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Released by: Quality X
Released on: November 29th, 2024.
Director: Tim McDonald
Cast: Joanna Storm, Rachel Ashley, Eric Edwards, Robert Kerman, Sharon Kane
Year: 1983
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Alexandra – Movie Review:
Produced by none other than David F. Friedman, this 1983 picture, clearly inspired by Joseph Mankiewicz’s A Letter To Three Wives from 1949, introduces us to three women and their respective husbands – Diane (Joanna Storm) and Cliff Ballard (Steve Douglas), Pat (Rachel Ashley) and Martin Cooper (Eric Edwards), and Jennifer (Lauren Wilde) Foster Halloway (Robert Kerman) – who enjoy a calm suburban life just outside of New York City with their respective husbands.
What their husbands don’t necessarily realize, however, is that their wives are generally up to no good while they’re off dealing with work. In the middle of all of this is a mysterious woman named Alexandra (Eve Sternberg) who has a connection to each of the players in this drama. See, Alexandra has all the details on what these three women have been up to, and this poses a problem to the trio of lusty ladies, each of whom would prefer that their husbands don’t find out about their indiscretions, even if their marriages are less than perfect.
When the women find out that Alexandra knows about their various affairs, they each reflect on their respective marriages and, from there, work together to come up with a plan to beat Alexandra at her own game.
Featuring some welcome supporting work from Sharon Kane as a minx named Anita, Michael Gaunt as a man named Jason Starrett who is sleeping with Pat behind Martin’s back, the eternally beautiful Veronica Hart as a woman named Darlene (who, surprisingly, doesn’t have sex with anyone in the film!), Don Walters as a stud named Nick Booth and Ashley Moore as a man named Steve, the film boasts an excellent cast at the top of their game. The performances are very strong here across the board, both in terms of the film’s dramatic quotient as well as the sex scenes, all of which are very well-shot and nicely constructed. We get a bit of kink here and there and a pretty rowdy group-grope towards the end that we won’t spoil, but yeah, everyone involved here seems pretty into what they’re doing.
The pacing in the film is decent, and the story is interesting enough to hold our attention even when people aren’t going at it like rabbits. The movie definitely leans into the classier side of vintage adult filmmaking, call it a ‘couples film’ if you like, and puts as much emphasis on character development and storytelling as it does erotic couplings and penetration. As such, it makes sense that the movie was made in two very different versions, both of which are included on this Blu-ray edition from Quality X. X-rated version runs 1:34:12, while the softcore general release version runs 1:39:18. Both versions feature a lot of unique footage, roughly fifty minutes or so worth in each cut. Not surprisingly, the general release version takes out all of the hardcore material and, as such, the sex scenes are much shorter, with the longer running time comprised of longer dramatic scenes and character development elements.
Alexandra – Blu-ray Review:
Alexandra debuts on region free Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome framed at 1.85.1 in an AVC encoded 1080p high-definition transfer that is newly scanned and restored in 4k original 35mm negative with the longer version using up 22.8GBs of space and the shorter cut 21.6GBS of space, each version sharing a 50GB disc. Both cuts look very strong, showing nice detail and very good color reproduction. Detail in the image quite strong and there's good depth and texture here as well. No problems to note with any compression artifacts, edge enhancement or noise reduction issues, this looks nice and film-like throughout, always retaining a properly film-like appearance.
Audio chores, for both versions, are handled by English language 24-bit DTS-HD 2.0 Mono tracks with optional subtitles offered up in English only. Audio quality is fine. There's a tiny bit of sibilance in one or two spots but otherwise the audio is clean, clear and properly balanced with a fair bit of depth to the score and easily discernable dialogue.
The main extra on the disc is a new video interview with Screenwriter Don Walters of Variety Films that runs thirty-seven minutes. He talks about how he wrote, produced and served as assistant director and editor on the movie, working with director Robert Freeman (a.k.a. Tim McDonald), the state of the adult film business in 1983, trying to go legit around this period, his work at Variety Films, experiences with the different players in the adult film scene of the eighties in New York City, how he came to work on Alexandra and the people he collaborated with on it, recollections from being on set for the production, the different cast members that worked on the production, shooting the entire movie in only three or four days, how the film is much heavier on dialogue than a lot of other adult movies from this period, making the movie on a modest budget, trying to keep the pace right for the film, why the film wasn't promoted as well as it should have been and how he feels the movie years after making it.
The disc also includes an archival image gallery, menus and chapter selection options. The long out of print DVD edition had a commentary track from Edwards and Kerman that has, sadly, not been carried over to this release.
Finishing up the extras are the film’s original theatrical trailer, menus and chapter selection options. As far as the packaging goes, Quality X offers up some cool double-sided cover art and, if you purchase one of the first 2,000 copies from the Melusine website, a limited edition embossed slipcover designed by Rich Long.
Alexandra – The Final Word:
Alexandra is well-made, boasting a very strong cast and some excellent production values to accompany a genuinely interesting story. It’s a slick and sexy piece of work and a film very much worth seeing for fans of vintage adult movies. The Blu-ray edition from Quality X presents the movie in an excellent presentation and the interview with the film’s writer is definitely worth checking out. Recommended!
