Behind the Green Door

Behind the Green Door (1972) is the story of a young woman, Marilyn Chambers, who is abducted and taken to a private sex club, where she is massaged and hypnotized into relaxing by a woman, then taken on stage, aroused by six women, ravaged by a large black man, then made to take on 4 men at the same time. The audience, aroused by the performance, has its own orgy. This is a hard core, but I did not include monster shots (genital close-ups) in the images. Marilyn looks every bit the 99 and 44/100% pure Ivory Snow girl in this film.

In 1956, mainstream America was sort of introduced to its existence, but not really, when a song called "The Green Door" made Billboard #1 for three weeks. Artist: Jim Lowe, Words by Marvin Moore and Music by Bob Davie.

Here are the lyrics:

(Midnight, one more night without sleepin')
(Watchin' till the mornin' comes creepin')
(Green door, what's that secret you're keepin?)

There's an old piano
And they play it hot behind the green door
Don't know what they're doin'
But they laugh a lot behind the green door
Wish they'd let me in
So I could find out what's behind the green door

(Knocked once, tried to tell them I'd been there)
(Door slammed, hospitality's thin there)
(Wonder just what's goin' on in there)

Saw an eyeball peepin'
Through a smoky cloud behind the green door
When I said "Joe sent me"
Someone laughed out loud behind the green door
All I want to do is join the happy crowd behind the green door

<instrumental interlude>

(Midnight, one more night without sleepin')
(Watchin' till the mornin' comes creepin')
(Green door, what's that secret you're keepin?)

(Green door, what's that secret you're keepin?)

Green door!!

DVD info from Laser's Edge.

Those who knew about the book could barely contain their laughter around the people who loved the song, but had no idea what it was about. Behind the Green Door was not especially explicit by today's standards, with very few monster shots. Marilyn doesn't have a single line in the film, and has to act her ass off to get the story across. This new DVD is better than any other print I have seen of the film, but is still full of noise. The Mitchell Bros. played the hired kidnapers in the film. Marilyn Chambers mentions in an interview that she actually got into the sex, which is one of the reasons the film worked so well.

The Critics Vote

no major reviews

The People Vote ...

With their votes ... IMDB summary: IMDb voters score it 5.6,

With their dollars ... it was one of the first hardcore films to enjoy wide distribution, and was estimated to have taken in $25 million in box office receipts, equivalent to about $70 million in today's dollars.

IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.