La fine dell'innocenza (1976) Online

You certainly can't accuse this film of not covering its "erotic movie" bases. It starts out with an adolescent girl (Annie Belle) being picked up from her finishing school by her "father". There's some definite shades of "Lolita" here. But despite having been with this "father" since she was 13, she's still (technically) a virgin as their relationship is still(sort of) platonic--so throw in a little "Baby Doll" too. They then travel to Orient, which can not help but evoke the then-recent softcore porn hit "Emmanuelle" (Belle herself would later star in the real-life Emmanuelle Arsan's directorial debut "Laure" and would play the "White Emanuelle" to Laura Gemser's "Black Emanuelle" in one of the rip-off Italian films). In Hong Kong, her "father" gets arrested for currency smuggling, and she ends up in the clutches of some jaded libertines, much like in "Eugenie" (the producer of this film, Harry Allan Towers, had produced the Jess Franco's superior version of that erotic tale).

Not that this story is entirely unoriginal--in an unusual plot twist the wife of one couple falls madly in love with the younger woman and has her husband seduce her while she listens on the phone (and has some very literal phone sex). And in the end, the young girl proves to be more independent-minded than all the aforementioned erotic heroines combined.

The Italian director Massimo Dallamano had kind of taken over Jess Franco's role of house director for eccentric producer Towers after the two latter men had a falling out. Franco had done some of his best work for Towers, but for Dallamano, who previously directed excellent films like "What Have You Done to Solange", the Towers productions were actually kind of a step down in both budget and quality. Still this isn't too bad. Interestingly, Belle herself (who was barely 18 at the time) is credited with the story. Fortunately, she's also credited with taking her clothes off a lot and showing off her magnificent body, most memorably where she rides around Hong Kong butt-naked on the back of a motorbike (I guess they don't have helmet laws there). I was a little disappointed though that while she started off the movie with long brown hair, she quickly reverted to her usual bad bleach-blond pixie cut. This isn't great, but it's worth a look.

Annie belle is very young in this coming-of-age feature. She and her 'Father' go on a business trip to Hong Kong. There she meets a bunch of socialites and learns how some adults behave. The plot and acting aren't too exciting, but Annie Belle is attractive and the foreign locale/scenery are appealing. The groovy soundtrack also adds a lot.

Like a previous reviewer has said, this erotic movie has all its bases covered -- another way to put it is that this movie leaves no cliché out.

In the beginning, some grampa picks up his "daughter" from a Swiss finishing school. In what I sadly consider to be the best and most erotic scene of the movie, she then changes from her school costume into something more salacious in the back of her sugardaddy's Rolls, while a very happy cyclist follows the car and tries to cop an eyeful of the action. We all do.

Then they're off to do some skiing, where Annie Belle suddenly sports her signature platinum pageboy haircut, and then inevitably on to Hongkong. There it is revealed to our amazement that Annie hasn't yet popped her cherry, and then her sugardaddy is imprisoned for money laundering or something.

Annie then goes to live with the usual flock of libertines, including her real-life boyfriend Al Cliver, at the usual château. You know the drill. There is the standard lesbian affair with a more mature woman, and of course plenty of rape scenes, which were considered to be the pièce de résistance of any erotic movie in the 1970ies. Back then, women couldn't fully explore their sexuality without being raped once of twice; they would lounge around and complain that, sure, they'd been there and done that, but without having been subjected to the occasional traumatising experience of forced sexual intercourse with a gang of sadistic lowlifes, it all seemed rather insipid to them. Don't ask me what the rest of the story is about though, I could hardly keep my eyes open.

To sum it up, even the enormously talented Annie Belle couldn't save this Emmanuelle-ripoff from its nonexistent plot. The strange relationship between Annie and her sponsor goes unexplained, it merely serves as an excuse for Annie to go through the motions of the regular "exploring her sexuality" schtick.

Worse movies may have been made, but I just didn't enjoy it.

This movie is great! I love the way Maria Rohm acts as her part of Dr. Hondorus! It makes me think of hot summer days when the sun is setting and everyone believes in turkey sandwiches. I also believe this movie is the best film ever made! It shows how good of a director Steven Speilberg is! I hope some day that they'll release this on video! I will buy every copy available!

The reason that determined me to see this film is the name of Massimo Dallamano, the director of photography of "A Fistful of Dollars" and "For a Few Dollars More", two absolute masterpieces directed by Sergio Leone. And, the same Massimo Dallamano directed "Dorian Gray"(1970), a very good movie starring Helmut Berger. Plus other two thrillers, Colt 38 Special Squad (1976)Quelli della calibro 38(original title), with Marcel Bozzuffi, and What Have You Done to Solange?(1972)Cosa avete fatto a Solange?(original title), with Fabio Testi. But what a disappointment this "Blue Belle"! Trying to make some kind of "Emmanuelle" on his own, the film is a total failure. Annie Belle is awkward (as all the other players), not having nowhere the charm of Sylvia Kristel. Everything is bad, the story, the actors, it's just a waste of time.