Alice Goodbody is not a good film — if only because it never completely transcends its status as a low-budget ’70s softcore sex comedy that had the misfortune to not be made by Russ Meyer — but it’s an amiable, occasionally funny effort that actually manages to sneak in some sly commentary about the realities of Hollywood filmmaking.
As the title character, former Meyer starlet Sharon Kelly (who would later end the decade with a guest spot on TV’s Lou Grant before re-inventing herself as ’80s adult film actress Colleen Brennan) plays a ditzy L.A. waitress whose attempts to fuck her way to a major role in a musical version of Julius Caesar are hampered by the injuries she sustains each time she appears in front of the camera. Much of the film’s humor comes from how none of her sexual partners seem particular turned off by the casts, slings and neck braces she collects as the story progresses.
Writer/director Tom Scheuer clearly had no interest in the film’s many sex scenes, since he plays them all for laughs (with varying results), but they all benefit from the presence of his lead actress (who appeared in a lot of these movies for a good reason), which makes their ubiquity a lot easier to bear.
Definitely a product of its time, Alice Goodbody manages to be both more innocent and cynical than other films from its ignoble genre, which isn’t enough to recommend it, but also not enough to warn you to stay away. —Allan Mott