That's Sexploitation! Backdrop Blur
That's Sexploitation! Poster

That's Sexploitation!

"This documentary reveals the untold story of American cinema's gloriously sordid cinematic past."

Before the advent of modern-day pornography, a vast and rapidly-paced world of smut peddling was the norm, complete with its own secret history. This documentary reveals the untold story of American cinema's gloriously sordid cinematic past. Starting in the 1920s, expert exploiteer David F. Friedman and Henenlotter navigate us through more than five salacious decades of skin flicks. It's the true story of dirty movies, traced in elegant detail from the bizarre locations where these nudie shorts were screened to the ongoing legal battles fought by their promoters. And of course there are the stories of the innovators themselves, people who often risked their own security and livelihood to make these films, believing in some way that what they were doing wasn't a 'bad' thing - and that it could rake in some dough.

Top Cast

  • Frank Henenlotter

    Frank Henenlotter

    Himself

  • David F. Friedman

    David F. Friedman

    Himself

  • Gal Friday

    Gal Friday

    Herself

  • Albert Cadabra

    Albert Cadabra

    Himself

  • Bettie Page

    Bettie Page

    Self - Burlesque Performer (archive footage)

  • Brigitte Bardot

    Brigitte Bardot

    Self (archive footage)

  • Tempest Storm

    Tempest Storm

    Self - Burlesque Performer (archive footage)

  • Lili St. Cyr

    Lili St. Cyr

    Self - Burlesque Performer (archive footage)

  • Blaze Starr

    Blaze Starr

    Self/Belle Fleming (archive footage)

Overview

Before the advent of modern-day pornography, a vast and rapidly-paced world of smut peddling was the norm, complete with its own secret history. This documentary reveals the untold story of American cinema's gloriously sordid cinematic past. Starting in the 1920s, expert exploiteer David F. Friedman and Henenlotter navigate us through more than five salacious decades of skin flicks. It's the true story of dirty movies, traced in elegant detail from the bizarre locations where these nudie shorts were screened to the ongoing legal battles fought by their promoters. And of course there are the stories of the innovators themselves, people who often risked their own security and livelihood to make these films, believing in some way that what they were doing wasn't a 'bad' thing - and that it could rake in some dough.

Rating

5.9 / 10
23 Reviews
0 Popular

Trailers & Clips

Recommendations

Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies

The definitive documentary on the history of nudity in feature films from the early silent days to the present, studying the changes in morality that led to the use of nudity in films while emphasizing the political, sociological and artistic changes that shaped that history. Skin will also study the gender inequality in presenting nude images in motion pictures and will follow the revolution that has created nude gender equality in feature films today.

Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies

6.5 2020
Inside Deep Throat

In 1972, a seemingly typical shoestring budget pornographic film was made in a Florida hotel: "Deep Throat," starring Linda Lovelace. This film would surpass the wildest expectation of everyone involved to become one of the most successful independent films of all time. It caught the public imagination which met the spirit of the times, even as the self-appointed guardians of public morality struggled to suppress it, and created, for a brief moment, a possible future where sexuality in film had a bold artistic potential. This film covers the story of the making of this controversial film, its stunning success, its hysterical opposition along with its dark side of mob influence and allegations of the on set mistreatment of the film's star.

Inside Deep Throat

6.4 2005