Following his first incursion in hardcore porn, 1979’s Babylon Pink, Henri Pachard’s follow-up is hardly sophomoric. While Babylon Pink showed great proficiency in terms of photography and editing, The Budding of Brie also included a pretty good plot, solid acting and enough production value to actually overshadow the sex parts. Not that there’s no sex; you’ll find plenty of action, but this is one of the few movies of the era that could have easily been almost as enjoyable without it, and it feels like it was purposely done that way.

The story is adapted from Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s 1950 classic All About Eve, and the script was written by Doris Toumarkine, who was also an editor in several films of the time. Set in New York City in the early 1950s, the movie follows Brie Livingstone (Hillary Summers), a seemingly naïve waitress and aspiring actress in her quest for fame, and her willingness to do anything in her power to get there.

The story is told from the perspective of a film critic, played convincingly by Jake Teague, who witnesses Brie’s ascent to the top through sheer talent, perseverance, lying, cunning, backstabbing and a lot of well-placed pussy. There are many layers to Brie. Starting as a star-struck waitress who worshipped established actress Diana Farnsworth (Jennifer Jordan), Brie finds a way to sweetly charm her way into Farnsworth’s inner circle in her plan to become just as big as Diana was.

Hillary Summers was great in the lead role, portraying every bit of apparent innocence and ruthless determination Brie required. She was basically playing Bette Davis’ character from All About Eve, and did an excellent job, as did Jennifer Jordan as the older and bitter Diana.

The always awesome Ron Jeremy was seen sparingly throughout the movie in what seemed to be an odd non-sexual role, but if you stick around for the closing credits, you might sneak a peak of good ol’ Ron.

The Budding of Brie is actually a pretty good movie. The story’s compelling, it was well cast and the direction is superb, especially for the genre. The wardrobe is also worthy of praise, as it managed to convince us of its time and place without any doubts or need for excuses, a rare feat in the porn world. Perhaps it could have used more dedicated sex scenes, usually present in Pachard’s other movies, but there’s no denying this is one of the greatest directorial efforts in the history of adult cinema.