Name: Tuck Me In
Genre: Drama
Duration: 1 h 22 min
Rating: 5.2
Cast: Kim Pope, Frank Durk, Carolyn Kessler

Sexploitation film tries too hard to be a "real film"

Even now, when porn footage is tossed into many films (ENTER THE VOID a horrendous recent example), it is a serious issue whether one is out to make a real film or just porn. The makers of TUCK ME IN just couldn't decide, and the result is interesting to watch but a failure.

As a showcase for the wonderful and still somehow underrated actress Kim Pope it is worth preserving (thanks to Something Weird for transferring it beautifully to DVD-R).

She portrays Tracy, an aspiring Manhattan actress, who is desperately trying to make it on her own, rather than ride the coattails of her Hollywood superstar dad Rod Middleton (solid performance by tall -and obscure- thesp Frank Durk).

Her "uncle", a Hollywood director, gets her a play audition after she sleeps with him and his MILF girl friend, and soon Tracy is on Broadway playing a nun opposite the MILF.

With plot twists galore (and actually too much story to permit the quota of arousing sex scenes the fans are waiting patiently for), Kim's best friend and roommate Karen (Carolyn Kessler in winning support) sleeps with daddy Rod, and eventually marries him.

Kim becomes a Hollywood superstar after acquiescing to the entreaties of both dad & uncle, but takes to the booze, especially unhappy that her gal pal is now her step mom. Film climaxes at a swinging wrap party, where all manner of decadence is represented by the screen shifting from black & white to color, seen from Tracy's boozy point-of-view. The nudity and decadence of this sequence is courtesy of NYC film doctor Jerald Intrator, apparently a post-production decision to spice up the movie for adult theaters.

The script could have used a whole lot of pruning, as there are many pointless subplots to come, including a mysterious and distasteful passage wherein Tracy is picked up by a no-speakee-English decadent European couple who try to ravish her troilism style back in their hotel room, leading to the ultra-hokey finale. Porn films always like to go out with a bang, but this is the wrong kind of bang. 

There is full frontal nudity and several simulated sex sequences, but TUCK ME IN is pretty tame stuff. The excellent acting by all hands is refreshing, but is that what exploitation fans are paying for? Obviously, in 1970 if you wanted good acting you'd just go to the local bijou and watch George C. Scott or James Earl Jones emote.

Pope is truly beautiful in black & white, but barely recognizable in the color sequences. She later did excellent work in hardcore porn, notably THE INTRUSION and MEMORIES WITHIN MISS AGGIE, after classic roles for Chuck Vincent and Roberta Findlay.

Film's Manhattan locations are well-lensed, and its depiction of a Hollywood film set is unconvincing -maybe a low-budget East Coast merrymaker's notion of what the big studios look like.

Entire film is structured in flashback a la SUNSET BLVD., but the melodramatic finish is an anti-climax.

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.

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Tuck Me In

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