Sexy Cinema - Cover Me Babe (1970)

Directed by Noel Black (Pretty Poison, Private School). This is a film about a defiant, but cold-hearted student filmmaker (Tony Hall, played by Robert Forster) trying to get a studio contract. Tony's films consist of documentary-style footage of implied sex scenes that he has filmed, an interview with a hobo and even a suicide jumper. Tony seems to be set on jeopardising his future career or maybe he is a defiant anarchist. This isn't clear. It transpires that he clearly has a gift for manipulating people and can get them to act naturally for his camera. He manages to piss off his college prof and two-time his on-off girlfriend for no real reason.

This is a strange film, if publisher 20th Century Fox did demand his script to be censored it would certainly be the reason why it seems unfocused. It was rumoured Noel Black wanted Al Pacino to play the lead role of Tony, once again Fox refused. If he had got the part would he have been as successful in the future? Pacino probably wouldn't have made The Panic in Needle Park, which was arguably his big break. Robert Forster does an OK job of playing the bastard, but is a bit wooden and lacks the charm to make you care about the unsympathetic character's outcome. He also looked slightly too old for the role of a student (he was 29 at the time). The crumpet is in the form of Sondra Locke and Susanne Benton, both look the part and act well. The film lacks polish and style, maybe Fox scrimped on the budget.

There's some nudity and implied sex scenes. The version doing the rounds seems to be largely uncut, although it has been suggested the cinema version had extended scenes. It is sometimes shown on Fox Movies. There is also an edited PG version of the film. This film seemed like a poor man's Medium Cool (also starring Robert Forster in the lead). It's not really worth anyone's time, but it is an interesting and dated curio.