Part 1: The Scene

Radley Metzger, one of the foremost directors of elegant erotica during the Golden Age of American pornography, wanted to go straight. It was 1979 and he had been working in both soft and hardcore pornography for over ten years. His brand was known for its high production values, witty banter, and literate influences—all things that were quickly going out of style. Maybe sensing the oncoming home video revolution—which would move pornography from theaters to living rooms, simultaneously slashing the budgets for these productions in favor of quick and dirty releases to satisfy the raincoat-turned-brown paper bag brigade—he wanted out. 

His first and last major attempt at the mainstream was a big budget remake of the classic murder mystery, The Cat and the Canary. It wasn’t the life and career changing success he had hoped, and no one from Hollywood seemed eager to give him money for another non-porno picture. A hard lesson learned: it’s difficult for even the most talented of pornographers to break through to the mainstream. Dejected, and still clinging to the hope of getting another opportunity at mainstream filmmaking, Metzger turned down hardcore scripts for as long as he could. Until he couldn’t any longer. In the late 70s, hardcore was still a lucrative industry, and Metzger was lured back by big bucks, the promise of creative freedom, and most importantly, the assurance that his name would be kept out of the credits. The result is the Dominique Saint Claire-starring, Gérard Kikoïne-directed?, French produced, but shot-in-America, The Tale of Tiffany Lust.

Part 2: The Tale of Tiffany Lust

“Did you ever suspect what evil thoughts lurk in the hearts of housewives?”

For a long time, there were rumors and innuendo about who actually directed The Tale of Tiffany Lust. New information has shed light on the film, clarifying that Metzger was definitely involved, more so than many originally believed. In recent interviews, French director Gérard Kikoïne has filled in many blanks about the mysterious production. Kikoïne is adamant that it was a co-production, with Metzger mostly handling the New York City location scouting and the American actors, while he was in charge of the shooting script. Kikoïne remembers the film being shot in about 10 days with a budget of $60-70,000, and everything was shot in existing locations, no studios, which gives the film that classic Golden Age visual charm.

Regardless of the co-director credit, if you’ve seen the work of either Kikoïne or Metzger, it’s obvious that Tiffany Lust (and it’s follow-up, Aphrodesia’s Diary) lean more toward the latter in terms of visual style, with Metzger’s trademark regal interior design, clever brand of ribald humor, and his favorite kind of sex—public (radio hall, bar, sauna). It also features his favorite time-filler between love scenes: vignettes of our lead character walking around New York City set to sunny pop music (a certain jaunty tune is played to death).

Dominique Saint Claire might be the nominal star of The Tale of Tiffany Lust (word is that Brigitte Lahaie, the brightest star of French erotica, was the original choice, but she was dropped in favor of Saint Claire, probably due to money), but the supporting cast is where the film’s real power lies: Vanessa Del Rio plays a sex therapist; Desiree Cousteau, a rum and coke sipping nymphomaniacal bar girl; Samantha Fox, hot in the sauna; Veronica Hart, a lazy call girl; and Ron Jeremy, Guest #9. To anyone familiar with Golden Age porno, these were all household names. This was a production that had relatively deep pockets, and it’s evident in the sets, the writing, and the star-studded cast.

But we’re here for the story, right? Saint Claire, billed as “Arlene Manhattan,” plays an unnamed, bored housewife who is tired of saying “welcome home, pumpkin” and listening to her Wall Street Journal reading husband annoyingly clink his coffee cup with his spoon (not a euphemism). So, she leaves him a letter explaining her need for new experiences and sexual freedom (a common 70s theme) and walks out the door (with no panties on) in search of them. The film takes place entirely over the course of one day, with Saint Claire’s housewife visiting sex therapist Del Rio, who laughs her off the stage of her live radio show and encourages her to free her mind and body. Her first assignment? Banging the next random dude she comes across. Challenge accepted.

It’s a journey of self discovery that ultimately leads the housewife back to the safety of home, but in typical Metzger style, he’s non-judgmental about her conservative decision to return to the safe arms of her home and husband in the end. He applies the same non-judgmental attitude toward all the other characters we see in the brief vignettes. Get your rocks off in your own way, he says, just keep it fun and consensual. That’s the Radley Metzger motto.

Part 3: Aphrodesia’s Diary

“I’m sure what I did wasn’t very professional, but it was very pleasurable.”

For Radley Metzger, the money was still good, and Hollywood was still not ringing his line, so why not follow-up on the modest success of The Tale of Tiffany Lust with another film, featuring much of the same cast and crew. That film was Aphrodesia’s Diary, released in 1983, but most likely shot consecutively with Tiffany Lust in 1979. Metzger, holding out hope for that big break, still wasn’t willing to put his name on the final product, but he brings his usual chic style for a much softer take on the similar story of naivety and new experience. No longer a housewife, Dominique Saint Claire plays a little girl from the country ready to come-of-age (another common 70s theme). It’s an Emmanuelle adjacent film, in that the lead character is French, she sits in a wicker chair, and she keeps an erotic journal. Everything else is pure Metzger.

Initially, it’s a film within a film, as the beautiful Parisian Adrianne (Saint Claire) finds herself working as an extra in adult movies. She’s paid for her work (playing a non-performing nurse in a fellatio scene) with an airline ticket to New York City, where she finds herself lost, looking for a job and needing a place to sleep. She meets a handsome card shark named Jeff (played by Kevin James; no, not that Kevin James) and well, you know. 

Swelling orchestration and soft-lensed love scenes make this easily one of Radley Metzger’s most traditionally beautiful films. That is until Ron Jeremy shows up and says, “You want to kiss my charismatic chest” (for the record, Ron Jeremy is a terrible person on and off-screen and seeing him pop up so often in the Golden Age is one of those things you just have to put up with). Adrianne has laryngitis so she can’t say yes or no to this demand. It’s a strange scene.

Anyway, Vanessa Del Rio plays a sex therapist again. Desiree Cousteau is a “powerfully attractive woman” that appears in sex dreams. And at the end, Adrianne moves back to Paris, gets a job as a waitress “and begins to lead a much more quiet life.” She returns to her first lover, and seemingly has a monogamous, fulfilling, sex life. Good for her! Appropriately, sweetly heroic music plays over the end credits as the final chapter in one of the decade’s most fascinating and groundbreaking directors comes to a bittersweet close.

Credit to Mélusine for the screenshots from Tiffany Lust and Gérard Kikoïne for the super 8 footage. You can purchase The Tale of Tiffany Lust in all its restored, UHD glory from Mélusine.