"10"

(October 1979, U.S.)

The year was 1979. I was twelve years-old, in the seventh grade, and my heterosexual hormones were beginning to rage! There was a new comedy in theaters by the same guy that made a bunch of those PINK PANTHER movies called "10" and it had this incredible new woman in it named Bo Derek who was supposed to be the hottest sex symbol since Farrah Fawcett-Majors! There were these iconic images of her on the beach dressed in a flimsy flesh-colored swimsuit, with a hairstyle dressed in cornrows, that were becoming all the rage in magazines and the world of entertainment. Images like this were telling me to get my young butt to the movie theater as quickly as possible...

As good luck would have it, "10" was playing at the single screen neighborhood movie theater. As bad luck would have it, my parents were the strict kind who wouldn't allow me to go to a movie featuring extensive nude scenes and sex (my parents, at that moment of my life, were the enemy!). It would be at least two years before I finally got to see "10"...on television. Still, over that past year, I’d become very aware of Bo Derek’s popularity from this film and saw many of those iconic pictures of her in magazines (including Playboy). Watching "10" on TV was the first opportunity to see the film that launched her fame, though it was impossible for me to realize just how much I was missing with the edited-for-television version and all its nudity and strong sexual content toned down or deleted entirely. This was a version that only a kid could get away with watching when raised by parents who’d never let him see the uncut R-rated version on screen. Still, even edited, it was a chance for me to get a glimpse of Bo Derek in all her beautiful glory.

As an adult, one can only sympathize with a middle-aged successful songwriter like George Webber (played by Dudley Moore) in becoming obsessed with meeting a woman like Bo Derek and trying to get her into bed. I mean, if you had to choose between Bo and Julie Andrews, isn’t the choice obvious? George goes through extensive steps to try and find this woman named Jenny Miles, including visiting the priest who married her only a day ago and allowing himself to be operated on by her prominent Beverly Hills dentist father. Still, even for a man in his early forties, George isn't exactly living a dry life. Despite the fact that his girlfriend is Julie Andrews, she seems to be willing enough to keep their sex life as active as possible. What's more, George has a distant neighbor within telescope range who's living the life of a horny bachelor with daily swinging orgies, complete with half or fully naked women.

But obsession knows no limitations. Determined to find Jenny, George impulsively boards a plant to follow her and her new husband to their exclusive resort in Mexico. While trying to figure how to make the right move, George befriends the resort bartender and even attempts sex with a woman who suffers from a lack of sexual self-confidence (played by a pre-E.T. Dee Wallace). Despite having a California home on the beach, George clearly doesn't function well on the beach, as he remains dressed in thick sweats and painfully treks across flaming-hot sand in order to get close enough to Jenny in all of her bathing suit beauty! This is where George's fantasies begin to entertain us, with images of Jenny running to him on the beach and making out with him in the sand...

When George inadvertently saves Jenny's husband from drowning, she can't help but finally show her gratitude toward him while her poor hubby is recovering in the hospital. In her hotel room, George is finally get the woman he's wanted for so long, complete with marijuana and the seductive sounds of Maurice Ravel's Boléro.

I suppose this is where Hollywood's bullshit version of morality in the story takes over. Elated to finally have Jenny right where he wants her (naked!), he's shocked, nonetheless, to see just how casually Jenny treats an unexpected phone call from her recovering husband. Furthermore, he can't understand Jenny's casual attitude toward her new marriage, which she describes as mutually open and honest. For Jenny, George is just a "casual lay", and it would seem that George wants to be more than than, despite having his own relationship back in California. So I suppose our lesson learned here is that all people are hypocrites and men (even comedic ones like Dudley Moore) are just plain stupid when they suddenly get an attack of morality just at the point when they're about to score with the finest piece of ass they've ever tried so damn hard to get!

Blake Edwards, whether trying to drive home pointless points of sexual morality, make us laugh hysterically with Dudley Moore's antics (particularly when he's filled with novocaine and alcohol), or simply trying to turn us on with Bo Derek's kick-ass body, scores well with "10". For myself, however, I could do without the obvious plugs to hear Julie Andrews display her singing talents. These are the musical moments I hit the fast forward button on my DVD player. Then again, there are also the naked moments like this when I hit the pause button on my DVD player...

Yes, it would seem that the raging heterosexual hormones of the twelve year-old, seventh grade boy in 1979 are still alive and well when he thinks of Bo Derek of the past! So thank you, Bo, for all the memories of your steaming, hot youth! Oh, and thank you for this awesome poster that hung on my bedroom wall throughout my teens...

And thank you for giving me the opportunity to shamelessly post numerous vintage pictures of you on my blog!

Favorite line or dialogue:

George Webber: "If you were dancing with your wife, or girlfriend you knew in high school, and you said to her, Darling, they're playing our song, do you know what they'd be playing?"
Don the Bartender: "What?"
George Webber: "Why Don't We Do It In The Road. Fuckin' hell kind of era is that?"