The Goddesses of Underground Cinema: PAMELA STANFORD

Pamela Stanford is one of the Jess Franco heavy hitters; she was in fifteen of the director’s films. Stanford was born just southeast of Paris in Fontainebleau. She got her start as a dancer at the Folies-Bergère and began acting in her early 20s. The beautiful and bold actress is one of my personal favorite’s in Franco’s roster. I think it is a shame she wasn’t featured more prominently in other Franco features. Stanford gives a fearless and intense performance as the title character in Lorna the Exorcist. She is an unforgettable nasty piece of work as Edna von Stein in Sexy Sisters and she steals every scene in which she appears in Blue Rita.

Stanford retired from acting in the 1980s but has recently made a return to the cinema. Below is an exert from An Interview with Pamela Stanford by Mike Haberfelner at Search My Trash. Stanford is star and producer of the 2015 film Outre Tombe directed by Alexandre Mathis (Full interview HERE).

“Why I got out of acting in the eighties? Some producers and directors of “normal” movies considered Jess Franco’s actresses or actors untouchables. That’s pretty much the reason. I was surprised that artists were so prude and had a limited imagination. What I drew me back ultimately? Alexandre Mathis’s proposal to make films together. In the meantime I did odd jobs. I even insured deaths.”

Besides her fifteen Franco entries, a cannibal flick and a few Naziploitation titles it was difficult finding other films from Pamela Stanford’s filmography. An underappreciated actress who always left a lasting impression no matter how small the role. Pamela Stanford is the next well deserving actress to earn a place as one of The Goddesses of Underground Cinema.

Lorna (Pamela Stanford) makes a deal with Patrick Mariel (Guy Delorme) a man down on his luck. A promise of fortunes to come and a roll in the hay with the quirky Lorna if he agrees to hand over his daughter on her eighteenth birthday. A ridiculous notion which he quickly agrees to. Nine months and eighteen years later Lorna is back to collect her debt. Lorna the Exorcist is definitely Stanford’s pièce de résistance. Quiet and cruel, intense and confident. She is the devil incarnate. The family unit of Guy Delorme as Patrick, Jacqueline Laurent as his wife Marianne and Lina Romay as daughter Linda is perfect. Linda has numerous dreams of sexual encounters with Lorna well before they meet. And poor Marianne, the dedicated wife and mother is terrorized by crabs crawling all over her vagina! We also get glimpses of another unfortunate Lorna victim (Catherine Lafferière) who we see writhing about sans pants in a hospital overseen by Doctor Jess Franco. A wild and wacky ride full of sex and nudity, an intriguing story and solid performances.

Blue Rita (Martine Fléty) is a man-hating, extortionist, stripper-spy who runs a nightclub as a front for her activities. Her stable of ladies seduce men in a specially equipped room where the poor horny bastards are gassed and caged. They are kept drugged and horny and eventually give up names and their bank balances. Pamela Stanford plays Gina; one of Rita’s cohorts.  Gina tends to the VIP customers and keeps the club’s ladies in line, among other jobs. Gina becomes victim to a frame up and Rita does not take betrayal lightly. I would have liked to have seen Stanford in the role of Blue Rita. Fléty is not unappealing in the role, however she often seems distracted. Blue Rita is an extremely stylish film visually; amazing sets and colors! The film is worth watching strictly for the aesthetics. I really loved the shots through the fish tanks! The stripper acts were also fabulous! Blue Rita is very entertaining!

In Sexy Sisters Pamela Stanford plays Edna von Stein; the older sister of Milly (Karine Gambier); a “dangerous” nymphomaniac. Milly is kept in a secured room under medical supervision. All is not what it seems however as the conniving and bitter Edna is conspiring to acquire the vast inheritance coming to her sister on her 21st birthday. Stanford is delightfully unlikable as Edna. She is despicable! She takes great delight in terrorizing her sister. She picks men up in clubs and brings them home to fuck Milly while she looks on and masturbates. Milly would apparently spy on Edna and her lovers when she was a kid. One of Edna’s men caught Milly in the act and raped her. Milly believes she needs her sister to look on to be sexually satisfied. Along for the ride is Dr. Charles Barnes (Jack Taylor). What the depraved duo didn’t count on is that one of the men Edna brought home would actually fall in love with Milly. Sexy Sisters is ninety minutes of sex and nudity with two very watchable actresses.

In Les Chatouilleuses Pamela Stanford is a prostitute working in a brothel during the revolution. Several of the women are taken prisoner after some soldiers find they have given an enemy asylum. The women manage to escape en route and hide out in a convent. Softcore shenanigans are afoot in Franco’s period piece Sex Comedy. Stanford, Lina Romay and Monica Swinn, among others, sex it up both in and out of their nun habits. Bumping uglies with the likes of Fred Williams, Olivier Mathot and of course, each other. Goofy outing that was not without some sexy comedic value. Sort of like a Benny Hill episode with sex.

Many a director tried their hand at the short-lived cannibal sub-genre. Jess Franco made a couple; White Cannibal Queen and  Devil Hunter. Apparently when Cannibal Terror first turned up on VHS Franco’s name was attached. But Franco can only be partially blamed for this car wreck as a co-writer. A few Franco regulars do turn up in this one including Olivier Mathot, Antonio Mayans and of course Ms. Stanford who plays Manuela. Stanford takes a bath, is raped, gets drunk and then helps save the day. All the bad characters get eaten and it has the super happiest ending you will ever see in a cannibal film. Not a great film by any means but like a car wreck I found it hard to look away.

Pamela Stanford’s Franco Filmography

Claire (1983)
White Cannibal Queen (1980)
Jailhouse Wardress (1979)
East of Berlin (1978)
Sexy Sisters (1977)
Blue Rita (1977)
Les emmerdeuses (1976)
Les chatouilleuses (1975)
Le jouisseur (1975)
The Perverse Countess (1974)
Lorna the Exorcist (1974)
Le jouisseur (1975)
Celestine, Maid at Your Service (1974)
The Lustful Amazons (1974)
Les gloutonnes (1973)

Pamela Stanford’s Filmography

Outre Tombe (2015)
The Fugitives (1986)
Claire (1983)
Y flippe ton vieux (1982)
Pourvoir (1982)
Les jeunes Q (1981)
Cannibal Terror (1980)
White Cannibal Queen (1980)
La bande du Rex (1980)
Jailhouse Wardress (1979)
Si je t’attrape (1979)
Nathalie: Escape from Hell (1978)
Si vous n’aimez pas ça, n’en dégoûtez pas les autres (1978)
Touchez pas au zizi (1978)
Dora and the Magic Lantern (1978)
East of Berlin (1978)
Helga, la louve de Stilberg (1978)
Captive Women 4 (1977)
Ces sacrées anglaises (1977)
Sexy Sisters (1977)
Blue Rita (1977)
Hitler’s Last Train (1977)
Paris porno (1976)
Furies sexuelles (1976)
Le dernier 55 (1976)
Les emmerdeuses (1976)
Hippopotamours (1976)
Perversions (1976)
Prostitution clandestine (1975)
Hard Love (1975)
À bout de sexe (1975)
Les chatouilleuses (1975)
Flat Out (1975)
Les chevaliers de la croupe (1975)
Le jouisseur (1975)
The Perverse Countess (1974)
Lorna the Exorcist (1974)
Cours du soir pour monsieur seul (1974)
Celestine, Maid at Your Service (1974)
And Now My Love (1974)
The Lustful Amazons (1974)
La dévoreuse (1974)
Les gloutonnes (1973)
Pigalle carrefour des illusions (1973)
Atout sexe (1971)
The Burglars (1971)
The Chambermaid’s Dream (1971)
Kisss (1971)