The Seven Minutes (film)
Encyclopedia
The Seven Minutes is 1971
drama film
directed and produced by Russ Meyer
. The film was based on the 1969 novel of the same name
by Irving Wallace
.
, an
eager prosecutor who is against pornography
(and preparing for an upcoming election) uses the scandal to declare the book as obscene and brings charges against the bookstore. The subsequent trial soon creates a heated debate about the issue of pornography vs. free speech. The young defense lawyer must also solve the mystery of the novel's true author.
. As with many of his movies, Meyers used several actors from his previous productions, including then-wife Edy Williams
, Charles Napier
, Henry Rowland
, and James Inglehart. Established actress Yvonne De Carlo
makes an appearance along with veteran character actor Olan Soule
. A young Tom Selleck
also had a role in the film, and DJ
Wolfman Jack
made a cameo appearance
.
Known as "King of the Nudies" for his work in the sexploitation film genre, Meyer planned nude scenes in this mainstream film. He informed female lead candidates that nudity would integral to their roles, and after casting interviews, considered Marianne McAndrew to be suitable. He subsequently signed her for the lead role of Maggie Russell. McAndrew, previously known for her work as the prim and proper Irene Molloy in Hello, Dolly!, accepted the role based upon her wish to change her own image and in order to gain more work within the industry. She reported that during the filming itself, Meyers was "considerate and gentlemanly".
New York Times reviewer Roger Greenspun
wrote of the film, "I don't think that a court of law is the right Russ Meyer arena, and The Seven Minutes, which had started out pretty well, bogs down hopelessly in its courtroom legalisms and its absolutely non-cliff-hanging rush to unearth the real identity of the mythical J J Jadway", citing some problems with the film being its complicated plot and "enormous cast of characters". In addressing the film's use of nudity, he wrote "[Meyers] has never been so much concerned with undressing his girls (there are maybe five seconds of nudity in "The Seven Minutes") as admiring their appetites, their overwhelming proportions (but not so much their seductive flesh), their often destructive and self-destructive wills."
Variety
wrote that Irving Wallace's original novel was a "potboiler" "which averted the essense of the problem in resolving the story," and noted that Russ Meyer was himself a "censor-exploited as well as a censor-exploiting filmmaker", who began with a story handicap and added a few of his own. They expanded that Meyer used "cardboard-caricatures of his heavies" which obscured issues, and included the "regular time-out for the sexually-liberated dalliances which have been his stock in trade."
1971 in film
The year 1971 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 8 - Bob Dylan's hour long documentary film, Eat the Document, premieres at New York's Academy of Music...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed and produced by Russ Meyer
Russ Meyer
Russell Albion "Russ" Meyer was a U.S. motion picture director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, actor and photographer....
. The film was based on the 1969 novel of the same name
The Seven Minutes
The Seven Minutes is a novel by Irving Wallace on the subject of pornography and freedom of speech. It is about a fictional obscenity trial of a banned book, The Seven Minutes, purported to be the thoughts in a woman's mind during seven minutes of sexual intercourse...
by Irving Wallace
Irving Wallace
Irving Wallace was an American best-selling author and screenwriter. Wallace was known for his heavily researched novels, many with a sexual theme. One critic described him "as the most successful of all the many exponents of junk fiction perhaps because he took it all so seriously, not so say...
.
Plot
After a teenager who purchased the erotic novel The Seven Minutes is charged for rapeRape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, an
eager prosecutor who is against pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
(and preparing for an upcoming election) uses the scandal to declare the book as obscene and brings charges against the bookstore. The subsequent trial soon creates a heated debate about the issue of pornography vs. free speech. The young defense lawyer must also solve the mystery of the novel's true author.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Wayne Maunder Wayne Maunder Wayne E. Maunder is a retired actor, originally from Canada, who starred in three American television series between 1967 and 1974.-Three television series:... |
Mike Barrett |
| Marianne McAndrew Marianne McAndrew Marianne McAndrew is an actress known for her role as Irene Molloy in the film Hello, Dolly!-Personal life:McAndrew married actor Stewart Moss in 1970. Four years after they got married, they starred together in The Bat People. McAndrew has two brothers.-Career:Hello, Dolly! was Marianne... |
Maggie Russell |
| Philip Carey Philip Carey -Biography:He was born as Eugene Joseph Carey in Hackensack, New Jersey. A former U.S. Marine, Carey was wounded as part of the ship's detachment of the USS Franklin during World War II and served again in the Korean War.... |
Elmo Duncan |
| Jay C. Flippen Jay C. Flippen Jay C. Flippen is an American character actor who often played police officers or weary criminals in many films of the 1940s/'50s.... |
Luther Yerkes |
| Edy Williams Edy Williams Edwina Beth "Edy" Williams is an American television and film actress.-Early years:Born in Utah and raised in Oregon and Southern California, Williams began her career as a model and beauty pageant contestant... |
Faye Osborn |
| Lyle Bettger Lyle Bettger Lyle S. Bettger was a character actor known most for his Hollywood roles from the 1950s, typically portraying villains... |
Frank Griffith |
| Yvonne De Carlo Yvonne De Carlo Yvonne De Carlo was a Canadian-born American actress of film and television. During her six-decade career, her most frequent appearances in film came in the 1940s and 1950s and included her best-known film roles, such as of Anna Marie in Salome Where She Danced ; Anna in Criss Cross ; Sephora the... |
Constance Cumberland |
| Jackie Gayle | Norman Quandt |
| Ron Randell Ron Randell Ronald Egan "Ron" Randell was an Australian-born American film and stage actor.-Biography:Randell was born in Sydney. He started his career as a stage and radio performer in his teens. He soon established himself as a leading male juvenile for radio, acting for 2KY Players, George Edwards, BAP... |
Merle Reid |
| Charles Drake Charles Drake Charles Drake was an American actor.-Biography:Drake was born as Charles Ruppert in New York City. He graduated from Nichols College and became a salesman. In 1939, he turned to acting and signed a contract with Warner Brothers. He wasn't immediately successful... |
Sargent Kellogg |
| John Carradine John Carradine John Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. A member of Cecil B DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, he was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history... |
Sean O'Flanagan |
| Harold J. Stone Harold J. Stone Harold J. Stone was an American film and television character actor.Born Harold Hochstein to a Jewish acting family, he began his career on Broadway in 1939 and appeared in five plays in the next six years, including One Touch of Venus and Stalag 17, following which he made his motion picture... |
Judge Upshaw |
| James Inglehart | Clay Rutherford |
| Tom Selleck Tom Selleck Thomas William "Tom" Selleck is an American actor, and film producer. He is best known for his starring role as Hawaii-based private investigator Thomas Magnum on the 1980s television show Magnum, P.I.. He also plays Police Chief Jesse Stone in a series of made-for-TV movies based on the Robert B.... |
Phil Sanford |
| Olan Soule Olan Soule Olan Soule was an American character actor with hundreds of credits in films, radio, commercials, television and animation.-Early life:... |
Harvey Underwood |
| Charles Napier Charles Napier (actor) Charles L. Napier was an American actor, known for his portrayals of square-jawed tough guys and military types.-Early life:... |
Norman Quandt |
| Wolfman Jack Wolfman Jack Robert Weston Smith, known commonly as Wolfman Jack was a gravelly voiced US disc jockey who became famous in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early career:... |
Himself |
Production notes
This was Meyer's second, and last, mainstream production for Twentieth-Century Fox. The film began production soon after the success of Meyer's highest grossing film, Beyond the Valley of the DollsBeyond the Valley of the Dolls
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is a 1970 American schlock melodrama film starring Dolly Read, Cynthia Myers, Marcia McBroom, John LaZar, Michael Blodgett and David Gurian...
. As with many of his movies, Meyers used several actors from his previous productions, including then-wife Edy Williams
Edy Williams
Edwina Beth "Edy" Williams is an American television and film actress.-Early years:Born in Utah and raised in Oregon and Southern California, Williams began her career as a model and beauty pageant contestant...
, Charles Napier
Charles Napier (actor)
Charles L. Napier was an American actor, known for his portrayals of square-jawed tough guys and military types.-Early life:...
, Henry Rowland
Henry Rowland (actor)
Henry Rowland was an American film actor.-Biography:Rowland had heavily Teutonic facial features, making him an invaluable commodity in wartime films, even though he was born in the American Midwest. Rowland "heiled" and "achtunged" his way through films ranging such as Casablanca to Russ Meyer's...
, and James Inglehart. Established actress Yvonne De Carlo
Yvonne De Carlo
Yvonne De Carlo was a Canadian-born American actress of film and television. During her six-decade career, her most frequent appearances in film came in the 1940s and 1950s and included her best-known film roles, such as of Anna Marie in Salome Where She Danced ; Anna in Criss Cross ; Sephora the...
makes an appearance along with veteran character actor Olan Soule
Olan Soule
Olan Soule was an American character actor with hundreds of credits in films, radio, commercials, television and animation.-Early life:...
. A young Tom Selleck
Tom Selleck
Thomas William "Tom" Selleck is an American actor, and film producer. He is best known for his starring role as Hawaii-based private investigator Thomas Magnum on the 1980s television show Magnum, P.I.. He also plays Police Chief Jesse Stone in a series of made-for-TV movies based on the Robert B....
also had a role in the film, and DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
Wolfman Jack
Wolfman Jack
Robert Weston Smith, known commonly as Wolfman Jack was a gravelly voiced US disc jockey who became famous in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early career:...
made a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
.
Known as "King of the Nudies" for his work in the sexploitation film genre, Meyer planned nude scenes in this mainstream film. He informed female lead candidates that nudity would integral to their roles, and after casting interviews, considered Marianne McAndrew to be suitable. He subsequently signed her for the lead role of Maggie Russell. McAndrew, previously known for her work as the prim and proper Irene Molloy in Hello, Dolly!, accepted the role based upon her wish to change her own image and in order to gain more work within the industry. She reported that during the filming itself, Meyers was "considerate and gentlemanly".
Reception
The Seven Minutes received a lukewarm reception from both audiences and critics and was Meyer's first commercial failure.New York Times reviewer Roger Greenspun
Roger Greenspun
Roger Greenspun was an American journalist and noted film critic. He is best known for his work with The New York Times in which he reviewed near 400 films, particularly in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and for Penthouse in which he was a columnist throughout much of the late 1970s and 1980s...
wrote of the film, "I don't think that a court of law is the right Russ Meyer arena, and The Seven Minutes, which had started out pretty well, bogs down hopelessly in its courtroom legalisms and its absolutely non-cliff-hanging rush to unearth the real identity of the mythical J J Jadway", citing some problems with the film being its complicated plot and "enormous cast of characters". In addressing the film's use of nudity, he wrote "[Meyers] has never been so much concerned with undressing his girls (there are maybe five seconds of nudity in "The Seven Minutes") as admiring their appetites, their overwhelming proportions (but not so much their seductive flesh), their often destructive and self-destructive wills."
Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
wrote that Irving Wallace's original novel was a "potboiler" "which averted the essense of the problem in resolving the story," and noted that Russ Meyer was himself a "censor-exploited as well as a censor-exploiting filmmaker", who began with a story handicap and added a few of his own. They expanded that Meyer used "cardboard-caricatures of his heavies" which obscured issues, and included the "regular time-out for the sexually-liberated dalliances which have been his stock in trade."