BlockbusterDID

Random Thoughts on a Passing Icon

2008-12-13T14:33:00.000-08:00

By now, of course, all who would be interested in this blog shall have heard: Betty Page passed away in Los Angeles, Thursday, December 11, 2008.

Betty is one reason, directly or indirectly, that those of us who believe and/or practice anything out of the "norm" are able to express ourselves.

She was a simple Southern girl, and in many ways didn't understand the effect she had by simply having other people take pictures of her.

But her effect was impossible to ignore.

Are you old enough (like me) to remember the old adult bondage booklets sold in adult bookstores? (Well, you'd have to be old enough to even remember adult bookstores, so if you don't, that lets you out immediately.) I was *ahem* underage in a large, northeastern U.S. city, in the late '70's, away from home for the first time in life, at college. I wandered into a somewhat seedy section of downtown, and came upon a little hole-in-the-wall bookstore next to the comic book shop that I had intended to visit. But, no way was I going to pass an adult bookstore without trying to get in.

I slipped past (I guess I slipped past him...or maybe he just didn't much care) a cigarette-smoking older guy in his mid-40's, who looked to be in his mid-'50's, and started browsing. I had no idea that Bondage even existed as a genre of adult porn, until...

There was Betty. It was the iconic photograph of her, tied to the 4 legs of an ottoman, looking in distress, and pleading for you to release her. She graced the cover of one of those old bondage "booklets", about the size of the cheap paperback detective novels of the day.

And, inside -- in those days, customers could actually browse the inside of a magazine, before you had to buy it -- inside, there was page after page of a pretty girl in old-fashioned undies, being tied and gagged, or tying and gagging, other pretty girls in old-fashioned undies. PAGES of the stuff!

I had no idea that anyone could collect this stuff. I had no idea that anyone had produced it,...for PUBLIC consumption. I couldn't imagine a prettier, more sensual looking woman representing my own sexual desires than this black-haired girl in the black-and-white photographs...

After about an hour, the chain-smoking guy asked me if I was gonna buy it, or if I was just gonna keep "pitchin' a tent" over there in the corner. Truthfully, I wish I'd had the balls to spend the $4.00 it would have taken to have Betty Page in my personal collection, right now.

I had to research this woman, after seeing her for the first time in my favorite pose. Talk about a full adulthood: Hollywood starlet, Playboy mansion with Hef, the (in)famous Klaw studios ... but it wasn't always sweetness and light. There were arrests, harassment, land, later in life, mental instability and seclusion. You think we consume our celebrities and spit them out at our leisure these days? Well, Betty suffered some of that same stuff, over 50 years ago.

And, for those of you who aren't old enough to know who she was and what the big deal is, yet, ... just Google her name. You'll have almost 9 MILLION hits to choose from, to get started on your own road to understanding.

Because, you see, Betty Page helped make it possible -- even if she didn't mean to do it -- for millions of people to grow more comfortable about what they like, and become more accepting of who they are. And in this era of "openness" and "true expressions", it is appropriate to remember:

Betty lived in a more suppressed environment, in a day when free expression could cost you your livelihood, your family, your friends, ... in a day when sex was never talked about, because "good girls didn't", and only lowly scum men would ask for it, ... in a day when "sexual preference" wasn't even conceived of, by right-thinking, decent people ... in a day when anything out of the ordinary was considered as perverted, subversive, and probably punishable with imprisonment,...

...and, in that time and place, Betty Page's free spirited innocence helped mark the trail for those of us who now take for granted the freedom to live our own damned lives the way we want to live them.

Betty Page was an important figure in that societal revolution.

She was not the only figure. She wasn't nearly the most important. She didn't even know what she was doing at the time, and may not (in her later life) even have approved of it.

But, Betty Page was a pioneer, nonetheless. And, she may be one of the most remembered pioneers of her day.

R.I.P, Betty Page.

---- TRU

Imagine That!

2008-12-10T00:09:00.000-08:00

Now, imagine this! I am now a ful-time blogger...and about my favorite subject! Damsels in distress...what a delightful game! Of course, it requires absolute trust between partners, earned first, then given. It requires an open mind. It requires shedding old stereotypes, and new ones, about the roles of men and women in our society. It requires maturity, stability, and level-headedness.

Aside from that (yeah? Is that all?), for those of you who are interested, ... go out and have fun! (P.S....make sure your partner knows, too....oh, yeah, that's sorta already been covered.)

There will be more to post, in the (hopefully) near future. But for now, let's just keep the old blog percolating, shall we?

--- TRU

Anyone still here?

2008-04-09T15:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry folks, new year got on top of me and neglected this place. Anyone still out there :)

Clip Update

2007-12-30T06:26:00.001-08:00

Three final clips for '07 posted over at Major Johns; Mario Bavo's classic giallo Sei donne per l'assassino (aka Blood and Black Lace), a nice scene from the late eighties Superboy series and a quickie for Jamie Lee Curits in the excellent Hitchcock-esque Road Games. Hope you all have a great new year!

More Doctor Who

2007-12-26T17:20:00.001-08:00

Well as i suspected the Xmas Day Special of Doctor Who sucked, even worse than last year's disaster. Speaking as a fan of the original series and to a degree a fan of the new incarnation, I do fear that this show will cave in under it's own weight of popularity. Change was inevitable, and in most cases the re-vamp has been successful, but by continuing to insist that Tennant runs round like John McClane pointing his screwdriver at things they are in real danger of blowing it. Time will tell...and speaking as a DiD fan too, BBC please note: Even Catherine Tate got a handgag last year, why not Kylie :)

To offer all you like-minded dissapointed fans a festive pick me up, I just clipped a previously lost scene featuring Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright; this is a follow up to a scene I recently posted over at Major Johns. Unfortunatly, most of the footage was lost or destroyed over the years and what is represented is put together using a combination of exisiting audio, video and on-set photos.

Doctor Who DiD Xmas Special

2007-12-21T15:19:00.000-08:00

To celebrate Christmas, and to coincide with the Xmas day Who special, which on a personal note I hope is a vast improvement on last years, i thought it was time to look back a little. After all, i doubt guest star Kylie Minogue will get the treatment...?

So for my weekly update on Major Johns I present you with 6 DiD installents from the adventures of the Timelord; 2 from the Hartnell Years, and 1 each from the era of Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy.

Just for fun, I've created a poll for all Who fans out there...feel free to vote. If I don't get a chance before, may i wish all readers a great xmas and a prosperous new year!

New clips

2007-12-19T15:30:00.000-08:00

Sorry bit late with this - but xmas has really snuck up on me this year. New clips up on my page over at Major Johns - should be there till Saturday, but anyone miss them, leave a note in the comments and I'll get them to you.

Think i'm due another update - anyone got any interesting shows/movies/actresses to discuss?

Clip Update

2007-12-07T15:12:00.000-08:00

New clips up at Major Johns. Minor scene in the above par horror flick, Haunted Forest - bad acting, but some nice photography and effects scenes compensate, if you ever care to check it out.

Finally got round to ripping some of my VHS collection and came across a scene in the Italian Giallo effort, La Morte ha fatto l'uovo, with the great English title of Death Laid an Egg - certainly an oddity for the genre and well worth catching if you get the chance.

Finally, a favourite of mine. Two delightful actresses ham it up in the fantastic Bond Parody OSS 117: Le Caries nid d'espions. Those of you who speak or understand French are going to get a buzz from the first scene in the clip!

The Best Avengers Girl

2007-12-07T14:25:00.000-08:00

The votes are in:

Cathy Gale 12%
Emma Peel 46%
Tara King 40%

The end result kind of summed up my own views; always was more partial to the scenes involving Thorson (i suspect because she wore a skirt much more!), but few could compete with the beauty of Diana Rigg. Not much more to say which the picture hasn't already :)

Thanks to all those readers who cast their vote.

New clips on Major Johns

2007-12-05T06:18:00.002-08:00

Click here

The Avengers

2007-11-29T03:25:00.000-08:00

Certainly a massive influence on me when it was repeated throughout the late 70s, The Avengers certainly embraced it's fetish influences in many great scenes.

But a question just for fun - in your view which of Steed's lovely lady sidekicks had the best scenes? Cast your vote in the poll to the right.

Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman)
1962-64

Emma Peel (Diana Rigg)
1965-67

Tara King (Linda Thorson)
1968-69

I haven't included Purdey as played by Joanna Lumley from The New Avengers as the show had little impact on me and suffered badly from poor scripting, and lots of wasted opportunites, the most ridiculous being an apple used as a gag!

Morgan Brittany

2007-11-26T04:04:00.000-08:00

It seems that since i started writing here a pattern has occured, mainly my thoughts on actresses who have never had the DiD scenes we all so wished for. Well here is another that plagues on my mind - Morgan Brittany.

With only a short tape gag scene in Glitter to her credit and a minor scene in Buck Rogers, she was wasted for years in Dallas as the scheming Katherine Wentworth. I'm sure the script writers could have had JR and the boys selling her to a oil tycoon had they really thought about it :)

Any other actresses any readers wish got the DiD treatment more, if at all?

New update on Major Johns

2007-11-26T03:38:00.000-08:00

Three new clips, two new and a classic as promised from the previously mentioned Land of the Giants.

Requests and comments are welcomed, anything you guys would like to see?

http://www.majorjohns.com/blockbuster.htm

Morgan Fairchild

2007-11-12T05:29:00.000-08:00

If you wanted to give an example of an 80's TV icon who personified the look and fashion of that era than you need look no further than Morgan Fairchild. Beautiful, sassy and criminally underused in the DiD stakes!

Despite full treatment scenes in Big Shamus, Little Shamus and in the TV movie Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady to her credit, we still all kind of feel cheated. The Shamus scene is part of a fake robbery so little by the way of true DiD, and the Sherlock Holmes scene is too short and not particularly well shot.

We all really thought it would come. but despite guest starring in numerous formula cop shows and made for tv thrillers (one even called Held for Ransom) and some potentially lurid video covers (see below), unfortunately nothing else transpired.

Big Shamus, Little Shamus - The Canary

Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady (1991)

Erin Gray - Silver Spoons Clip

2007-11-12T04:57:00.000-08:00

Result!

Here is the scene from Silver Spoons with Erin Gray as discussed in a previous post.

From the episode A Dark and Stormy Night, marginal for sure, but still worth checking out for fans of Erin.

Clip Update on Major Johns

2007-11-10T04:42:00.000-08:00

The ladies over at Major Johns are kindly hosting some of my clips, 3 currently ready for download and updated every Saturday. Requests welcomed.

Request - Land of the Giants

2007-11-08T14:34:00.000-08:00

Inspired by a reader's request, and perhaps a good time to look at this show as the sixities are clearly a favourite amongst you fellow DiD fans based on the current poll.

In my humble opinion, easily the best of Irwin Allen's 60's Sci-Fi efforts - quite possibly due to the presence of the stunning Deanna Lund in the role of Valerie. I don't recall any other damsel who during the course of a show was both tied to a chess piece and stuck to a table with cellotape!

Certainly most popular is the scene from the episode The Unsuspected in which she (and unfortunately a number of putzs) spent the majority of the episode in the ropes. That scene is to come when i get a chance to rip the Season 2 DVD, but for your entertainment i present you with a clip from the first season episode, The Lost Ones.

Here Deanna finds herself in trouble (no gags, but still a nice couple of scenes) with co-star Heather Young, who incidentally probably would have been a damsel too in The Unsuspected episode had it not been for the fact she spent much of Season 2 stood behind props to cover up her pregnancy. Damn Mother Nature!

I tried to post full clip via rapidshare, but seems to be struggling with files over 20MB for some reason today, so a preview clip of the main action is below. Good news is I have been kindly invited by Stephanie over at Major Johns to have my own page, so full clip will be posted there.

Mailing List

2007-11-07T07:14:00.000-08:00

Anyone wishing to be kept alert of new updates by email then please click here and leave your email address.

BBDID

...and while we're on Buck Rogers

2007-11-07T06:28:00.000-08:00

Erin Gray...few decent scenes, no gags during her time on Buck Rogers, but I bet few could deny the effect she had on many of us who grew up in the 70s/80s.

Some years later, The Fall Guy at least rewarded us with a scene, be it all too brief and not particulaly as expressive as we had all hoped.

If anyone is interested I have the episodes containing the scenes and will cap if demand is there. Click here if interested.

Brian's Page reports of her having a scene in the sitcom Silver Spoons - anyone seen it or own a copy? As the contributer of the post over on Brian's Page so elegantly puts it..."Overall the scene's marginal, BUT IT'S ERIN!!!".

Amen to that!

Feedback/Requests

2007-11-06T15:48:00.000-08:00

Please feel free to use the comments link to post discussion/requests on related themes and clip requests. Keen to make this a happy, active community.

Had some time on my hands last few days due to some time off work, so managed to post quite a bit, will probably aim for 2-3 times a week from now.

Also interested in setting up a 'team' her to maintain momentum and keep this place active. Anyone interested, or with requests/feedback, then click here.

Yours

BBDID

The Landers Sisters

2007-11-06T08:35:00.000-08:00

Couldn't agree more with the comment someone left that the Landers Sisters would have made "dynamite DID" - couldn't have put it better myself!

Lots of wasted opportunies, only records in Brian's database are both for Judy in Knight Rider and BJ and the Bear, both handgag only though. Does anyone have these scenes? If so, please click here to let me know.

In the meantime here are two such wasted opportunies (well at least to DID lovers) of the two of them in some GIFs i threw together, both guest starring in shows which did throw up the occasional scene.

Audrey in The Dukes of Hazzard

Judy in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

Women's Murder Club - New Clip

2007-11-05T11:59:00.000-08:00

To be or not too be...

Will Angie Harmon finally get a scene worthy of her in her latest series? Probably not, but we can all dream.

The last time i saw her as the DID was in the woeful Baywatch Nights, which to me has become a prime example of a wasted opportunity.

Her new show did throw up a fairly interesting scene (as well as a blink and you'll miss it one too). Download the clip from the episode Blind Dates and Bleeding Hearts here.

And remember folks - fingers crossed (and maybe toes too!)

Return to Savage Beach - Clip

2007-11-05T10:49:00.000-08:00

Andy Sidaris has made a career casting playboy models in big girls with big guns low budget flicks. None particularly any good, and very little by way of good DID action.

Return to Savage Beach isn't really an exception to the rule, all though it does at least feature a gag scene. A few of his Sidaris' other movies feature tie-ups, but with no gags. This one has the gag but with no tie-up. Go figure..

Either Sidaris just doesn't really like/understand the DID situation, or its to do with female empowerment; which judging by the portrayal of the ladies would be slightly ironic, which is shame as many of his films would lend themselves nicely to this subculture.

Judge for yourself. FYI the damsel is played by Carrie Westcott, Miss September 1993. Click here to download the clip.

Requested clip - an oldie but a goodie!

2007-11-05T06:08:00.000-08:00

Partners in Crime -Getting in Shape

Nice scene from a short lived show. But hey - any scene's a good on with Lynda Carter involved!

Be interesting to see who readers consider to be candiates if this show was ever re-imagined, complete with more damsel scenes of course! Still have my treatment for the second season when both Lynda and Loni stumble across a harem collector! :)

As sexy as Loni was, i always thought Audrey Landers would have been my ideal casting!

Anyhow, download the clip here. I did not cap this, so credit to AVI fan.

To get the ball rolling...

2007-11-04T11:03:00.001-08:00

Jekyll - Episode 3

The lovely Gina Bellman in a scene from the surprisingly innovative BBC series, brief but still very sexy!

http://www.rapidshare.com/files/67055352/Jekyll_-_Episode_3.wmv.html

Flash Gordon - Infestation

The jury is in and it's verdict is clear...the SCI-FI Channels series is dire. However, it did throw up this little scene, but you'll be screaming out at the camera man! Prediction - cancellation, lets just hope actress Gina Hoden who plays Dale gets a repeat DID scene like in Blood ties!

http://www.rapidshare.com/files/67071196/FlashGordon_Infestation.wmv.html

Spooks - Season 2, Episode 4

The latest episode of Spooks delivers a good old fashioned car trunk scene.

http://www.rapidshare.com/files/67070325/Spooks_S06E04.wmv.html