![]() Shot in 1973, pic is a mildly interesting but woefully underproduced drama about young women "making it" in Hollywood and is reviewed here for the record. "Gemini Affair -A Diary" is emblematic of a recent phenomenon, unreleased films finally surfacing for the home video market. My review was written in October 1984 after watching the movie on Unicorn video cassette. Joined by a terrific Kathy Kersh, (in what is up to now her final role)as the decayed Hollywood glamour girl Jessica,Marta Kristen gives an excellent performance as Julie,with Kristen showing Julie's Hollywood dreams fade away from her face,and also powerfully reveal that Julie has got herself caught up in a relationship,that is far more complicated than simply being lost in space. Placing most of the movie in Jessica's villa,the screenplay by Harry Houdydu takes a strong stage approach to the story,which along with allowing for the gold Hollywood glamour to get mercilessly torn apart,also allows Houdydu to build a gradual intensity in Julie and Jessica's relationship. View on the film: For the first half of the movie,director Matt Climber sets Julie's entry to Hollywood against a brightly lit,glamours world,where everything that she and Jessica need is in the villa,and the days are so calm and relaxing that neither of them have to get out of bed.As Julie's superstar dream starts to fade away,Climber covers the movie in a deep blue darkness,which despite making the films steamy-sounding (and infamous) lesbian sequence a bit too tough to make out,also perfectly reflects the down beat mood that Julie finds herself in. Reciving a warm greeting from Jessica, (and a less then warm greeting from the maid) Julie is shocked to discover that her close friend has become a call-girl for powerful Hollywood producers,due to Jessica believing the that is the only way that she has been able to get a break in the business.Clinging on to her dreams of Hollywood glamour,Julie soon begins to fear that her only chance to gain fame,might be to "transform" into Jessica. The plot: Being given the opportunity to audition for movie roles in Hollywood,thanks to a casting director giving her $500 and a free plane ticket,budding actress Julie decides that along with auditing for roles,she will also meet up with an old friend called Jessica, (who has now become very successful)and live in her villa. Talking to a friend recently about a TV show called Lost In Space,I started to remember a worn-down Sci-Fi TV annual that I used to read when growing up,which along with featuring still photos from producer Irwin Allen's catalogue of TV program,also contained an interview with Lost In Space actress Marta Kristen,where she talked about having recently made a film with Jayne Mansfield's husband. If you're just looking for "celebrity skin", you probably won't be too disappointed with this, but if you're a Matt Cimber fan (or you're more interested in thespians than lesbians), you almost certainly will be. ![]() It's unfortunate also that his regular character actor, George "Buck" Flowers, who was so great in "Witch" only has a small part here as a cabdriver. ![]() But then he got a great performance out of another TV actress, Millie Perkins, in "Witch". Kristen, at least was a lot better in "Lost in Space" so perhaps, Cimber deserves some of the blame. I initially thought Marta Kristen was playing both roles, partly because the two actresses intentionally look a lot alike (thus the title), but also because it was hard to believe two different actresses could both be this bad. and save yourself from having to watch the rest of the movie. Well, it occurs about 55 minutes in-use chapter-skip/fast-forward etc. They eventually decide to lead town, but not, of course, before having a steamy lesbian sex scene! I know some may want to see this just to see "Will Robinson's" older sister engaging in full-frontal lesbian sex. Both of them are trying to make it in Hollywood, but they both learn that it's not such a nice place to be. Marta Kristen (from the 1960's "Lost in Space" TV show) comes to LA to visit a friend (Kathy Kersh). To make things worse, however, the two main performers are definitely not very talented. First off, it's very talk-y and stage-y, relying on a lot of theatrical-style acting, which is almost never a good thing in a movie, even with great dialogue and very talented performers. This film is kind of a disappointment, however. Matt Cimber is one of the most underrated low-budget 1970's exploitation directors, responsible for such minor classics as "The Witch Who Came from the Sea".
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