The Telephone Book
| The Telephone Book | |
|---|---|
Avco Embassy Pictures)[1] | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 97 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $500,000[3] |
The Telephone Book is a 1971 American
The film was released in the United States in 1971, and received an
Plot
 | This article needs an improved plot summary. (December 2019) |
Alice (
At last the caller is revealed, a man in a suit wearing a pig mask. He makes a confession, and Alice's infatuation for him does not wane. The film ends with a sudden change to color footage and a psychedelic, heavily sexualized and absurdist animated sequence.
Cast
- Sarah Kennedy as Alice
- Norman Rose as John Smith
- James Harder as Obscene Caller
- Jill Clayburgh as Eyemask
- Ondine as Narrator
- Barry Morse as Har Poon
- Ultra Violet as Whip Woman
Release
An intermission was shot for the film, in which Andy Warhol simply eats popcorn for several minutes, until the audience returns to their seat. The intermission was cut from the film prior to release, and has since been lost.
The film was restored and released on
Critical reception
The Telephone Book received mostly negative reviews upon release.[5] In a contemporary review written for The New York Times, critic A. H. Weiler called the film "an occasionally interesting, if wrong, number."[7] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times, however, called the film "so bleakly brilliant that those in search of the usual sexploitation entertainment attend at peril".[4] The Los Angeles Herald Examiner also published a positive review of the film.[5]
Decades after its release, The Telephone Book has been reassessed as "a neglected masterpiece".
In 2015, Alison Nastasi of Flavorwire listed the film as being one of the 50 greatest midnight movies of all time.[11]
Conversely, Brian Orndorf of Blu-ray.com gave the film a mostly negative review, calling it "as arousing as a tax audit and funny as jury duty", and "an insufferable grab bag of encounters and staring contests, missing its moon shot to become a triumphant cult experience, whiffing with its allegedly provocative elements."[12]
References
- ^ "The Telephone Book (Vinegar Syndrome) (Blu-ray + DVD)".
- ^ "The Telephone Book". IMDb. 3 October 1971.
- ^ "Dial Another O". Variety. June 3, 1970. p. 7.
- ^ a b c Nelson, Valerie J. (July 20, 2012). "Nelson Lyon dies at 73; director of sex comedy 'The Telephone Book'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
- ^ a b c Bloch, Merv (October 16, 2009). "Before Linda Lovelace, There Was 'The Telephone Book'". TheWrap. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
- ^ Fox, Margalit (July 22, 2012). "Nelson Lyon, TV Writer Steeped in the Counterculture, Dies at 73". The New York Times. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
- ^ Weiler, A. H. (October 4, 1971). "The Screen". The New York Times. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
- ^ Wilkins, Budd (May 14, 2013). "Blu-ray Review: Nelson Lyon's The Telephone Book on Vinegar Syndrome". Slant Magazine. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
- ^ Vago, Mike; Handlen, Zack; Rife, Katie; Vishnevetsky, Ignatiy; Dowd, A. A.; Perkins, Dennis; Hassenger, Jesse; Murray, Noel (December 8, 2014). "One and sadly done: 12 excellent features from directors who never made another feature". The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
- ^ Hunter, Rob (June 14, 2019). "Vinegar Syndrome's Archive Line Brings Forgotten Fun Back Into the Light". Film School Rejects. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
- ^ Nastasi, Alison (January 14, 2015). "The 50 Greatest Midnight Movies of All Time". Flavorwire. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
- ^ Orndorf, Brian (June 15, 2013). "The Telephone Book Blu-ray Review". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
External links
- The Telephone Book at IMDb
