry Reems, Gaylord St. James, Phillip Stahl,
Saul Meth, Mitchell Fredericks, Denise Purceli, John McMohon, Kurt Brandt,
Louis Burdi, Donny Lee Nat Perogine. Color. Juri Productions/ JER Pictures
Inc.
Stripper Chesty Morgan had a freakishly huge bust line. Seeing her extreme
and unattractive body naked is not a sexy thing, but the teasing ads and
posters appealed to every big breast-loving male in the Universe. Wishman
suckered a lot of people into theaters with this classic non-pornographic
sexploitation movie. Chesty plays Crystal, an ad executive who dresses
in too tight garishly colored '70s outfits, wears a bad wig and has trouble
balancing on high heels. She's in love with Larry who is a seedy gangster
who has stolen a black book of names and addresses from the mob. Two mobsters,
Captain Hook (who has an eye patch) and Tony (Deep Throat porn
star Harry Reems), off Larry. Crystal has heard the whole thing on the
telephone and goes after the mob for revenge. Posing as a stripper, Crystal
goes to Vegas to get rid of Captain Hook. She slips a mickey in his drink
and then smothers him with her Deadly Weapons. Then she's off to Miami
to get Tony. Wishman had originally planned to do three films with Chesty
Morgan. Only two were made because Doris found Chesty difficult to work
with. From the advertisements: "Watch the mob get busted when Chesty
takes her revenge", “The only way to go.” (2)
and (3)
Double Agent 73 (1974)
Directed by Doris Wishman (as Louis Silverman). Written by Judy J. Kushner
& Doris Wishman). Produced by DW (as Louis Silverman). Cinematography:
Juan Fernandez and an uncredited C. Davis Smith. Featuring: Chesty Morgan,
Frank Silvano, Phillip Stahl, Saul Meth, Denise Purceli, Kurt Brandt,
Louis Burdi, Donny Lee Nat Perogine, Peter Petrillo, Cooper Kent, Joseph
Chiaro. Color. Juri Productions/ JER Pictures Inc.
An uncredited C. Davis Smith shot most of this follow-up film at the same
time as Deadly Weapons. Chesty's huge, pendulous, sagging bust
is on display constantly. Chesty plays Jane Genet, Agent 73, who is assigned
to stop a heroin ring. A camera has been surgically implanted in her left
breast and it will explode if she doesn't return to have the camera taken
out by a certain time and date. Chesty kills one guy by stuffing his mouth
with ice cubes, another guy she kills by putting poison on her nipple,
another one she slaps really hard with her breast…. It's not even
a comedy, which makes it all the funnier of course. Chesty looks like
she is about to fall asleep in every scene when she isn't having trouble
balancing herself on huge red platform shoes. The camera is constantly
cutting to people's feet. Although Wishman was supposed to do three films
with Chesty, she opted to make a sequel to this film without her. They
did not get along. From the advertisements: "Watch out for the booby
traps...they're loaded!", “ See Chesty Morgan expose the big
two.” (2) and (3)
The Immoral Three (1975)
Directed by Doris Wishman. Written by Robert Jahn and Judy J. Kushner.
Produced by DW (as Louis Silverman). Cinematography: C. Davis Smith. Featuring:
Cindi Boudreau, Sandra Kay, Michele Marie, Robert S. Barba, Frank Silvano,
A.D. Irwin, Joe Saverio, Roger Caine (as Al Levitsky), Ed Marshall, Levi
Richards, John Navarre, D.H. Jackson, W. Scott Andrews, Brad Gorman, Arthur
J. Harris, Jane Tournay. Also known as Hotter than Hell. Color.
Juri Productions/ JER Pictures Inc. (2)
Agent 73 (played not by Chesty Morgan, but by Tournay) is strangled right
after the credits. Her three beautiful daughters — Sandy, Ginny and
Nancy — attend her funeral and then spring into pre-Charlie Angels
action as they seek revenge and try to get their 3 million dollar
inheritance. Well they don't seem to be in a big hurry to seek revenge
as they all seem to enjoy teasing men or trying on fashions. Eventually
some people get killed and the killers are brought to justice. A loud,
garish '70s feel permeates the entire film from the weird camera angles,
fashions, and platform shoes to the (now familiar to Wishman fans) use
of ashtrays and goblets to off people with. From the advertisements: "They
love... They kill... There's nothing they wouldn't do!"
Satan Was A Lady (1975)
Directed by Doris Wishman (as Kenyon Wintel). Written by Bruce Leatoni
(possibly a Wishman pseudonym). Cinematography: not sure of screen credit
alias (C. Davis Smith). Featuring: Bree Anthony, Tony Rich, Annie Sprinkle,
Bobby Astyr, Chris Jackson, Terri Hall, Neil Rhodes, C.J. Laing. Color.
Although Wishman denied the rumor for years, C. Davis Smith, Annie Sprinkle,
and others have come forth and admitted Wishman directed two hardcore
films. This was the first of the two. Wishman apparently did not direct
the hardcore sex and left the room, leaving C. Davis Smith, and perhaps
someone else, to direct the action. But everything else in the film is
supposedly trademark Wishman… or so I've heard. I haven't seen this
one. (Note: actual on screen credits were not available to verify credits.) From the advertisements: “Let Her Show You How Good It Feels
To Be Bad!”
Come With Me, My Love (1976)
Directed by Luigi Manicottale (Doris Wishman). Produced by Luigi Manicottale (Doris Wishman). Written by Brad Toulose (possibly a pseudonym for Doris Wishman). Director of Photography: A. Tomale (C. Davis Smith). Featuring: Ursula Austin,
Jeffrey Hurst, Michael Gaunt, Vanessa Del Rio, Roger Caine, Annie Sprinkle,
Ed Marshall, John Livermore, R. Bolla. Also known as The Haunted Pussy.
Color. ClassiX Video VCA Pictures Inc. (2)
This film begins in black and white with a title that tells us it is 1925.
A couple makes love and a figure enters the room. It is Randolph (Hurst)
and he sees his best friend with his wife, takes a gun out of his pocket
and shoots them saying, “Even in Death You Are Not Mine.” Then
he turns the gun on himself. Now it's 1976 and everything is in color,
the scene of the murder is now the site of a high-rise apartment building.
The new tenant is Abby (Ursula Austin) who looks just like Randolph's
wife. At night, Randolph emerges as a negative figure and has his way
with a scared Abby. Abby is quite a free loving woman who offers herself
to many tenants and strangers. However Randolph kills all of her lovers.
Randolph pushes radios into the bath with one, pushes another out the
window of the high rise to his death. Abby needs a friend and turns to
her neighbor Tess (Annie Sprinkle). They wind up in bed too and then Tess
is alone setting the table in her apartment and suddenly a knife levitates
and stabs her in her cleavage — Randolph is getting revenge again.
There are also scenes in a swinger's party that involve R. Bolla (also
known as Robert Kerman) and Vanessa Del Rio - these might have been previously
filmed short loops that have been integrated into this film to fill up
some time. There's a particularly well-done eerie scene in which Abby
takes a melancholy walk in the snow in Central Park feeling out of place
and out of time. You can see the Wishman style in the film and there is
even some footage borrowed from Double Agent 73. There are shots
of feet, inanimate objects, strange looped dialogue and other Wishman
trademarks. Wishman hinted she might have directed a few scenes of film
that were used in hardcore films, but C. Davis Smith is on the record
as admitting Wishman was by his side through all of the film except for
the hard-core sex scenes. Brad Toulose, an obvious pseudonym, probably represents Doris Wishman and perhaps another writer (though satisfactory verification can't be made). This is a Doris Wishman film without a doubt.
From the advertisements: “Define terror in three words”, “A
highly intimate and erotic experience.”
Let Me Die a Woman (1978)
Directed, written and produced by Doris Wishman. Cinematography: Juan
Fernandez. Featuring: Dr Leo Wollman, Deborah Harten, Lisa Carmelle, Frank
Pizzo, Harry Reems, Billy Kelman, Doug Martin, Vanessa Del Rio, Angel
Spirit. Color. Juri Productions.
Here is a fairly serious pseudo-documentary, which captures the lifestyles
of several transsexuals in various stages of changing their gender. Dr
Leo Wollman M.D. was a legitimate practicing doctor who is our guide through
this one of a kind, once shocking film that features some footage of operations
that are not completely revealing but not for the squeamish. There are
some scenes of probing of a constructed vagina and shots of men with artificially
developed breasts. Then there are several staged soft-core scenes thrown
into the film to add to the hodgepodge. Dr Wollman occasionally makes
statements like “not all dildos are used for medical purposes.”
Note: actual on screen credits were not available to verify credits. From the advertisements: "All True! All Real! See a man become a
woman before your eyes!", “Born a Man . . . Let Me Die A Woman”,
“Torn from Today's Headlines.” (2)
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A
Night to Dismember
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A
Night to Dismember (1983)
Directed by Doris Wishman. Written by Robert Jahn and Judy J. Kushner.
Produced by DW. Cinematography: C. Davis Smith. Featuring: Samantha Fox,
Diane Cummins, Saul Meth, Miriam Meth, William Szarka, Chris Smith, Dee
Cummins, Norman Main, Mary Lomay, Rita Rogers, Nina Stengel, Frankie Sabat,
William Longo Jr., Rob DeRosa, Heather Sabat, John Szarka, Gino Colbert,
Levi Richards. Color. Juri Productions.
Wishman considered this the film that nearly killed her and C. Davis Smith;
others believe it is the worst film Wishman ever did. It isn't though.
The film was shot in 1979 and was Wishman's first all-out gory horror
film. More than 50 percent of the film negative was destroyed however
and Doris spent eight months trying to make use of footage she had whilst
also shooting a few additional minutes of footage to put together a film
that made sense and could be marketed. It is a confusing mess of a film
that was released briefly in 1983 and then on video in 1989. It has been
impressively restored for its late 2001 DVD release from Elite. Porn superstar
Samantha Fox is Vicki Kent. She's a disturbed young woman who was in an
insane asylum for many years. Is she a serial killer or a victim of someone
who is trying to drive her crazy? There's some nudity and a little bit
of sex, but also lots of gore. A lot of the gore effects are amateurishly
done (even by 20 year old standards) but a few shots are almost too effective.
Doris trademark feet and bric-a-brac shots are in abundance. Some unintentionally
hilarious dialogue make this one of her most entertaining films if you
are not too squeamish or demand linear logic in your movies. After this
film, Doris retired from the film business and moved to live with her
sister in Coral Gables Florida. But remarkably a dozen years later she
started filming another movie. The DVD contains the only feature length
commentary she's ever done with her longtime cinematographer C. Davis
Smith. (1) and (4)
Satan Was a Lady (2001)
Directed and written by Doris Wishman. Produced by Beau Gillespie.
Cinematography by Willem Van Vark. Music by Glyn Styler, Gene Coman and
Jeff Treffinger. Featuring: Honey Lauren, Glyn Styler, Edge, Hans Lohl,
Laudet Torres, Lourdes Graves, Harry Frederick, Greg Gillingham, Anne
Case, Al Reidel, Rene Coman, Victoria Morrison, Kerry Johnston, Lindsey
Amodeo, Tabatha De Mercado, Arturo Reyes. Color. Boomshadow Pictures.
Honey Lauren plays a stripper and somewhat sadistic prostitute who wants
to make a bigger score and leave her seedy life behind. She's not impressed
with her struggling con-man musician boyfriend (Styler) and she decides
to blackmail a rich businessman client of hers (Edge), but things don't
work out as smoothly as she hoped. Wishman's trademarks find their way
into this somewhat slickly produced, very well paced, low-budget entertaining
film. Call this one a Wishman version of a modern erotic film noir complete
with a memorable femme fatale. The three songs in the film are quite good!
Its world premiere was in Florida on March 9, 2001. It won a special Jury
Prize at the New York Underground Film Festival. The DVD features behind
the scenes footage of Doris Wishman and crew at work. From the advertisements:
“Evil comes in many shapes, she just had the best one”, “She
worked the corner of Sin and Shame!” (5)
Dildo Heaven (2002)
Directed, written and produced by Doris Wishman. Cinematography: Kent
Rayhill. Featuring: Mickey Garcia, Elizabeth Ash, Everette, Jerry Hart,
Dr. Faust, Edward L. Sharp, Christina K. Caramba, Chris Mullarky, Tom
Smith, Syd Garon, Jeff Williams, Phillip K. Stryker, Jensen Press, Cindy
Burrows, Bill Matten, Skippy. Also known as Desperate Desires.
Color. Juri Productions.
Doris had been making this direct to video feature for about seven years.
She may have shot some footage for it in the mid-1990s but most of it
was filmed in 1999 and 2000. It took her a while to raise the money and
devote the time needed to edit it. Along the way she met Beau Gillespie
who was struggling to edit his low budget film. Gillespie decided to produce
Wishman's next film about the same time Elite was preparing A Night
to Dismember for DVD release, which led to the commentary track recording
that re-united Wishman and C. Davis Smith. They decided to try and work
together again after Wishman finished the film for Gillespie.
Dildo Heaven is the story of three girls who hope to seduce their
bosses. It also features a Peeping Tom who will do anything to prove himself
worthy of the three ladies' attention. It is a soft-core sex comedy that
has played some underground and cult film festivals but is still awaiting
a 2002 video release. Final edit was completed after Satan Was a Lady.
It had its official world premiere at the New York Underground Film Festival
in 2002. From the advertisements: "Wild, wicked and wanton!"
Each Time I Kill (projected 2002)
Directed and written by Doris Wishman. Produced by DW and Michael Bowen.
Cinematography by C. Davis Smith. Featuring: Tiffany Paralta, Fred Schneider
(cameo), Linnea Quigley (cameo), John Waters (planned cameo to be shot
in N.Y.C.), Chrissi Ardito, Caryn Arundel, Biali Badaski, Gabriela Banus,
Neeta Behl, Michael Benmeleh, Jackson Blagden, Michael Bowen (II), Cary
Castillo, Jose A. Cisneros, Alexandra Davies, David Dillon, Cynthia
Duvall, Howard Elfman, Lisa Ferber, David Frisch, Jackie Goldhagen, Julie
Gonzalo, Josué Gutierrez, Jaimie Hazen, Ernie Heinz, Jim Hollenbaugh,
Rebecca Jimenez, Michael Kaufman, Jessica Lewis, Ivan Lopez , Luis-David
Madera, Madelin Marchant, Hannah Matzkin, Julio Naranja, Bill Perlach,
Jessica Peterson, Jose Prendes, Birgit Questenberg, Dan Recio, Kwame Riley,
Nancy Rogan, Michael Sarysz, Glenn Shelhamer, Marielva Sieg, Michael Simmons,
C. Davis Smith, Olaf Strecker, Laudet Torres, Janette Valentine, Rob
Vidal, Mark Whittington Asmond Wong, Olivia Wong, Sabrina Wong,
Alexandra Zayas . Color.
Wishman's last film completed 95 percent of its principal photography
in June of 2002. Wishman wrote detailed notes on a few additional shots,
a planned John Waters cameo and editing instructions during the last few
weeks of her life (she died August 10, 2002). Her friend, biographer and
co-producer Michael Bowen and website designer David B. Wilson expects
the film to have its world premiere by the end of 2002.
Each Time I Kill is Wishman's version of a teen horror film. A
high school girl acquires magical powers to make herself beautiful but
to keep her power she must kill other girls. Pre-release tagline: "A
shocking story revealing the brutality of innocence!"
EXPLANATION: WHEN
YOU SEE (NOTE ACTUAL ON SCREEN CREDITS WERE NOT AVAILABLE TO VERIFY
CREDITS)
THIS MEANS AT PRESS
TIME AUTHOR WAS UNABLE TO CHECK CREDIT LISTINGS WITH THE ACTUAL ON SCREEN
CREDITS THAT ARE AVAILABLE (EXCEPT WHERE OTHERWISE NOTED) ON IMAGE DVD
or through Something Weird Video. The on-screen credits may vary slightly
from what is listed in this filmography.
Key:
- Available
on VHS from www.doriswishman.com/filmography.com
David B. Wilson - Special Autographed editions are no longer available.
- Available
on VHS from Something Weird Video P.O. Box 33664 Seattle, WA 98133
Phone: 206-361-3759 www.somethingweird.com
- DVD
from Image Entertainment at numerous retail and online locations
- DVD from
Elite Entertainment available at numerous retail and online locations
- DVD
from www.satanwasalady.com
and through some online locations. Satan Was a Lady Boom Shadow Productions
Additional
Wishman videos may be available through Video Search of Miami.
OTHER
CREDITS
Video and/or television program segments about or featuring Doris Wishman
(incomplete). Compiled by Christopher J. Jarmick
The Incredibly Strange Film Show hosted by Jonathan Ross Originally
aired on BBC Channel 4 in 1989. On the Discovery Channel in 1990/91. One
hour episode was split between Fred Olen Ray and Doris Wishman.
Real Sex HBO #21 (1998) Wishman segment produced by
Barry Shils
Late Night with Conan O‚Brien interview original air-date:
March 7 2002
Schlock! The Secret History of American Movies (2001) video
documentary
Sources
for this profile
The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) http://www.imdb.com
Weldon, Michael J., The Psychotronic Video Guide, St martin's Press,
1996
Videohound‚s Golden Movie Retriever, Visible Ink Press, 2001
Various internet sites that show movie posters and promotional one sheets.
Interviews with:
Michael Bowen
C. Davis Smith
Beau Gillespie
Norman Wishman
Honey Lauren
David B. Wilson
Anonymous
Note: IMDB and other websites have incorrect release dates, and incomplete
information regarding several of Wishman's films. Many of the dates were
verified through a combination of interviews with cult film aficionados
(who were also sometimes inaccurate in some details), and Michael Bowen,
C. Davis Smith, and Variety magazine archives. I did not concern
myself with film running times.
Articles
in Senses of Cinema
Bad
Girls Go to Dildo Heaven: An All Nude Tribute to Doris Wishman by
Andrew Leavold
Web
Resources Compiled
by the author
doriswishman.com
The official authorized Doris Wishman website designed and maintained
by David B. Wilson who also sells some exclusive autographed Wishman videos,
and stills. Also has informative profile of Wishman and a mostly
accurate filmography which then allows you to reference the IMDB which
is sometimes inaccurate when it comes to Wishman films. See also www.doriswishman.com/filmography.htm
Girls
Just Wanna Have Fun: An Ode to Doris Wishman
Filmcritic.coms
obituary of Doris Wishman. by Rachel Gordon.
World
Premiere of Satan Was a Lady
Mike
Hoover is an avid fan of Doris Wishman and he has a few articles regarding
meeting her and attending the world premiere of Satan Was a Lady.
Satan Was
a Lady
Information
and stills from the 2001 DVD released Wishman film: Satan Was a Lady.
You can also purchase NTSC DVD at site. U.S. based.
Something Weird
Video
Seattle,
WA USA based video company that specializes in exploitation
and sexploitation films, collections of short Public Safety type films;
movie trailers and much more. Has many Doris Wishman videos (VHS)
for sale. Works with Image DVD in U.S. to release DVD versions of some
of their products.
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