IS IT PORN? (reviews and discussions of films about which you're just not sure)

[M.10rda]

FORBIDDEN DAUGHTERS (1927):
Now here's an old-timey movie title that sounds naughty and actually is naughty! Within moments I thought to myself, "Say, is this Porn?" and even though it ultimately isn't Porn (no actual sex, softcore or otherwise) it probably came close enough to fitting the bill in 1927!

Alva, the American wife of an anthropologist (?), somehow learns that he has become the sex slave of "Princess Lona", so she travels to Africa to rescue him. Her grasp on geography might be shaky though because she seems to end up in the Far or possibly Middle East, where she infiltrates the harem (of an unseen Sheik or something) which is populated mostly by black women but also a few extremely Anglo (even Celtic!) looking women. Eventually Alva walks in on Princess Lona (who doesn't look African) dancing for Mister Alva and the film feels like it should climax but really it just ends abruptly. It's only 13 minutes long and feels truncated/incomplete, but maybe it was never even finished by mysterious director "Albert Arthur Allen". Say, wasn't "Arthur Allen" the prime suspect in the Zodiac Murders? 

I will say this for the plotless and nearly action-less FORBIDDEN DAUGHTERS - the ladies are pretty (and all are topless)! I have no idea where (if anywhere) FORBIDDEN DAUGHTERS screened in the 20s but I assume the target audience was gentlemen's clubs/bachelor parties/etc. On the down side, all of the black women look really depressed  which makes me think a little bit too much about the actual working conditions and material realities of these performers. However/on the upside again, the two pale-skinned curvaceous redheads in the harem look happy, healthy, extremely modern, and crazy smokin' hot.       Well, this is quasi-pron, after all.    2/5

[Dr. Whom]

FORBIDDEN DAUGHTERS (1927):
Now here's an old-timey movie title that sounds naughty and actually is naughty! Within moments I thought to myself, "Say, is this Porn?" and even though it ultimately isn't Porn (no actual sex, softcore or otherwise) it probably came close enough to fitting the bill in 1927!

Alva, the American wife of an anthropologist (?), somehow learns that he has become the sex slave of "Princess Lona", so she travels to Africa to rescue him. Her grasp on geography might be shaky though because she seems to end up in the Far or possibly Middle East, where she infiltrates the harem (of an unseen Sheik or something) which is populated mostly by black women but also a few extremely Anglo (even Celtic!) looking women. Eventually Alva walks in on Princess Lona (who doesn't look African) dancing for Mister Alva and the film feels like it should climax but really it just ends abruptly. It's only 13 minutes long and feels truncated/incomplete, but maybe it was never even finished by mysterious director "Albert Arthur Allen". Say, wasn't "Arthur Allen" the prime suspect in the Zodiac Murders? 

I will say this for the plotless and nearly action-less FORBIDDEN DAUGHTERS - the ladies are pretty (and all are topless)! I have no idea where (if anywhere) FORBIDDEN DAUGHTERS screened in the 20s but I assume the target audience was gentlemen's clubs/bachelor parties/etc. On the down side, all of the black women look really depressed  which makes me think a little bit too much about the actual working conditions and material realities of these performers. However/on the upside again, the two pale-skinned curvaceous redheads in the harem look happy, healthy, extremely modern, and crazy smokin' hot.       Well, this is quasi-pron, after all.    2/5

Albert Arthur Allen is quite well known as a art nude photographer in the 20s. I had no idea he dabbled in movies

[Dr. Whom]

Claude et Greta (1970)

This is an early movie by Max Pécas, who is quite an institution in French popular culture. He has been called 'le roi des navets'. Now the closest equivalent of 'navet' (turnip) in films terms would be turkey (according to Grok). Navet is a bit broader though, as it also includes completely uninspired by the numbers movies, aimed at the lowest common denominator, ie as bland and insipid as a turnip.

Pécas started out with erotica in the 60s and early 70s, but got overtaken by the liberalisation of censorship (which famously allowed Emmanuelle to be released). He then pivoted to raunchy comedies with a cunning blend of broad humour and naked girls, for which he is mostly known now.

The story, such as it is, is of Greta, a young Swedish art student arriving in Paris, who is taken under the wing of the older lesbian Claude. She then goes to model for Mathias, an older gay painter and his protégé Jean. Eventually Jean and Greta fall in love and run away.
This is what is known as a 'film de charme', so there are but a few actual sex scenes, and these are veiled (literally, they are shot through a transparent curtain). The movie mainly exists to show off the very pretty Astrid Frank, playing Greta, who gets undressed about every ten minutes.