The Opening of Misty Beethoven

The Opening of Misty Beethoven
The Opening of Misty Beethoven movie poster
Directed by	Radley Metzger (as Henry Paris)
Produced by	Radley Metzger
Written by	Jake Barns
Starring	Constance Money Jamie Gillis Jacqueline Beudant Gloria Leonard Terri Hall
Music by	George Craig Gioacchino Rossini
Cinematography	Robert Rochester
Editing by	Bonnie Karrin
Distributed by	Catalyst Productions Joy Bear Pictures VCA Pictures[4]
Release date(s)	March, 1976
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Opening of Misty Beethoven is an American hardcore pornography film released in 1976. Produced with a relatively high budget and filmed on elaborate locations in Paris (France), New York City (U.S.A.), and Rome (Italy), with a musical score, it owes much to its fastidious director Radley Metzger (directing this film as Henry Paris).

Premise

In a pornographic take-off of Shaw's play Pygmalion, the film is about a sexologist who tries transforming a prostitute into a goddess of passion. While he tries to prepare her to seduce a homosexual artist, it is he for whom she develops feelings. In this film, Henry Higgins (of Pygmalion) is replaced by Dr. Seymour Love, the sexologist, played by Jamie Gillis. Eliza Doolittle (of Pygmalion) becomes Dolores 'Misty' Beethoven, who is played by Constance Money, and Colonel Pickering becomes Geraldine Rich, played by Jacqueline Beudant. During the film, Beethoven achieves 'elevation' better than Love and Rich had hoped but then cuts them off, as in George Bernard Shaw's play. However, this film then follows the common divergence from Shaw's plot when she returns to Love at the end.

Ending

In a variance of the usual ending, in this version of the story, Misty returns in a much different capacity. In the ending, Misty takes over for Dr. Love, and is running the "school". Dr. Love is present, but in a very subservient position. It is clearly Misty that is in charge by this time.

Critique

In an era in which pornography was just beginning to be widely released, most movies of that time were expected to have at least minimal plots. Misty's plot was more elaborate than most; it was based directly on George Bernard Shaw's play, Pygmalion, as well as the Broadway and Hollywood success My Fair Lady. The film is also satirical, with many added comic touches and dialog designed for laughs.

The Opening of Misty Beethoven has the distinction of being the first widely-released porn movie to feature female-on-male pegging.

Awards

Awards of the Adult Film Association of America:

• Best Actor (Jamie Gillis)
• Best Director (Henry Paris, aka Radley Metzger)
• Best Film

AVN Award:

• 2002: 'Best Classic DVD'
• The film was one of the first to be inducted into the XRCO Hall of Fame.

Remake

In 2004, Misty Beethoven: The Musical, a musical remake, was released. It featured Sunset Thomas, Randy Spears, Julie Meadows, Asia Carrera, Chloe, Dave Cummings, Mike Horner, Evan Stone, and Tyce Bune. It was directed by Veronica Hart. The film won the 2004 XRCO Award for 'Best Comedy or Parody', and the 2005 AVN Award for 'Best Sex Comedy'.

References

• Peter Lehman, "Pornography: film and culture", Rutgers depth of field series, Rutgers University Press, 2006, ISBN 0813538718
• Linda Williams, Hard core: power, pleasure, and the "frenzy of the visible", University of California Press, 1999, ISBN 0520219430
• Kevin Heffernan, "A social poetics of pornography", Quarterly Review of Film and Video, Volume 15, Issue 3, December 1994, pp. 77-83. doi:10.1080/10509209409361441

External links

• The Opening of Misty Beethoven at the Internet Movie Database
• A review with some photos
• 10K Bullets review
• The Opening of Misty Beethoven at the Adult Film Database