Name: C'mon Baby Light My Fire
Genre: Drama
Released: 1969-08-28
Duration: 1 h 19 min
Rating: 6.3
Cast: Stephanie Bae, Olivia Brandon, Tina Buckley

Intentionally grotesque porn for the jaded

If insulting the audience with intentional nastiness were rewarded with brownie points, filmmaker Lou Campa would be ready to bake. His metier was soft porn, and this is a healthy portion.

Ingenious, if heavy-handed premise, is that a vice lord, played by a less white around the temples than usual Gerard Damiano, will go to any lengths to oppose liberalization of marijuana laws. God forbid that maryjane or other drugs be made legal -then there'd be no place for the mob.

To this end he kidnaps anti-drug crusader June (lovely Tina Buckley) and with the help of an ultra-motley crew of henchmen and henchwomen spends two weeks "conditioning" her to become a nymphomaniacal sex addict. (Oddly enough I just got through seeing a famous porn opus on conditioning, INVITATION TO RUIN, just before screening C'MON BABY LIGHT MY FIRE.) He's going to photograph her in compromising positions for which marijuana will be blamed, thereby causing her comrades to redouble there anti-marijuana efforts. It doesn't make much sense, but there is an inner logic to porn scripts that my constant research has yet to penetrate.

That's the film in a nutshell, but there's plenty of moaning and groaning by Tina en route to a hurried, utterly unconvincing twist of a happy ending (!). The fun of watching this junker is the goofball characterizations the properly monikered Campa has conjured up.

Slimy mob boss played by Damiano with his distinctive Bronx-accented delivery is fun to watch. Larry Hunter as Pancho, the sex machine enlisted to deflower (and then Golden Shower) June gives a new meaning to the show biz expression "over the top". And June gives nuance to soft porn thesping. Either through arduous rehearsals, or merely picking it up naturally, she can differentiate verbally between "Please don't!...Stop!" and "Please don't stop!" with the best of them.

Tech credits were not up to snuff, with murky black & white visuals, but one of my faves, composer Dave Herman, delivers an energetic rock score, even segueing to some hypnotic Ray Manzarek runs saluting (as per the title) The Doors.

The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)

A pretty young anti-marijuana activist is kidnapped by a drug ring, which is determined to teach her a lesson by degrading and violating her in every way possible.

The Biggest Movies and TV Coming in September

See which big screen releases you can watch from the comfort of your couch.

Theatrical Releases Coming to Streaming

See who dazzled on the red carpet and took home gold at the 78th Primetime Creative Emmy Awards.

Primetime Creative Arts Emmys: Photos We Love

Janet Banzet, Bella Donna, Donny Lee, Frank Spencer, and Nick Harrison in Mini-Skirt Love (1967)

The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful (1970)

Carroll Baker, Lou Castel, and Colette Descombes in Paranoia (1969)

C'mon Baby Light My Fire

Photos

Top Cast15

User reviews1

More like this

Related interests

Storyline

Did you know

Top picks

Details

Tech specs

Contribute to this page

More to explore

Recently viewed