Expectations (1977) User Reviews

Interesting porn examination of several key topics

[lor_ · 22 February 2019]

The great director Anthony Spinelli made this minor but highly effective film that I saw theatrically back in the day, and was pleasantly reacquainted with via an Alpha Blue Archives 3-fer DVD reissue.

Delania Raffino voices-over the story in the form of a letter to her friend Lyn (not in the cast) explaining how her life has drastically changed during her 2-month hiatus.

She has switched identities with busty blonde Chris Cassidy (a striking sexual performance early in the star's career). Delania plays Margo and Cassidy plays Montana, but for the duration of the movie they use and are called by each other's names.

This familiar switcheroo premise is not used for the usual rom-com humorous situations, but instead Spinelli maintains a dead-serious tone, reminiscent of the groundbreaking work of Gerard Damiano in that vein ("Story of Joanna", "Memories Within Miss Aggie"). There is a scene of comic relief, but the emphasis on drama bears fruit in giving some power to his examination of themes ordinarily handled glibly.

For example, the search for identity is encapsuled in the women's attempts to role-play in each other's identities, resulting in a remarkable conclusion where Delania becomes a submissive, surrendering herself to the more ebullient Cassidy. Margo's brother shows up unexpectedly and while at first angry at Montana for taking over his sister's life is easily seduced by the blonde beauty, soon role-playing at incest in a way that is far more effective than 21st Century porn's emphasis on step-siblings having sex.

Desiree West (under whose name the movie has been reissue on DVD, for commercial reasons) does a fine job as a friend of Montana who encourages Margo to get lost in the Montana role (and have sex with her), while Joey SIlvera is his usual bad-guy self, forcing Margo to have sex with him (but she loves it!).

As long as you don't have expectations of seeing a classic, this is a satisfying piece of vintage Adult Cinema.

Lower Your Expectations, You'll Thank Me

[NoDakTatum · 1/10 · 10 October 2023]

This pornographic film may be more famous today because of its mainstream cinematic quality, not the actual sex itself. I am using the participants' real names, as found online, since the onscreen credits are full of pseudonyms. Margo (Delania Raffino) is bored with her man, and wants a change. She puts an ad in a San Francisco "underground newspaper," and meets up with Montana (Chris Cassidy). Margo plans to switch identities with Montana, and live the life of a "loose woman". Montana apparently has connections, makes all the arrangements, and Margo goes to Montana's apartment to live. Instantly, Joey (Joey Silvera) stops over for a little smack and tickle. Meanwhile, Montana settles into Margo's pad, and Margo's brother Vincent (Jack Wright) stops by. Because of an unexplained eye patch and a penchant for incestuous fantasy, Vincent is already the most interesting character in this group; and the two women explore their new lives sexually.

If this had not been a porn film, it would not have been made. The identity switch is completely idiotic. Margo is a mousy brunette, and Montana is an oddly built platinum blonde. The idea is ridiculous to start with, and the only reason the audience follows along is to see some sex. The film's cinematography and widescreen are notable only because they exist. There is nothing special about either, and my mind wandered during many scenes- count how many lamps Montana turns off, it's a fun game. The acting is porn-standard, and the music is laughable, pieces ending and others beginning in the middle of scenes. The film is narrated by Margo and Montana, badly, and I can't remember when even that was dropped before a final coda at the end of the film. The director, Anthony Spinelli, was the brother of mainstream actor Jack Weston. I can only imagine some of their conversations around the dinner table at Thanksgiving- "I just appeared in 'The Four Seasons' with Alan Alda", "Wow, I just directed 'Between the Sheets' with Seka". Some of Spinelli's shots are interesting, and the sex scenes don't follow the tried-and-true formula, teasing the audience. A lesbian scene between Margo and actress Desiree West never goes beyond softcore, making the viewer ask why it was cut. All in all, "Expectations" is just what you might expect from a pornographic film as the cusp of the video age. They don't make them like this anymore, and that might be a good thing.

Life Swap

[Nodriesrespect · 8/10 · 10 December 2010]

Trust adult's most accomplished "auteur", the late great "Anthony Spinelli" a/k/a Sam Weston (né Samuel Weinstein and brother of beloved comedian Jack), to point out the pitfalls in a hypothetical only-in-the-movies situation mainstream traditionally mines for laughs : two people from very different walks of life switching places willingly or otherwise. Call this a carnal cautionary tale if you will, pausing to reflect on the potential downside to an arrangement few if any among us are unlikely to encounter in real life. Historically, EXPECTATIONS slots nicely into the slew of modestly mounted chamber piece sex dramas, focused on a mere handful of expertly explored characters, Sam shot throughout the '70s. These saw him resorting to pseudonyms like "Leonard Burke" on THE FIRST TIME and CONFESSIONS OF A WOMAN or "Wes Brown" on the one two knockout sucker punch of PORTRAIT OF SEDUCTION and THE SEDUCTION OF LYN CARTER. Here, he's "Arvid Beller" and taking an apparently retrograde step although he had already hit the proverbial big time with the comparatively more lavish likes of EASY and SEX WORLD. The latter provided the genesis for this laudable little sleeper by the way, as the director had been so impressed with alluring amazon Cris Cassidy ("Suzette Holland" at the time) - briefly appearing as Annette Haven's leaving lover - that he rushed to come up with a star vehicle for the actress.

Splitting leading lady duties, Cassidy's free lovin' hippie chick Montana to demure Delania Raffino's slumming socialite Margo, disillusioned since divorce put an end to her sexually frustrating marriage as she confides in a letter to unseen best friend Lyn, Carter perhaps, instigating an intriguing link between Weston's miniature scale psychological potboilers. An ad in the classifieds throws the women together but who will come out the worse for wear ? Margo as Montana has to contend with her alter ego's steady stream of casual sex partners who are never more than a phone call away, her favorite bit o'rough Joey Donovan (Joey Silvera) turning up unannounced as menace melts into liquid lust. On the other hand, Montana as Margo seems to have drawn the short straw when faced with Margo's psycho bro' Vincent, another stellar turn from the ever dependable Jack Wright. At the risk of short-circuiting the whole set-up, Montana throws him for a loop by coming on to him completely in character as his sister, prefiguring the sort of sublimated incest fantasy Sam would further explore in HOTLINE and VISTA VALLEY PTA. Montana's innate skill at adapting herself to unforeseen circumstances mark her out as the puppeteer in the women's symbiotic relationship, cruelly calling on Margo to inform her that she has just bedded her brother ! Understandably distraught, Margo turns up on her doorstep to call of the game, only to have the door slammed in her face. Realizing she has lost a battle unknowingly entered into, Margo submits to Montana's every whim, receiving a Sapphic introduction at the experienced hands of gal pal Jenny, portrayed with customary casual elegance by gorgeous black actress Desiree West, to pave the way for Montana's vampirically draining her of the last vestiges of resistance and free will at film's haunting climax. Interpreted either literally or metaphorically, the major downer outcome remains the same.

Anticipating the couples film phenomenon at a time when porn was still primarily occupied with the hydraulics of male sexual performance, the customary cum shot testifying as "evidence" of documented "reality", EXPECTATIONS exhaustively pays heed to its far more elusive counterpart in female erotic pleasure, all but invisible to the naked eye. Movie opens on one of the most sensuous scenes ever recorded in adult as Margo's made love to by an unnamed man (stalwart Blair Harris) who's perhaps emblematic of all men - presumably not her ex-husband with whom she never attained connubial bliss as she informs Lyn in voice-over - as discreetly employed optical tricks alert audiences to the assumed imaginary nature of the encounter. Even Silvera's (initial) aggressive nastiness only serves as a Trojan horse to enforce Margo to accept those pleasurable physical sensations she has thus far for whatever reason denied herself. Shot by the same technical team Sam had on most of his few day wonders, their low key creativity shows a marked improvement over earlier collaborations, attesting to what had clearly become well-oiled production machinery by this stage of their mutual acquaintance.

As befits the industry's consummate actor's director, the uniformly excellent six person cast proves the movie's trump card. Cassidy compensates for the occasional shaky line reading with a voracious sexuality that would serve her well throughout an on again, off again career that would grow to span two decades. As a trivia note, still looking for an alias that would stick, she was billed under her character name here of "Montana" on her subsequent big breakthrough in Bob Chinn's CANDY STRIPERS. Credited as "Barbara Bills" on at least half of a dozen or so performances, smoldering dark-haired beauty Delania Raffino remains something of a mystery whose disinterest in the pursuit of carnal cinematic greatness can be the sole explanation of her status as industry footnote instead of icon. A personable presence in both Alex de Renzy's minor SUMMER HEAT and Charles De Santos's baffling EXTREME CLOSE-UP, she rarely attained the heights of audience empathy she did under Spinelli's patient tutelage. Character actor Jack Wright did most of his limited yet distinguished adult work for Sam, with the occasional sidestep for Alan B. Colberg on ONE WAY AT A TIME and NAKED AFTERNOON, and was rumored to abstain from any "active" involvement. Though he definitely did perform with Jesie St. James in EASY, fragmented editing suggests that he probably was "stunt cocked" on this occasion.

Be careful what you wish for

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 19 March 2014]

Wealthy socialite Margo (luscious slender brunette Delania Raffino) yearns for a change of pace in her life following a divorce. Bored and unhappy, Margo decides to swap lives with free-spirited swinger Montana (voluptuous blonde looker Chris Cassidy). However, things ultimately don't go as planned after Montana becomes involved with Margo's creepy brother Vincent (ably played to the deliciously slimy hilt by Jack Wright). Director Anthony Spinelli has fun presenting the radically clashing lifestyles of the two extremely different women and does an ace job of crafting an intoxicatingly sensual atmosphere in which the distinction between what's genuine and imagined gets blurred in an intriguing manner. Both female leads do sterling work in their meaty roles; they receive sturdy support from Wright, Joey Silvera as the dominant and aggressive Joey Donovan, and Desiree West as the foxy Jenny. Moreover, the sex scenes are quite explicit and arousing, with an interracial coupling between West and Raffino rating as the definite scorching highlight. A quasi-incest subplot adds extra kinky sizzle while the bold conclusion suggests that Montana might really be an imaginary product of Margo's repressed and frustrated id. The lush cinematography and neatly varied score further enhance the overall mood of dreamy eroticism. Worth a watch.