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''Debbie Does Dallas'' is a 1978
pornographic film Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include erotic ...
starring Bambi Woods. The plot of the film focuses on a team of cheerleaders attempting to earn enough money to send the
title character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...
to
Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wi ...
to try out for the famous "Texas Cowgirls" cheerleading squad. The fictional name "Texas Cowgirls" was seen as an allusion to the real-life Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Woods had previously tried out for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders in real life, but was cut during auditions. The film was highly successful, selling 50,000 copies when it made it to videotape, making it the most successful video release of a porn film in its time. It is regarded as one of the most important releases during the so-called "
Golden Age of Porn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki_talk:Spam-whitelist/Archives/2018/01#Another_Worthy_Journal_Article_on_Wordpress ---> The term "Golden Age of Porn", or "porno chic", refers to a 15-year period (1969–1984) in commercial American porno ...
" (1969–1984), and remains one of the best-known pornographic films. The film is in the public domain following a US court ruling in 1987 that declared its copyright to be lost. The movie spawned a number of sequels and spin-offs including ''Debbie Does New Orleans'', ''Debbie Does Wall Street'', ''Debbie Does Dallas Again'' and the unrelated ''Debbie Duz Dishes'' franchise. It also spawned a 2002 Off Broadway
musical Musical is the adjective of music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact def ...
, '' Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical''.


Plot

Debbie Benton ( Bambi Woods), captain of her high school cheerleading squad, has been accepted to try out for the ''Texas Cowgirls''. Her parents disapprove and refuse to pay her fare to Texas. In a bid to help Debbie, her squadmates Lisa (Georgette Sanders), Roberta (Misty Winter), Tammy (Arcadia Lake), Pat (Kasey Rodgers) and Annie (Jenny Cole) decide to accompany her to Texas. With two weeks to raise the money, they swear off sexual activity with their boyfriends and form a company, called Teen Services. Tammy takes a job in the local record store run by Nick (Tony Mansfield). Debbie gets a job at a sports store run by Mr. Greenfeld ( Richard Bolla). Roberta convinces Mr. Hardwick ( Eric Edwards) to give her a job at the candle store with Mrs. Hardwick ( Robyn Byrd). Rikki (Sherri Tart) and Annie agree to wash Mr. Bradly's car. The football team is annoyed by a lack of sex. Roberta's boyfriend Rick (David Morris) and his teammates join Roberta and Pat in the showers, where they have group sex. While working for Mr. Greenfeld at the sports store, Debbie is talked into allowing Mr. Greenfeld to see her breasts for $10 and fondle her breasts for another $10. Then, he sucks them for an additional $20. Realizing they will not be able to raise enough money by legitimate means, Debbie convinces the other girls to engage in sexual activities for more money. They agree, but only if it is on their terms. After Roberta is caught masturbating around Mrs. Hardwick, Roberta engages in sexual activity with Mr. and Mrs. Hardwick, earning extra money. Rikki and Annie go to see Mr. Bradly (David Suton), to wash his car. Mr. Bradly is not home, but they wash his car anyway. When Mr. Bradly returns home, he asks them in to dry off their wet clothes. They undress for him for $10 each. He performs
cunnilingus Cunnilingus is an oral sex act performed by a person on the vulva or vagina of another person. The clitoris is the most sexually sensitive part of the human female genitalia, and its stimulation may result in a woman becoming sexually aroused ...
on them, they each fellate him and then he has
anal sex Anal sex or anal intercourse is generally the insertion and thrusting of the erect penis into a person's anus, or anus and rectum, for sexual pleasure.Sepages 270–271for anal sex information, anpage 118for information about the clitoris. O ...
with Annie. At the library, Donna (Merril Townsend) flirts with Mr. Biddle, the librarian. Visiting her at work, her boyfriend Tim ( Paul Hughs) tries to have sex with her. She fellates him but is caught by Mr. Biddle (Jack Teague). Donna allows him to spank her to prevent him from telling her parents. Hamilton (Peter Lerman) and his friend Ashly (Ben Pierce) are in the tennis club sauna after a tennis game, and Hamilton convinces Lisa to fellate him while Ashly penetrates her. At the record store, Tammy has been avoiding Tony's advances; she calls Lisa, who joins them at the record store. Lisa offers Tony "anything" and she begins to fellate him, and then Tammy joins in, and he ejaculates on Tammy's breasts. In the final scene, Debbie arrives at Mr. Greenfeld's store after hours, in a Texas Cowgirls uniform as he requested. Greenfeld, dressed as
Joe Namath Joseph William Namath (; ; born May 31, 1943) is a former American football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New York Jets. He played college fo ...
, reveals his dream of being the quarterback who made love to the head cheerleader, and she obliges. She fellates him, and he penetrates her vagina with his finger and performs cunnilingus on her. Then they engage in vaginal sex, first in the
missionary position The missionary position or man-on-top position is a sex position in which, generally, a woman lies on her back and a man lies on top of her while they face each other and engage in vaginal intercourse. The position may also be used for other ...
, then
doggy style Doggy style is a sex position in which a person bends over, crouches on all fours (usually on hands and knees), or lies on their abdomen, for sexual intercourse, other forms of sexual penetration or other sexual activity. Doggy style is ...
, and then with Debbie on top. They finish in the missionary position with Mr. Greenfeld
pulling out ''Coitus interruptus'', also known as withdrawal, pulling out or the pull-out method, is a method of birth control in which a man, during sexual intercourse, withdraws his penis from a woman's vagina prior to ejaculation and then directs his ...
right before ejaculating.


Cast

* Bambi Woods as Debbie Benton * Richard Balla as Mr. Greenfeld *Christie Ford (as Misty Winter) as Roberta * Robyn Byrd as Mrs. Hardwick * Eric Edwards as Mr. Hardwick *Rikki O'Neal (as Sherri Tart) as Rikki *Jenny Cole as Annie *David Pierce (as David Suton) as Mr. Bradly *Merle Michaels (as Merril Townsend) as Donna *Jake Teague as Mr. Biddle * Paul Hughs as Tim *Georgette Sanders as Lisa *Peter Lerman as Hamilton *Ben Pierce as Ashly *Arcadia Lake as Tammy *Tony Mansfield as Nick *David Morris as Rick *Kasey Rodgers as Pat *Debbie Lewis as Girl in Shower *Steve Marshall as Boy in Shower *Graham Silcock as “The other boy in the shower”


Production

The movie was produced and directed by Jim Clark. Some scenes were shot at the Brooklyn College athletic field, and the
Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was founded in 1887 ...
library in
Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behi ...
, without the administration's knowledge or approval. There is an unfounded internet rumor that certain scenes were shot at the
State University of New York, Stony Brook Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system' ...
, including the library scene. However, that was found to be unlikely after an investigation with alumni, and the president of the ''Debbie Does Dallas'' production company said such a claim "was purely inconclusive".


Legal issues


Trademark

New York's Pussycat Theater was enjoined in 1979 from showing the film by the
Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (sometimes initialized as DCC, and officially nicknamed "America's Sweethearts") are the National Football League cheerleading squad representing the Dallas Cowboys team. History 1960s During a game between the C ...
under the Lanham Act, arguing that their uniforms were mimicked by the film's producers and used in advertising, infringing on their
trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from oth ...
s. The theater argued that uniforms are strictly functional items, but in affirming the lower court's decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found that " is well established that, if the design of an item is nonfunctional and has acquired secondary meaning, the design may become a trademark even if the item itself is functional." The decision has been criticized on free speech grounds, but the Seventh Circuit has cited it for the proposition that "confusion about sponsorship or approval, even when the mark does not mislead consumers about the source of the goods," may be sufficient to state a claim under Lanham Act 43(a).


Copyright

When the film opened in October 1978, it was exhibited without a copyright notice. In 1979, rights-holder M & A Associates entered into an exclusive worldwide video distribution deal with VCX, whereby VCX agreed to pay M & A an advance and make royalty payments on each sale. Upon receiving a print of the film, VCX president Norman Arno contacted M & A president Arthur Weisberg to request copyright protection. Arno also retained the services of attorneys John Lappen and Peter Berger to combat unauthorized copying of the film. Before litigation could commence, VCX was required to add copyright notices to all copies of the film and file registration with the United States Copyright Office; however, VCX could not protect the rights by just adding a notice to the video cassette, since one also needed to be added to the theatrical prints. In 1981, Berger informed Weisberg of the need to add a copyright notice to the prints that had been sent to various theaters, but Weisberg refused. Both Lappen and Berger concluded the copyright had been lost, and in 1982, VCX terminated their contract with M & A and ceased making royalty payments, but continued to distribute the film. In 1987 M & A brought a case against VCX in the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (in case citations, E.D. Mich.) is the federal district court with jurisdiction over of the eastern half of the Lower Peninsula of the State of Michigan. The Court is based ...
for breach of contract. VCX argued that the contract was void due to M & A's failure to comply with the
Copyright Act of 1976 The Copyright Act of 1976 is a United States copyright law and remains the primary basis of copyright law in the United States, as amended by several later enacted copyright provisions. The Act spells out the basic rights of copyright holders, cod ...
. The court found in favor of VCX, and the judge ruled that "Weisberg's actions had thrust the film irretrievably into the nited Statespublic domain."


Obscenity

In 1983, a court case in New York – ''United States v. Various Articles of Obscene Merchandise'' – found the film not to be
obscene An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin ''obscēnus'', ''obscaenus'', "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Such loaded language can be u ...
. The 1986 publication of the Meese Report contained graphic descriptions of the film's sex scenes and uncensored excerpts of dialogue, which may have contributed to the report becoming a best-seller.


Sequels, parodies and remakes

The film has had numerous sequels and remakes across several decades. The Internet Adult Film Database lists twelve separate films as part of the
film franchise A film series or movie series (also referred to as a film franchise or movie franchise) is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. This article explains what film series are ...
spanning from 1978 until 2007. In the 2013 book ''Pornography and Seriality: The Culture of Producing Pleasure'', journalist David Slayden was quoted as saying, "No other pornographic film has been remade more often than ''Debbie Does Dallas."'' The filmography list includes: Spinoffs include: * ''Debbie Duz Dishes'' (1986) * ''Debbie Does 'Em All'' (1986) * ''Debbie Does Wall Street'' (1991) * ''Debbie Loves Dallas'' (2007) In 2001, '' Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical'' was created by Susan L. Schwartz for the New York International Fringe Festival. In 2002 it was made into an
Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...
musical Musical is the adjective of music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact def ...
comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term ori ...
of the same name. Unlike the original movie, the musical did not contain any actual sex or
nudity Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...
, which caused some disappointment among people, as false hype had been made and the musical's producers did nothing to dismiss it. Since then, the show has been performed around the world, often with racier direction and more explicit choreography. The story, dialogue and characters are fairly faithful to the original film, with musical numbers standing in for sex scenes or added for comic effect. As recent as 2015, the musical version continues to be performed. In 2005 a documentary called '' Debbie Does Dallas Uncovered'' was produced and shown on British television. In 2006, VCX employed Media Blasters to digitally re-master the movie from the original 35mm film into a "Definitive Collectors Edition" 2-Disc set on DVD. On April 11, 2007, Vivid Entertainment Group began including the original ''Debbie Does Dallas'' with a new release titled '' Debbie Does Dallas ... Again'' in DVD,
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of s ...
, and
HD DVD HD DVD (short for High Definition Digital Versatile Disc) is an obsolete high-density optical disc format for storing data and playback of high-definition video. Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to ...
formats. It has also been remade with contemporary porn stars.


See also

*
List of films in the public domain in the United States Most films are subject to copyright, but those listed here are believed to be in the public domain in the United States. This means that no government, organization, or individual owns any copyright over the work, and as such it is common propert ...


References


External links

*
Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
** ** ** * Internet Adult Film Database ** ** ** * {{Pornography, state=collapsed 1978 films 1970s pornographic films 1970s sex comedy films American pornographic films Cheerleading films Obscenity controversies in film 1978 comedy films 1970s English-language films 1970s sports films 1970s American films