The Swinger
An Ann-Margret Joint
Today’s hed gif comes from the 1966 comedy movie The Swinger starring Ann-Margret and Anthony Franciosa. It was a hastily written and quickly filmed affair, meant entirely to provide a vehicle for showcasing the sex appeal of it’s star and to cash in on what the creators envisioned as hip new social movements, like beatnik bohemians and the sexual revolution. Certainly the production was not meant as Oscar-worthy fare, and its rather silly and sloppy plot shows it: Wholesome aspiring writer Kelly Olsson (Ann-Margret) tries selling her serious stories to a girlie mag (although why she opts for this particular vehicle is never explained), finds that said mag is more interested in her other “assets,” and so creates fictional fare about her life as a swinger. To sell the new persona, she stages an “orgy” in her apartment for the benefit of the magazine managers; this is basically, a lot of guys pulling her through body paint, using her bikini-clad body as the brush on a messy canvas. The orgy discovered, Kelly gets arrested by vice, so magazine editor Ric (Franciosa) comes to her rescue but also secretly learns of her deception. This is when Ric decides to pursue the swinger angle to punish Kelly for the ruse, putting the unsuspecting Kelly in some uncomfortable situations. As you can imagine, hijinks ensue and the couple falls in love, many sing-y swing-y dance-y scenes later. I could forgive the cheesiness, but I find the premise dull, the borish males cringy, and the sexy “comedy” rendered more creepy than funny. Still, if you are an Ann-Margret fan you may want to watch it—she does indeed hit the sex kitten nail on the head. And as a bonus, you get to see some pretty cool motorcycle riding of Ann-Margret on a Triumph T100C Tiger and a young Teri Garr as a background dancer and the body double for some of the paint-orgy scenes.
.. plus costumes by Edith Head. And a song by Andre Previn!
"a lot of guys pulling her through body paint, using her bikini-clad body as the brush on a messy canvas."
O...M...G... I think I saw that once ages and ages ago. That is literally all I remember, and not even that until you mentioned it!