''The Opening of Misty Beethoven'' is an American

pornographic Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of Human sexual activity, sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

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 ...

film released in 1976. It was produced with a relatively high budget and filmed on elaborate locations in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

with a musical score, and owes much to its

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Radley Metzger Radley Metzger (also known as Radley Henry Metzger, Radley H. Metzger and by the pseudonyms, "Jake Barnes", "Erich Farina" and "Henry Paris") (January 21, 1929 – March 31, 2017) was an American pioneering filmmaker and film distributor, most ...

(directing this film as "Henry Paris"). According to author

Toni Bentley Toni Bentley (born 1958) is an Australian-German dancer and writer. Bentley was born in Perth, Western Australia. Family and early life Bentley's father, P. J. Bentley, is an Australian biologist and endocrinologist. Her brother, Dr. David Ben ...

, ''The Opening of Misty Beethoven'' is considered the "crown jewel" of the

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).

Plot

An adult erotic take on

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

1913 play ''

Pygmalion Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to: Mythology * Pygmalion (mythology), a sculptor who fell in love with his statue Stage * ''Pigmalion'' (opera), a 1745 opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau * ''Pygmalion'' (Rousseau), a 1762 melodrama by Jean-Jacques ...

'', and its 1956 musical adaptation ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons f ...

'', the film follows a

sexologist Sexology is the scientific study of human sexuality, including human sexual interests, behaviors, and functions. The term ''sexology'' does not generally refer to the non-scientific study of sexuality, such as social criticism. Sexologists app ...

who tries transforming a low-skilled

prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

into a goddess of passion. Her instruction includes seducing a

gay male Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual and homoromantic men may also dually identify as gay, and a number of young gay men also identify as queer. Historically, gay men have been referred to by a number of different terms, including ' ...

art dealer (played by gay porn actor Casey Donovan), pleasing three men at once, pegging a man, and similar sexual conquests. Shaw's character of Henry Higgins here becomes the sexologist Dr. Seymour Love, played by

Jamie Gillis Jamie Gillis (born Jamey Ira Gurman; April 20, 1943 – February 19, 2010) was an American pornographic actor, director and member of the AVN Hall of Fame. He was married to the porn actress Serena. Early life Gillis was born Jamey Ira Gurman i ...

. Shaw's character of

Eliza Doolittle Eliza Doolittle is a fictional character and the protagonist in George Bernard Shaw's play ''Pygmalion'' (1913) and its 1956 musical adaptation, ''My Fair Lady''. Eliza (from Lisson Grove, London) is a Cockney flower woman, who comes to Profe ...

here becomes Dolores "Misty" Beethoven, played by Constance Money. Shaw's Colonel Pickering here becomes Geraldine Rich, played by Jacqueline Beudant. As events unfold, Misty achieves "elevation" better than Love and Rich had hoped, and then cuts them off. Misty returns however, running the "school" and taking over for Dr. Love, leaving him in a very subservient position.

Cast

* Constance Money as Misty Beethoven *

as Dr. Seymour Love *

Calvin Culver John Calvin Culver (November 2, 1943 – August 10, 1987), better known under his stage name Casey Donovan, was an United States of America, American male pornographic film actor from the late 1960s until the mid-1980s, appearing primarily in ...

(aka Casey Donovan) as Jacque Beudant, art dealer * Jacqueline Beudant as Geraldine Rich *

Gloria Leonard Gloria Leonard (born Gale Sandra Klinetsky; August 28, 1940 – February 3, 2014) was an American pornographic actress during the Golden Age of Porn (1969–1984) who later became the publisher of ''High Society'' magazine. As a board member of ...

as Barbara Layman * Terri Hall as Tanya *

Mark Margolis Mark Margolis (; born November 26, 1939) is an American actor. He is known for playing Alberto "The Shadow" in '' Scarface'', Antonio Nappa in '' Oz'', and Hector Salamanca in '' Breaking Bad'' and ''Better Call Saul''. His performance in ''Break ...

as unhappy man

Notes

The film was released during the

(inaugurated by the 1969 release of

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

Blue Movie ''Blue Movie'' (also known as ''Fuck'') is a 1969 American erotic film written, produced and directed by Andy Warhol. It is the first adult erotic film depicting explicit sex to receive wide theatrical release in the United States, and is re ...

'') and the phenomenon of "

porno chic Porno may refer to: * Pornography, explicit depiction of sexual subject matter with principal intention of sexually exciting a viewer **Pornographic magazine **Pornographic film * ''Porno'' (film), a 2019 American film * ''Porno'' (novel), a 2 ...

" in the United States, in which adult erotic films were just beginning to be widely released, publicly discussed by celebrities (such as

Johnny Carson John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He is best known as the host of ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson received six Pr ...

and

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

) and taken seriously by film critics (such as

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

). In this Golden Age era, most films of the time were expected to have at least minimal plots. ''Misty''s plot was more elaborate than most; it was based directly on

's play, ''

'', as well as the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

success ''

''. Some historians assess ''The Opening of Misty Beethoven'' as attaining a mainstream level in storyline and sets. Author

called the film the "crown jewel" of the Golden Age. The film is also

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

, with many added comic touches and dialogue designed for laughs. It includes

's first role. ''The Opening of Misty Beethoven'' has the distinction of being the first widely released porn movie to feature female-on-male pegging. The Italian Edition by Noctuno is an extended version of Misty Beethoven with footage not seen in the original film. Some of the extra footage was used in Barbara Broadcast (Misty's bondage sequence) and Maraschino Cherry (Misty with the matador). All other cutting room floor footage can be found in the Distribpix Misty Beethoven DVD extras. The film was initially rejected for UK cinema by the BBFC and released in a heavily pre-edited form with an additional 1 min 55 secs of censor cuts in 1983. The fully uncut hardcore print was passed with an R18 rating by the BBFC in 2005. It is rumored that the full uncut version was released in the U.S on Laser Disc by Lorimar Home Video. It was also said the Laser Disc Print runs at 87 minutes and has 1:33 ratio. The cool (softcore) version adds several scenes to pad the running time. They include: the servants celebrating at the Italian villa in cave-person outfits, Lawrence and Barbara watching Kojak on TV, Misty and Geraldine together in a tub and, last but not least, cigar guy's female partner on the plane talking to a dejected Seymour Love. According to reviewer Steve Gallagher, Radley Metzger's films, including those made during the

(1969–1984), are noted for their "lavish design, witty

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

s, and a

penchant In psychology, economics and philosophy, preference is a technical term usually used in relation to choosing between alternatives. For example, someone prefers A over B if they would rather choose A than B. Preferences are central to decision theo ...

for the unusual

camera angle The camera angle marks the specific location at which the movie camera or video camera is placed to take a shot. A scene may be shot from several camera angles simultaneously. This will give a different experience and sometimes emotion. The diffe ...

". Claire Simpson noted that his films were "highly artistic — and often cerebral ... and often featured gorgeous

cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...

". Film and audio works by Metzger have been added to the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City.

2012 restoration

In 2012, DistribPix oversaw a complete restoration of the film, with the full cooperation of the director. The result had a limited exhibition in theaters, but the main outcome of the project was the first-ever official

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 kin ...

and

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 sto ...

releases.

Awards

Awards from the

Adult Film Association of America The Adult Film Association of America (AFAA) was the first American association of pornographic film producers. It fought against censorship laws, attempted to defend the industry against prosecution for obscenity, and held an annual adult film ...

: * Best Picture * Best Director (

as "Henry Paris") * Best Actor (

)Frank Thistle, "The Second Annual Erotica Awards," ''Adam Film World'', January 1979, pp. 24-27, 72. * Best Screenplay (

as "Jake Barnes") * Best Editing (Bonnie Karrin)AFAA, "Seventh Annual Erotica Awards," official program, June 23, 1983.

Other awards

* 2002

AVN Award The AVN Awards are List of movie awards, film awards sponsored and presented by the American adult video industry trade magazine ''AVN (magazine), AVN'' (''Adult Video News'') to recognize achievement in various aspects of the creation and m ...

- "Best Classic DVD" * The film was one of the first to be inducted into the

XRCO Hall of Fame The XRCO Hall of Fame lists well-known adult entertainment works and workers. The list is managed by X-Rated Critics Organization and inducted annually during the XRCO Award The XRCO Awards are given by the American X-Rated Critics Organizati ...

.Transcript
of AVC video, ''A Night of Legends: First Annual XRCO Adult Film Awards,'' 1985

Music soundtrack

During the 2012 restoration of the film, a fully annotated CD

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

was released.

Remake

In 2004, '' Misty Beethoven: The Musical!'', a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

remake, was released. It featured

Sunset Thomas Diane Thomas (born Diane Fowler), known professionally as Sunset Thomas, is an American artist and former pornographic actress. She was runner-up for ''Penthouse'' Pet of the Year in 1998 and is a member of the AVN, XRCO, and Legends of Erotica ...

Randy Spears Randy Spears (born June 18, 1961), sometimes credited as Greg Ory, is an American retired pornographic actor and director who has appeared in numerous adult feature films. Spears is noted among porn actors for his comedic acting talent. Career ...

Julie Meadows Julie Meadows (born Lydia Lee; February 3, 1974) is an American writer, web designer and former pornographic actress, who became a documentarian after retiring from the adult film industry. She was active in the industry from 1998 to 2004 and is ...

, Asia Carrera, Chloe, Dave Cummings, Mike Horner,

Evan Stone Evan Stone is an American pornographic film actor and director. In 2011, Stone became the third actor in history to receive the AVN Award for Male Performer of the Year three times. That same year, he was listed by CNBC as one of the twelve most ...

and Tyce Bune. It was directed by

Veronica Hart Jane Esther Hamilton (born October 27, 1956) is an American former pornographic actress and current adult film director who performed under the stage name Veronica Hart during the 1980s. She is sometimes credited as Jane Hamilton, V. Hart, Ver ...

. The film won the 2004

XRCO Award The XRCO Awards are given by the American X-Rated Critics Organization annually to people working in adult entertainment and it is the only adult industry awards show reserved exclusively for industry members. Once every calendar year, XRCO m ...

for " Best Comedy or Parody" and the 2005

for " Best Sex Comedy".

References

External links

''The Opening of Misty Beethoven''
at

MUBI Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; The Auteurs before 2010) is a global curated film streaming platform, production company and film distributor. Mubi produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusivel ...

(related to

The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Opening Of Misty Beethoven, The American pornographic films American sex comedy films Films based on works by George Bernard Shaw Films directed by Radley Metzger Films scored by Alessandro Alessandroni Gay-related films Male bisexuality in film 1976 films 1970s pornographic films 1970s sex comedy films 1976 comedy films Films shot in New York City Films shot in Paris Films shot in Rome 1970s English-language films 1970s American films