BUSTY BOMBSHELLS OF THE ATOM AGE

Smut purveyor extraordinaire 42nd Street Pete presents 50 vintage 8mm loops from the relatively innocent days before pornography hit storefront theatres and grindhouse cinemas across America.

Following a 2-minute black-and-white introduction from host Pete - is it me or is has he started to dye his facial hair? - which sees him accompanied by the two lovely fillies from the DVD cover art, we race straight into 132 minutes of mostly monochrome nudity. It's not until 67 minutes in that Pete and his "daughters" pop up again for an extremely brief intermission.

Each loop is between 2 and 3 minutes in length, and showcases natural women (no silicon or bald beavers here - hardly any fanny at all, in fact) posing in various states of undress for each respective handheld camera.

Save for a couple of comedic entries (She Played Him For A Sucker being one), there are no storylines: a pose here, a strip there - that's your lot. The sexier girls tend to be the brunettes who, for whatever reason, appear to be having better times in front of the camera.

Honey Bee has a rather modern, sexy look to her. She also carries a fair rack on her ... as do the majority of honeys on offer. Freddie Robbins meanwhile may have a boy's name, but is achingly pretty - and similarly top-heavy.

One-time actress and, more famously, stripper Virginia Bell is perhaps the most well-known face here (most are anonymous housewives - all the footage is extremely amateur). She gets to shine in a couple of loops that make good use of her legendary 46-inch chest.

Other names that connoisseurs are sure to recognise include Bunni Bacon and Sherri North (MANIAC COP). The latter dances and keeps her sexy attire on, but it's an intriguing addition to the set regardless.

Highlights (for me) included : Naughty Nancy - I assume Pete's made up names for some of the girls he's not familiar with - who impresses with tassels on her nipples; the big-titted blonde who hoses herself down in Hosing Around; Black Boots ... a black girl, in sexy boots; Twist! featuring a girl who really knows how to make her boobies move. Nice.

The whole thing comes to a climax (!) with two vintage clips of British lassies, and the disc's sole colour short. The first of the former two is noteworthy for featuring Brit model Jane Matthews, who offers a rare glimpse of bush (one of only a couple revealed on the whole DVD).

The final clip, Donna Long On A Picnic, is subtitled for fun and tells a jolly little tale of a redhead (it's in colour, remember) who loses her skirt on a barbed wire fence.

As you've no doubt deduced, this is all very tame fare. While it's all amiable enough, it's also undeniably monotonous after a short time. Each loop looks very similar for the most part and, without sound, there's not much to distinguish them. Even the repeated intro page of an atomic bomb exploding - which opens each loop - becomes an irritant before too long.

But it's nice to see these rare clips be unearthed. I appreciate Secret Key Motion Pictures and 42nd Street Pete's efforts in making these loops available for Joe Public.

I imagine they're probably best viewed as a background occurrence, perhaps in a party atmosphere or on while you're doing other stuff to music.

Each loop is presented in a 4:3 full-screen format, which is most likely how they were shot. Grain is natural and never too distracting. Odd specks and print damage are inevitable. As always, they lend an odd charm to proceedings.

All told, the black-and-white photography for each loop is handled well in these transfers taken from original negative materials. Blacks hold up well and images are consistently bright. Any softness or onscreen debris is symptomatic of the original elements.

Audio is not applicable: each loop plays out silently, save for the whirring sound of the 8mm reels.

The disc opens with a colourful animated main menu page. For once, a scene-selection menu is offered. This allows you to access each loop individually (50 chapters).

The only on-disc extras are a plethora of sexploitation trailers. There are 24 in total, and these include 2069: A SEX ODYSSEY, ALL THE SINS OF SODOM, THE SEXPERTS, RUN VIRGIN RUN and more.

Rounding out the package is a very welcome 12-page booklet offering liner notes from Pete, along with a nice colour 4-page centrespread showcasing the lovely Catherine and Sarina (the two hotties photographed with Pete on the front cover, above).

As ever, Secret Key have delivered the goods in terms of a solid DVD package for another collection of rare erotica. The loops may not be to everyone's requirements, but the effort contained herein by Pete and company cannot be faulted.

Review by Stu Willis