The Ultimate Take-Off


The owner of a financially foundering skin-flick production company decides that the only way to save it is to put on a Busby Berkeley-esque pornographic musical -- sort of a Broadway meets Times Square affair. Ribald humor, bawdy songs and plenty of skin abounds in this sophomoric satire that while unabashedly trashy, has developed a bit of a cult following. Songs include: "The First Nudie Musical," "The Lights and the Smiles," "Lesbian Butch Dyke," "Five Dancing Dildos," "Perversion," "Honey, What Ya Doin' Tonight," "I Don't Have to Hide Anymore," "Where Is a Man."

The movie is a comedy starring Cindy Williams and Stephen Nathan. Nathan plays Harry Schechter, heir to a Hollywood studio forced to make a musical comedy porno in order to stave off bankruptcy. The movie features a series of farcical lewd musical numbers in the style of classical Hollywood musical comedies including: "Orgasm", "Lesbian Butch Dyke", and "Dancing Dildos." The movie has low-budget feel, with a "musical-within-a-movie" theme in the tradition of Singin' in the Rain but with satirical sexual humor. An early staple of Cinemax, it has become a cult classic since its initial release and was released on DVD in 2001. It was one of several farcical musical-comedy collaborations between Kimmel (who also co-starred in the movie) and Williams, along with The Creature Wasn't Nice in 1981. Originally distributed by Paramount Pictures in 1976, it was picked up by World-Northal in 1977 and re-released to great acclaim, first in New York, where it opened the same week as New York, New York and got much better reviews, played for three months exclusively at the 68th Street Playhouse, and then went into wider distribution - the week it went wide it was the fourth highest grossing picture in the United States.
The film is featured in Danny Peary's Cult Movies II book and also in Peary's Guide For The Film Fanatic. The film has recently been digitally restored for Blu-ray and will be coming out at the end of 2011. There is also a stage adaptation in the works.

Release Date: July 24, 1977 @ The 68th Street Playhouse

Distrib: World Northal