The Happy Hooker (1975)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Brassy, shrewd, and resourceful Dutch lady Xaviera Hollander (a marvelously sexy and vibrant performance by Lynn Redgrave, who looks absolutely ravishing) comes to America and becomes a much sought after call girl. Pretty soon Xaviera is the highly successful madam of a posh New York City bordello that provides assorted "services" to a diverse array of clients. Director Nicholas Sgarro and writer William Richert do a good job of maintaining an engagingly breezy'n'easy tone throughout and neatly peg the whole anything-goes swinging 70's zeitgeist, but crucially fail to depict the various kinky sexual fetishes in a more appropriately daring and explicit manner. There's precious little nudity and the sex is disappointingly mild and inoffensive stuff, but the prevalent good-natured sensibility and several funny moments (for example, Xaviera does a hysterical reverse striptease while reciting a business report for some pervy CEO!) ensure that this picture still passes muster as a perfectly engaging diversion. Moreover, the cast have a field day with their colorful roles: Redgrave positively glows with her radiant portrayal of the clever and headstrong Xaviera, Jean-Pierre Aumont is likewise a charming treat as suave French high roller Yves St. Jacques, Lovelady Powell does well as classy no-nonsense madam Madelaine, plus there are nifty bits by Nicholas Pryor as Xariera's meek, narcissistic fiancé Carl Gordon, Conrad James as wormy sleazeball Fred, Richard Lynch as a bullying cop, George Dzundza and Kenneth Tiger as a couple of bumbling businessmen, Vincent Schiavelli as a stoned pot-smoking music guru and Anita Morris as the sassy Mary Smith. Richard C. Kratina's glossy cinematography gives the movie an attractive polished look. Don Elliott's lush and funky score hits the right-on groovy spot. Comes close to scoring a bull's eye, but falls a tad short because of its rather frustrating and unnecessary use of restraint and an overall tastefulness that negates the seamier aspects of the sordid subject matter.

Lynn Redgrave and the 70's. This film is quite the cliché. If anyone wants to look back at the early 70's for research, this is a film to see.Xaviera Hollander was the beginning of the exposure of modern day Madame in a so-called clean American world. This movie tells of how she got there, what she did once she was there and why. Whether one agrees with that lifestyle or not, this is quite interesting to say the least. I would guess that "The Mayflower Madame" Sydney Biddle Barrows and Hedi Fleiss got their ques from Miss Hollander.But what get me about THIS film is that -- it's a pretty much a Hollywood mainstream telling of the tale. Of course, it would have been obviously for this film to go the X rated 70's route....but it did not. It tells the tale deftly, but it tells the tale. This is not a titillating romp as the title suggests and I think a lot of guys renting this film will be very disappointed."The Happy Hooker" plays like a 70's soap opera. Over dramatized, lotsa 70's funky fashion, make up and hair, stiff acting but acting just enough to maybe keep you interested in the tale. It is about the "tale" more than anything else in this version.(Some spoilers) Miss Hollander is a woman who falls in love and is invited to America to marry but upon coming here, she learns that he's a momma's boy. She is then thrust in a country she knows little about, gets into many hateful situations and falls into being a call girl in a house with an understanding, but tired, Madame. How does she get happy? well, Xaviera buys out this Madame when an opportunity presents itself and off she goes.While this has all the elements of being a tawdry sex romp with lots of "t" and "a" and sex, it's NOT played that way. What you do see is the "difference" in the types of Hookers of the 70's..at least, the difference as Miss Hollander sees it: the street hookers versus the house hookers. You can tell that Miss Hollander felt that house hookers were more elite than street hookers..that was until they met face to face and found out they were all doing the same thing.It is a film of the 70's, and this spawned a few "Happy Hooker" sequels that aren't as good (and that's not saying much) as this one. But the wonderful Lynn Redgrave does a nice job of playing one of America's best known Madame for a mainstream audience. If you're a Lynn Redgrave fan, you might enjoy this one. If you're a fan of the early 70's fashions/attitudes and when New York was crummy, you might like this film. If you're a pornography fan looking for titillation...this is DEFINATELY not the film for you.

Well, there's not much smut to be had here. Not much humor, really, either. So what does this film have to recommend it? Well, Lynn Redgrave wears a series of smashing early-70s outfits--floppy hats, go-go boots, backless evening gowns, big-sleeved minidresses... and the other hookers have some fresh attire as well (some charming negligees, lavender disco dresses, etc.). And some of the scenes of her tricks are mildly amusing (although many inadvertently so), particularly the one where she does a reverse striptease while reciting a business report. Still, it starts off excruciatingly slow and you can see what plot twists there are coming a mile away with bludgeoning sticks in hand. And the party scenes in the brothel aren't nearly as much fun as you'd expect, considering as the 70s was a golden era for movie party scenes and this is supposedly a whorehouse. Not worth watching, really, although it is worth flipping back and forth to if there's not much else on.

A very tame adult comedy that despite its title and its somewhat of a cult reputation does not contain any sex whatsoever (unless I missed something). There was an opportunity here to create a seriously dirty film but you get the sense that the makers were to gutless to take the chance. Instead all you are left with is a mildly amusing comedy where the most explicit image is Lynn Redgrave in her panties. A disappointment.