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CHATSWORTH, Calif. - Last December, we reviewed
a DVD of Gerard Damiano's The Story of Joanna from Alpha Blue
Archives, and though the release was advertised as the "original, uncut"
version, we quickly realized that it wasn't: Missing scenes,
out-of-order scenes and major scratches and emulsion defects throughout
the movie forced us to give the disk a low rating.
But now, Bob Augustus, recently separated from VCX and having opened
up his own company, TVX Films, is about to bring out his own version of
this hardcore bondage classic, and it promises to be a significant
improvement.
"I have an excellent copy; as good as you're
going to get it," Augustus told AVN.com. "This is not missing anything.
On a scale of from 1 to 10, ours is about 50 times better than the other
guy's, and I'm thrilled with it. I've spent so much time cleaning this
thing up – you just can't imagine the time we've put into this film."
For those who aren't familiar with the 1975
film, it stars Terri Hall as a young socialite who falls for the
charismatic but reclusive fetishist Jamie Gillis (who, incidentally,
celebrates his 62nd birthday today). In an effort to please Gillis and
secure his love, Hall submits to his every whim, including becoming a
scantily-dressed maid at his party, where a multitude of guests finger
her pussy as she serves them drinks, and being fucked by several of
Gillis' friends and by both of his servants, Juliet Graham and Zebedy
Colt. The film is more interested in the bondage than the sex, but it's
an extremely well-told story from an acknowledged master of the art.
"People are ordering like hotcakes right now,"
Augustus said of Joanna.
"The problem we have is establishing copyright
on these old films," he adds. "I wish I could protect the copyright on
this son of a bitch, but I can't. But we've got the DVD portion
copyrighted. None of us ever believed these pictures would have the
value they have today except Joe Steinman. He actually said to me, 'One
day, Bob, these films are going to be worth a fortune' – and now, all of
a sudden they are. But you've got to have the money to fix them up, and
that gets expensive, and sometimes, they just aren't worth it."
Augustus, who's about to move his company back
to his home state of Texas, owns approximately 80 classic movies from
porn's early days, but sadly, the color has faded on many of them, and
Augustus estimates that it would cost about $35,000 a piece to restore
most of them, which he thinks would not be cost-effective.
The Story of Joanna, which ships on DVD
next week, can be ordered from TVX's Website, www.tvxfilms.com.
The Story of Joanna - AAAA 1/2
Reviewed by Jared Rutter / AVN
Gerard Damiano's 1975 art-porn masterpiece is often called a "bondage
classic,"
but it's really an over the top Gothic romance. There's only one BDSM
scene and
not a very hard one, and the sex (even the well-lubricated anal) is more
sensual
than hardcore. Cold, controlling millionaire Jason (Jamie Gilllis) bends
an innocent
girl to his kinky will. More painful than the debasement is her deep
unrequited
love for him. Terri Hall, with her great limpid dark eyes, perfectly
conveys Joanna's
vulnerability. This TVX DVD is said to be complete by those who saw the
original,
and the film quality is excellent, with very few scratches and fairly
rich color.
Pre-nom: Best Classic DVD.
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