Topic: Private Screenings...

[Anton_LaVey]

I remember as a teen that I'd go to the video store with my folks to get films, and I recall seeing some films labeled at the top "Private Screenings" that looked like softcore flicks.  Unfortunately I was something like 14 at the time, and handing Mom or Dad "Swedish Boarding School" wouldn't work, so I just had to imagine what they were like.

Was wondering if anyone out there can comment on some of the films in terms of content, quality, etc, and if they are still avaialble, etc.

Thanks.   

[fuggy]

Yeah, I used to love those.  They just basically repackaged a lot of the Euro softcore classics from the 70s and 80s.  A lot of the Erwin Dietrich films from Switzerland, for instance.  I'm entirely sure they are long since out of print.  The last time I saw any of them available was about 4-5 years ago when Movies Unlimited was having a clearance sale of old VHS tapes.

However, I'm sure old Private Screenings videos show up on eBay every once in a while.  I seem to recall that they put out some of the greats... Takin' It All Off, Patrizia, Wild And Beautiful on Ibiza, stuff like that.

[OldSquirrel]

A lot of the Erwin Dietrich films from Switzerland, for instance.  I'm entirely sure they are long since out of print.

http://xploitedcinema.com has 30+ films Erwin Dietrich was involved with, including 5 or 6 of the 'Six Swedes' series (My favorites). They are rather expensive and some have German audio only. I believe the majority are PAL format. 

[Anton_LaVey]

I seem to recall that they put out some of the greats... Takin' It All Off, Patrizia, Wild And Beautiful on Ibiza, stuff like that.

The only one which rings a bell is Takin' It All Off as I've seen that on Cinemax years ago.  Was blown away by the one scene where this one chick is in a shower and rubs a scrub brush right up against her pussy from behind.  Very graphic considering this was back in like 92 or something.

[rocco-rules]

The only one which rings a bell is Takin' It All Off as I've seen that on Cinemax years ago.  Was blown away by the one scene where this one chick is in a shower and rubs a scrub brush right up against her pussy from behind.  Very graphic considering this was back in like 92 or something.

That "chick" was none other than the incomparable Kitten Natividad, and that scene always got my blood boiling    If you look closely enough you can see that the brush pushes forward and spreads her p-lips open quite explicitly 

I remember seeing the "Private Screenings" logo on many late-nite Euro-softcore cable flicks back in the early 80's.  The other common label/distributor was "Satori".

[OldSchool]

I believe Private Screenings used to be a distribution company not a production company so there was no one film that would be typical of what you'd see if their name was on a product. Like Fuggy said, mainly their line was European imports and that covered a lot of ground. Some like Erwin Dietrich's were borderline hardcore. Some like a lot of Sybil Danning's films were fun, with a lot of nudity, but not terribly explicit. Some were lame Euro-dramas that featured a breast or two. That orange Private Screenings logo coming at you could mean the greatest softcore experience of your life, or the lamest thing you ever seen committed to celluloid.

Nowadays you can check them out at www.privatescreenings.com. Somewhere along the line they partnered up with Marilyn Chambers and some of her friends and started making all of her softcore features. Not terribly explicit, but they are for the most part fun movies with incredible women in them.

[Anton_LaVey]

I believe Private Screenings used to be a distribution company not a production company so there was no one film that would be typical of what you'd see if their name was on a product. Like Fuggy said, mainly their line was European imports and that covered a lot of ground. Some like Erwin Dietrich's were borderline hardcore. Some like a lot of Sybil Danning's films were fun, with a lot of nudity, but not terribly explicit. Some were lame Euro-dramas that featured a breast or two. That orange Private Screenings logo coming at you could mean the greatest softcore experience of your life, or the lamest thing you ever seen committed to celluloid.

Nowadays you can check them out at www.privatescreenings.com. Somewhere along the line they partnered up with Marilyn Chambers and some of her friends and started making all of her softcore features. Not terribly explicit, but they are for the most part fun movies with incredible women in them.

Can you give me some names of the better films out there?

And I remember the MC films, and personally I thought they were garbage..but yes, they had attractive women in it.

[Backup]

Wow.  I remember Private Screenings.  In fact, I was looking for them not too long ago.  I also remember a company called Luna Video who co-released some titles with Private Screenings.  There was one Luna title called "All for Love" that was obviously a European hardcore film edited down to R.  Starred Serena, I believe.  But, I've been unable to find any info since then to track down the original movie.

[dpmanus]

I think I can shed a little light on this topic. I collect Private Screenings videos (amongst other things) and have over 110 different titles in my collection. PS was originally a distribution company and not a production company.  My videos are in storage, so I can't give you the dates the videos were released. The first video released by PS was Emanuelle the Queen on the VidAmerica label. Next came the first round of releases on the Media label in the original white sleeve with a circular image from the film and a consistent design to all the boxes. A second round of releases was made with all new artwork for the sleeves, so every box looked different. The next round of releases came on the Luna video label, which added new titles to the line. They also released many of the same films, but with new titles. To be fair, the previously used title was on the back of the sleeve in very small print running vertically down the right edge. Luna also released several other similar films, but not under the PS label. Finally, the III Star video label released the most recent PS titles including the Marilyn Chambers videos. I personally don't consider them real PS videos. The quality was much poorer than the earlier releases. There is no comparison between the Media version and the III Star version of Felicity.

First, regarding All for Love, that was a soft core edit of the hard core film Blonde in Black Silk, which is now available on DVD from Video-X-Pix. Backup should be able to find it easily.

A few comments about some of the old PS films. Loves of Irina is the only PS film the has hardcore sequences in it. This Jess Franco film has been released with many different titles (Bare Breasted Countess, Erotic Kill, Female Vampire, etc.) usually in a soft core edit in the US and UK, but Irina has the blow job scene intact. The box info for Midnight Party is clearly for another Franco film Porno Dama, but the content is the soft core version of Max Pecas' Luxure. Sweet Sensations (Dietrich's Stewardesses) has no hard core action, but there is a clear shot of a hard core magazine that one of the stewardesses glances through.

Anyway, here is a list I compiled of the PS releases with some comments regarding original titles and re-releases. It may not be complete, but it's pretty close. It's worth mentioning that many of these are now available on DVD, mostly from Europe.

          PS titles from VidAmerica
Emanuelle the Queen (original title: Emanuelle the Queen of Sados)

          PS titles from Media & Luna
Alexandra's Sisters
Alice in Wonderland
All for Love (edited from: Blonde in Black Silk)
All the Way Down (re-release of: Snowballin')
Amorous Sisters (edited from: Six Swedes on a Campus)
And When She Was Bad
Barbara's Escapades
Barely Innocent
Baring It All!
Calendar Girls
The Chambermaid's Dream (original title: Frustration)
Class Reunion
Come Play with Me
Confessions of a Young American Housewife
Copenhagen Nights (original title: Candido Erotico)
Dangerous Love
Dormitory Girls
Dracula Blows His Cool
Ecstacy, Inc.
Emanuelle and Joanna
The Erotic Adventures of Heidi
Erotic Illusion (original title: The Lickerish Quartet)
Erotic Passion
Erotic Taboo
Evil Come, Evil Go
Exposé
Faraway Fantasy (re-release of: Has Anyone Seen My Pants?)
Felicity
Forbidden Impulse
Friendly Favors (re-release of: Six Swedes at a Pump)
The Girl from Starship Venus
Girls After Midnight
The Girls of Don Juan
Girls of the Club Amour
Girls Without Lovers
Happy Sex
Has Anyone Seen My Pants? (re-released as: Faraway Fantasy)
Hellcat Female Mud Wrestlers
Hot Sex in Bangkok (re-released as: Inn of Temptation)
Infamous Daughter of Fanny Hill (original title: Notorious Daughter of Fanny Hill)
Inhibition
Inn of Temptation (re-release of: Hot Sex in Bangkok)
Innocent Sally (original title: The Dirty Mind of Young Sally)
Island Women (edited from: Gefangene Frauen (Captured Women))
Joy
Juliet's Desire (original title: The Secret Sex Lives of Romeo and Juliet)
Lady of Lust
Lady of the Rising Sun (re-release of: Yellow Emanuelle)
Legend of the Golden Goddess (original title: Trader Hornee)
Let Me Love You
Love Angels
Love Desperados
Love Lessons
Love, Lust and Ecstacy
Love Trap (original title: Let's Get Laid)
Loves of Irina
Lucifer's Angels
Madison Ave. Confidential
Maiden Quest (aka: The Long Swift Sword of Siegfried)
The Mark
Midnight Party (original title: Luxure)
M'Lady's Court (aka: Devils in the Convent)
My Father's Wife
My Nights with Sandra, Olga and Julie
Mysterious Jane
Nathalie
Nurse on Call
Operation Orient
The Other Woman
Overnight Models
Passion of Evelyn (original title: Bloodsucker Leads the Dance)
Patricia
Penthouse Playgirls
Pin-up Playmates (also released as: Vacation Temptations (same box except title))
Pleasure Unlimited
Practice Makes Perfect
Rebel Vixens (original title: The Scavengers)
Revealing of Elsie (re-release of: Strip for Action)
Romeo and Julia
Secret Fantasy
Secrets in the Dark
Sensual Partners
Sensual Taboo (original title: Mondo Freudo)
The Sensuous Wife
Sex Adventures of the Three Musketeers
Sexy Sisters
Sister Emanuelle
Six Swedes at a Pump (re-released as: Friendly Favors)
Snowballin' (re-released as: All the Way Down)
Starlet
Strip for Action (re-released as Revealing of Elsie)
Sweet Sensations (original title: Die Stewardessen)
Sweet Spirits
Sweet Young Thing
Sweet Young Trouble
Tea for Three
Tempting Roommates
There's No Sex Like Snow Sex
To Be Twenty
Traveling Companions (re-release of: Truck Stop)
Trouble in Paris
True Blue Confessions
Truck Stop (re-released as: Traveling Companions)
Undercover Vixens (original title: The Harem Bunch)
Vacation Temptations (also released as: Pin-up Playmates (same box except title))
Venus on Fire
Victorian Fantasies (aka: What the Swedish Butler Saw / A Man with a Maid / The Groove Room)
Village Girls (original title: Change Pas De Main (Don't Change Hands))
Voluptuous Vixens
Wild and Willing
Yellow Emanuelle (re-released as: Lady of the Rising Sun)

          other Luna titles not PS
Desire Under the Sun
Dreams of Laura
Fait Accompli
Frustration
Hand of Pleasure
Hot on the Trail
Love Games
Savage Passion (original title: The Ramrodder)
Sun Bunnies (original title: Beach Bunnies)

          PS titles from III Star
Broadcast Bombshells
Carnival of Love
Felicity
Emanuelle Queen of the Desert
Loves of a Wall Street Woman
Marilyn Chambers' Bedtime Stories
Marilyn Chambers' Breakfast in Bed
The Marilyn Diaries
New York Nights
Object of Desire
Passion

I'd be happy to discuss the old PS anytime. I love this stuff.

[Anton_LaVey]

I'd be happy to discuss the old PS anytime. I love this stuff.

Wonderful list. 

Can you reccomend some over others?

[fuggy]

That is a list of movies that fuggy would like to see.  I've seen a few of those, but boy, I could spend a good year just enjoying all the stuff in that list.

Good work!

[Prowler]

Wow, that list sure brings back memories, both good and bad.  Renting a PS video was a gamble; you were just as likely to be blown away by some quality softcore or to be horribly bored and disappointed by some crappy "movie".  Out of the ones I saw, Felicity stands out as the best, and I didn't even know it had been released by PS (a friend of mine taped it off Cinemax back in '89-90).

Excellent work, dpmanus 

[fuggy]

Yeah, it's so true!  You never knew what you were going to get... and then when the Marilyn Chambers stuff started coming out, then that was the end of PS for me.  You knew at that point it was going to be crap.

But there's some rare treats in that list, definitely.  And probably lots of them.

[Tigerfan6884]

I  remember seeing something in 3-D that was softcore and had mother goose characters. I can't remember the name, though.

[sreviews]

I've been able to see a lot of these films thanks to living in cities like Vancouver and Toronto, where a few of the video stores stocked the more obscure and hard-to-find stuff. Many of the titles were imports in the original languages so while not all of them had the PS brand, I recognize several of the titles in dpmanus's list.

I've always been a fan of European erotica, ever since I was a teen and discovered the films of D'amato, Franco, and Brass films on late-night French TV (merci, Télévision Quatre-Saisons!).

All the classic Laura Gemser 'Emmanuelle' titles, the 'Six Swedes'...ah, good times.