"They're the Sunshine Boys of smut!"
New York Times- At the Movies by Dave Kehr
| "Documenting Disrepute" David Friedman cheerfully describes himself as "an old reprobate." It's his right: at age 77, he has more than half a century of disreputable filmmaking behind him. As one of the leading producers and marketers of exploitation films, he ran the range of borderline genres, including the nudist camp movies of the early 60's ("Nature's Playmates"), the gore films of the late 60's ("Two Thousand Maniacs!") and prurient adaptations of public domain classics ("Trader Hornee," "The Erotic Adventures of Siegfried") with which the exploitation industry struggled unsuccessfully against the coming of hardcore pornography in the 1970's. Mr. Friedman, along with his friend and occasional partner, 84- year-old Dan Sonney, are the subjects of Ted Bonnitt's documentary "Mau Mau Sex Sex," which opens in Manhattan today at the Cinema Village. "It's not really an exposé of the business we were in; it's more of a character study," said Mr. Friedman, with a hint of disappointment. It's clear he would have preferred more clips, less chat. The film follows Mr. Friedman and Mr. Sonney as they return to some of their old haunts — skid row theaters and tiny studios — swapping outrageous stories as they go. They're the Sunshine Boys of smut. Still hale and hearty, Mr. Friedman has now returned to his first love, running a carnival in Alabama, not far from where he was born. It was the carny spirit that attracted him to exploitation films, he said: "I always had a fascination for the underbelly of show business." The lifting of censorship and the arrival of hardcore put an end to Mr. Friedman's fun. "As far as the younger people today are concerned, the stuff we did was a Sunday school show," he said. |
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