Debbie Does Dallas: Uncovered Review

Reviewed by astroknight  on  10/1/2006

The Little Details

Running Time: 47 min.

Production Date: 2005

Director: Francis Hanly

Cast: Eric Edwards, Herschel Savage, Robin Byrd, R. Bolla, and many more

The Short Story

Initial Expectations: I haven’t really heard anything about this one, but it’s definitely piquing my interest.

Initial Reaction: Although thought provoking at times, overall it comes off as unfocused.

Who Should Watch It : Anybody interested in the darker side of the porn industry

Who Should Avoid It: Anybody wanting a documentary that focuses on Debbie Does Dallas

The Technical Stuff

Audio /Video Quality: The technical aspects vary a little due to the style of the movie. The interviews are handled nicely, with audio and video that are both nicely clear. The clips of Debbie Does Dallas, as one would expect, are blurry and dated with weak audio.

Music: The music lies nicely in the background and gives a good mainstream feel to the feature.

Menus: The menus are extremely basic. The main menu just offers a cover shot of Debbie Does Dallas along with the choices while the chapter menu lets you choose a scene based on a small still of each scene with a title.

The Feature

Made in 1978, Debbie Does Dallas is one of the top 5 adult movie moneymakers as well as one of the best known adult films of all times. It’s spun off sequels for over twenty five years, and as a series, has featured some of the top names in porn. Apparently there’s a bit of a curse surrounding the original production, which Debbie Does Dallas Uncovered tries to bring to light.

Debbie Does Dallas Uncovered at first appears nicely researched. There are interviews with Herschel Savage, Eric Edwards, Robin Byrd, and R. Bolla (yes, Mr. Greenfield himself) from the original release who talk about the making of the movie, comment on their scenes as they’re shown them again, and talk about what life had for them after Debbie. They cover the risks of the industry from the lack of financial security to the stigma that’s attached to them looking for mainstream work. Sadly these four were the only people out of the original movie who were able to be tracked down and who were willing to be interviewed. They also talk about some of the money to be made, the underground nature of the industry at the times, and the risks at being caught. I guess $200 a day is supposed to not seem like a lot, as they never point out any costs of living back in the late seventies. The closest they come is a comment about the rates not increasing that much in over two decades. They also neglect to point out things such as Pratt Institute of Art and Design in Brooklyn being used for many scenes in the movie, which is a fairly well known fact about the production.

Although it is pointed out that some can make good money in the industry, Hanly chooses to focus on the much more common downside instead with girls getting into drugs and committing suicide. The baby is split a little with Herschel Savage, as they cover his return to the industry after over a decade due to ‘financial problems’. For some reason, this is put back on the industry rather than showing that Herschel was smart enough to be able to handle his money while in the industry while something else caused it to disappear. R. Bolla is handled the same way, who couldn’t handle the mainstream rejection after his adult history came out and retreated into drugs.

The biggest “life after porn” story, however, is the disappearance of Bambi Woods. Sadly, it’s also one of the biggest problems with the movie. The movie makes it appear that Bambi was a one hit wonder who disappeared with nobody knowing what happened to her. It even goes into the story of VCX wanting to do a sequel and hiring a PI to track her down and then giving up when he decided that she covered her tracks so well she obviously didn’t want to be found. This is a great story and a nicely presented mystery, but unfortunately it comes off as poorly researched and almost completely fictional. No, the whereabouts of Bambi Woods do not appear to be known, but she also wasn’t a one-hit wonder. She starred in two sequels to Debbie Does Dallas (first in 1981 and second in 1985) as well as an installment of Swedish Erotica in 1981 (all according to the IAFD). That little fact shoots this entire section in the foot, and also helps to make the entire movie look like it had an agenda or was reaching too far.

The other problem with the movie is that it seems more concerned with the underworld aspect of pornography than it is with Debbie. There are several interviews with Former FBI Agent Bill Kelly, who went after the pornography / Mafia connection for years through obscenity charges, as well as Pat Livingstone, an FBI agent who went undercover as a wiseguy to try to map out how the mob was using porn. There’s some interesting comments from both men, but they aren’t the most focused. They talk about chasing Mickey Zeffarano, the distributer of Debbie until he has a heart attack, but the bigger focus was on the Miporn operation, short for Miami Pornography, in which Livingstone was in deep cover. It’s interesting at times, but also more of an aside than something directly related to Debbie Does Dallas.

In the end, Debbie Does Dallas Uncovered comes off feeling a bit unfocused and with a bit of an agenda. Yes, the industry does take advantage of people who let them and yes, it’s impossible to deny that pornography was a big moneymaker for the mob in the seventies. That, however, shouldn’t have been the focus here. Mickey Zeffarano was far from clean, but although he was a major player in the success of Debbie, he almost seemed like an aside at times. The disappearance of Bambi Woods is very well done, but also falls apart for anybody who knows much about classic porn or who does the least bit of research on her. In the end, the high point of Debbie Does Dallas Uncovered is the interviews with Herschel Savage, Eric Edwards, Robin Byrd, and R. Bolla as they look back on one of the gems of golden age porn. Debbie Does Dallas Uncovered rarely lives up to what it might have been.

The Extra Stuff

Trailers are included for Bob Dylan: Don’t Look Back, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, Andy Goldsworthy: Rivers and Tides, and The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. There’s also company information and a bonus film, The Diary of a Porn Virgin.

Diary of a Porn Virgin is a British production lasting forty eight minutes which follows thirty eight year old blonde Frankie, Asian Sahara (who some might recognize from her Private work), and male Lee for six months as they try to break into the jiz biz. Both Frankie and Sahara had good paying jobs in the corporate world but weren’t happy and thought the wonderful world of adult entertainment were what they needed, while Lee had every man’s dream to become a male porn star. The movie follows the three of them as they go through the amateur, professional, and fetish world of adult entertainment. Ironically, although Sahara is the most recognizable person, she seems to get the least screen time. Instead most of the movie follows Frankie, who learns that putting too many limits on what you’ll do is going to severely limit how much work you get, and Lee, who’s going to an audition with Phil Barry of Pumpkin Films.

Diary of a Porn Virgin comes off as a much better feature than Debbie Does Dallas Uncovered. It doesn’t come across as having an agenda, and feels like it’s putting itself across straightforward showing both the good and the bad. I really like how it shows some of the emotional impact of the industry as well as the strength and brains it takes to really succeed. I was quite surprised with how little time Sahara received, but at the same time since she was the most successful person of the bunch it’s easy to see why. Mainstream media has rarely given the adult industry a fair shake, and I can’t blame companies for wanting them around. That said, I was very impressed with how the industry was portrayed here. Diary of a Porn Virgin is a nicely done feature that’s worth checking out if you’re interested in some of what happens behind the scenes in the wonderful world of adult entertainment.

The Down -n- Dirty Sex Stuff

Themes: Documentary and classic porn

Raincoat Factor: Very low

Condom Usage: None needed

The Bottom Line:

Currently, Debbie Does Dallas Uncovered can be found online for between about $12 and $17. Rent this one before you buy it. The bonus movie makes it worth picking up, but the main feature is fairly unfocused and has some major problems with its research. At least the technical aspects are well done throughout the DVD. Although there’s some interesting things covered here, I can’t recommend this release too highly.

Note to Sundance / Channel 4: You have some interesting things to talk about in the movie, but either choosing one to focus on or broadening it out would have been very good. It was very nice to see you putting the care into this DVD of including a bonus feature with the running time of the main feature.

If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail me .

Other reviews by Astroknight