Michael_Elliott The Touch of Flesh (1960) * 1/2 (out of 4)Joan is the daughter to the richest man in town and her daddy just happens to run everything. Joan gets knocked up by working man Eddie but she wants to have an abortion. Eddie, on the other hands, begs her to keep the baby but Joan wants to use the abortion against the good man.THE TOUCH OF FLESH was released to DVD under the title YOU'VE RUINED ME EDDIE, which is actually a lot better and certainly a title that draws you to the film. I must admit that I was really looking forward to this abortion drama but it turned out to be a real disappointment because the story is simply all over the place and there's just nothing here that really keeps you glued to the film.I think the biggest problem was its screenplay, which was all over the place and it tries to do way too much without making anything entertaining. You've got the rich girl and her rich father doing typical rich folk evils. You've got the working class man who is constantly spit on. You've got an outside girl trying to help but she has her own drama. None of these characters were all that original and they certainly weren't very entertaining.The performances are what you'd expect out of a film like this but I think the biggest thing is that I'm not sure who this film was aimed for. It's too poorly made for the mainstream crowd and there's not enough exploitation for those who like that type of thing. THE TOUCH OF FLESH isn't awful but it's pretty forgettable and boring.

Woodyanders Selfish and shameless rich teenage tramp Joan Denton (sharply played to the ruthless bitchy hilt by fetching brunette Jeanne Rainer) gets impregnated by her earnest, yet dim-witted working class pushover boyfriend Eddie Mercer (a solid and likable performance by Fred Marshall). Although Eddie wants to get married, Joan instead decides to convince her physician father Dr. Earl Denton (a sturdy portrayal by Charles Martin) to help her get an abortion. But things don't go exactly as Joan planned. Director R. John Hugh keeps the enjoyably sordid story moving along at a snappy pace, vividly captures the suffocating nature of a conservative Southern bedroom community, and pulls out all the wacky stops for the lively and exciting over-the-top ending. Attractive blonde bombshell Sue Ellis vamps it up deliciously as sassy new gal in town Vikky Smith. Nancy S. Camp's suitably seamy script offers a few delightfully lurid twists and turns. Charles T. O'Rork's competent black and white cinematography provides a pleasing moody look. Snazzy rockabilly-style soundtrack, too. Worthwhile drive-in fare.

Alonzo Church If you are the type of person who seeks out this movie, you are likely familiar with the paperback fiction of the 50s. You know the kind -- the ones with some underclad girl on the cover who is in the process of losing the rest of her clothing. Depicted, luridly, is a hot sweaty low class Southern locale -- a log cabin or a mangrove swamp or the outbuildings of a declining old plantation. Meanwhile, the story inside the outrageous covers isn't exactly what's promised on the cover. There are no naughty bits, really, in the prose. There is usually a somewhat erratic plot that goes from tough talk, to lynchings, to odd encounters with rough tough sheriff types. Sometiomes the writing is pretty good -- a lot of the paperbacks bring an unexpected sense of place (Florida, Georgia, Mississippi) to the goings on, or manage an unexpected turn of phrase, or being out a memorable character or two, or some plot twists.Well, this film is much like those paperbacks. The actors ain't memorable, and the photography is nothing too great. (It is always good to see location photography from this era, and there are some good looks at at Florida town that, as of 1959, was still "old South") But the story -- which starts out as a boy from the wrong side of tracks knocks up a rich girl narrative -- takes a series of unexpected twists which lead to a rather surprising (if slightly outrageous) ending. Every now and then, we also get to see shots of of the two female leads in their underwear, offering themselves up to our somewhat lunkheaded hero. If you are in the right mood, this is a good way to spend 72 minutes. I am curious whether the scriptwriter did other movies, because the plot is the best thing here.