''Debbie Does Dallas'' is a 1978
pornographic film starring
Bambi Woods.
The plot of the film focuses on a team of
cheerleaders
Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...
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 ...
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
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 ...
.[ 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, '' 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 Eric Edwards may refer to:
* Eric Edwards (actor)
Eric Edwards (born Robert Everett on November 30, 1945) is an American pornographic actor, photographer, and director. Everett started in mainstream theater and transitioned into porn, starting ...
) 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
Masturbation is the sexual stimulation of one's own genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation may involve hands, fingers, everyday objects, sex toys such as vibrators, or combinati ...
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
Fellatio (also known as fellation, and in slang as blowjob, BJ, giving head, or sucking off) is an oral sex act involving a person stimulating the penis of another person by using the mouth, throat, or both. Oral stimulation of the scrotum may ...
him and then he has anal sex 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
Fellatio (also known as fellation, and in slang as blowjob, BJ, giving head, or sucking off) is an oral sex act involving a person stimulating the penis of another person by using the mouth, throat, or both. Oral stimulation of the scrotum ma ...
him but is caught by Mr. Biddle (Jack Teague). Donna allows him to spank
Spanking is a form of corporal punishment involving the act of striking, with either the palm of the hand or an implement, the buttocks of a person to cause physical pain. The term spanking broadly encompasses the use of either the hand or im ...
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
Ejaculation is the discharge of semen (the ''ejaculate''; normally containing sperm) from the male reproductory tract as a result of an orgasm. It is the final stage and natural objective of male sexual stimulation, and an essential componen ...
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, 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 a ...
, 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 Eric Edwards may refer to:
* Eric Edwards (actor)
Eric Edwards (born Robert Everett on November 30, 1945) is an American pornographic actor, photographer, and director. Everett started in mainstream theater and transitioned into porn, starting ...
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 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, be ...
,[ 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, 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
The Pussycat Theaters were a chain of adult movie theaters, operating between the 1960s and the 1980s. Pussycat Theaters had 30 locations in California and were known for their cat-girl logo. To date, only one exists.
History
David F. Friedman a ...
was enjoined in 1979 from showing the film by the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders under the Lanham Act
The Lanham (Trademark) Act (, codified at et seq. () is the primary federal trademark statute of law in the United States. The Act prohibits a number of activities, including trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and false advertising. ...
, 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 othe ...
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
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate jur ...
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
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in case citations, 7th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts:
* Central District of Illinois
* Northern District of Ill ...
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 United States copyright law, a copyright notice is a notice of statutorily prescribed form that informs users of the underlying claim to copyright ownership in a published work.
Copyright is a form of protection provided by US law to author ...
. 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 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 court found in favor of VCX, and the judge ruled that "Weisberg's actions had thrust the film irretrievably into the public domain">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 us ...
.
The 1986 publication of the Meese Report
The Meese Report (named for Edwin Meese), officially the ''Final Report of the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography'', is the result of an investigation into pornography ordered by U.S. President Ronald Reagan. It was published in July 1 ...
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
The Internet Adult Film Database (IAFD) is an online database of information pertaining to, in United States, the pornography industry: actors, actresses, directors, studios, distributors and pornographic films.
History
The predecessor to I ...
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
The New York International Fringe Festival, or FringeNYC, was a fringe theater festival and one of the largest multi-arts events in North America. It took place over the course of a few weeks in October, spread on more than 20 stages across sev ...
. In 2002 it was made into an Off-Broadway musical 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 o ...
of the same name. Unlike the original movie, the musical did not contain any actual sex
Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones ( ova, of ...
or nudity,[ 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
''The Dark Side of Porn'' is a documentary series that examines the adult entertainment industry. It was produced by Lion Television for Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the ...
'' was produced and shown on British television.
In 2006, VCX employed Media Blasters
Media Blasters, sometimes abbreviated as MB, is an American entertainment corporation that was founded by John Sirabella in 1997 and is based in New York City. It is in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American ...
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
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
, 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 st ...
, 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 the ...
formats. It has also been remade with contemporary porn stars
A pornographic film actor or actress, pornographic performer, adult entertainer, or porn star is a person who performs sex acts in video that is usually characterized as a pornographic movie. Such videos tend to be made in a number of dis ...
.
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 property ...
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
The Internet Adult Film Database (IAFD) is an online database of information pertaining to, in United States, the pornography industry: actors, actresses, directors, studios, distributors and pornographic films.
History
The predecessor to I ...
**
**
**
*
{{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