Chastity
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: D Film: C+
There was a time not that long ago that even the thought
that Cher could act was openly laughed at, and even after winning an Academy
Award for Best Actress, it still has not sunk in for many. Forget the Laurie Davis Products infomercial
fiasco, even Cher still finds herself spoofing herself in between farewell
concerts. Sonny Bono knew he had
someone special in Cher and bet the house on the 1969 drama Chastity. He was right about her, but not the project.
He produced and wrote the story of the title character
drifting from town to town, barely surviving, hustling in part due to what we
find out is (surprise?) her victimization via sexual child abuse. If that is not a cliché, the screenplay by
Bono is far from Sunny, as she then finds herself the fancied new girl of a
madam (Barbara London), who is ready to show her a new life. Unfortunately, this includes a lesbian
affair that does not help our confused title character.
What is interesting, besides the coincidences with the
couples future daughter of the same name (minus the melodrama), is how this set
up all the appeals to pity Cher would use in her hit solo records of the early
1970s and how this translated well into by-default practice for their
successful variety show (lightening up never worked so good) and offered hints
of what she would eventually be able to pull off as an actress. Director Alessio De Paola’s work is
competent at best. Chastity is a
curio with some good highlights.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image shows its age,
and not just because of the time period cinematographer Ben Coleman tries to
capture, but that the print is not 100% itself. The DeLuxe color is not bad here, but it seems to be limited by
something in the sense of color range, which is far worse on the pan & scan
flipside. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is
adequate for a low-budget film of its time.
The only extra is the teaser trailer used by American International to
try and sell the film, but that did not work out.
As a matter of fact, the film put Sonny & Cher in a
very bad financial position as Sonny grossly overestimated how the film would
do commercially and critically. In both
respects, it did not succeed. However,
the couple survived it and the peak success of their variety show was on hand,
but then so would be their divorce.
Nevertheless, this DVD means that Chastity will find an audience
35 years late and the reactions should be most interesting.
- Nicholas Sheffo
