The Love Bus, Full (1974)

Description: It is a low-budget, happy-go-lucky little classic sex movie filmed in Sullivan County, New York.
Scene Breakdowns
Scene 1. Jennifer Jordan, Jamie Gillis
Scene 2. Ginger Snaps, Levi Richards
Scene 3. Jennifer Jordan, Marc Stevens
Scene 4. Rita Davis, Jamie Gillis
Scene 5. Judith Hamilton, Jennifer Jordan
Scene 6. Judith Hamilton, Jennifer Jordan, Sonny Landham
Scene 7. Day Jason, Leo Lovemore, Russ Carlson
Review
A Prime example of what is meant by the term “New York Grinder." The difference is that THE LOVE BUS has a bit more plot and eroticism than the usual raunch that is associated with the term. Call it a classy grinder and a hot sex film as well. Jamie Gillis plays Dr. Scheisekopf, a shrink who advises patient Jennifer Jordan to take the weekend bus to the Hotel Gross. She never arrives, since bus driver Kevin Andre (as Ralph, as in Ralph Cramden) crashes and the passengers wind up at Amos Johnson's, (played by Sonny Landham), crummy country house. Levi and Ginger Snap have the outdoor scene after the crash; Jennifer Jordan and Marc "10 1/2" Stevens are on the swing; Jennifer and Judith Hamilton (Candy) have the lesbian scene that becomes a Landham 3 way; Day Jason and David Joseph are inside, with Russ Carlson( Evans as an actor) as George. Meanwhile, Gillis has a scene in his office with Rita Davis. Historically, this is one of the hottest films of its era.

Although Shaun Costello would be the first to adopt a critical stance towards his own work, the alias of "Oscar Tripe" should in no way reflect perceived poor quality on the handful of freewheeling fornicatory farces attached to it, amongst which his notorious salvage job TEENAGE NURSES a the "uh-oh, your wife's a secret porn star" cautionary tale LADY ON THE COUCH. Shot over the weekend in New York's scenic Sullivan County, LOVE BUS probably qualifies as both the most narratively coherent and carnally creative of the lot.

Mighty strange credits, especially regarding the female performers, presumably need some clearing up for all but the most adamant adult aficionados. Billed as "Penny Ashcroft" and conceivably making her dirty movie debut is Jennifer Jordan, an underrated thespian whose inexperience at this early stage, unfortunately, shows as Costello's concise screenplay allowed her to ad-lib most of the dialog as profoundly conflicted recent divorcée Barbara Malone attempting to adjust to the swinging single life but admittedly experiencing problems "relating to men". While she never breaks character, Jordan's incessant whining will eventually wear viewers down like Chinese water torture. As a perpetual patient of dodgy shrink Dr. Scheisekopf, played with lip-smacking lascivity by the one and only Jamie Gillis, she's in shock when he informs her that their extremely hands on therapy has run its course, suggesting a singles weekend at the Hotel Gross in the Catskills as a viable alternative.

Boarding the bus at Port Authority's the usual selection of '70s oddballs, including inveterate birdwatcher Mr. Finch - entertainingly essayed by Marc Stevens whose breathless exclamation of "a double-breasted sapsucker" provides a surefire laugh-getter - and spoiled millionaire Charlie Robinson, a plum role for Leo Lovemore whose common-law wife Linda briefly appears in a non-sex capacity at the start, setting the stage for story development as redneck farmer Amos Johnson's very pregnant better half. Envious of the Gross Hotel's big business with townie tourists, Amos schemes to deviate Greyhounds from their chosen route, Psycho style but with far more benevolent results. He's portrayed by the formidable Sonny Landham who parlayed his porno past into fleeting fight film prominence, garnering something of a cult following for playing the Billy Bear character in Walter Hill's surprise smash hit 48 HRS. Running for Governor of Kentucky in 2002, much like his PREDATOR co-stars Arnold Schwarzenegger (California) and Jesse Ventura (Minnesota), Landham had to forfeit when campaign funding fell through but took another stab as the Libertarian Party candidate for US Senate in 2008, this time thwarting himself by rampantly rallying for Arabian genocide!

As the bus, driven by compelling character actor Kevin André in an unusually subdued turn, is none too convincingly run off the road, the passengers naturally enough come looking for shelter at the Johnson joint, conveniently paving the way for the pic's pornographic party pieces. Happy-go-lucky Levi Richards (a/k/a "Rick Livermore"), one of adult's earliest bi-coastal workhorses whose career stretches all the way back to Jack Genero's 1971 CLIMAX, is the first to fall foul of deliriously dedicated crotch watcher ("I like big crotches ! Small crotches ! Kiddie Crotches !") Ginger Snaps, a low rent starlet spotted in Roberta Findlay's supremely silly spy spoof SLIP UP. Jordan attempts to accommodate Marc's mighty member on the swing set, more of a hindrance than a help as it turns out, then stretches out Sapphically with butch roommate Judith Hamilton (sporting a becoming bob haircut), Sonny joining them for a solid threesome he makes them swear "not to tell the Missus about".

Meanwhile, back at the doctor's office, Gillis is breaking in new patient Rita Davis (billed as "Rhonda Blake"), a minor league strumpet performing a surprising fist insertion scene, allegedly the first in feature-length films, preserved in its unflinching entirety on Video-X-Pix's current DVD release. Perhaps even more so to see it played for laughs - remember this is the same director who considers his notorious Enema Bandit shocker WATER POWER as "the funniest thing he has ever shot" ! - with the thick-lipped Rita's frenzied mantra of "I want your whole arm up me" and Gillis' post-coital gag unsuccessfully trying to pull fist from furry fissure vying for incredulous guffaws.

Saving the best for last lust-wise, harried tour guide Day Jason (credits: "Daniela Di Orici") does her darnedest to tempt the recalcitrant Robinson back to the bus, inadvertently pulling the captured Costello (as a previously waylaid chauffeur) out of the convertible couch to prove three's company. Heat builds to boiling point as the fearless filmmaker explores undeniable bi-curious leanings. Not only does he straddle Lovemore's jutting crotch in the pretzel position - rarely attempted in straight porn for obvious reasons - to allow Jason to perform a double blow job but he would just as soon flick his tongue along her labia while she's being plowed by Leo's lingam, making definite mouth to member contact in the process which will make tragically macho men wince.

Photographed with a care and concern for composition that belies its modest budget by his customary partner in crime Bill Markle, this provides another treasure trove for the filmmaker's personalized pilfering of legitimate cinema soundtracks, most notably several selections from Claude Bolling's ragtime score for the 1970 French gangster saga BORSALINO.