ecl@ahuta.UUCP (ecl) (01/28/85)
PERILS OF GWENDOLINE (IN THE LAND OF THE YIK-YAK)
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Newspaper comic strips don't work like movies. They may have one
extended plot that lasts the entire story, but it will be broken into little
short adventures so that each day's installment will have something
interesting, and maybe once a week--maybe every twenty frames--there will be
a cliffhanger. These little substories will be more important than the
overall months-long plot, because newspapers want to be able to attract
readers mid-story, and they also don't want to confuse people who do not
remember plot details from months before. Hence scenes are much more
important than overall connectivity of plot. Most film adaptations from
comic strips use the conventions of film for plotting and become just films
about comic strip characters. Not so with THE PERILS OF GWENDOLINE IN THE
LAND OF THE YIK-YAK.
THE PERILS OF GWENDOLINE is a film adaptation of the French comic strip
THE ADVENTURES OF GWENDOLINE. According to a friend who has seen
compilations of the strip (under the name GWENDOLINE DEAR when published in
English), the comic strip is heavy on nudity and bondage. (The American
title is probably a tip of the hat to the early serial THE PERILS OF
PAULINE.) Apparently the bondage aspect has been toned down a little for
the film, though it still shows up every once in a while; it's hard to
believe that the nudity has been toned down at all.
The story is of the title character searching China for her father, who
had earlier come to find a rare butterfly. Instead, he ran afoul of one
more subterranean super-scientific civilization. This one is made up of
Amazons who wear only leather armor--and apparently leather is in short
supply. Tawny Kitaen (in the title role) picks up a friend, then a macho
protector, and the three go off into the land of the Yik-Yak to try and find
her father.
THE PERILS OF GWENDOLINE is a Parafrance film dubbed in English (often
very poorly) and released in the U.S. by the Samuel Goldwyn company. It is
directed by Just Jaecklin from his own screenplay. Apparently (from the
ads), Jaecklin is the director of EMMANUELLE. THE PERILS OF GWENDOLINE has
a number of faults and virtues in common with BARBARELLA, but has a better
sense of humor. I'd rate it +1 (on a -4 to +4 scale), a mild thumbs up.
(Evelyn C. Leeper for)
Mark R. Leeper
...ihnp4!lznv!mrlciaraldi@rochester.UUCP (Mike Ciaraldi) (01/30/85)
> THE PERILS OF GWENDOLINE is a film adaptation of the French comic strip > THE ADVENTURES OF GWENDOLINE. According to a friend who has seen > compilations of the strip (under the name GWENDOLINE DEAR when published in > English), the comic strip is heavy on nudity and bondage. (The American > title is probably a tip of the hat to the early serial THE PERILS OF > PAULINE.) Apparently the bondage aspect has been toned down a little for > the film, though it still shows up every once in a while; it's hard to > believe that the nudity has been toned down at all. I had heard of this movie recently (this month's Comics Journal, maybe?), but they said it was based on SWEET GWENDOLINE, a book published about 10 years ago. I happen to have a copy, and it is a compilation of stories that ran in an English (I think) magazine in the Forties and Fifties. Writer and artist went under the name of John Willie (sp?), but his real name was John Coutts (sp?). Could ADVENTURES OF GWENDOLINE, the French strip, be translations or continuation, or maybe just homage, to the original English-language version? The plot described for the movie is not one in the book, but it sounds like it is in the same vein. Incidentally, there was a sequel published under the title SWEETER GWEN, actually more of a parody than a sequel. The writer and artist was named Stanton (first name Eric, I think). When I first saw Joe Staton's work on the JSA in the mid-Seventies (origin of the Huntress, etc.), I wondered if there was some connection until I went back and checked the spelling of their last names. I mentioned this to Joe Staton a few years ago when I met him at a convention, and he got a kick out of it. Mike Ciaraldi ciaraldi@rochester seismo!rochester!ciaraldi