Vanessa
Directed byHubert Frank
Written byKurt Nachmann as Joos De Ridder
Produced byKarl Spiehs
StarringOlivia Pascal
CinematographyFranz Xaver Lederle
Edited byMimi Werkmann, Eva Zeyn
Music byGerhard Heinz, Mathilde Basedow
Release date
  • March 10, 1977 (1977-03-10)
Running time
91 minutes
CountriesWest Germany (filmed in Austria, Hong Kong and Thailand)
LanguageGerman

Vanessa is a 1977 German softcore erotic melodrama film starring Olivia Pascal and directed by Hubert Frank. Vanessa was the first movie shown on The Playboy Channel.[1]

Plot

Vanessa Anden is a misfit student at a Bavarian convent. After the death of her uncle Richard, she travels to Hong Kong to assume ownership of her uncle's estate. When she arrives, Prinz Bandor, a taxi driver later revealed to be a magician, delivers her to Richard's palatial home. There, she meets Jackie, the niece of Richard's attorney and closest friend, Anthony Grüder. Jackie's sister Cle is married to the wealthy Major Kenneth Cooper. Cle engages in a series of open extramarital affairs in an attempt to get Kenneth to divorce her.

Vanessa learns she has inherited a chain of bordellos and a large citrus plantation, but the plantation administrator, Adrian, claims to be Richard's illegitimate son and has contested the will. Adrian invites Vanessa to the plantation to persuade her to give it to him. He then attempts to rape Vanessa, but Kenneth interrupts him. Adrian's servant Tai-Neh, who is in love with Adrian, becomes furiously jealous of Adrian's interest in Vanessa. Tai-Neh uses sympathetic magic to cause Vanessa agony and leave her sick in bed. Jackie, suspecting magic, enlists Prinz Bandor's aid. Bandor perceives Tai-Neh's magic is the source of Vanessa's pain and counters it.

The court rejects Adrian's challenge and awards the entire estate to Vanessa. Adrian tries to convince Vanessa he loves her, but Vanessa fires him. Vanessa decides to keep the plantation but has Anthony sell all the brothels, thus becoming very wealthy. Kenneth invites Vanessa to her home, drugs her and sexually assaults her. Jackie, Adrian and Cle arrive as he does so, and Adrian rescues Vanessa. Kenneth asks Cle to come back to him, but she refuses. Vanessa hires Adrian to run the plantation again and returns to Europe, leaving open the possibility of a future relationship.

Cast

  • Olivia Pascal as Vanessa Anden
  • Anton Diffring as Major Kenneth Cooper (as Anthony Diffring)
  • Günter Clemens as Adrian Dijon
  • Uschi Zech as Jackie Grüder
  • Eva Eden as Clé Cooper
  • Henry Heller
  • Eva Leuze as Tai-Neh
  • Astrid Boner as Oberin (as Astrid Bohner)
  • Gisela Krauss as Hilda
  • Peter M. Krueger as Anthony Grüder (as Peter M. Krüger)
  • Tom Garven as Prinz Bandor

Production

Director Hubert Frank was a last-minute replacement for the intended director, Siggi Götz. Frank shot the film from an incomplete screenplay, which he largely ignored in favor of improvising much of the movie.[2] Producer Karl Spiehs discovered Olivia Gerlitzki, a medical assistant, and cast her in the lead role as Olivia Pascal.[3]

Reception

On Sneak Previews, Gene Siskel made Vanessa his pick for "Dog of the Week", remarking that "Vanessa is more of a travelogue than a sex show, and what sex there is is tentative, nervous, and unerotic."[4]

Reviewing the film at DVDTalk, Gerry Putzer described "Vanessa" as "[h]ardly a good movie," but "nevertheless watchable" as an artifact of 1970s cinematic erotica.[5] The German film site Filmlexikon called "Vanessa" an "elaborately-arranged and photographed sex film, contentless and speculative."[6]

References

  1. ↑ "In Brief" (PDF). Broadcasting Magazine. January 25, 1982. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  2. ↑ Putzer, Gerry (27 August 2007). "Vanessa". DVD Talk. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  3. ↑ Schliesser, Roman (2006). Die Supernase: Karl Spiehs und seine Filme. Vienna: Wirtschaftsverlag Ueberreuter. p. 128. ISBN 978-3800072286.
  4. ↑ "Tron, The Secret of NIMH, The Devil's Playground, Gregory's Girl, 1982". Siskel & Ebert Movie Reviews. Retrieved 21 April 2023. Event occurs at 26:13-26:57.
  5. ↑ Putzer, Gerry (27 August 2007). "Vanessa". DVD Talk. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  6. ↑ "Vanessa". Filmlexikon. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
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