CENTERFOLD FEVER demonstrates one-time director Richard Milner's (not Mailer) capacity for wrangling considerable crowds without losing his way, always a nightmare when shooting an orgy scene, of which this movie contains several. Giving credit where it's due, he received considerable aid from a pair of seasoned professionals he "borrowed" from Chuck Vincent : already esteemed director of photography Larry Revene, porn's best ever, and James Macreading on editing. Their combined efforts preclude the need for a road map to keep audiences clued in as to who's doing what to whom at any given moment ! A particularly pleasant title song ("Beautiful Forever" by Miss November and the Calendar Girls) sets the tone as credits appear over a montage of actual photo shoots the film's female stars did for men's magazines. Editor of fictitious Female Skin, the aptly named B. Scuzzi (Bob Bolla, doing his best kid in a candy store impression) has tired of the conventional route for casting each month's centerfold, so he advertises for a female investigative reporter instead. He figures that the applicant's willingness to go that extra mile to get the inside scoop will prove her mettle as model material.
Dim but devoted Kandi Barbour gets the assignment to go interview Marc Stevens, the notorious "Mr. 10 and a half" who's rumored to be coming out of retirement. The quips fly fast and furious as accompanying magazine photographer Maniac (motormouth Ron Jeremy) notices Marc lives at number 10 and a half and the Legend himself (mostly in his own mind, with Stevens in on the joke and gamely playing along) launching into a self-aggrandizing soliloquy that leaves the airhead reporter gasping for air. Trying to get a rise out of her subject, Kandi's best efforts are rudely interrupted by his jealous live-in girlfriend, post-op transsexual Jill Munro, who sadly died the following year. Retiring from the drama taking place inside, the Maniac lures abused domestic Heather ("introducing" Tiffany Clark in her first real lead following bits in Damiano's SATISFIERS OF ALPHA BLUE and Joe Sherman's PLATO'S : THE MOVIE) out onto the balcony with the Empire State as a breathtaking backdrop !
Having sexually slaved for Stevens for "10 and a half months", Heather figures it's time for a career change with the Maniac introducing her to the salivating Scuzzi who wants her to probe this month's centerfold Lisa Be in a luscious liaison that's among the film's heated highlights. Yep, Heather's a shoo-in. Not to be outdone, the ebullient Suzanne (an extremely energetic Samantha Fox) brutally charges into Scuzzi's office to demand her own shot at skin-baring stardom. Finding him in the midst of "dictation" with his loyal secretary (demure strawberry blonde Jahn Gold, visible in group stuff in Sarno's INSIDE SEKA), she immediately dives in for a dueling knob job, prefiguring a certain Oval Office oral by proclaiming Bolla's prick "presidential material" and advising Gold on "giving head to get ahead" !
This comfortable mix of chuckles and chubs has to clear the way for the gargantuan group sequence that takes up second half with Suzanne's undercover expedition inside a porn theater where there's more action in the seats than on the screen, followed by rival publication (?) Stag magazine's launch party for Heather perpetuating until the end. As mentioned, Milner adroitly divides the global action into distinctive miniature vignettes that are elegantly drawn together as they are all taking place in a single location. Susaye London's obsession with big breasts inspires an ever expanding all girl mini orgy inside a larger orgy as bountiful beauties Susan Nero, Lisa Be and the late Kathy Harcourt generously offer their bosoms for the toothsome cutie's sustained probing and fondling.
Veri Knotty pulls her familiar party trick as part of a mild domination set piece with one shot slave Sharon, followed by a return engagement from Stevens and Munro tripping the light fantastic to that sub-Donna Summer disco ditty (breathless female vocalist cooing "I like it, I like it a lot" ad infinitum) that has adorned many an adult soundtrack. Overnight sensation Heather presents her latest paramour, identified solely as a rock star (Marc Valentine), quickly pounced upon by a particularly peroxided Robin Sane. Left in the lurch, Tiffany's tenderly consoled by elderly Jake Teague whose succulent spouse (portrayed by Our Lady of Orgasms herself, the inimitable Annie Sprinkle) gets it at both ends from Joey Silvera and Bobby Astyr. Marking perhaps its debut, Annie's playful bosom ballet (later to become a staple ingredient of the stage performances she would tour half the world with) closes a mighty active sex section on a curiously innocent if far from inappropriate note. Cast as something of a swinger supreme, she gets the movie's last laugh when responding to the Maniac's offer of centerfold celebrity with a mock shocked : "What if my mother found out !"
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