INSERTS (1975)

Title: INSERTS

Year of Release: 1975

Director: John Byrum

Genre: Drama

Synopsis: A once-famous Hollywood silent director now makes pornographic movies in his mansion.

Within a film history context: Movies about the pornographic film industry were not common before 1975. There were several examples of these which were largely exploitation films, with unknown casts. INSERTS was the first which was produced for a Hollywood studio, with well-known actors, and first-time director. Ed Wood's THE SINISTER URGE (1960), was one of the first to look at the industry. It explored a pornographic mob-run movie business, and how the models in these are found murdered, highlighting the police search for the killer of these young women. IS THERE SEX AFTER DEATH? (1971), directed by Alan Abel and Jeanne Abel, contained a small scene of a pornographic movie being made, but it was simulated for the camera in this comedy-mockumentary about sex in its various forms. 

Alain Patrick's BLUE MONEY (1972), concerned itself with a Los Angeles director of pornographic movies. Married and with a child, he dallies with an actress, but his life unravels not only on the domestic front but also, as the police are on his tail due to his filmmaking occupation. SUGAR COOKIES (1973), directed by Theodore Gershuny, had an insidious pornographic filmmaker who murders his star on camera, but tries to pass this off as suicide, with the dead woman's lesbian lover seeking revenge. INSERTS was a movie which was consumed with the making of a pornographic film by its director, in comparison to the other entries.

INSERTS had the most in common with those pictures about a pornographic film director and the making of his movie, with both BLUE MONEY and SUGAR COOKIES standing out. In these pictures, there is a male director of pornographic films in the forefront, and the viewer becomes intimately acquainted with them, and their lives. BLUE MONEY and SUGAR COOKIES both have a 1970s setting, which made them contemporary. The movies were both positioned in 1970s territory, when there was an upsurge in pornographic filmmaking at the time. INSERTS differed as it was set in the early 1930s, when the director in that film, boy Wonder, had great difficulty in adapting to sound, making silent porn movies to survive. Aside from this, Boy Wonder in INSERTS was painted as a former auteur of sorts, whose previous success overshadowed his current persona. Neither of the directors in BLUE MONEY and SUGAR COOKIES could be seen in the same vein, just working in porn. This is where INSERTS diverted from these films, where a famed Hollywood director now made hardcore pornographic pictures. 

In terms of the psychological makeup of the respective porn director, Boy Wonder in INSERTS was closer to the director in BLUE MONEY than SUGAR COOKIES. While Boy Wonder did exhibit off-the-wall thoughts and actions, suggesting something akin to necrophilia at one point, he was not a psychopath as the director in SUGAR COOKIES. He was seen as a man down on the count trying to reignite his lost fame through shooting pornographic movies. This was a thoroughly different interpretation than that of the director in BLUE MONEY, who was being pursued by the authorities due to his filmmaking. The private life of the director was something the three films also tackled in vastly opposing ways. Jim in BLUE MONEY had a wife and child, and strayed with another woman. His situations was more of a domestic persuasion than that of Boy Wonder in INSERTS. One is given little access to Boy Wonder's private life in the picture, aside from the fact that he and Cathy Cake do sleep together. There is more of a concentration on Boy Wonder's efforts to make his porn film than peering deeply into his personal life. An in-depth look at a pornographic film director, this portrait is one of the best aspects of INSERTS.

Overview: John Byrum is an American director who made four films from 1975 until 1986. He predominately filmed dramas, with a sole comedy being his final picture to date. His second movie, HEART BEAT (1980), charted the relationship between the Beat Generation figures Carolyn Cassady, husband Jack Cassady, and Jack Kerouac from the late 1950s, until the 1960s. Mr Byrum's third effort, THE RAZOR'S EDGE (1984), was a remake of the 1946 film. A man returns from serving in World War I, and he finds that everything has changed dramatically, and life is not the same as what he left. John Byrum's final movie to date, THE WHOOPEE BOYS (1986), was a comedy of two young men in Florida, and their raucous antics. INSERTS marked John Byrum's movie debut, but is not one of his best pictures.

With INSERTS, John Byrum has, unfortunately, made a highly flawed film. The story of a Hollywood silent director whose career has seen better days, resorting to making hardcore pornographic movies in his mansion, it is not an easy picture to watch. There are reasons why this is so. While the narrative is divided into three acts, and has a sense of organization in this way, what appears onscreen is less than compelling. The movie, to be fair, does give some insights into characters and situations, which are deftly delivered by a great cast. INSERTS, though, has a tendency to ramble through its almost two-hour running time, which manifests itself in one particular way.

There is an emphasis on sexual situations, and a certain flippancy which becomes grating. This could be seen as being natural given the movie is about a porn director and the making of a movie, but relying on sexuality, and not delving deeper into what brought these people to porn films, gives INSERTS an air of emptiness. It feels as if it likes to shock and surprise the audience with its attention to sexual matters, but this is not backed up with a sturdier backstory to provide strength, and further clarity to the movie. The final section is the best part of the film, where Boy Wonder and Cathy Cake become acquainted in all respects, but by the time it arrives it is too late to save it. An enervating film to witness, INSERTS is lacking in many areas which could have made it a much better picture.

Acting: INSERTS has an enthusiastic cast who give their all, making the movie better than it is. In the lead part of Boy Wonder, one-time Hollywood director now down on the count, Richard Dreyfuss is excellent. Portraying all sides of a complicated character, whose nasty tendencies often come to the fore, Mr Dreyfuss succeeds in making Boy Wonder an entrancing figure. As Harlene, the drug addicted actress now shooting porn films for Boy Wonder, Veronica Cartwright is likewise formidable. Seeing the hyper Harlene carry on with her escapades is one of the most charming, compelling, but tragic depictions of addiction ever captured on film. 

Harlene's onscreen costar Rex the Wonder Dog is in the comely person of Stephen Davies. Mr Davies expresses this young buck's dreams and wild aspirations with an infectious fervour that, as with Harlene, have a pathos about them which is real. The final acting of note was by Jessica Harper as Cathy Cake, a young woman wanting to be an actress. Miss Harper's Cathy goes head-to-head with Richard Dreyfuss' Boy Wonder, being the only person to take him on, and get to the core of Boy Wonder's psyche. A poised actress with an intellectual approach to her acting, Miss Harper is another of the bewitching thespians who make their mark in INSERTS.

Soundtrack: INSERTS has an unusually lean soundtrack. The vast majority of the movie has no background music, either diegetic, or non-diegetic. The exceptions to this are the opening credits, a piano rendition of 'Moonglow' which appears non-diegetic, but is revealed to be diegetic in nature, segueing into Boy Wonder playing the piano. Boy Wonder plays the piano again in the final scenes, and this leads to the closing credits, with a vocal version of 'Moonglow' played. The film prefers to have the audience's attention focused on what is taking place onscreen rather than utilizing music to punctuate the action.

Mise-en-scene: INSERTS takes an interesting approach to its mise-en-scene. The entire movie is set in one location, being the mansion of Boy Wonder, and this allows the action to proceed in a single place. In some ways, it may seem limited to have a single set, but it maintains attention on the small group of characters who inhabit, and pass through this narrative world. Art direction by John Clark excellently creates a vision of a decaying mansion, alongside Josie MacAvin's set decoration. Cinematographer Denys N. Coop employs a dour use of Deluxe color, emphasizing brown hues, which is in keeping with the film's dark and subversive themes. Additionally, the shooting of the pornographic film within the movie is of interest. Scenes effectively jumps between color stock, and black and white, to show Boy Wonder filming the porn, and how it appears through his camera. This occurs not only during the opening sequences but also, later in the picture.

Notable Acting Performances: Richard Dreyfuss, Veronica Cartwright, Stephen Davies, Jessica Harper.

Suitability for young viewers: No. Frequent coarse language, male nudity, female nudity, adult themes, medium-level violence, drug use.

Overall Grade: D

Link: IMDB Page

Trailer