Maraschino Cherry
| Maraschino Cherry | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Director: | Henry Paris |
| Producer: | Morton Berman |
| Writer: | John F. Goff |
| Editing: | Harvey Katz |
| Studio: | Video X Pix |
| Country: | United States |
| Released: | 1978 |
| Runtime: | 74 mins. |
| Series: | Not In Any Series |
| Watch Maraschino Cherry | |
Maraschino Cherry is an adult feature film that was made in 1978. Set in New York, it starred Gloria Leonard, Leslie Bovee, Annette Haven, Jenny Baxter, C.J. Laing, and Constance Money.
Plot Summary
Gloria Leonard plays Maraschino Cherry, a New York madam, who runs an upscale brothel. She begins her day by satisfying her husband (Wade Nichols), while two of her workers, assistant Leslie Bovee, and prostitute Clea Carson, get busy themselves - Bovee with a client, and Carson with the apartment concierge. When her naive sister (Jenny Baxter) arrives from Parpum Springs, Leonard initially attempts to hide the nature of her business, until they hit on the idea of opening a brothel there. Leonard agrees to train Baxter, who goes on to declare that she is gay when she is drunk, but on seeing Leonard's assistant (Bovee) enter the room, she declares she is also gay when she is sober, she immediately starts eating Bovee's pussy, to Leonard's amazement.
Leonard has a slave locked in the basement (Susan McBain), who is humiliated in some form on the hour. This sequence appears through the film, where she is whipped several times over, and suffers other humiliations.
Several sequences involving the prostitutes are shown - Constance Money appears as a prostitutes who meets her client while sailing a remote control boat in Central Park, and they go back to his apartment and watch a stag film, during which Money give him a hand job. Meanwhile, Bovee entertains a client (Eric Edwards) in a steamy encounter. Money later appears in a scene with Conchita Costello in drag, watching as Costello pleasures a Spanish bullfighter.
Leonard decides it is time for Baxter to begin her training, and she performs in an energetic threesome to get her started. Meanwhile, Leonard goes to a piano bar, where she meets temptress Annette Haven. She seduces Haven, eating her pussy as Haven lies on the piano, and the piano player joins the action. Leonard then takes the role of voyeur, and she watches the piano player finish off her new interest.
The final scene sees Leonard & Haven in the basement with C.J. Laing, where an S&M scene is set. As Baxter plays the voyeur, in lieu of completing her training as a madam, Haven whips Laing, and then lubes her ass with KY Jelly, and fucks her asshole with a dildo. At the time, Laing has her arms out, with her palms upturned, balancing a glass of scotch on each. Leonard reminds her that it is very expensive scotch, and of what they will do if she drops a glass.
The movie ends with Leonard farewelling Baxter, who she is leaving to run operations in New York while Leonard opens the new cathouse in Parpum Springs. While history appears to repeat itself, with Baxter left to pleasure Leonard's husband (as seen in the opening sequence), the film ends with the camera following Leonard's taxi, and dialogue indicating that Leonard is exposing herself in the back of the taxi and masturbating.
Strengths & Weaknesses
There is no doubt that Henry Paris' film is one of the more interesting undertakings of the 1970s. It is somewhat satirical in nature, and the sex scenes seem more intertwined into an attempt to make a mainstream film. It is indeed reserved for true fans of 1970s production values, rather than hardcore sex film fans. Indeed, reviews of this film are often somewhat negative, but contemporary fans of the retro 1970s style of stag films are not likely to be disappointed.
The production values are excellent, with scenes from the movie including a piano bar, and a short sequence filmed in Central Park. The storyline & editing sometimes make the plot a little hard to follow, and the film can hardly be considered "self-explanatory". Criticism has often been levelled at the editing, which sometimes made viewers frustrated at a series of brief inter-spliced scenes that were added, but appear interesting enough to warrant expansion.
The standout performance is undoubtedly that of Annette Haven. As usual, Haven does not disappoint, and she lights up the screen with her portrayal of Maraschino Cherry's lesbian love interest, with a penchant for the nasty. The tryst between Haven, Leonard, and the piano player is one of the movie's better scenes. The final climax where Haven shows her nasty side towards C.J. Laing, using a vibrator in Laing's ass while Leonard makes threats of what they will do if Laing drops the glasses of scotch she is balancing on her palms stands as easily the most memorable of the films sequences.
Baxter & Bovee also provide livewire performances, particularly in the early sequences, where the film seems to otherwise suffer some neglect. It is disappointing that Paris did not capitalize on the scene where Baxter declares she is gay to Leonard, and immediately begins to eat Bovee's pussy on the spot. Baxter's willingness is not exploited, and after a relatively brief period, the sequence ends. However, Bovee atones for this with her wild scene with Eric Edwards, and the later threesome involving Baxter and two guys is also of note.
Sadly, several of the players were not utilized enough - particularly the perennially underrated actress Clea Carson, who briefly appears in a scene giving the concierge a blowjob, and a disappointinly brief lesbian scene with Bovee. English actress Crystal Sync disappointingly appears in a non-sexual role, and Constance Money offers nothing more than a handjob.
Cast
Scenes
Scene #1: Gloria Leonard / Wade Nichols
Scene #2: Clea Carson / David Savage (Oral)
Scene #3: Leslie Bovee /
Scene #4: Leslie Bovee / Jenny Baxter
Scene #5: Constance Money / Lance Night
Scene #6: Leslie Bovee / Michael Gaunt
Scene #7: Leslie Bovee / Eric Edwards
Scene #8: Jenny Baxter / Spalding Gray / Rocky Millstone
Scene #9: Annette Haven / Gloria Leonard / Alan Marlow
Scene #10: Annette Haven / C.J. Laing / Gloria Leonard / Jenny Baxter (non-sex)
Media
Historically, Maraschino Cherry was released on the old 8mm format, and was also available on VHS & Beta video formats.
Since the advent of the digital age, Video-X-Pix offered Maraschino Cherry as a DVD release, however, the release has since been discontinued. Aside from the discontinued DVD release, it is offered on some adult websites as a Video-On-Demand, and may otherwise be available as a torrent.
