gavin6942 The story of a day in the life of a lonely, sensitive, exuberant, attractive, young woman. Her exploits, encounters, and frustrations as she attempts to find a "special" someone, a caller who has "class", as she puts it.From the pornographic wallpaper to the downright raunchy situations, this is a dirty film. Yet, somehow a tastefully dirty film... not at all sexual, despite the nudity and sexual situations. Bizarre! How has Something Weird or someone else not gotten a hold of this title?Frankly, I love the way this guy talks! And I love that this has a "young" William Hickey in it. I primarily know him later on from "Tales From the Crypt" and "Puppet Master", so it was great to see him more in his prime.

jrd_73 The Telephone Book has developed a cult following over the years due to its pedigree (Nelson Lyon, a future writer of Saturday Night Live) and cast (William Hickey, Jill Clayburgh). However, it is still an early 70's softcore sex comedy, the type of film Something Weird Video specializes in. The plot has a young woman being so turned on by an obscene phone call that she attempts to track down the caller. This leads to encounters with all types of crazies as the woman wanders around Manhattan. For what it is, The Telephone Book shows more imagination than most of its type. The film even includes an animated section where a giant woman has sexual intercourse with a skyscraper. This section and a housewife's dirty monologue about a banana are the only laugh out loud moments in the film. The rest of the jokes only slightly amuse (at best) . One is advised to view the film with expectations set by the genre and not by its cult reputation.

jfgibson73 I will admit that I did not give this movie much of a chance. I decided pretty early on that this just wasn't my kind of movie.For the most part, it has an excellent look in terms of its cinematography. The scenes of early 70's Manhattan look very good, as does the lead actress. It is a very crisp black and white, which could almost make the movie feel undated and fresh. However, some of the other techniques the filmmakers employ shoot that prospect all to hell. The disjointed editing is VERY late-60's, somewhere between surrealism and new wave. The story also feels like it came from a very specific time, somewhere between free love idealism and artsy experimentation.The film follows a young girl around the city as she looks for a man who she had anonymous phone sex with. As she meets other odd characters, she reveals her quirks and they reveal theirs. The movie seems to be meant as an off-the-wall, irreverent comedy, but adds an avant-garde feel. I would expect that if you like Andy Warhol movies, you would be very excited to discover The Telephone Book.Some problems I had: Near the end of the movie, one character tells a rambling anecdote that lasts over twelve minutes—-brutal to sit through. Also, there is a very explicit animation sequence that I found gross and juvenile that serves as the film's climax. I did laugh out loud four or five times, and I liked the ending (minus the flat-out disgusting animation). And when the film switched to color for the final phone-booth-at-night sequence, I actually liked the way it looked even better. It ended up being one of those experiences where I felt like I could have really liked it if it been a little different. But this is what the filmmakers gave us. It is obscure, artsy, and way left of the dial, but none of those are reasons to recommend it on their own. I didn't find it to be unique or creative so much as forced and pretentious.

rwint Funny, near brilliant, underground movie about the sexual perversions of everyday people. Centers around Kennedy (who is a shoe in for a young Goldie Hawn) and her various experiences trying to find John Smith the greatest obscene phone caller she's ever heard. Problem is it's New York City, which leads her to a lot of wrong Smiths. The 'real' John Smith is played by actor Norman Rose who's deep resonate, 'newsman' voice (he's worked as a narrator on many other features) only adds to the hilarity as he explains in great detail how he came to be the 'greatest obscene phone caller of all time'. This is interspread by 'true life' confessions of former obscene phone callers that are so twisted you'll just have to laugh. Also has a wild,'far out' animated sequence that could easily fit into a Marilyn Manson video. Much more provacative than today's hardcore adult films, which tend to be very mechanical. A truly unique film viewing experience that is similar to the much herald PUTNEY SWOPE, but is more consistently funnier and imaginative. A terrific example of 'grass roots' filmmaking were the creativity and ingenuity of the director makes todays $200 million, special effects laden blockbusters look as stale as yesterday's lunch. Most amazing scene features actor Barry Morse (Lt Griggs of the old FUGITIVE TV series) having over ten naked women lay on top of him at the same time!!