I believe that your enjoyment of "Barbara" will depend on your expectations of the film. Often referred to as a "lost exploitation film," "Barbara" is a subversive, taboo-laden, sexually-fluid experimental underground film that is sure to disappoint T&A fans. Sadly, this doesn't necessarily mean it's all that great.
After Leslie (Nancy Boyle) and Tom (Robert McLane) make love on a beach, they are happened upon by Max (Jack Rader) who proceeds to have sex with the post-coital couple. The trio meet Max's other partner, Barbara (Barbara) and they start exploring their sexuality in explicit ways and recruit others into their sexual freedom commune/cult.
A simple plot summary might have brought an unsuspecting public into the theaters but "Barbara" is a little more cerebral than that. I thought Max came off as Manson-like, pulling in followers on the flimiest of possessions: he lives on a Fire Island beach- in a tent, he breaks up a monogamous couple by encouraging their explorations with others (and himself), provides all the brown rice and zucchini they can eat, and all the marijuana they can smoke. The film breaks some taboos that would be shocking to today's internet brainwashed "modern" audiences. The film is a call-to-arms to complacent hippies who complain about the Vietnam War but do nothing about it, decades before the "online warrior" sharing memes and flags would become the minimum that a phone and computer user can do.
Despite the onscreen taboo subject matter of "liking" sexual assault, incest, and bestiality, the film makers couldn't bring themselves to portray an interracial coupling, which is very interesting. This is marketed as a comedy, but this isn't laugh-out-loud funny with the exception of Leslie's racism and Max's justifications and doublespeak. The final few minutes, when the growing group decides to start looking for "friends" to hook up with comes off as either a dire warning to the uptight Conservative, or a dig at the "open-minded" Liberal who believe themselves elite and educated, too intelligent to fall for Max's simple charms.
I didn't read the Frank Newman novel this was based on, it's hugely expensive online. Most of the cast appeared in one or two onscreen roles with the exception of Rader and McLane; maybe it's a good thing this was lost and didn't affect their careers (especially the prolific Rader). I would love to see then-and-now footage of the locations and hear from anyone who was involved in the film, if they are still around. "Barbara" is definitely memorable.
Stats:
(1970) 91 min. (* * *) out of five stars
-Directed by Walter Burns
-Screenplay by Josef Bush based on the novel by Frank Newman
-Cast: Jack Rader, Nancy Boyle, Robert McLane, Barbara, John Kuhner, Daniel Landau, Harold Jones, Melba LaRose Jr., Bill Haislip, Myron Ogelsby, Erika Freeman, Tequila Mockingbird, Will Gary
(Unrated, but I would equate this to an (NC-17) MPA rating)- Some physical violence, some sexual violence, some profanity, very explicit nudity, very explicit sexual content, strong sexual references, very strong adult situations, drug and alcohol use
