Starlet! was written by legendary exploitation producer David F. (A Smell of Honey, a Swallow of Brine) Friedman. The film sometimes feels like an attempt by Friedman to break out of the nudie business and make a “real” movie. He used the old Hollywood axiom of “write what you know” and wrote a story about making low-budget skin flicks. The results are quite uneven.
Carol (Dee Lockwood) is an aspiring actress working in softcore nudies who hides her profession from her roommates. Linda (Chris Mathis) is uptight, and Allison (Shari Mann) will practically jump anything that moves. Linda’s director boyfriend Forrest (Victor Brandt) is appalled when she is raped at a Hollywood party by a producer but is powerless to do anything for fear of losing his big break. Meanwhile, Allison strikes up a romance with aging starlet Maxine (Kathi Cole) while Carol begins sleeping her way to starring in a sleazy producer’s big budget epic.
Some of this plays like a half-assed version of Valley of the Dolls, but it’s all pretty cheap. The scenes set inside Friedman’s own studio feel like a cost-cutting measure more than anything. Even though Starlet! is more serious than most of his efforts, there’s still people with names like “Phil Latio” running around, which seemingly runs against the grain of his dramatic intentions.
I admire the fact that the opening scene shows the skin flick world in an unflattering light, or at the very least, depicts it in a realistic manner. The director constantly yells at the actress while she’s just going through the motions with her co-star in bed. Had the screenplay concentrated more on this sort of behind-the-scenes minutia than the standard cliched dramatic tropes, it might’ve worked.
While there’s enough T & A here to pass it off as a skin flick, Friedman’s strive for legitimacy takes some of the fun out of the proceedings. It’s also severely lacking the charm of his more disreputable efforts. Still, there are some memorable moments (like the Pilgrim-themed bondage movie) and a few legitimately funny lines. (“Be obscene and not heard!”) It also benefits from the presence of Stuart (Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!) Lancaster as a sleazy producer. Oh, and Friedman even shows up playing himself!
Ultimately, the film suffers from a needlessly bloated running time. It probably also has too many unnecessary supporting characters. Because of its ambling nature, Starlet! never quite reaches the top.
AKA: Hollywood Sex Slaves.
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