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Something Weird Video presents

Indecent Desires / My Brother's Wife (1968/1966)

"I don't trust continental men."- Ann (Sharon Kent)

Stars: Sharon Kent, June Roberts
Other Stars: Michael Lawrence, Jackie Richards, Sam Stewart, Darlene Bennett
Director: Doris Wishman

MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (nudity, violence)
Run Time: 02h:12m:27s
Release Date: 2004-09-21
Genre: cult

Style
Grade
Substance
Grade
Image Transfer
Grade
Audio Transfer
Grade
Extras
Grade
B- C+B-B- B-

 

DVD Review

When it came to putting out late-1960s sexploitation titles, it was largely a man's game, with nearly all of the key players being male. One of the real exceptions to that rule was Doris Wishman, a rebellious writer/director/producer with her own unique set of visual and stylistic sensibilities that made her work not just stand up against, but often times stand out against countless other films that dealt in debauchery, lust, and wanton sex. Something Weird has once again dished out a Wishman double bill, and it is wonderfully weird stuff indeed.

Indecent Desires
01h:11m:17s
1968

Though this is billed as being directed by Louis Silverman and written by Dawn Whitman, it was really Wishman operating and doing it all under a pair of her many aliases. Imagine if Rod Serling's Twilight Zone had gone sleazy, and you might have an idea what Indecent Desires is all about. A creepy loner named Zeb pulls a blonde-headed doll out a trash can, and he immediately is washed over by a sense of lusty longing that is just plain unnatural between a man and a hunk of plastic. He sets up a little shrine in his dingy apartment, and then has a vision on a street corner that lovely young Ann (Sharon Kent) is the living, breathing version of his trash can doll.

This leads to all sorts of scenes featuring Zeb fondling the doll, which are intercut with scenes of straight-laced Ann being overcome by invisible fingers of passion, but all this is before things get nasty and the doll fondling has been replaced by whippings and cigarette burning. To fill the genre requirements, Wishman tosses in perfectly tacky moments like a bout of nude yoga to spice up the action, as well as tiny nighties and frequent showering. In true Wishman style, things end badly for just about everyone involved, innocent or otherwise.

My Brother's Wife
01h:01m:10s
1966

Wishman's Dawn Whitman alias shows up as a screenwriter, but it's Doris' name as director this time, and here she dips into the usual infidelities often found in a sexploitation feature. Mousy, obedient, and beautiful Mary (June Roberts) is married to something of a loutish loudmouth, and when his horny brother stops by for a visit it is obvious that sexual vibes are radiating out in warm waves like a cheap space heater. A clumsy tryst, a badly choreographed fight in a pool hall and the appearance of a sexy "other" woman (Darlene Bennett) all build up to another downbeat Wishman climax.

My Brother's Wife shows off Wishman in prime form, showcasing not just her genre skills, but her penchant for strange angles and lingering shots of inanimate objects. At one point Darlene Bennett, while sashaying through her apartment in a tiny outfit, sits down directly on the camera, and even though you see it coming there's naturally a part of you that thinks Wishman is going to cut away. Nope, she doesn't

I've seen reels worth of sexploitation films, and the numbing sameness sometimes gets a little much to bear. Doris Wishman, may be far from a polished artisan, had a way of adding that little something to her films that made them somehow special. To some that might be like putting perfume on a pig, but the fresh spin on the kinky weirdness that Wishman brought is as wonderfully identifiable as the distinctive mark of any other mainstream director.

Rating for Style: B-
Rating for Substance: C+

 

Image Transfer

 One
Aspect Ratio1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Ratioyes
Anamorphicno


Image Transfer Review: A pair of nice-looking 1.33:1 transfers—nice, that is, if you consider they're cheap grindhouse titles. Both films are in black-and-white, and though things like some minor nicks and scratches are evident, the prints themselves are in fairly good shape for their age.

Image Transfer Grade: B-
 

Audio Transfer

 LanguageRemote Access
MonoEnglishyes


Audio Transfer Review: Audio is presented in Dolby Digital mono, and there was no difficulty understanding the corny dialogue or enjoying the groovy lounge music scores. Some hiss, but not overwhelming.

Audio Transfer Grade: B- 

Disc Extras

Animated menu with music
Scene Access with 27 cues and remote access
2 Original Trailer(s)
13 Other Trailer(s) featuring The Amazing Transplant, Another Day Another Man, Bad Girls Go To Hell, Blaze Starr Goes Nudist, Deadly Weapons, Double Agent 73, Gentlemen Prefer Nature Girls, Hot Month of August, The Immoral Three, Nude on the Moon, The Sex Perils of Paulette, A Taste of Flesh, Too Much Too Often
2 Featurette(s)
Packaging: Amaray
Picture Disc
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: dual

Extras Review: There are 15 Doris Wishman trailers found in the extras section, as well as a gallery of Wishman exploitation art (05m:11s)

A pair of Barry Mahon Nudie Shorts—The Room Mates (09m:25s) and Music to Strip By (08m:40s)—are grainy, scratchy, but in color. The Room Mates is rather non-erotic, and features a pair of models getting "ready" in the morning (which seems to mean drinking coffee and smoking with a towel wrapped around their heads), while Music to Strip By begins with one of the most unappealing strippers of all time before giving way to a spirited dance by the great Darlene Bennett.

Indecent Desires is cut into 15 chapters, while My Brother's Wife has 12.

Extras Grade: B-
 

Final Comments

In a Doris Wishman double bill, things are bound to get sexy and strange. Check and check here, with plenty of nude women, odd camera angles and deviant tales.

Rock on, Something Weird.

Rich Rosell 2005-04-15