The Love Machine

Plot synopsis:
Robin Stone, a handsome, ambitious newsman for a New York television station, attracts the attention of Judith Austin, wife of Gregory Austin, the head of the IBC network. Concerned about ratings, Greg is encouraged by Judith to hire Robin as IBC's new anchorman. Although he opposes Greg's decision, Danton Miller, the head of programming, is unable to overrule his boss. Soon afterward, feeling threatened by Greg's support of Robin's plan to take his newscast to prime-time, Dan decides to build a variety show around second-rate comedian Christie Lane to prove that the audience prefers crass entertainment to more cerebral programming.
Christie is a hit in the ratings, and Jerry Nelson, a homosexual friend of Robin, arranges for the show's sponsor to hire Amanda, a fashion model and Robin's occasional girlfriend, as the on-air representative of its product. After her first spot airs, Amanda skips a celebratory party and goes to Robin. Shattered when she finds Robin with a nude woman, she attends the party alone. Christie Lane, smitten with Amanda, proposes marriage when a drunken Amanda agrees to go home with him.
Judith persuades Robin to have lunch with her, but they end up in bed instead. During their rendezvous, Greg suffers a severe heart attack. Judith, who holds Greg's power of attorney, appoints Robin to act as head of the network while she takes her husband to Switzerland to recuperate.
Soon afterward, having rejected Amanda yet again, Robin is shaken by the news of Amanda's suicide. He goes out for a walk. Propositioned by a prostitute, he accompanies her to his room, but then changes his mind, and beats up the hooker. He then confesses to Jerry, who agrees to provide an alibi for Robin. In return, Jerry asks for a slave bracelet engraved with Robin's name.
Judith returns to New York with Greg, now recovered. When Robin refuses to resume their affair, Judith convinces her husband to reclaim control of the network, thereby demoting Robin. In response, Robin threatens to quit entirely, a move which would result in problems between Greg and the shareholders.
When Robin visits Los Angeles, Jerry persuades him to attend a party at the home of the actor Alfie Knight, Jerry's new boyfriend. Robin, in turn, invites Judith who is also in the city. At the party, Robin is pleased to see aspiring actress Maggie Stewart, who rebuffs him. Judith, meanwhile, becomes annoyed when Robin neglects her for Jerry and Alfie.
After most of the guests have gone, Judith, still angry, finds Jerry's slave bracelet on the floor. Reading the inscription, she threatens to expose Robin. Jerry and Alfie try to retrieve the bracelet, which leads to a brawl. Soon the police arrive, and Robin explains the fight by claiming that he had instigated it by making a drunken pass at Judith. Later, as Robin leaves the police station, his reputation in ruins, Maggie Stewart pulls up in her car and asks him if he needs a ride. He declines.

Tags: pornographic, murder

Review:
Awful. I have not watched one of these films in a long time, and after watching this I know why.This one is cliché of a 1980's porn flick. The plot is so cliché that when the one star fantasy turns out to be the "pool guy", I think I have seen that in 100 porn flicks.The cast looks good, and the porn here is softer than the really hard porn that shows everything.The machine shows the film has no special effects budget.The murder plot is lame at best.The pole dance is totally cliché.Even the music sounds years old.I am not even sure this stimulated my imagination at all. Would rather watch the old Taboo series.Don't waste your time on this one, I deleted it from my library faster than you can say delete, delete, delete.. I Love Retromedia, But.... I'm a big fan of these softcore, erotic Retromedia movies, but this is probably the worst one I've ever seen. But I don't blame Dean McKendrick (the director / editor) at all. I think that a lot of what happened with this movie was beyond his control.The movie "stars" Jennifer Korbin. Umm... why? Sure, she is in the movie, and she is the antagonist, it's just that when someone "stars" in a Retromedia flick, I expect them to get naked and have at least 2 sex scenes! Not the case here! Jennifer Korbin does go topless once while kissing on an unconscious Alice Haig, whom by the way, is absolutely gorgeous!!! I commend Retromedia for casting her! She is by far the one good thing about this movie. I hope to see more of her in the future for sure! But anyway, Jennifer Korbin is kissing on her, if you could even call it kissing, it's so bland and clinical! I've seen mothers kiss their babies with more eroticism than this! And it sucks too, because we've seen Korbin do some pretty hot and erotic work before. She starred in the Cinemax series Lingerie a few short years ago and that show was awesome and she was (in my opinion) the biggest reason for it! I know, I'm digressing here... back to the movie: Korbin goes topless, kisses Alice Haig and the scene ends. WTF? These scenes never just fade out like that! Not in Retromedia movies anyway. This is one of those things that I think was out of the hands of the director. No doubt, he would have liked to do more with Jennifer Korbin, but it's my guess, that Korbin wasn't comfortable with the sex / nudity. And what she says goes, because she is the biggest name in the movie. Again, that's just a guess.The sex scenes in general are pretty weak, compared to other Retromedia and MRG movies, but again NOT the fault of the Director. That's on HBO / Cinemax. The last couple of years or so, they have been cracking down on the explicitness of the sex and nudity of erotic films that air on their networks. They want their soft porn movies to be more family-friendly now! Yeah, I don't get it either! Another thing this movie does is that it recycles material for flashback and/or fantasy scenes from other Retromedia movies. I hate that crap! Another thing beyond the Director's control perhaps? But I get it, I understand the reasoning behind it; it saves the studio money. But still... AAARRRGGHH!!! I'll end my rant on a positive note though. I really do appreciate that Retromedia is sort of expanding their boundaries. Usually, they make these goofy, erotic comedies but now, they're going for more of a dramatic, thriller type feel and I've been wanting to see them go this direction for a long time!