Radley Metzger
Encyclopedia
Radley Metzger is an American
filmmaker and distributor. He is also credited under the pseudonym
Henry Paris, a name he adopted in the 1970s when he began to direct hardcore pornography.
Metzger was born in New York City
. In his early career, he worked primarily as a film editor employed in cutting trailers for European art films. His directorial debut, Dark Odyssey (1958) did poorly at the box office, however was well received by some critics. He cites John Farrow
, Michael Powell
and Orson Welles
as influencing his work. His films have had scores written by composers including Piero Piccioni
, Georges Auric
, Georges Delerue
and Stelvio Cipriani
.
Along with Ava Leighton, he founded Audubon Films in the early 1960s, a film distribution company that specialized in importing European features to exploit in the gradually expanding sexploitation
film market. Metzger's skills as an editor were employed in re-cutting and augmenting many of the features Audubon handled, including I Spit on Your Grave
and I, a Woman. Metzger's second significant directorial effort, The Dirty Girls was released in 1965. The company's first run-away success was Mac Ahlberg's I, a Woman (U. S. 1966).
As an auteur, Metzger is considered to be among the more stylish
directors of the sexploitation
and porno chic eras. He often shot films in Europe, and collaborated a number of times with cinematographer
Hans Jura
. Several of his films were adopted from novels or other literary sources, including La Dame aux Camellias, Carmen
, Pygmalion
, Therese and Isabelle, Naked Came the Stranger
, and The Cat and the Canary
.
As "Henry Paris," Metzger is also respected for a handful of explicit pornographic features typified by high production values, especially The Opening of Misty Beethoven
(1975) and The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann (1975). The five films he made as Henry Paris were all made as both softcore and hardcore
versions. Score
and The Punishment of Anne were released in both soft and semi-hardcore versions in an attempt to reach a mainstream audience.
Metzger retired from filmmaking in 1984.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
filmmaker and distributor. He is also credited under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Henry Paris, a name he adopted in the 1970s when he began to direct hardcore pornography.
Metzger was born in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. In his early career, he worked primarily as a film editor employed in cutting trailers for European art films. His directorial debut, Dark Odyssey (1958) did poorly at the box office, however was well received by some critics. He cites John Farrow
John Farrow
John Villiers Farrow, CBE was an Australian, later American, film director, producer and screenwriter. In 1957 he won the Academy Award for Best Writing / Best Screenplay for Around the World in Eighty Days and in 1942 he was nominated as Best Director for Wake Island.-Life and career:Farrow was...
, Michael Powell
Michael Powell (director)
Michael Latham Powell was a renowned English film director, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger...
and Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
as influencing his work. His films have had scores written by composers including Piero Piccioni
Piero Piccioni
Piero Piccioni , was an Italian lawyer turned major film score composer. A pianist, organist, conductor, composer, he was also the prolific author of more than 200 film soundtracks.-Early life:...
, Georges Auric
Georges Auric
Georges Auric was a French composer, born in Lodève, Hérault. He was a child prodigy and at age 15 he had his first compositions published. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Georges Caussade, and under the composer Vincent d'Indy at the Schola Cantorum...
, Georges Delerue
Georges Delerue
Georges Delerue , was a French film composer who composed over 350 scores for cinema and television. He won numerous important awards including Rome Prize , Emmy Award , Genie Award , ACE Award and Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1979 for A...
and Stelvio Cipriani
Stelvio Cipriani
Stelvio Cipriani born 20 August 1937 in Rome is an Italian composer, notably for motion picture soundtracks.Though not coming from a musical background, as a child Cipriani was fascinated by his church's organ. His priest gave him his first music lessons and encouraged Cipriani and his family...
.
Along with Ava Leighton, he founded Audubon Films in the early 1960s, a film distribution company that specialized in importing European features to exploit in the gradually expanding sexploitation
Sexploitation
Sexploitation, or "sex-exploitation", describes a class of independently produced, low-budget feature films generally associated with the 1960s and serving largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit sexual situations and gratuitous nudity. The genre is a subgenre of exploitation films...
film market. Metzger's skills as an editor were employed in re-cutting and augmenting many of the features Audubon handled, including I Spit on Your Grave
I Spit On Your Grave
Day of the Woman is a 1978 controversial rape revenge film. The film received a limited release, with a wider release in 1980. Prominent film critics condemned the film for its graphic violence and lengthy depictions of gang rape, and the motion picture remains controversial to this day...
and I, a Woman. Metzger's second significant directorial effort, The Dirty Girls was released in 1965. The company's first run-away success was Mac Ahlberg's I, a Woman (U. S. 1966).
As an auteur, Metzger is considered to be among the more stylish
Stylish
Stylish is a free Mozilla extension that allows for the manipulation of web pages and XUL application user interfaces through the use of Cascading Style Sheets. These custom "user styles" are created by the user, or installed from an external archive like...
directors of the sexploitation
Sexploitation
Sexploitation, or "sex-exploitation", describes a class of independently produced, low-budget feature films generally associated with the 1960s and serving largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit sexual situations and gratuitous nudity. The genre is a subgenre of exploitation films...
and porno chic eras. He often shot films in Europe, and collaborated a number of times with cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
Hans Jura
Hans Jura
Hans Jura was an Austrian cinematographer, most famous for his collaborations with erotic film director Radley Metzger....
. Several of his films were adopted from novels or other literary sources, including La Dame aux Camellias, Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
, Pygmalion
Pygmalion (play)
Pygmalion: A Romance in Five Acts is a play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Professor of phonetics Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of...
, Therese and Isabelle, Naked Came the Stranger
Naked Came the Stranger
Naked Came the Stranger is a 1969 novel written as a literary hoax poking fun at contemporary American culture. Though credited to "Penelope Ashe", it was in fact written by a group of twenty-four prominent journalists led by Newsday columnist Mike McGrady...
, and The Cat and the Canary
The Cat and the Canary
The Cat and the Canary is a stage play by John Willard, adapted at least four times into feature films, in 1927, 1930, 1939, and again in 1979.Willard's stage play opened on February 7, 1922 in New York City.-Plot:...
.
As "Henry Paris," Metzger is also respected for a handful of explicit pornographic features typified by high production values, especially The Opening of Misty Beethoven
The Opening of Misty Beethoven
The Opening of Misty Beethoven is an American hardcore pornography film released in 1976. Produced with a relatively high budget and filmed on elaborate locations in Paris , New York City , and Rome , with a musical score, it owes much to its fastidious director Radley Metzger .-Premise:In a...
(1975) and The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann (1975). The five films he made as Henry Paris were all made as both softcore and hardcore
Hardcore pornography
Hardcore pornography is a form of pornography that features explicit sexual acts. The term was coined in the second half of the 20th century to distinguish it from softcore pornography. It usually takes the form of photographs, often displayed in magazines or on the Internet, or films. It can also...
versions. Score
Score (film)
Score is the name of a sexploitation film directed by Radley Metzger that was one of the first films to explore bisexual relationships. It was part of the brief porn chic fad in the early 1970s that also included The Devil in Miss Jones and Deep Throat...
and The Punishment of Anne were released in both soft and semi-hardcore versions in an attempt to reach a mainstream audience.
Metzger retired from filmmaking in 1984.
Selected filmography
- The Dirty Girls (1965)
- The Alley Cats (1966)
- Carmen, Baby (1967)
- Thérèse and Isabelle (1968)
- Camille 2000Camille 2000Camille 2000 is a 1969 Italian language film based on the 1852 novel and play La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils. It was adapted by Michael DeForrest and directed by Radley Metzger. It stars Danièle Gaubert and Nino Castelnuovo with Eleonora Rossi Drago and Massimo Serato. The film...
(1969) - The Lickerish QuartetThe Lickerish QuartetThe Lickerish Quartet is a 1970 drama film produced and directed by Radley Metzger. The film was written by Metzger and Michael DeForrest. This was the last non-explicit sex film directed by Metzger.- Plot :...
(1970) - ScoreScore (film)Score is the name of a sexploitation film directed by Radley Metzger that was one of the first films to explore bisexual relationships. It was part of the brief porn chic fad in the early 1970s that also included The Devil in Miss Jones and Deep Throat...
(1972) - Naked Came the StrangerNaked Came the StrangerNaked Came the Stranger is a 1969 novel written as a literary hoax poking fun at contemporary American culture. Though credited to "Penelope Ashe", it was in fact written by a group of twenty-four prominent journalists led by Newsday columnist Mike McGrady...
(1975) - The Opening of Misty BeethovenThe Opening of Misty BeethovenThe Opening of Misty Beethoven is an American hardcore pornography film released in 1976. Produced with a relatively high budget and filmed on elaborate locations in Paris , New York City , and Rome , with a musical score, it owes much to its fastidious director Radley Metzger .-Premise:In a...
(1975) - The Image (1975)
- The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann (1975)
- Barbara Broadcast (1977)
- The Cat and the CanaryThe Cat and the Canary (1979 film)The Cat and the Canary is a film released in 1979. It is an adaptation of John Willard's 1922 black comedy play of the same name. The play has previously been filmed several times, the first being a 1927 silent film version.- Plot synopsis :...
(1979)
Awards
In 1976 The Opening of Misty Beethoven won the first Award of the Adult Film Association of America (AVN Award) in the categories Best Director (as Henry Paris), Best Film and Best Actor (Jamie Gillis). In 2002 the production won Best Classic Release on DVD.External links
- Dreams of desire - The Films of Radley Metzger by Nathaniel Thompson. Mondo-digital film magazine. Last retrieved June 6, 2007.
- Detailed Info on Work and Life (German)
- Gary Morris, Thoughts on Radley Metzger, May 1998 issue of Bright Lights film journal, Retrieved June 6, 2007
- Aaron Hillis, 2010 podcast interview with Radley Metzger, GreenCine Daily