Abigail Leslie is Back in Town

The Bergman of Booty’s classic piece of sexual Americana is back in town. And boy is it a classic.

Remember when softcore had a plot? Got it. Remember when the girls were hot, natural-looking girls-next-door? Got them. Remember when softcore wasn’t inundated with all these porn stars crossing over? Got – wait, what? Everybody in this movie is a porn star? Huh? Well, now. It looks like there’s always been a two way street between hardcore and softcore. Contrary to what people might think, it’s not a recent phenomenon at all.

The town referred to in Abigail Leslie Is Back in Town is Bay Point, a fictional small fishing village on Long Island where everybody seems to know each other (it was filmed in Amityville, Joe Sarno’s hometown). It’s the middle of winter, both in terms of the calendar date as well as the general lack of sexual heat between the townspeople. Sure enough, the rumor circulates that Abigail Leslie, who’s been away for a while under questionable circumstances, is back (isn’t it nice when the plot is contained in the title?)

No one is more worried about this turn of events than Priscilla (played by Liv Ullmann), who remembers that Abigail Leslie (played by Bibi Andersson) once seduced her husband back when he was her boyfriend. Okay, they’re not played by Ullmann and Andersson but there were moments when I thought I was watching a directors cut of Persona with some extra tits thrown in. Priscilla is played by Rebecca Brooke (real name Mary Mendum) and Abigail by the sultry Sarah Nicholson.

Mary Mendum is a revelation. I realize now that there’s a constant feature of some of the great 70s films, and it is Mary Mendum. In addition to being a Sarno regular, she was also a Radley Metzger favorite, and she is unforgettable in L’Image (aka The Punishment of Anne) which is one of the more shocking adult films of the time. She was also in Chuck Vincent’s Mrs. Barrington as well. In Abigail Leslie, she is a ball of repressed emotions who keeps her demons inside rather than confronting them. She carries a million thoughts and a million worries in her tortured facial expression all throughout the movie. If there were softcore Oscars…

The movie is a psychological study in the tradition of Bergman, or more appropriately, Ibsen. It’s a really fascinating film. It’s also a really hot one, once Abigail starts working her magic and unfreezing the town by introducing the concept of free love to them (what we in a post-Craigslist era would call NSA). She basically has sex with everybody. She tells the town handyman: “Plumbing. I have a leak, and I need it plugged.” Score! Then she seduces his sister, the hot tomboy fisherwoman. Score! It goes on and on. “Do you laugh at us, Abigail?” asks one conquest. “No,” she responds, “you turn me on.” More score! There’s a moment when there’s a threesome, a foursome, and a masturbation scene all going on at the same time. Why can’t Abigail Leslie come to my town?

It all leads to an obvious moment near the end that is uber-sexy. I’d like to be coy about what that moment is, because I’d like you all to see this movie yourselves, but dammit. I’ll give it away. Priscilla goes to her nemesis Abigail and says, “I want you to help me be free, like you.” The scene that follows is not the most explicit in the world, nor is it particularly eye-catching. It’s just…perfect. It’s a perfect example of what happens when a great plot and some wonderful actresses deliver the goods in a wonderfully erotic scene. Priscilla’s tortured, unsmiling face breaks out in waves of ecstastic joy (for the first time in the entire movie) as Abigail goes down on her. Wow.

Why can’t there be a whole slew of movies like this?