JOY OF FLYING (1977) ** ½

Corrine Cartier stars as Silvia, an unhappily married woman stuck with a husband who is uninterested in sex.  She reads a book on sexual promiscuity called Joy of Flying and begins to have sexual dreams.  Her girlfriend tells her, “The cure for the thing that ails you is a good fuck!”  Silvia finally takes her advice and begins having casual encounters with strange men.  When she begins an affair with a nude photographer named George (Gianni Garko), she thinks she’s finally found the one for her.  Silvia soon learns that George is unable to keep it in his pants.  Once he winds up in the bed of Maria (Olivia Pascal), a horny teenager who can only get off by doing it in risky places, Sylvia takes off with a dune-buggy riding artist to make him jealous.

I guess the title of this German sex comedy was supposed to be a mash-up of The Joy of Sex and Fear of Flying.  Then again, it doesn’t really matter what it’s called as long as the T & A is prominently paraded around.  As far as the genre goes, Joy of Flying certainly delivers on that end of the bargain, even if the laughs are nonexistent.  The scene where Garko gets a massage from two bathing beauties is probably the highlight, but we also get a fun gymnasium sequence that includes a nude stationary bike ride, skinny-dipping, and a solid underwater sex scene. 

The film has a fine set-up, but it starts to wander once the focus shifts to Garko’s character.  While it’s cool to see the star of so many Italian gialli and Spaghetti Westerns turning up in a German sex comedy, I can’t say he’s particularly well-utilized.  It’s not that his scenes are bad.  In fact, his moments with Pascal are rather amusing.  It’s just that it comes at the expense of Cartier’s storyline.  As an audience member, we’d much rather see her having fun while she embraces her sexuality.  Garko’s constant philandering kind of gets in the way of that.  The trailblazing trans exploitation star Ajita Wilson also has a small role as Garko’s rich client. 

Even if the film comes with some major reservations, it’s still worth watching just for the goofy atmosphere.  I mean it’s not every day you see two women discussing their sex life while playing foosball.  Besides, the theme song is great, and the song, “Do It” is even better.  Even if Joy of Flying doesn’t get your blood pumping, it will at least leave you tapping your toes.

AKA:  Erotic Ways.  AKA:  Sex at 7,000 Feet.