Wham Bam Thank You Spaceman (1975) from Tuna

Wham Bam Thank You Spaceman (1975) is a fairly famous softcore sex film. 

There are lots of women with exposure in the film, some of them fairly well known. The others are probably listed as unknowns in dozens of exploitation and tittie flicks from the 70's, and this will help to I.D. actresses in lots of other films. Many of the producers at that time didn't credit the actresses; they didn't want them to gain celebrity, since they would then be more expensive and harder to work with. There was a huge pool of young women willing to disrobe in Hollywood in the 70's. Most were hoping it would lead to a film career, and many were just working to help support their families.

This film was produced by Harry Novak, and was billed as an adult comedy. I would say "sex farce" would be a more appropriate description. Two space men, Asshole and Jerkoff, are sent from the planet Urine to impregnate as many Earth Women as possible, and thereby save their race from extinction when the planet collides with its sun. They have some whiz-bang tools at their command, including a scanner that finds and displays horny women no matter where they are hiding, a transporter to go anywhere, a beam to bring women onto their spaceship, and, most important, a tongue like sexual organ that extends several feet from their head. This sexual organ, of course, delights every Earth woman who experiences it. The film is one vignette after another where the spacemen find a woman, have sex with her, then return her to where she was. Outlining the actresses will give you the major plot points:

  • Dyanne Thorne (credited as Rosalee Stern) plays a hooker. Their first visit is to a whore house, and she is the one they end up with.
  • Unknown 1 is getting a massage in the same edifice.
  • Unknown 2 is another employee in the establishment.
  • Anne Gaybis is necking with her boyfriend in a car.
  • Tina La Wise is a Jewish American Princess with a dingy bathrobe, curlers and a headache. After the aliens have their way with her, she seduces her husband away from his golf game.
  • April Grant is an actress who is having trouble with her role because she is a virgin. Unknown 3 has a lesbian encounter with her. That, and a little help from a friendly spaceman, and she nearly rapes her leading man when he returns after lunch.
  • Sandra Carey and Zelda are in the same vignette. Zelda's husband says he is leaving but ends up in bed with maid Carey. Zelda starts doing the butler. They are abducted together, and the transporter puts them all in the same bed when the spacemen are done. After minor complaining, they have a hot and happy foursome.
  • Gayna Shireen is grabbed and raped. After the spaceman, she rapes her attacker.
  • The final scene is in a Harem, and includes Annie Goodman as a belly dancer (no real exposure), Joyce Mandel ( credited Gibson) as a harem girl with see-through outfit, and Valerie Nicorre having sex with the sultan.
 Is it a good film? Technically, you couldn't ask for more. The art direction, set decoration, photography and lighting are far better than you would expect. Having space men without moving mouths allowed them to add most of the dialogue as voice-over in post production, so the sound is clean. Some of the characters are played by real actors and actresses. There is abundant nudity, including full-frontal. On the other hand, a real comedy writer could have elevated this from what it is to inspired adult entertainment. The space man outfits and special effects are cheesy, and the dialogue is rather crude. I am amazed that they got away with the attitudes towards women, given that this was made during the height of 70s burn-your-bra feminism. 

NUDITY REPORT

none
 The DVD was lovingly restored by Something Weird Video, then mastered on DVD by Image Entertainment, and is superb. There are also several special features, but, unfortunately, no commentary. Something Weird Video has partnered with Image Entertainment to release a large number of their most popular titles in a multi-year project. 

The Critics Vote

  • No reviews online

The People Vote ...

  • With their votes ... IMDB summary: IMDb voters score it 5.5, 
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.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, this film is a grade A example of the genre, but has little crossover appeal, therefore C+

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