Ed Wood Wednesdays, week 244: The Erotic World of A.C. Stephen (1999) [PART 2]

Steve Apostolof looks over a script, probably an erotic one.

So where were we?

Two weeks ago, I started discussing Something Weird Video's The Erotic World of A.C. Stephen (1999), a compilation of clips from the films of softcore director and frequent Ed Wood collaborator Stephen C. Apostolof (1928-2005). Reader Brendon Sibley sent me a copy of this rare tape, and I was happily making my way through its contents. When we left off, I was talking about Bachelor's Dream (1967), a very obscure short film that began life as some black-and-white test footage that was shot for Orgy of the Dead (1965).

But that was just the opening act! The Erotic World has so much more to offer. After Bachelor's Dream ends, we see some trailers for Steve's non-Ed Wood films: Office Love-In (1968), Motel Confidential (1969), Suburbia Confidential (1966), and College Girls (1968). These were nudity-filled, black-and-white exploitation flicks from Steve's "confidential" phase, when he was busy exposing the seamy side of average, everyday American life. Several of these films featuring Steve's most-frequent leading man, Harvey Shain (aka Forman Shane), and his most-frequent leading lady, Marsha Jordan. 

These "confidential" trailers follow a very strict formula. This was the (ahem) hard-sell era of motion picture marketing, back when movies were relentlessly hawked like used cars. In these previews, we see lots of topless shots (no pubic areas, please) and simulated sex scenes while a loud, deep-voiced male announcer makes promises the movies themselves usually can't keep. A few favorites:

• See an innocent invitation turn into a passionate, sex-filled love-in! 

• See a lesbian seduce an unsuspecting secretary before your very own eyes!

• A love nest of sex-hungry women and their passionate lovers! A wild, illicit adventure in uncontrollable lust! A quickie trip from the exotic to the erotic!

• See the bride's honeymoon night! Does a marriage license give license to rape?

• No one can escape the shocking facts of what happened yesterday, is happening tonight, and will happen again tomorrow!

• See the perverted fetishist in his unbelievable preliminary actions that are an absolute necessity for him to perform before he can consummate his acts of love!

Even though these films were made during the time Steve Apostolof and Ed Wood were on the outs, you can still see the influence Eddie had on Steve. Office Love-In, for instance, features a scene in which actor Michael DiRosa tries on ladies' lingerie while Lynn Harris deep-throats a banana nearby. (This counts as a date between them.) Motel Confidential and Suburbia Confidential also contain cross-dressing scenes. Sample dialogue from the former: "Oh no! A fag in drag!" Keep in mind, Steve Apostolof claimed not to know what transvestism was before he met Eddie.

A cross-dressing moment from Steve Apostolof's Motel Confidential.

Take note, Ed Wood fans! The trailer for Suburbia Confidential informs us that the film is "directed and produced by A.C. Stephen, who gave you Orgy of the Living Dead." Amusingly, the announcer pronounces "orgy" with a hard g, as in Porgy & Bess. What's especially interesting about the Suburbia Confidential trailer, at least to Apostolof completists, is that it includes some clips of the oft-deleted "Korean war bride" sequence featuring Gary Kent and Lolita Williams. This footage is missing from most copies of the film, including mine!

After that is a bit of footage I was most surprised to see, namely because I had no idea it even existed: a trailer for Bachelor's Dream. Steve Apostolof somewhat dishonestly marketed Bachelor's Dream as a feature, rather than a short, so it makes sense that it should get its own hyperbolic promo. Again, we see lots of topless girls jiggling their wares while a stentorian narrator says things like, "Who but a shameless bachelor dares to conjure up such dreams as a lovely nymph in the bathtub?" (You got me, pal.) Steve Apostolof had a formula in those days: yelling and boobs. If it ain't broke...

Marsha Jordan to the rescue.

This is followed by a trailer for Lady Godiva Rides (1967), starring Marsha Jordan as the title character and Harvey Shane as Tom Jones (the literary character, not the singer). Even though Ed Wood had no hand in the making of this film, it's one of the Apostolof titles I would recommend to newbies due to its relatively high production values and comparatively imaginative plot. To emphasize the splendor of this "colossal major Hollywood production" (the announcer's words), we actually get some behind-the-scenes footage, showing us that this movie used lights, sets, models, and even a crane to tell its sprawling story! 

Something Weird Video then saw fit to include a few extra minutes of Lady Godiva footage. We get a love scene between Marsha and Henry, some expository dialogue by two supporting characters, and little scraps of silent footage interspersed with film leaders. The Erotic World of A.C. Stephen has no narrator or captions of its own, so this footage is not identified in any way. It seems to be an Apostolof outtake reel that somehow survived into the '90s and wound up in this compilation.

We then move on to the trailer for another full-color production starring Marsha Jordan: The Divorcee (1969). Sleazy though it is, this is actually one of Steve's prouder achievements as a director, due largely to the performance of its leading lady. The Divorcee tells the story of a woman named Betty (Jordan) who splits from her philandering husband (Marlon Proctor), only to find that the life of a divorced lady is not the paradise she'd been promised but rather a nightmare of depravity, degradation, and meaningless sex. The announcer promises viewers "90 minutes of passionate ooh-rotica!"

Ed Wood fans may be getting a little restless at this point, but their patience is about to be rewarded. The next trailer, Drop Out Wife (1972), is from one of the films Eddie wrote for Steve, and the trailer is narrated by Eddie himself! Since I'm guessing Wood wrote his own ad copy as well, I've decided to transcribe the whole thing:

What happens to the passion and romance when two young lovers go into today's kind of marriage? From the raptures of sexual ecstasy anywhere at any time! Can a jaded young husband and wife find it again through a swap party, taking on all comers, even the caresses of a luscious lesbian? Even that doesn't solve the boredom from Peggy or Jim, and after a showdown... See Drop Out Wife, coming next at this theater!

Eddie's sobriety was dubious at this time, and he does struggle with a few words, like "ecstasy" and "husband." But it's just good hearing his voice again. Nice work, Mr. Wood. Treat yourself to an extra bottle today. Meanwhile, it's worth mentioning that censorship standards had relaxed by 1972. The sex scenes in Apostolof's films were always simulated, and that didn't change in the 1970s, but Drop Out Wife is bolder than the movies he shot in the 1960s. This trailer is even daring enough to show a flaccid penis.

And I think we'll leave it there for now, as this article has started to become something of an epic in its own right. Don't worry. There's more to talk about in The Erotic World of A.C. Stephen, but it'll have to wait for Part 3.