Frank and I

source: Frank and I

The softcore sex film basically began in 1974 with Just Jaeckin's "Emmanuelle" and was intended to be a "classier" alternative to the hardcore XXX * initiated by "Deep Throat" and its ilk (as opposed to the "sexploitation" film which are sex films that existed BEFORE hardcore * was really legal). The original, mostly European softcore films of the 70's are often quite interesting, although it's questionable how "classy" some of them are (that's definitely not a word that applies to Joe D'Amato's appalling "Emanuelle in America" or even the big-budget but tasteless film "Caligula"). Like the sexploitation films before them, a number of softcore sex films were loosely based on erotic novels (some call them "one-handed novels") from the Victorian Era, a famously sexually repressive era that not surprisingly produced a whole lot of smut, but also ironically provided a veneer of "respectability" for a whole lot of later sex films. This gender-bender softcore effort is based on the Victorian novel "Frank and I" about a nobleman who meets an orphaned schoolboy on the road and, for some reason, decides to "adopt" him and bring him up properly. But while administering a bare-ass whipping, he discovers a secret, which pretty much any viewer of this movie would have figured out a half hour earlier (trust me, this is NOT a spoiler). "Frank" is actually "Frances" and is played by Jennifer Inch, an elfin but relatively busty Canadian actress. After this discovery the movie is just a typical sex romp involving the nobleman, "Frances", and his alluring mistress (played by French actress Sophie Favier). This movie came out in the early 80's era along with such films as "Joy", "Christina", and "Fanny Hill". Like a couple of those films it was written and produced by the notorious Harry Alan Towers. The 80's softcore films are generally less interesting than the 70's ones (but far, far more interesting than the worthless * fodder they make today). I'd give this one points just for being warped, but really it plays things pretty safe, truth be told. The Italian film "The Seduction of Angela" used this same plot, but had the nobleman find out the secret when he tries to bugger the good-looking "boy" (although the actress in that looked a lot more like Sophia Loren than any "boy"). Intentionally or not, this movie retains some Victorian-era hypocrisy by making a potential gay pederast into a typical hetero stud. There are definitely some mixed messages here. . .

Man who owns manor meets a young boy along the road. Guy has plucked eyebrows, long lashes, full lips and a bubble butt. OMG! It's really a girl! Didn't see that coming! Guy makes "him" his girlfriend and also has one in London. Get flashback of girl's life at a brothel for more sex and nudity scenes. Full frontal nudity of Jennifer Inch would be the only real reason to watch this film. About as much as a romance as "The Story of O." Yeah, there's some there, but I can't imagine that is why one would watch it

My review was written in July 1984 after watching the movie on a VHS screener copy. "'Frank' and I" is a rather flat (no pun intended) rendering of Victorian era romantic porno, funded by and recently broadcast by the Playboy channel and currently playing theatrically in France (via Eurogroup Films distribbery) under a title translating as "Liberated Lady". Screenplay by exec producer Harry Alan Towers (using his nom de film Peter Welbeck) will be familiar to 1960s readers of "The Pearl" or other traditional erotica published by Grove Press, presenting a romantic tale of a young woman's adventures with inevitable "birchings" and other disciplining punctuating the usual softcore sex couplings. A British writer, Charles Beaumont (Christopher Pearson), narrates the story as recollections, detailing his romance with a 16-year-old girl (Jennifer Inch), taken into his household as a wastrel he met on the road disguised as a boy named Frank. "Frank" is in fact Frances, sent to London after her parents died in Canada, to stay with a Mrs. Leslie (April Hyde). Leslie turns out to be running a brothel, forcing young girls to work as her prostitutes, and Frances escaped, cutting her blonde hair short and dressing as a boy. In Beaumont's care, "Frank"'s masquerade is quickly discarded and the young woman is initiated into more adult behavior by Beaumont's prior girlfriend (planning to marry another man), Maude (Sophie Favier). Various minor adventures, including Beaumont beating Mrs. Leslie as punishment for her having mistreated "Frank", lead to duo finally getting married and living happily ever after Diminutive Jennifer Inch combines a childlike face with a very well-developed figure in the central role, but her acting is unimpressive, not helped by post-synched English dialog. Production values are low budget, with two European tours by Beaumont presente as still photos only.

The startlingly wholesome Frances escapes brothel life by cutting her hair (an effect achieved by donning an extremely bad wig) and pretending to be a boy. In this guise she meets the mildly perverted Charles, reverts back to being a girl, and becomes his bit of stuff. There is some faffing about with sexual training, as well as some other bloke on the scene. This seems to be a French film's take on British erotica (an expression imbued with some irony, given how fundamentally unerotic the Brits are). The undoubtedly fetching Jennifer Inch, who plays Frank/Frances, is unclad a moderate amount of the time as are various other young ladies. This is a Good Thing, but it does not prevent Lady Libertine pretending to be culturally significant (which it isn't) rather than a period smutfest (which it is). It also doesn't prevent it from being very dull, which it also is.

One of the many anonymous 'erotic' novels of the Victorian age, 'Frank and I' comes to the screen courtesy of Gérard Kikoïne, with Christopher Pearson and Jennifer Inch essaying the main roles of master and servant. It doesn't quite come off, mainly because of the appalling acting of the androgynous Inch as Frank (or is it Frances?), with her baby girl voice and plain-Jane face. It doesn't help either that the main focus of the book (the submission-domination angle) is squished into one scene which fails to be really convincing. The trailer for the film manages to be better than the main feature itself, and that's no mean feat. The Victorians knew how to write this sort of thing, but it doesn't necessarily mean that 20th century film-makers know how to portray it on the screen. 'Frank and I' manages to be quite limp, miserably shot and woefully scripted. Not one I'd particularly recommend.

source: Lady Libertine

The softcore sex film basically began in 1974 with Just Jaeckin's "Emmanuelle" and was intended to be a "classier" alternative to the hardcore XXX * initiated by "Deep Throat" and its ilk (as opposed to the "sexploitation" film which are sex films that existed BEFORE hardcore * was really legal). The original, mostly European softcore films of the 70's are often quite interesting, although it's questionable how "classy" some of them are (that's definitely not a word that applies to Joe D'Amato's appalling "Emanuelle in America" or even the big-budget but tasteless film "Caligula"). Like the sexploitation films before them, a number of softcore sex films were loosely based on erotic novels (some call them "one-handed novels") from the Victorian Era, a famously sexually repressive era that not surprisingly produced a whole lot of smut, but also ironically provided a veneer of "respectability" for a whole lot of later sex films. This gender-bender softcore effort is based on the Victorian novel "Frank and I" about a nobleman who meets an orphaned schoolboy on the road and, for some reason, decides to "adopt" him and bring him up properly. But while administering a bare-ass whipping, he discovers a secret, which pretty much any viewer of this movie would have figured out a half hour earlier (trust me, this is NOT a spoiler). "Frank" is actually "Frances" and is played by Jennifer Inch, an elfin but relatively busty Canadian actress. After this discovery the movie is just a typical sex romp involving the nobleman, "Frances", and his alluring mistress (played by French actress Sophie Favier). This movie came out in the early 80's era along with such films as "Joy", "Christina", and "Fanny Hill". Like a couple of those films it was written and produced by the notorious Harry Alan Towers. The 80's softcore films are generally less interesting than the 70's ones (but far, far more interesting than the worthless * fodder they make today). I'd give this one points just for being warped, but really it plays things pretty safe, truth be told. The Italian film "The Seduction of Angela" used this same plot, but had the nobleman find out the secret when he tries to bugger the good-looking "boy" (although the actress in that looked a lot more like Sophia Loren than any "boy"). Intentionally or not, this movie retains some Victorian-era hypocrisy by making a potential gay pederast into a typical hetero stud. There are definitely some mixed messages here. . .

The startlingly wholesome Frances escapes brothel life by cutting her hair (an effect achieved by donning an extremely bad wig) and pretending to be a boy. In this guise she meets the mildly perverted Charles, reverts back to being a girl, and becomes his bit of stuff. There is some faffing about with sexual training, as well as some other bloke on the scene. This seems to be a French film's take on British erotica (an expression imbued with some irony, given how fundamentally unerotic the Brits are). The undoubtedly fetching Jennifer Inch, who plays Frank/Frances, is unclad a moderate amount of the time as are various other young ladies. This is a Good Thing, but it does not prevent Lady Libertine pretending to be culturally significant (which it isn't) rather than a period smutfest (which it is). It also doesn't prevent it from being very dull, which it also is.

Man who owns manor meets a young boy along the road. Guy has plucked eyebrows, long lashes, full lips and a bubble butt. OMG! It's really a girl! Didn't see that coming! Guy makes "him" his girlfriend and also has one in London. Get flashback of girl's life at a brothel for more sex and nudity scenes. Full frontal nudity of Jennifer Inch would be the only real reason to watch this film. About as much as a romance as "The Story of O." Yeah, there's some there, but I can't imagine that is why one would watch it