Shame, Shame, Everybody Knows Her Name (1969) The Third Sex Noir

There are a very few real Transitional Noir gems lost among the Sexploitation Roughies. This is one of them.

"FILM NOIR HAD AN INEVITABLE TRAJECTORY…
THE ECCENTRIC & OFTEN GUTSY STYLE OF FILM NOIR HAD NO WHERE ELSE TO GO… BUT TO REACH FOR EVEN MORE OFF-BEAT, DEVIANT– ENDLESSLY RISKY & TABOO ORIENTED SET OF NARRATIVES FOUND IN THE SUBVERSIVE AND EXPLOITATIVE CULT FILMS OF THE MID TO LATE 50s through the 60s and into the early 70s!" The Last Drive In (thelastdrivein.com)

Who knows how many others are forgotten, sitting on dusty film storage shelves, or completely lost from neglect, destroyed, or dumped into landfills.

Here we have a beautifully filmed, Black & White, visually stylistic Film Noir. It's also a time capsule for Greenwich Village circa 1969. It's been unfairly lumped in with "Sexploitation" since it exploits the new found freedom to exploit sex. But here's the rub, it's quite tastefully done, it's not the in your face "hey, look what we can show on film now" overindulgence that tended to overwhelm then contemporary filmmakers selling grindhouse product.

Its subject matter, and sort of (tongue in cheek) in honor of "Women's History Month," is right out of the paperback book racks of Woolworth's, other five and dimes, railroad station and bus terminal kiosks, corner candy stores and newsstands. In the 1950s and 60s the public was buying juvenile delinquent, drug addict, beatnik, slut, and sexual deviate stories that dealt with the dark, gritty, sleazy side of life. Think of the general content of all of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer detective stories. A lesbian fiction genre also began to appear on the racks about 1950 appealing, probably more to men's titillation fantasies than to actual lesbians. (see small selection of titles below)

   

 

The sexy women on the covers definitely appealed to the male gaze and libido. In the 50s and 60s lesbianism was thought of as unnatural. Lesbians were called the "third sex." It's been said that by writing stories that depicted lesbians as deviants authors could get published and the tales sold as adult material. If the stories had depicted lesbians as natural the books would have been deemed obscene. Lesbian stories didn't lose popularity until 1959 with 1962 being the last hurrah.

Some say this "walk on the wild side" in publishing was a reaction to the repressed straight laced Joe McCarthy/J. Edgar Hoover years. Sex with all it's bizarre kinks was a big taboo, and these paperback novels and the Sexploitation films that followed the demise of the Motion Picture Production Code and the relaxation of the obscenity laws was a predictable release.

Mainstream films like Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940), alluded to lesbianism, but the two characters involved were not any kind of role models. It's been said All About Eve (1950) was originally written with Eve as a lesbian. Supposedly those with a fine tuned "gaydar" will pick up on it. It's pretty apparent in Young Man with a Horn (1950) that Lauren Bacall's character Amy is a lesbian.  The Children's Hour (1961) also from the reaction of the community depicted lesbians as being deviant. No positive portrayals of lesbians appeared til the 1990s.

The paperback/pulp fiction portrayals of lesbians sort of dovetailed conveniently into Sexploitation from the mere fact that in the late 60s the ever changing obscenity laws for a short period of time allowed only full frontal female nudity. This niche gave Sexploiters the green light to produce a lot of films depicting lesbianism. This is why the films depicting heterosexual relationships were a bit unrealistic, always having the men still wearing pants or tighty whities, while the woman were completely nude. The lesbian relationships angle provided the excuse for two or more totally naked woman and the ability to simulate more realistic portrayals of lovemaking. So obscenity laws were a catalyst for depicting just the type of "so called" deviant behavior and moral decay the Legion of Decency was railing against. What a twist. How bizarre noir is that?

Shame, Shame, everybody knows her name is an excellent one-off directed by Joseph Jacoby who also had a career writing and producing. His last credit was for TV Documentary A Case of Mistaken Identity? (2008). The film was written by William Dorsey Blake, from a story by William Dorsey Blake and Joseph Jacoby. The excellent cinematography was by Stephen R. Winsten with additional sequences shot by Paul Goldsmith, and Film Editing by Kemper Peacock. The music from George Craig's Music Department.

Starring Karen Carlson (Centennial (1978) and The Octagon (1980)) as Susan Barton, Getti Miller as Diane Rogers,  Augustus Sultatos as Vic Keller, Tony Seville as Tony Martinelli, Rita Bennett (All That Jazz (1979), Raging Bull (1980)) as a Go-Go Dancer,  Dennis Johnson as Roy Davenport, Tyrus Chesney as Gen. Motley, John Harrison as George Michaels, Vic Vallaro as Jim Norton, Karil Daniels as Carol Taggart, John Cardoza as the Photographer, Stuart Coffee as Marvin Witherspoon.

You can look at this as sort of a warped bizarro version of Mary Tyler Moore TV Series (1970–1977)

"Who can turn the world on with her smile?

Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?.....

Manhattan. The Village, late sixties. It's raining. A brownstone block. Susan Barton from Ohio. She's a mod chick in white gogo boots. Wearing a short white trench coat. Holding a two tone umbrella in one hand her bag hanging from her shoulder under one arm and holding a newspaper in her other. She looks fab. She is searching for an address. She runs up a stoop, but it's the wrong number. 312 is across the street.

As the woman reaches the door she is met by Diane Rogers the woman who placed the ad for the roommate. It's a cute meet. They introduce themselves and go into the brownstone.

Diane Rogers (Getti Miller) and  Susan Barton (Karen Carlson )

Cut to a GoGo bar The Village Purple Onion. A blond is dancing in a cage. She finishes her set. She leaves the cage.

GoGo Dancer Susan

"Well it's you girl, and you should know it

With each glance and every little movement you show it"

Another girl, a brunette, takes her place. She heads downstairs to the basement dressing room. There she meets a geeky looking nerd wearing tinted glasses.

He was waiting for her. He gives her a Dating Service business card. He tells her ....

Vic: Here's my card, perhaps you'll remember.
Susan [reading card then flicks it away]: Dating service. Look mister what do you want?
Vic: Let's start from the beginning. I'm Vic Keller. There was this phone call and the voice said....

Cut to a brunette topless dancer....

Topless GoGo Dancer (Rita Bennett )

Cut to Vic at a payphone he's telling the person at the other end the "yes she is quite a girl, now let's see what happens." .... Back to the brunette.

"yes she is quite a girl....."

Susan is now dressed in street clothes and sitting at the bar at the Purple Onion. Tony Martinelli the club owner approaches her and asks if she wants him to walk her home. Susan tells him that Diane is coming to get her.

Diane 

Susan and Diane walk towards their home. At Washington Square Park Susan tells Diane about Vic Keller and the "dating service." She tells Diane that he left her an application. Diane tells her she should fill it out, Susan replies that she guesses ten dollars isn't that much. Later that night she's filling out her application and reading the questions to Diane.

A few days later. Cut to Vic at his Dating Service. Though his "service" is in reality an Escort Service. He receives Susan's application. He immediately calls Roy Davenport and gives him Susan's number. Ray calls Susan and makes a date to meet at 7:30 at the Dogwood Room.

"Love is all around, no need to waste it

You can never tell, why don't you take it"

As soon as Roy is off the phone to Susan he calls Gen. Motley and tell him to meet him and Susan at the Dogwood Room. There Roy and Susan make small talk, Susan telling him that she studied dancing in Ohio.

Roy Davenport (Dennis Johnson) 

When Gen Motley arrives Roy introduces him as the owner of five TV stations. They chat for a while, then he leaves. Cut to Roy's apartment. Roy wants to put the moves on Susan, she's a bit reluctant at first, but it's the 60's free love was in the air and a lot of booze doesn't hurt.

"How will you make it on your own?"

They make love but a twist comes when the General enters Roy's apartment as prearranged and expertly switches places with Roy as he performs oral while Susan is obviously in the sweet throes of Eros and quite distracted. (These degenerates have obviously pulled this off before)

Gen. Motley (Tyrus Chesney) 

Susan finally sees what happened and freaks out. While Susan is crying on the bed the General pays Roy some cash. Roy throws Susan's clothes on the bed and tells her to get out. Nice guy.

The payoff.....

Back at the apartment Diane asks Susan what happened. Susan spills. Diane tells her the next date will be better, how can it not be?

Keller at his office screens a clip of Susan dancing for another client George Michaels. Keller sets up date number two for Susan.

Screening Susan dancing at the Onion

She gets another call while she's sitting at the Onion back bar with her boss Tony Martinelli (Tony Seville) having a drink after work. It's from another prospect from the dating service.

Tony Martinelli (Tony Seville)

She tells him she's not interested. Michaels the caller, however is just outside the Onion, when he hangs up the payphone he walks into the bar.

He see's Susan and chats her up, asks her to dinner. Susan calls Diane to tell her she won't be back at the usual time. Back at the apartment Diane tells her over the phone that she has a date too, when she hangs up we see a woman named Sarah taking her stockings off. The plot thickens.

Diane's Date is her former now married roommate Sara

Cut back to Susan a few hours later she is a bit tipsy and back at George's apartment. They begin to get busy with it, but when half undressed, Susan wants another drink, George uses the break to make a phone call.

Calling a peeping tom

They start making love, we cut to the dark fire escape. We cut to a high angle of the bed. Then back to the fire escape. Here again instead of the usual cheap looking sexploitation crap were get multiple cuts of nicely compositioned shots through a window security gate, which effectively blocks out some of the action inside. This took a lot of setups and a lot of film.

What the fuck?????

When Susan notices the peeping tom photographer she screams and George starts laughing. Susan freaks out.

"This world is awfully big, girl this time you're all alone"

The next day in Riverside Park she tells Diane the details. Susan asks why? Diane tells her that that's the way some people get their kicks. Diane tells her they'll probably show the clips, "blue movies" she calls them, at a stag party. Susan says she's got to destroy them but she doesn't know where the guy works, some advertising agency.

Diane changes gears and asks Susan if she's had enough of men the way they treat her. Diane splits leaving Susan in the park.

"you for me"

Cut to Diane walking into Keller's office. Surprise, surprise. Diane is a manipulator. She's been pulling this string all along. She tells Keller you work for me, get the film from last night. Keller tells her that he's not responsible for the bizarre tastes of my clients.

Diane wants him to arrange a double date with Susan and herself. Jim Norton an antiques dealer on the ground floor of the same building that houses Vic Keller's Dating Service is Diane's date. Jim and Diane pick up Susan outside the Onion. They head to a swinging party at an apartment owned by Marvin Witherspoon who is to be Diane's date. Witherspoon lives on swanky Sutton Place.

Diane and Jim Norton (Vic Vallaro)

 

Susan with Jim Norton

It all goes Noirsville. As soon as they get to the party Norton cuts Susan out of the herd behind Diane's back, and splits with her downtown to his antique shop. Diane calls Keller and asks what the hell happened. Keller tells her that Norton is dangerous and that they better find him before something happens.

At the antique shop Norton tricks Susan into putting on some vintage handcuffs then he chloroforms her. When she wakes up he has her tied up in a chair to have his way with her.

Noirsville

"Shot in grimy black & white, Shame, Shame, Everybody Knows Her Name should be required viewing for anyone who’s ever thought that registering with a dating agency might be a good idea" (John Harrison, The Graveyard Tramp - Something Weird Video)

This was not a cheap throwaway production. From the quality of the acting, from the number of real NYC locations used, and multiple camera setups using various camera angles you can see there was, comparatively to most cheap Sexploitation, a lot of thought, talent, and artistry involved in Shame, Shame, everybody knows her name. Screencaps are from Something Weird Video. This could use a real restoration. 8/10.

addendum

The Village Purple Onion location used in the film was a real gogo bar located at 135 W. Third Street, in Greenwich Village. (see below)