SUBSTITUTION (1970) ***

Meek radio salesman Henry (Chuck Sailor) is perpetually flustered by his co-workers’ low-cut tops.  After a hard day at work, he comes home to his nagging wife Alice (Patrice Nastasia) who complains about their nonexistent sex life.  Henry’s pal advises him to visit a sex guru to help with his problems.  He teaches Henry the art of “cosmic substitution” in which he can imagine his wife as any woman he wants.  

Substitution is the debut film from Walt (Evil Come Evil Go) Davis.  It has your typical nudie-cutie set-up, but what makes it interesting is that it spends more time with his characters than most softcore films of the day.  You really get to know Henry and sympathize with his plight before he goes off on his wild sex adventure.  The film makes some pointed, funny, and still relevant observations about married life too.  It also contains some very big laughs (like Henry’s misadventures at the beach).  Because of that, it’s much better than your average grindhouse flick.  

Some scenes go on a bit too long (like when Alice goes lingerie shopping and receives a mini-fashion show inside the store), and the whole thing gets a bit repetitive near the end.  It also takes quite a while before the softcore action kicks into gear.  However, since it works on levels that most skin flicks don’t even attempt to operate on, it’s an acceptable trade-off.  Not only that, but some scenes flirt with XXX as there are some near-hardcore close-ups that add to the overall titillation factor.

Naturally, it all ends in a predictable fashion.  I’m sure you probably already guessed how Henry will receive his eventual comeuppance.  The surprising thing is, Davis still manages to make the final punchline funny, even when you know exactly where’s it going.

In short, there’s no substitute for Substitution.  It is truly a lost gem.  I think viewers that normally would steer clear of early ‘70s sexploitation would even get a kick out of it.