Vanessa (1977 film)

Last updated
Vanessa
Directed byHubert Frank
Written by Kurt Nachmann as Joos De Ridder
Produced by Karl Spiehs
Starring Olivia Pascal
Cinematography Franz Xaver Lederle
Edited byMimi Werkmann, Eva Zeyn
Music by Gerhard Heinz, Mathilde Basedow
Release date
  • March 10, 1977 (1977-03-10)
Running time
91 minutes
CountriesWest Germany (filmed in Austria, Hong Kong and Thailand)
LanguageGerman

Vanessa is a 1977 German softcore erotic melodrama film starring Olivia Pascal and directed by Hubert Frank. Vanessa was the first movie shown on The Playboy Channel. [1]

Contents

Plot

Vanessa Anden is a misfit student at a Bavarian convent. After the death of her uncle Richard, she travels to Hong Kong to assume ownership of her uncle's estate. When she arrives, Prinz Bandor, a taxi driver later revealed to be a magician, delivers her to Richard's palatial home. There, she meets Jackie, the niece of Richard's attorney and closest friend, Anthony Grüder. Jackie's sister Cle is married to the wealthy Major Kenneth Cooper. Cle engages in a series of open extramarital affairs in an attempt to get Kenneth to divorce her.

Vanessa learns she has inherited a chain of bordellos and a large citrus plantation, but the plantation administrator, Adrian, claims to be Richard's illegitimate son and has contested the will. Adrian invites Vanessa to the plantation to persuade her to give it to him. He then attempts to rape Vanessa, but Kenneth interrupts him. Adrian's servant Tai-Neh, who is in love with Adrian, becomes furiously jealous of Adrian's interest in Vanessa. Tai-Neh uses sympathetic magic to cause Vanessa agony and leave her sick in bed. Jackie, suspecting magic, enlists Prinz Bandor's aid. Bandor perceives Tai-Neh's magic is the source of Vanessa's pain and counters it.

The court rejects Adrian's challenge and awards the entire estate to Vanessa. Adrian tries to convince Vanessa he loves her, but Vanessa fires him. Vanessa decides to keep the plantation but has Anthony sell all the brothels, thus becoming very wealthy. Kenneth invites Vanessa to her home, drugs her and sexually assaults her. Jackie, Adrian and Cle arrive as he does so, and Adrian rescues Vanessa. Kenneth asks Cle to come back to him, but she refuses. Vanessa hires Adrian to run the plantation again and returns to Europe, leaving open the possibility of a future relationship.

Cast

Production

Director Hubert Frank was a last-minute replacement for the intended director, Siggi Götz. Frank shot the film from an incomplete screenplay, which he largely ignored in favor of improvising much of the movie. [2] Producer Karl Spiehs discovered Olivia Gerlitzki, a medical assistant, and cast her in the lead role as Olivia Pascal. [3]

Reception

On Sneak Previews , Gene Siskel made Vanessa his pick for "Dog of the Week", remarking that "Vanessa is more of a travelogue than a sex show, and what sex there is is tentative, nervous, and unerotic." [4]

Reviewing the film at DVDTalk, Gerry Putzer described "Vanessa" as "[h]ardly a good movie," but "nevertheless watchable" as an artifact of 1970s cinematic erotica. [5] The German film site Filmlexikon called "Vanessa" an "elaborately-arranged and photographed sex film, contentless and speculative." [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meg Ryan</span> American actress (born 1961)

Meg Ryan is an American actress. She began her acting career in 1981 when she made her acting debut in the drama film Rich and Famous. She later joined the cast of the CBS soap opera As the World Turns in 1982. Subsequently, she began to appear in supporting roles in films during the mid-1980s like box office hit Top Gun, achieving recognition in independent films such as Promised Land (1987) before her performance in the Rob Reiner-directed romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally... (1989) brought her widespread attention and her first Golden Globe nomination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olivia Newton-John</span> British and Australian singer and actress (1948–2022)

Dame Olivia Newton-John was a British and Australian singer and actress. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and two number-one albums on the Billboard 200: If You Love Me, Let Me Know (1974) and Have You Never Been Mellow (1975). Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michelle Yeoh</span> Malaysian actress (born 1962)

Michelle Yeoh Choo Kheng is a Malaysian actress. Credited as Michelle Khan in her early films in Hong Kong, she rose to fame in the 1990s after starring in a series of Hong Kong action films where she performed her own stunts, such as Yes, Madam (1985), Magnificent Warriors (1987), Police Story 3: Supercop (1992), The Heroic Trio (1993), and Holy Weapon (1993).

The year 1998 in film involved many significant films, including Shakespeare in Love, Saving Private Ryan, Armageddon, American History X, The Truman Show, Primary Colors, Rushmore, Rush Hour, There's Something About Mary, The Big Lebowski, and Terrence Malick's directorial return in The Thin Red Line. DreamWorks SKG released its first two animated films: Antz and The Prince of Egypt, the latter becoming the inaugural winner of the Critics' Choice Award for Best Animated Feature. The Pokémon theatrical film series started with Pokémon: The First Movie. Warner Bros. Pictures celebrated its 75th anniversary.

The following is an overview of events in 1980 in film, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies and festivals, a list of films released and notable deaths.

The year 1954 in film involved some significant events and memorable ones.

The year 1941 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Citizen Kane.

<i>Sorcerer</i> (film) 1977 American-Mexican co-production film by William Friedkin

Sorcerer is a 1977 American thriller film directed and produced by William Friedkin and starring Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal, and Amidou. The second adaptation of Georges Arnaud's 1950 French novel Le Salaire de la peur, it has been widely considered a remake of the 1953 film The Wages of Fear, although Friedkin disagreed with this assessment. The plot depicts four outcasts from varied backgrounds meeting in a South American village, where they are assigned to transport cargoes of aged, poorly kept dynamite that is so unstable that it is 'sweating' its dangerous basic ingredient, nitroglycerin.

<i>Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)</i> British television series (1969–1970)

Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) is a British private detective television series, starring Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope respectively as the private detectives Jeff Randall and Marty Hopkirk. The series was created by Dennis Spooner and produced by Monty Berman, and was first broadcast in 1969 and 1970. In the United States, it was given the title My Partner the Ghost.

Rachel York is an American actress and singer. She is known for stage roles in City of Angels, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Les Misérables, Victor/Victoria, Kiss Me, Kate, Sly Fox, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Anything Goes. She also has many film and television credits, including her portrayal of Lucille Ball in the CBS biographical film Lucy.

<i>Carry On Dick</i> 1974 British film

Carry On Dick is a 1974 British comedy film, the 26th release in the series of 31 Carry On films (1958–1992). The story is based on the Dick Turpin legend and features Turpin (James) as an antihero, attempting to evade capture by the authorities.

The Melbourne International Jazz Festival is an annual jazz music festival first held in Melbourne, Australia in 1998. The Festival takes place in concert halls, arts venues, jazz clubs and throughout the streets of Melbourne.

Rosalind (<i>As You Like It</i>) Character in As You Like It

Rosalind is the heroine and protagonist of the play As You Like It (1600) by William Shakespeare. In the play, she disguises herself as a male shepherd named Ganymede. Many actors have portrayed Rosalind, including Sarah Wayne Callies, Maggie Smith, Elizabeth Bergner, Vanessa Redgrave, Helena Bonham Carter, Helen Mirren, Patti LuPone, Helen McCrory, Bryce Dallas Howard, Adrian Lester and Arabella Dulcie.

<i>Feud</i> (TV series) American anthology television series

Feud is an American docudrama television series created by Ryan Murphy, Jaffe Cohen, and Michael Zam, which premiered on FX on March 5, 2017. Conceived as an anthology series, Feud's first season, Bette and Joan, chronicles the well-documented rivalry between Hollywood actresses Joan Crawford and Bette Davis during and after the production of their psychological horror thriller film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962). Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon star as Crawford and Davis, respectively. Judy Davis, Jackie Hoffman, Alfred Molina, Stanley Tucci, and Alison Wright feature in supporting roles. Academy Award–winning actresses Catherine Zeta-Jones and Kathy Bates also appear.

The 38th Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) took place from September 26 to October 11, 2019. The opening film was Atom Egoyan's Guest of Honour, and the closing film was Nicolas Bedos's La Belle Époque.

References

  1. ↑ "In Brief" (PDF). Broadcasting Magazine. January 25, 1982. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  2. ↑ Putzer, Gerry (27 August 2007). "Vanessa". DVD Talk. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  3. ↑ Schliesser, Roman (2006). Die Supernase: Karl Spiehs und seine Filme. Vienna: Wirtschaftsverlag Ueberreuter. p. 128. ISBN   978-3800072286.
  4. ↑ "Tron, The Secret of NIMH, The Devil's Playground, Gregory's Girl, 1982". Siskel & Ebert Movie Reviews. Retrieved 21 April 2023. Event occurs at 26:13-26:57.
  5. ↑ Putzer, Gerry (27 August 2007). "Vanessa". DVD Talk. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  6. ↑ "Vanessa". Filmlexikon. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.