Metzger
"All you need to know about possibly the greatest adult film director of all time, a very thorough and well researched book."
Details
By Rob King
Radley Metzger was one of the foremost directors of adult film in America, with credits including softcore titles like The Lickerish Quartet and the hardcore classic The Opening of Misty Beethoven. After getting his start making arthouse trailers for Janus Films, Metzger would go on to become among the most feted directors of the “porno chic” era of the 1970s, working under the pseudonym Henry Paris. In the process, he produced a body of work that exposed the porous boundaries separating art cinema from adult film, softcore from hardcore, and good taste from bad.
Rob King uses Metzger’s work to explore what taste means and how it works, tracing the evolution of the adult film industry and the changing frontiers of cultural acceptability. Man of Taste spans Metzger’s entire life: his early years in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood, his attempt to bring arthouse aesthetics to adult film in the 1960s, his turn to pseudonymously directed hardcore movies in the 1970s, and his final years, which included making videos on homeopathic medicine. Metzger’s career, King argues, sheds light on how the distinction between the erotic and the pornographic is drawn, and it offers an uncanny reflection of the ways American film culture transformed during these decades.
Lavishly illustrated with rare photos and publicity images, this book paints a vivid picture of a filmmaker who channeled his artistic aspirations into some of the most disreputable movie genres of his day.
253 pages
6" x 9.5"
Overall rating: 4.888889 / 5 from 9 reviews.
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Review topics: ["book","career","film","metzger"].
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Reviews
Excellent
"The product is of the highest standard, it arrived well packaged and in pristine condition. Highly recommended."
Great
"A great book about an outstanding director. I only wished there were more color pictures."
Good overview of Radleys career
"Good book covering the director’s career and films. Worth adding to the library if you are interested in the behind the scenes stories."
Excellent book
"A great man behind some of the greatest films in the classic adult film genre. Quite academic in style, but I appreciate that. I'm still reading it and I expect I will enjoy it to the end. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the people behind the Classic-X films we love."
Finally a book that takes
"Finally a book that takes a closer look at the works of Radley Metzger. The focus of the Porno chic era is often on the films and not the filmmakers. This book makes an argument as to why Metzger can be considered the premier filmmaker of that era but also focuses on the dividing line between Metzger and the alter ego Henry Paris. The author, Bob King, defines why Metzger took up the name Henry Paris and the differences between the two names. If you are looking for a book that is more backstories and biographical anecdotes, this is not it. There is a focus on the Metzger's timeline of production but that timeline is framed through a critical studies lens. Here's to hoping that this book is a precursor to Mélusine releasing more of Metzger's films."
If you’re a Metzger fan, pick this up
"A solid overview of Radley Metzger’s career, from the arthouse/softcore films of the late 60s to his adult film work as Henry Paris. I would have liked more photos, but while more of a scholarly work, it’s still very readable."
My favorite director?
"An excellent overview in service of a fantastic career"
The joy of reading a book on Metzger
"The joy of reading a book on Metzger"