Hey Chicago! Got any plans this weekend? Well, now you do, because tonight, September 21 , and tomorrow night, September 22 at midnight , we’d like to cordially invite you to a screening of the unsung X-rated classic The Telephone Book (1971) co-presented by Mr.Skin! The Telephone Book stars Sarah Kennedy , a dead ringer for a young Goldie Hawn who you may remember as a hooker hawking her wares alongside Cassandra Peterson (aka Elvira, Mistress of the Dark) in The Working Girls (1973). Sarah plays Alice, a sexually curious young woman with pornographic wallpaper in her apartment who becomes obsessed with John Smith ( Norman Rose ), the “world’s greatest obscene phone caller.” After gushing to her best friend ( Jill Clayburgh in her screen debut) that the call was a “work of art”, Alice sets out to find this master of obscenity on an erotic journey across New York City. Her only clue? ” I’M IN THE BOOK ,” he tells her. ” I’LL BE WAITING. TRY AND FIND ME .” Disowned by distributor Joe Levine (who had built his reputation bringing racy art-house fare like 1963’s Contempt to America), The Telephone Book went virtually unseen for 38 years before a 2009 screening at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre exposed it to a whole nude generation. Playing like the bastard child of Russ Meyer and Jean-Luc Godard and a major influence on Bernardo Bertolucci ‘s Last Tango in Paris (1972), The Telephone Book is a fascinating look into the taboo-busting world of early ’70s indie film that’s just begging to be re-discovered. So pick up the phone and join us and producer Merv Bloch (appearing in person) this weekend at Chicago’s historic Music Box Theatre — you’ll be glad you did. See the original trailer for The Telephone Book after the jump!
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Mr. Skin Presents The Telephone Book at Chicago’s Music Box Theatre [VIDEO]
