THE STEWARDESSES (Shout Factory, 1969) D: Al Silliman Jr. w/ Christina Hart, Michael Garrett. Rating: NN DVD package: NNNN Rating: NN
For a couple of moments, The Stewardesses ascends to 3-D exploitation movie heaven. It happens first when a stoned-on-acid, naked stewardess makes out with a Greek bust with a light bulb in its head, then again when the gothic climax pops out of nowhere. Sadly, the rest is deadly dull.
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Stewardesses on layover in L.A. go out for the evening and get naked for mediocre softcore sex and dreadful dialogue, leaving ample time for musing over key questions of 3-D’s artistic heritage and future. For instance: Why didn’t Russ Meyer make Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill! in 3-D? Who can I persuade to produce the 3-D remake of Ilsa, She Wolf Of The SS?
The 3-D is not great. The black-and-white version works better than the colour, better still if you hunt out the optimum distance from your screen, and best if you squint.
The making-of docs are fun, and the brief history of the gimmick includes great 3-D clips from the 30s and 40s. The SCTV sketch, Dr. Tongue’s 3-D House Of Stewardesses, is better than the movie.
EXTRAS Disc one: 3-D colour version, 3-D b&w version, deleted scenes, 3-D lens test, original title sequence. Full-frame. Disc two: 2-D version, 3-D history doc, 3-D process doc, making-of interviews, SCTV sketch. Full-frame. Two pairs of 3-D glasses.
