''Maraschino Cherry'' is an American

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

pornographic film Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, adult films, blue films, sexually explicit films, or 18+ films, are films that represent Human sexual activity, sexually WIKT:explicit, explicit subject matter in order to sexual arousal, arouse, fasci ...

and

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

released in 1978. The film was directed by

Radley Metzger Radley Metzger (January 21, 1929 – March 31, 2017) was an American filmmaker and film distributor, most noted for popular artistic pornographic films, including '' Thérèse and Isabelle'' (1968), '' Camille 2000'' (1969), '' The Lickerish ...

(as "Henry Paris") and filmed in several locations in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

; it was his fifth and final hardcore film.

Plot

Maraschino Cherry (Gloria Leonard), the owner of a high-class

escort service An escort agency is a company that provides escorts for clients, usually for sexual services. The agency typically arranges a meeting between one of its escorts and the client at the customer's house or hotel room (outcall), or at the escort' ...

, teaches her younger sister, Penny Cherry (Jenny Baxter), about the business. The two sisters reflect on a series of erotic episodes related to the service and its clients, replete with humorous puns and innuendos.

Cast

Gloria Leonard Gale Sandra Klinetsky (August 28, 1940 – February 3, 2014), known professionally as Gloria Leonard, was an American pornographic film actress and publisher of ''High Society'' magazine. As a board member of Adult Video Association and its s ...

as Maraschino "Mara" Cherry * Jenny Baxter as Penny Cherry, Maraschino Cherry's younger sister * Lesllie Bovee as Maraschino's personal assistant *

Annette Haven Annette Haven (born December 1, 1954) is an American former pornographic actress popular during the 1970s and 1980s. Biography Haven was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, and raised in a Mormon family. Following the dissolution of her marriage, Haven ...

as the Piano Bar Girl * C. J. Laing as a Slave * Constance Money as an Escort *

Eric Edwards Eric Edwards may refer to: * Eric Edwards (actor) (born 1945), American former adult film star * Eric Edwards (American football) (born 1980), National Football League tight end * Eric Edwards, Baron Chelmer (1914–1997), British Conservative party ...

as a Client * Michael Gaunt as a Client *

Susan McBain The XRCO Hall of Fame lists well-known adult entertainment works and workers. The list is managed by X-Rated Critics Organization and inducted annually during the XRCO Awards The XRCO Awards are given by the American X-Rated Critics Organizat ...

as an Escort * Wade Nichols as a Boyfriend

Background

''Maraschino Cherry'' was released during the

Golden Age of Porn The term "Golden Age of Porn", or "porno chic", refers to a 15-year period (1969–1984) in commercial American pornography, in which sexually explicit films experienced positive attention from mainstream cinemas, movie critics, and the genera ...

(inaugurated by the 1969 release of

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

Blue Movie ''Blue Movie'' (also known as ''Fuck'' and ''F,k'') is a 1969 American erotic film written, produced and directed by Andy Warhol. It is the first adult erotic film depicting explicit sex to receive wide theatrical release in the United States ...

'') in the United States, at a time of "

porno chic The term "Golden Age of Porn", or "porno chic", refers to a 15-year period (1969–1984) in commercial American pornography, in which sexually explicit films experienced positive attention from mainstream cinemas, movie critics, and the genera ...

",Porno Chic (Jahsonic.com)
/ref> in which adult erotic films were just beginning to be widely released, publicly discussed by celebrities (like

Johnny Carson John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, and writer best known as the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson is a cultural phenomenon and w ...

and

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

) and taken seriously by film critics (like

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

Reception

One film reviewer notes that " 'Maraschino Cherry''may not be 'Metzger's''finest moment", but that it is "... still a beautifully shot film ... the dialogue is well written, the humor genuinely funny ...". Another reviewer writes, "Most of Metzger’s films are known for their offbeat humor and witty dialog. ''Maraschino Cherry'' is filled

ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometers, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is i ...

many amusing comedy set pieces ...".

Notes

According to one

film reviewer Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: Academic criticism by film scholars, who study the composition of film theory and publish their findin ...

, Radley Metzger's films, including those made during the

(1969–1984), are noted for their "lavish design, witty

screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...

s, and a

penchant In psychology, economics and philosophy, preference is a technical term usually used in relation to choosing between alternatives. For example, someone prefers A over B if they would rather choose A than B. Preferences are central to decision theo ...

for the unusual

camera angle The camera angle marks the specific location at which the movie camera or video camera is placed to take a shot. A scene may be shot from several camera angles simultaneously. This will give a different experience and sometimes emotion. The diff ...

". Another reviewer noted that his films were "highly artistic — and often cerebral ... and often featured gorgeous

cinematography Cinematography () is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens (optics), lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sen ...

". Film and audio works by Metzger have been added to the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City.

Remastered version

In 2009, DistribPix released a complete remastering of the film, with the full cooperation of the director. The result had a limited exhibition in theaters, but the main outcome of the project was the first-ever official remastered

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

version. A listing of the music on the film soundtrack was released earlier.

Music soundtrack

References

External links

''Marascino Cherry''
at

MUBI Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; the Auteurs before 2010) is a global streaming platform, production company and film distributor. MUBI produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusively available ...

(related to

The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of art film, arth ...

) * *
''Maraschino Cherry'' – 2009 remastering at DistribPix
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maraschino Cherry American erotic films Films directed by Radley Metzger 1978 films 1970s pornographic films Films set in New York City 1970s English-language films 1970s American films