The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann: 2 Disc Collectors Edition – Distribpix (DVD)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1974
Director: Radley Metzger (as "Henry Paris")
Writer: Radley Metzger (as "Jake Barnes")
Cast: Barbara Bourbon, Sonny Landham, Darby Lloyd, Marc Stevens, Eric Edwards, Kevin Andre, Day Jason, Alan Marlow, Jamie Gillis, Doris Toumarkine, Levi Richards, Georgina Spelvin 

Release Date: August 10th, 2011
Approximate Running Time: 83 Minutes 24 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Rating: NR
Sound: Dolby Digital Mono English
Subtitles: N/A
Region Coding: Region 0 NTSC
Retail Price: OOP

"Set in 1970s Manhattan, the plot follows a private detective (Eric Edwards) employed by Mr. Mann (Alan Marlow) to investigate the sexual infidelities of his wife, Pamela (Barbara Bourbon)." – Synopsis provided by the Distributor

Video: 3.5/5 (Hardcore Version), 3.25/5 (Softcore Version)

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, “The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann was restored using the original 35mm blow-up internegative and is presented in its original theatrical exhibition aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The film was scanned in 2K resolution using a Spirit 2K Dutacine and the Da Vinci Resolve system was used to perform additional color correction and color matching. Please note: throughout the film there is occasionally a greenish scratch present in the right-most third of the image. This is an imperfection present in the original negative and was not removed.”

The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann (Hardcore Version) comes of a dual layer DVD.

Disc Size: 6.9 GB

The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann was shot on super 16mm and blown up to 35mm for theatrical exhibition. Though some source imperfections still remain, the result is by far and away the best The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann has looked on home media. Flesh tones look healthy, colors look very good, image clarity and black levels are strong, and there are no issues with digital noise reduction. 

The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann (Softcore Version) comes of a dual layer DVD.

Disc Size: 7.4 GB

Audio: 3.5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a Dolby Digital mono mix in English with removable English subtitles. The audio sounds clean, clear, and balanced. Range-wise, this audio track is satisfactory.

Extras:

Extras on disc one include a stills gallery (76 images), a theatrical trailer  (5 minutes 57 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an interview with actor Eric Edwards titled A true American Actor (38 minutes 32 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an English subtitle trivia track that provides information about the score, and an audio commentary with director Radley Metzger and adult film historian Benson Hurst.

Extras on disc two include an ephemera gallery (25 images - posters/lobby cards/advertisements/other promo related materials), a newly created trailer for 2011 (2 minutes 55 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), a featurette titled Cutting Room Floor, this extra is a collection of outtakes with narration that provides information of them (9 minutes 4 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a now and then locations featurette titled Locations of Pamela (7 minutes 14 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a featurette titled Metzger’s Manhattan, this extra is exterior footage that Radley Metzger shot for the film with narration that provides information of them (6 minutes 44 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actress Georgina Spelvin (38 minutes 28 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and a softcore version of The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann (72 minutes 51 minutes, 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles).

Other extras include a Barbra Bourbon postcard, two Henry Paris-related promotional inserts, and a 44-page booklet with liner notes written by Benson Hurst, Ian Culmell, and Lawrence Cohen, who discuss the film, the music, and critical analysis, respectively. The booklet also has information about the transfer.

Summary:

Mr. Mann becomes worried that his wife Pamela is cheating on him, so he hires a private detective to find out the truth about his wife.

Director Radley Metzger under the pseudonym Henry Paris would make the shift from softcore to hardcore films in 1974 with The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann. Instead of treating narrative as an afterthought, The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann was the first hardcore film where the narrative was just as important as the sex scenes. The result is a truly groundbreaking film that arguably ushered in what's known as the Golden age of adult cinema. That said, when it came to balancing story and hardcore Radley Metzger is unrivaled.

Though adult cinema gets derided for its acting, many exemplary performances are found in the Golden Age of adult cinema, especially in Henry Paris films. The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann’s cast features two of the best actors to ever work in adult cinema, Eric Edwards and Jamie Gillis. Eric Edwards portrays a private investigator who's been hired to spy on the protagonist Pamela Mann, while Jamie Gillis, known for portraying menacing characters, is in his comfort zone. The most surprising performance is Barbara Bourbon, who portrays Pamela Mann. She has a perfectly sculpted, natural-looking body that really helps sell her as an object of desire. She would only appear in 8 films, and outside of The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann, none of her other performances leave a lasting impression.

Though Radley Metzger’s other hardcore films also faced various forms of censorship upon their first and later releases, The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann features what is arguably his most controversial scene from his oeuvre as an adult filmmaker. In the scene in question, after being kidnapped by her chauffeur and another unnamed assailant a gun is pointed at her head while she’s being violated. The truth behind what really happened in the scene gets revealed later in The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann, revealing that you shouldn't always believe what you have seen. Fortunately, for this release from Distribpix, that scene can now be seen in its entirety for the first time ever on home media in North America.

The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann, like the other Henry Paris’ films, has its fair share of comedy, and there is an amusing running gag in which a man on several occasions pulls out his penis and blows his load on Mr. Mann’s secretary’s face. As mentioned before, the narrative is a perfect blend of exposition and sex scenes, and when it comes to pacing, things move along briskly. Ultimately, while most filmmakers would have been content to stay in their niche, it is remarkable just how The Private Afternoons by Pamela Mann holds up after all these years, especially when one takes into account that this was a transitional film from one of cinema's greatest purveyors of smut.

Though the Distribpix release of The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann raised the bar when it came to adult cinema home media releases, it is now long OOP. That said, it is criminal that a film like The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann remains out of circulation.

Written by Michael Den Boer