In the Pink (1983)

I’m not generally one to get all ** wiggles fingers, makes Theremin sounds ** but there was something going on with the supposedly random picks for the blog. First, the movie that actually came up after That’s Outrageous was WPINK TV, but I couldn’t bring myself to watch a film with Ron Jeremy right now, so I re-rolled. When In the Pink came up, my wife pointed out that I was destined to watch something with “pink” in the title (although from the films that were in the running, turns out that was a 1 in 89 chance, so it’s not as bizarre as it initially seemed). Far stranger was the fact that it turned out to be another film from 1983 that heavily featured international locales and lightly featured Dave Ambrose (one scene in each). Ambrose only appeared in 10 films total (including a non-sex appearance in Wanda Whips Wall Street). Six of those ten ended up as Rimmer’s Collector’s Choice picks and two of the other four weren’t reviewed, so who knows if they may have warranted a CC. Even still that’s a tremendous hit rate. So this doesn’t turn into a Dave Ambrose biography, I’ll move on to the review after adding one last interesting (to me) tidbit: thanks to (yet again) The Rialto Report library, I found out (in the May ‘83 issue of Porn Stars) that he and Tish Ambrose were married.

The elevator pitch for In the Pink is that millionaire art collector Blake Covington (Scott Baker) is determined to complete own a complete collection of oil portraits of the House of Habsburg and fakes his death to conspire with his assistant Heather (Joanna Storm) to convince the Baroness (Laurie Smith) to sell the paintings to his widow Mariange (Jaqueline Lorians). BUT not all is as it seems when there’s a late-film reveal regarding Blakes supposedly-cuckolded would-be assassin “Umberto” (Zebedy Colt). The twist is entertaining at first, but completely falls apart when you think about it for, like, 10 seconds.

I make it a general rule not to read any other reviews of films before I’ve written mine. When I’m doing initial information gathering and background, if I happen to come across a preview, though, I’ll read it. Unfortunately, Erotic Film Guide labeled what ended up being a review of In the Pink as a preview so I unintentionally broke my rule. That said, the (p)review was written by Candida Royalle who provides some insightful editorializing and had many opinions I shared, too, so I’m going to excerpt some of her review and add my two cents.

IN THE PINK is another of the many "new wave" films attempting to uplift the quality of the adult film genre. As with most others, though, some of it works, and some of it just gets in the way. Fortunately for IN THE PINK, its muddled, confusing story need not interfere with the sex, thanks to an abundance of pretty girls, lush photography, and plenty of eroticism.

...We get to see lots of Paris and Venice scenery as the producers use a trick growing in popularity in the porn industry: exotic foreign locales. The technique is to cart off your stars and most essential crew members, shoot lots of exterior footage of them gallivanting around easily recognizable hot spots like the Venice canals or the Eiffel Tower, then intercut and match it with hard core footage done at home (where it's safe from customs inspectors!), and Voila! You have an expensive looking movie with strong production value. Chuck Vincent did it with BON APPETIT when he had his lovers romancing all over Paris, Rome, etc. And now, Bill Eagle follows suit, having his leads fall in love in Paris, London, Cairo. Rome, Vienna- you name it.

Generally, the interiors they used for the hardcore inserts were ornate enough to sell the “Olde Europe” feel, but there were some truly bizarre blue/green screen effects that gave some settings an aura of a performance art piece or play.

Similarly, the Italian tenement laundry set would have been right at home on stage at the 1984 Academy Awards or in Robert Altman's Popeye.

…[T]he somewhat formula sex scenes are saved by some highly creative cinematography, namely the numerous erotic closeups of anything from a woman's tongue licking her lips to some of their full screen genitalia shots done more tastefully than usual. Also worth mentioning is the music score, which enhanced the sex scenes with its building, driving rhythms and seductive, crooning melodies.

I’m not so sure about the “crooning melodies”, but there was more timpani than I ever recall hearing in a porn flick. Who’d’ve thought you could set so many sex scenes to drum solos?

The women are definitely a plus in IN THE PINK. Jacqueline Lorians is just adorable with her creamy, freckled skin and very full breasts; Gina Carnale [Marie Sharp] promises to be a real hit with her olive skinned, leggy beauty; Lori Smith, who I haven't seen since we worked together in OLYMPIC FEVER seems to be getting lovelier with maturity; and Joanna Storm is always a pleasure to behold. In fact, she looks and acts better than ever in this film.

I’ll cosign Royalle’s praise of Joanna Storm. All the actors perform well, but she really sells her character.

The plot is nothing to write home about, but the film has some memorable moments nevertheless. I would like to point out a couple of my favorite scenes, such as the montage of the two couples getting it on: Heather and a museum worker with a HUGE cock…

It’s pretty incredible how industry standards have changed since the early ‘80s. Jamie St. James is packing, no doubt (there may be a bit of forced perspective since Joanna Storm seems pretty petite and St. James is a twiggy alien man), but his endowment would be par for the course now and the majority of other dongers in the film wouldn’t be seen outside of cuckold/SPH scenes.

...and Mariange and a very handsome Mediterranean type [Starbuck]. ...The two scenes build up to an electrifying pace, never letting you down for a minute. They end up in big wallowing cum shots with a nice touch of tenderness in the end. Music and intercuts are utilized most effectively in both scenes.

Candida Royalle’s right on the money. There were cuts from close up to close up that made it nearly impossible at times to tell which couple you were seeing in action, which was a really cool, evocative, and engaging technique.

The other scene I particularly liked took place inside a tiny English Royal Guardsmen's station between Jacqueline Lorians and Joey Silvera. Joey is trying his best to be the proper Guardsman , ignoring her advances, but Mariange pushes him inside saying, " I bet I know something that knows I'm here." Then she has her way with him ... a fantasy I am not unfamiliar with.

It was a cute scene, but completely superfluous and one (along with the Ambrose/Sharp/guy laundry scene) that I happily would have traded for an alluded-to tryst between Mariange and the Baroness.

IN THE PINK is headed in the right direction. It's an ambitious project attempting to uplift the standards of adult films. The women are pretty and convincing in their eroticism: the men are hot, and the sex, though routine, does deliver. In other words, it's definitely worth a peek.

Agreed!

Let’s check Rimmer’s take:

Put this one near the top of your “Collector’s Choice” sexvids. Unlike some American-made sexvids that try to capture a foreign background with stock shots, much of this one must have been shot in Paris, London, Venice, Vienna, and Luxor.

Well, yep.

It’s too bad The Davinci Code hadn’t come out 25 years earlier. Bill Eagle could have cribbed some story beats and put some of the exotic locales to better use and made In the Pink a CC10, but as it is, I’ll rate it a CC25.

RANDOM THOUGHTS
° I really wonder about the title of this one. Idiomatically, “in the pink” means “in very good health”, so I guess it could be an allusion to Blake faking his own death. The ellipsis in the title card is weird.

Was there a contemporary movie that it’s emulating? Or is it an Occam's razor deal and pink is what you think it is?

° There’s a shot late in the film where Jacqueline Lorians is scaling an outdoor staircase wearing an outfit not fit for such a task where it seemed like she was going to fall to her death. It was legitimately nerve-wracking.

° Bill Eagle had Starbuck doing some very GQ poses.

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On deck:

Oh, damn. This one's been on my radar for awhile, but I haven't watched it because the description sounds bleak as hell. I guess we'll see!