The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington

Joey Heatherton takes the place of Lynn Redgrave in using the name of the famous Xaviera Hollander as the Happy Hooker. Joey's in some serious trouble, she's being held up as an example of the moral decay in America. A Senate subcommittee consisting of David White, Ray Walston, Phil Foster, and Jack Carter is holding hearings on that issue and Heatherton is her star witness.

But often one hand of the government doesn't know what the other is doing. At the same time she's being pilloried in this Senate committee, the CIA wants her to seduce an Arab sheik played by Jerry Fischer. If only handling Osama Bin-Laden was this easy. Heatherton is nothing if not a patriot though and her duty is clear.

In the end the sheik and Heatherton come to a meeting of minds that solves all their problems.

The film is dopey and God only knows what a whole lot of recognizable faces were doing in this thing. But it's also kind of fun. In fact it would take more than a dozen years before topics like these were discussed in the Halls of Congress. I refer to the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings.

But if you're loving large female breasts, this film is for you.

I'm not sure how this gets such a low rating. Only 2.1? I've seen a LOT of worse movies. This one actually has a plot, some lighthearted humour, and (if you like them) lots of breasts. Not a great film, but not bad either. And I think it has a lot to say about our current times, not just the era it is from. This movie could not be made today because nobody with a recognizable name would dare be in it. I recognize there are serious films today that even go so far as to include actual sex to make their points, but nothing is as satirical as this, nothing pokes fun at those who need to be poked at. There are also films like A Dirty Shame which try to be funny, but they all seem to fail because they don't really believe in their own premise, and pull back. Anyway, I found this film enjoyable and refreshing.

Who thought the world needed a sequel to the original "Happy Hooker" film? Was the first one really that popular? Guess you had to be there. History tells us this movie was made at the tail end of the sexual revolution, ground zero in the disco era, and it shows--I can't imagine anyone being shocked by this turkey. It's also a true bridge between the first film, which was sexless TV-movie camp, and the third one, which was mindlessly dull soft-core.

Xaviera Hollander, famous hooker and now magazine magnate (oh sure) gets summoned to Washington for a trial about indecency involving...well, does it really matter? I've seen this film about 20 times since I was a kid and it would play on cable and I still couldn't tell you what it's "about." The first half is best and I usually turn it off about the time Xaviera gets kidnapped by Billy Barty (don't ask). The draw of the first half makes it all worthwhile to me, it's just berserk: Rip Taylor screaming and throwing fake snow around while photographing a topless extra from "Jesus Christ Superstar." Joey Heatherton looking beautiful and probably stoned out of her gourd, trying to act sexy and free but appearing a tad confused as to what she's accomplishing by being in this film (doesn't look like it helped her career much). A host of has-been 50's and 60's TV stars with bloodshot eyes doing cameos (Ray Walston? George Hamilton??). Bad 70's costumes and set designs, strange editing/foleying choices and enough teen-age-humor sex puns to fill a blow-up sex doll. Which is not to say it isn't entertaining--it is, I still laugh at the commercial parodies and the ding-bat sexpot stenographer who has trouble spelling a certain very naughty word (by the way...DO you hyphenate it, I wonder?)

But it's not sexy, just fyi. Despite a preponderance of exposed breasts, it's very like the first film, all innocent fun, the sex is at the level of a geeky teenager, which I was when I saw this, so it suited me fine. The second half is dull and disjointed; Xaviera has to seduce a stereo-typed Middle Eastern character and everything falls apart--they either ran out of money or everyone was zonked on drugs by the time they wrapped shooting. It just literally runs out of steam and simply stops at about the 90 minute mark.

I will always have a fond place in my heart (or somewhere) for Xaviera and her filmed exploits and so I'm glad this dumb film exists, but if you want titillation or even good exploitation you'll have to keep looking. Oh, and the new DVD transfer is absolutely stunning--talk about polishing a...well, never-mind...

Joey Heatherton a sex kitten from the 60"s turns in a great performance as Xavier Hollander (the happy hooker) ! As the great tagline suggests "She served her country the only way she could", Joey makes your blod boil without taking off her clothes as in todays films! This gem of a movie is not available on video but is occasionally shown on cable! Catch it if you can!

Happy Hooker Goes to Washington (1977) was the best of the "Happy Hooker" trilogy (but that's not saying much). This time around, "The Happy Hooker" is portrayed by Joey Heatherton (who's steaming hot in this picture and the best of the bunch). This time around the "World's famous Madame" takes her act to Washington D.C. There she meets one of Hollywood's top ten mack-daddies, Mr. George Hamilton who co-stars as a Washington insider.

The film tries not to be sexy or "adult" but more campy. Joey Heatherton looks good and makes a very welcomed screen presence. The movie is okay. It's not great by any means but it's a definite improvement over the first film. The film (like

many during this time period) is extremely dated and doesn't hold very well over the past twenty some odd years. Great film if you're in the mood for some campy fun. Other than that I wouldn't go out of my way looking for a copy. The final chapter to the Happy Hooker trilogy is "The Happy Hooker goes to Hollywood".

Recommended for fans of the genre or for Happy Hooker completists.

B