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Wednesday, February 3, 2010

THE STUDENT NURSES

THE STUDENT NURSES (1970)
Written & Directed by Stephanie Rothman
Review by Anne Heller

When times are bad, the most economical way to enjoy oneself (other than masturbation) is to head down to the neighborhood independent video store and check out a gem from the past. Luckily, Austin has the two best independent video store chains in Texas (if not the United States) – Vulcan Video and I Luv Video, both with interesting and extensive collections. From the DVD racks at Vulcan Video South, one can rent ‘70’s liberated sexploitation classic THE STUDENT NURSES, written and directed by the first woman to be awarded the Director’s Guild of America fellowship, Stephanie Rothman. She started working for legendary low-budget filmmaker/producer Roger Corman in the late ‘60’s doing second unit work at AIP and New World Studios.
Screened on 35mm as part of the Alamo Drafthouse’s Weird Wednesday series in May, THE STUDENT NURSES (1970) is not a typical sexploitation movie. Sure, the nudity and sexual openness is there, but it’s not all for laughs. Stephanie Rothman scripted a socially compelling, well-written tits & ass movie which confronts the topics of racism, socio-economic inequalities, rape, abortion, medical ethics, public health issues, human rights, the Vietnam war, free love, LSD and drug experimentation.
Four sexy college roommates are taking their nursing internships at the same time. Sharon (Elaine Giftos) is assigned to the terminal care ward, Lynn (Brioni Farrell) to public health administration, Priscilla (Barbara Leigh) to gynecology and Phred (Karen Carlson) to psychiatry. Lynn falls for a local leader of La Raza Latino resistance movement and starts a health clinic in the barrio. Sharon falls in love with her patient, a brooding young poet with cystic fibrosis to whom she teaches the ways of sexual fulfillment. Priscilla has an affair with a rogue pharmacist and gets pregnant from their shared acid trip on the beach. Phred encounters her own psychiatric difficulties when she vehemently opposes the abortion her gynecologist lover gives Priscilla in their apartment bedroom. These four beauties have ample opportunities to disrobe and fornicate, of which they take advantage, much to the delight of male viewers. These are liberated women at the height of the sexual revolution, after all, and are as intelligent as they are horny and beautiful.
The action quotient is quite high as well. There’s a very bloody gunfight at the resistance movement headquarters in which two policemen are shot and killed and several members of the group are badly hurt. An anti-(Vietnam) war protest consisting of spookily-dressed young people of all races painted like skeletons becomes violent, with cops beating protesters. The trip sequence on the beach consists of confusing sensory and memory montages with hyper-sensual overtones.
In short, THE STUDENT NURSES is a thoughtful and compelling reflection of the times, expressed through real women’s perspectives. But, it’s still fun and titillating, despite its sobering treatment of subject matter.
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