Fancy Lady (1971) Online

Casting is one of the most important steps in making a movie, but after assembling some quality performers Nick Millard completely misses the boat in FANCY LADY. Though they're beautiful to look at the actresses here are lost in a strictly-filler feature.

One's hopes are raised by putting Uschi Digard in the starring role of Karin Nykvist, a journalist from Copenhagen visiting Frisco to write an article about comparative live styles, as part of her research on the worldwide Sexual Revolution. She had been featured memorably in Nick's best movie, ROXANNA, so why couldn't this be an arousing followup.

But no, Nick foolishly uses Uschi as the voyeur, not the object of the viewer's gaze. Such an obvious mistake must have been a nasty calculation on his part, but sinks the film. She spends $3 and goes to a small S.F. porno theater, where new footage of lesbians having sex outdoors on a blanket is mixed with recycled solo loops that look like the old Starlite series.

Though the annoying fake-Scandinavian narration (not uttered by Uschi but sounding like Nick's usual dubbing-girl) establishes Karin's lesbian predilections, when she returns to her apartment she's turned on by a heterosexual couple having simulated sex on a bed where their pussy cat keeps trying to join in.

Several flashbacks depict lesbian action, but it isn't till the final nine minutes of the movie that the fans get served, with Uschi masturbating. Even this scene is bungled by the director, as a "change of clothes" (substituting red gear for black corset) has the set changing completely from a modern room to wood paneling, just to show off more loop-styled footage of Uschi. She catches a jet home to Copenhagen and the mercifully short non-film ends.

Among the lesbians are Barbara Caron, Lynn Harris (whose wide dark nipples steal the show) and Starlyn Simone, among the best porn starlets of the era. Certainly Nick could have come up with something interesting, maybe a STORYLINE, rather than just toss them into the pot as filler.

Strictly for fetish fans, this softcore outing has the usual: high boots, leather apparel, sexy black or patterned hose, nipple-sucking, split-beaver closeups, and high heel shoe as a sex object. The boring jazz tracks Nick has used over & over for umpteen films play on the soundtrack, including the annoying tenor sax soloist bleating his riff on "Salt Peanuts" while Uschi fondles herself. All that's missing is a movie.

Having recently acquired the taste for this offbeat film maker, I come to this one expecting something a bit more special than what we get. Apart from a few glimpses of downtown San Francisco, this is comprised of three sequences. The first is a pretty but way overlong outdoor session between two girls in long kinky boots. I didn't mind the boots but the eternal and seemingly uninterested mutual stroking very nearly had me reaching for the remote. the scene was made infinitely worse by the regular cutaways to a fully clothed Ushi Digard grinning maniacally. The next set up was hetro with a lovely looking girl and a very seventies looking guy who eventually gets his jeans off. It's not bad but again overlong and a good deal of the stroking looked decidedly uninterested, once more. It seems possible that Nick gets the performers to be like this because he doesn't want them going hardcore. At least we don't get acted pleasure with exaggerated moans. We still get the Digard cutaways though! Finally we get the lady herself and she makes a real go of it, masturbating with a shoe and all but I was tiring by now and was getting increasingly annoyed at the stupid narration, the unnecessary changes of clothes and the sexless nature of the caresses. Can't win them all Nick.

Erotic journalist Karin Nykquist (busty'n'lusty brunette stunner Uschi Digard) arrives in America so she can sample the seamier side of San Francisco for an article she's researching. That's about it for the admittedly skimpy plot, but fortunately director Nick Philips delivers plenty of tasty female nudity and a pleasingly straightforward depiction of various uninhibited carnal activities. A protracted lesbian make-out session between lovely blonde Lynn Harris and yummy brunette Barbara Mills rates as the definite scorching hot sensuous highlight. A heterosexual coupling between the foxy Starlyn Simone and George Peters likewise hits the arousing spot. Best of all, the climax features deliciously leering close-ups of Uschi's legendary massive breasts as she not only licks and caresses said breasts, but also masturbates with a camera with joyful abandon. Meanwhile, a heavily accented gal narrates the whole thing while wonky free-form jazz music complete with a raunchy blurting saxophone grooves away on the soundtrack. Of course, we also get the usual kinky fetish stuff involving trashy black stockings and shiny leather boots. Yeah, this flick is crudely tossed together, but it delivers what it promises and that's what it's all about, man. Worth seeing for fans of Nick's distinctly oddball style of filmmaking.