(Originally reviewed November 30th, 2020)
I’m a big fan of Doris Wishman, although I readily admit I much prefer her wild, anything-goes ‘70s work to the nudies and roughies she made in the ‘60s. Having said that, this one is pretty good. It has all the hallmarks you’d expect from a Wishman joint, namely: Awkward editing during the dialogue scenes (to disguise the fact she didn’t have synch sound), random ass cutaways to planters and clown paintings (again, to disguise the fact she didn’t have synch sound), and gratuitous close-ups of feet and breasts whenever things slow down (again, to disguise the fact she didn’t have synch sound).
Ann (Barbi Kemp) just got married to Steve (Tony Gregory). When Steve comes down with a mysterious illness, it leaves their household without an income. Forced to support her ailing hubby, Ann turns to her former roommate’s lecherous pimp for help, who promptly puts her to work hooking. Naturally, when Steve finally figures it all out, it leads to predictably tragic results.
A lot of the fun comes from seeing Ann’s transformation from mousy housewife to sexy lady of the night. By that I mean, the change is almost immediate. One minute she’s wearing demure wardrobes, and the next, she’s slinking around in a skintight bodysuit and sporting a beehive hairdo. Her hubby is often hilariously oblivious to the change in her.
Like many of Wishman’s films, Another Day, Another Man looks great. Wishman’s cinematography is usually on-point, and this is no exception. The big issue is the odd plot detours that often lead to a bumpy ride. At one point, the plot stops abruptly and goes into the pimp boyfriend’s backstory. The stuff with the pimp courting twin sisters into a life of prostitution, and the subsequent subplot about a boyfriend breaking off his engagement because he learns his girlfriend’s a hooker eats up a lot of screen time and gets in the way of main plotline.
Another Day, Another Man is also kind of tame and a lot less seedy than Wishman’s best work. It’s still fairly enjoyable though. I’d say it’s about on par with Bad Girls Go to Hell, but it’s far from the dizzying heights of Let Me Die a Woman.
The most memorable part is the awesome music. The main theme, “The Hell Raisers” by The Syd Dale Orchestra is one of the greatest pieces of music ever written. It later became the iconic Something Weird theme, and if you’ve ever watched one of their videos, you know it will be stuck in your head for days after you hear it. The rest of the music in the movie isn’t quite as memorable, but it’s still pretty darn good.
The dialogue is often a hoot too; my favorite line being: “I haven’t seen you since yesterday… and that’s almost twenty-four hours!”
AKA: Another Day, Another Way.
DORIS DECEMBER NOTES:
1) In my original review, I said Another Day, Another Man was “about on par with Bad Girls Go to Hell”. Now that I have revaluated that film and elevated it to Four Star status, I would amend that statement and say it’s “about on par with A Taste of Flesh”.
2) Once again, we have another title sequence features black and white photographs. This one has the distinction of featuring “The Hell Raisers”, the best piece of music Wishman ever put into a film.
3) Like Gentlemen Prefer Nature Girls, our heroine has a boss who doesn’t approve of married women working. Is this a reoccurring theme of strong women rallying against patriarchal expectations and outdated mores? Or is Wishman just repeating herself?
4) Another reoccurring element that has been cropping up during Wishman’s roughie period is the random cutaway to a discarded undergarment lying on the floor. It’s not as pronounced as the shots of feet, awkward telephone conversations, and bad dubbing, but it’s becoming more and more prevalent in each passing movie.
5) Sam Stewart, who had a memorable role in Bad Girls Go to Hell, plays yet another lout who likes to smack women around.
6) Another reoccurring element in Wishman’s roughie period: The downbeat ending. All the characters walked happily off into the sunset (nude) in her nudie era. With the exception of A Taste of Flesh, Wishman’s heroines in this period are left to a depressing fate.
7) Like The Prince and the Nature Girl, Wishman once again resorts to stealing footage from her earlier movies, in this case, Bad Girls Go to Hell.
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