Retro Porn Review - Chorus Call

When thinking of possible sub-genres for a straight adult feature film, musical theater is probably not one of the first ones that comes to mind. But this is 70s porn, guys, and there was a solid chance there would be a budget for any kind of idea that you could bring to the table — provided there were enough naked people surrounding that plot, of course.

Chorus Call, written and directed by Antonio Shepherd, is a parody of the highly successful Broadway hit A Chorus Line. And while a porn version of that sounds like it could go really bad, the final product is surprisingly accomplished.

Mona Randall (Kay Parker in a good pre-Taboo role) is an established middle-aged thespian — with all the arrogance and insecurities that comes with it — looking to be the star in a new Broadway play. But when a younger and talented dancer named Cheryl Cooper (Susaye London) auditions for an important role, a threatened Mona throws her weight (and gigantic breasts) around in order to get her fired.

Mona’s not the only person opposed to having Cheryl in the play. Assistant director Bertha (Beth Anna), who had a torrid sexual relationship with Cheryl in the past, is also not on board with the dancer’s presence. Luckily for Cheryl, choreographer Sidney Hudson (Joey Silvera) really likes her, and wastes no time in making her feel welcome.

In the last adult movie she ever made, the great Darby Lloyd Rains plays Rue Miller, Mona’s agent. Committed to getting her star whatever she needs, Rue makes sure producer Manny (Robert Kerman) is content.

While I’m not doubting a lot of Broadway shows in history have had their share of casts who fucked their way to the top, the strategy proves particularly effective in Chorus Call. Almost all of the sex scenes in this movie happen in order to get something back — a lead role, more production power, or the simple (if highly unprofessional) satisfaction of unbridled lust.

Considering this is mostly an ensemble piece, the acting is much more proficient than you’d expect for a lot of mostly-untrained theater performers who actually need to play theater performers. It’s well directed and several more ambitious scenes don’t feel as lazy as some other films of the era could get at times.

The film features uncommon porn events, like several well-made outside shots of New York City during romantic date montages, or actual musical theater songs. Director Shepherd wrote three of the film’s musical pieces, including the peculiar ‘Six Tits in a Row.’

If you prefer voluptuous girls, Chorus Call will likely do it for you. Pretty much everyone in this movie has significantly pronounced curves. The sex can get very gratuitous, but the plot still makes an impact and keeps you somewhat engaged, except for a couple of head-scratching scenes that seem to come out of nowhere and have no real link to the rest of the movie. But hey, if we learned anything from Chorus Call it’s that the actors in unneeded scenes were probably fucking the producers. And we’re okay with that.

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