That Tender Touch

 (1969)

by Tuna

The style is melodrama, and the story is simple. Sue Bernard and Bee Tompkins were roommates and lovers. Sue met a man and married him. Bee could no longer live without her "tender touch," and came to visit, hoping to win her back over. The husband was not pleased, nor was the now hetero Sue.

The erotica is minimal. There is nudity, but no sex.  There are no girl/girl caresses of any type, and only a couple of very dainty kisses.  In terms of erotica and production values, this film is comparable to other late 60s exploitation films, except with a lesbian overlay.

Wolfe Video, a production group which caters to the gay/lesbian crowd, has released at least two of these golden age lezploitation films as part of their "vintage collection." According to a mini press book which comes with the disc, the film was originally distributed by softcore legend Harry Novak. I gather that over the intervening years this film has developed a cult following in the gay community and has evidently been available for some time, but in very poor transfers until now. Even this particular transfer is full of scratch damage, but is otherwise not too bad.

 

Our Grade:

If you are not familiar with our grading system, you need to read the explanation, because the grading is not linear. For example, by our definition, a C is solid and a C+ is a VERY good movie. There are very few Bs and As. Based on our descriptive system, this film is a:

C-

I really have nothing to compare this to, as it is the first vintage lesbian exploitation film I have even seen. Based on the fact that it has a cult following but is of no real interest to anyone outside that cult, C- is probably the right score, but it's not worth adding to your collection.

NUDITY REPORT

  • Sue Bernard, Bee Tompkins, and Dolly Reed as a maid show breasts and buns

THE CRITICS AND ACADEMIES

It was nominated for an Oscar for cinematography.

1 TV Guide (of 4 stars)
   

THE BOX OFFICE

Unknown

 

 

THE PEOPLE

   
5.3 IMDB summary (of 10)
  (statistically meaningless)

 

 

DVD INFO

*full screen

* no features