Thursday, October 29, 2009

Rachel Roberts v Gene Hackman

I think it's fair to say that this isn't one of Rachel Roberts's finest cinematic moments. Doctors' Wives (1971), is fairly typical of many films made during this era in that sex is the salient subject matter. Having it off had become an acceptable topic of cultural conversation - it had gone mainstream. Such sex-oriented movies anticipate the glam s'n'f soap operas (Dallas, Dynasty) that would raise their vulgar heads later in the decade.

This excerpt is unintentionally hilarious. Roberts, sounding very Welsh, fesses up her hot lesbo affair to shocked screen hubby Gene Hackman. So angry is Hackman that he attacks his wife with a rolled up copy of the Daily Chronicle. Having to deliver lines like: "It was a hot night and I... I wore a... thin blouse and no bra," they might have been better advised dishing out the newspaper treatment to whoever wrote the script. One for the Bad Film Club.