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Review: The Budding of Brie (1980)




Tags: Henri PachardRon Sullivanvintage porngolden ageHillary SummersJennifer JordanLaurien DominiqueKandi Barbour


Brie Livingston (a sensational Hillary Summers, in perhaps the best performance of her distinguished career) plays the clumsy waitress at “Eileen’s,” a trendy Manhattan hangout where A-listers hang out. Brie seizes the opportunity to get close to long-suffering agent Ira Daniels (Robert “Bolla” Kerman) when temperamental star Diana Farnsworth (Jennifer Jordan, doing an effective Bette Davis impression) storms out. It turns out that Diana, a faded screen diva, is worried about playing a role she’s clearly too old for (a showgirl who’d rather join troops overseas than entertain them). Then Brie shows up, intending to be his personal assistant, and skillfully manages to win the sympathy of Farnsworth’s entourage, using sex and blackmail to achieve her goal. “The Budding of Brie” is an adult reimagining of Joseph Leo Mankiewicz’s classic, “All About Eve” (1950), and has always had a reputation for being “overproduced,” meaning that the production value (costumes, props, locations, etc.) completely overwhelms the sex. When evaluating the erotic content, it’s almost impossible to disagree with this assessment. With a few exceptions, the sex scenes seem rushed and lack the spark that director Ron Sullivan (Henri Pachard) brought to other projects of the same era. Perhaps that’s why it’s so great to see such a sumptuous adult film, one that could compete with its Hollywood counterparts.