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A fascinating look at early French porn, featuring an inventive, amusing and frequently surprising collection of films. You may want to look away when the dog shows up, though.

The French, eh? They’re a funny lot, aren’t they? Have you ever sat down and thought, “Hey! I wonder what French porn was like back in the 1920s?” You have? Then this is the film for you.

Be advised, however, this is ACTUAL porn – none of that namby-pamby late-night Channel 5 rubbish. In fact, The Other Cinema has had to set up a Naughty Movies Club (or whatever they’re actually calling it) just for you to be able to see it without being arrested.

Selection Of Vintage Filth

The film itself is comprised of a selection of 11 one-reelers, apparently taken from a collection of over 300 that were discovered in the attic of “a very respectable family”. (It’s always the quiet ones, n’est-ce pas?) Some are funny (particularly the final cartoon), some are genuinely shocking and some are, well, some of them are actually rather good.

At any rate, two things stand out: first, that production values were impressively high, and second, that the modern day porn industry doesn’t seem to have invented anything at all, as it’s all here in, well, in black and white. A curiosity, but a worthwhile one. (Now, if we can only persuade The Other Cinema to show cult porn classic Thundercrack!, we’ll be laughing).