''Barbara Broadcast'' is an American adult erotic film released in 1977. The film was directed by

Radley Metzger Radley Metzger (January 21, 1929 – March 31, 2017) was an American filmmaker and film distributor, most noted for popular artistic pornographic films, including '' Thérèse and Isabelle'' (1968), '' Camille 2000'' (1969), '' The Lickerish ...

(as "Henry Paris") and filmed in several elaborate locations in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, including the Olympia ballroom and restaurant in the Royal Manhattan Hotel.

Plot

Barbara Broadcast, a world-famous liberated woman and best-selling author, is interviewed by a journalist about her successful career in an elegant

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

hotel restaurant, where gourmet food and erotic activities are on the menu: a

surrealistic Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

" Buñuelian" atmosphere, according to one film reviewer. Afterwards, other Manhattan moments in New York City are featured, including a corporate office encounter and a casual meeting in a busy night club.

Cast

* Annette Haven as Barbara Broadcast * Bobby Astyr as the Maitre d' * C. J. Laing as Roberta, the interviewer * Constance Money as a Slave *

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 Gurm ...

as Curley * Michael Gaunt as a Client *

Sharon Mitchell Sharon Mitchell is an American sexologist and former pornographic film actress and film director, director. In 1998, she founded the Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation (AIM), which tested over 1,000 adult film performers per month be ...

as a Waitress * Susan McBain as a Diner * Wade Nichols as a Cook * Zebedy Colt as a Diner

Reception

According to an X-Critic film reviewer, ''Barbara Broadcast'' is "... a playful, funny and beautifully made film for grownups, a celebration of carnality and earthly delights shot with an artist’s eye for composition and set to an excellent usicscore ...". ''Barbara Broadcast'', according to another reviewer, "... is a fun, witty, and charming film ...". Another reviewer notes, " ... he film hasplenty of electric atmosphere and usic... This is

porno chic The term "Golden Age of Porn", or "porno chic", refers to a 15-year period (1969–1984) in commercial American pornography, in which sexually explicit films experienced positive attention from mainstream cinemas, movie critics, and the genera ...

! ..." Paracinema film critic Heather Drain writes, "Metzger’s work is known for its eye candy and this film is no exception, with every frame looking like a perfectly composed piece of art ... ''Barbara Broadcast'' may not be heavy on plot, but is an exquisitely crafted film from one of the best American

directors 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 ...

to have emerged ince the 1970s...

is truly one of a kind."

History

''Barbara Broadcast'' was released during the

Golden Age of Porn The term "Golden Age of Porn", or "porno chic", refers to a 15-year period (1969–1984) in commercial American pornography, in which sexually explicit films experienced positive attention from mainstream cinemas, movie critics, and the genera ...

(inaugurated by the 1969 release of

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

Blue Movie ''Blue Movie'' (also known as ''Fuck'' and ''F,k'') 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 ...

'') in the United States, at a time of "

", in which adult erotic films were just beginning to be widely released, publicly discussed by celebrities (like

Johnny Carson John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, and writer best known as the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson is a cultural phenomenon and w ...

and

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

) and taken seriously by film critics (like

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

Notes

According to one

film reviewer Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: Academic criticism by film scholars, who study the composition of film theory and publish their findin ...

, Radley Metzger's films, including those made during the

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

screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...

s, and a penchant 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 diff ...

". Another reviewer noted that his films were "highly artistic — and often cerebral ... and often featured gorgeous

cinematography Cinematography () is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens (optics), lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sen ...

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

Restoration

On July 4, 2013, DistribPix released a restoration of the film, with the cooperation of the director. The result had a limited exhibition in theaters, but the main outcome of the project was the first 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 ki ...

and

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

versions. A listing of the music on the film soundtrack was released earlier.

Awards

* Winner 1989 –

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

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 Awards. The first XRCO Awards were presented in Hollywood on February 14, 198 ...

.Stone, Jeremy, "Heart-ons in Hollywood: The 5th Annual XRCO Adult Film & Video Awards", ''

Adam Film World ''Adam Film World'' (''AFW'') and ''Adam Film World Guide'' (''AFWG'') were American magazines about pornographic film, starting in 1966 as ''The Adam Film Quarterly.'' History Knight Publishing Corp. had launched ''Adam'' magazine in 1956 as ...

'', September 1989, Vol. 13, No. 1, p. 10–11, 54.Staff, "The XRCO Hall of Fame", ''

Guide 1990 Directory of Adult Films'', 1990, p. 17. * Nominee 2014 – AVN Award (Best DVD Extras). * Winner 2015 – X-Rated: Greatest Adult Movies of All Time.

Music soundtrack

References

External links

''Barbara Broadcast''
at

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

(related to

The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of art film, arth ...

) * . *
''Barbara Broadcast''
on the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

WebSite.
''Barbara Broadcast − behind the scenes''

''Barbara Broadcast'' − 2013 restoration at DistribPix
.
''Barbara Broadcast'' (Trailer-1; 04:09)(Trailer-2; 10:04)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbara Broadcast American erotic films Films directed by Radley Metzger 1977 films 1970s pornographic films Films set in Manhattan 1970s English-language films 1970s American films