Dutch Treat (1977)

Dutch Treat is a fun, surface-level, simple fuck film shot in Amsterdam. The Rialto Report has a fascinating article about Dutch Treat producer/writer/director Navred Reef, in which they mention that the film (and it's companion film Playgirls of Munich) were conceived of as "XXX-rated comedy ‘road’ pictures in the tradition of the 1940s films starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope," and as far as "Dutch Treat" is concerned, it's a success. (Playgirls of Munich is also a Rimmer Collector's Choice pick, so depending on the random number generator, it may eventually get its own Pornonomy entry.)

Here, American everymen Chuck (Roger Caine) and Barney (Zebedy Colt) are living it up in Holland with Norman Jackson's Sexy Europe as their guide.

The strength of the film is the believable friendship and natural rapport between Caine and Colt, who each have their own unique charm and charisma. I could never quite pin down how to describe Zebedy Colt as Barney, but Roger Caine came off as a sort of Muppet version of David Letterman.

Chuck has more success with the ladies of Holland, but mostly because he unashamedly cock blocks Barney at every turn. Ultimately, they find their greatest success while posing as film producers, which is objectively ethically repugnant.

Though during one tryst, an "auditioning" actress says to her friend:

So maybe we can believe that most or all of the starlets-to-be, with visions of Hollywood dancing in their heads were actually onto the ruse.

Overall, the hardcore scenes were functional and not particularly noteworthy. The standout was a party/orgy scene which was brief (barely two minutes), but impressively and creatively edited.

Robert Rimmer:

I watched this one after I watched Playgirls in Munich. I have no idea which one was made first but...which one is funnier is difficult to decide. If you got hooked on Playgirls in Munich, you'll want to see this one.

Since I haven't seen Playgirls, I can't speak to which was the funnier film. If it's at least on par with Dutch Treat, though, I'd say both films would be great candidates for the Vinegar Syndrome treatment. Rimmer's only glaring error is calling the guidebook Sex in Europe. If the sex scenes had been more engaging or if a bit more of the film had been treated with the artistic touch of the party scene, Dutch Treat would have rated higher, but as is it still merits very, very good CC25.

RANDOM THOUGHTS
° Casa Rosso, the sex club Chuck and Barney patronize, is still open. Well, it's closed until further notice due to COVID-19. Presumably it will reopen eventually.

° The first film I saw Roger Caine in was the fucking bleak Taking of Christina. He was so effective as a psychopath I still have a hard time seeing him as a protagonist.

° The recorded date on this film is all over the place. IAFD says 1975, Rimmer says 1974, and The Rialto Report says 1977 (for the filming, at least). I'm inclined to go with 1977, though, since Ashley West and April Hall are thorough researchers and Sexy Europe was published in 1976.

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