We had to watch Acapulco Uncensored for two reasons. First, it’s set in Mexico, which is our favorite country of all those we’ve visited so far (nine trips for PSGP and counting), and two, it’s in “throbbing color,” according to this promo poster. Well, there’s color but not much throbbing. At least at first. But about ten minutes in Virginia Gordon makes an appearance. We had no idea. So we retract that statement about there being no throbbing. This was one of three movies Gordon made in 1968, in her thirties by then and growing still more beautiful, sporting six pack abs and a slimmed down frame since her Playboy days.
Okay, so what’s the movie about? It’s a travelogue of Acapulco, part staged, part documentary, purporting to take viewers through the sexual hot spots, places where sun lovers can sun, swingers can swing, and whorehouse Johns can get their ashes hauled. It also discusses the dark side—women stuck in prostitution or sexual slavery, drug dangers, the places where tourists can be robbed or shot if they aren’t watchful. It’s narrated, and the script is intelligently written and occasionally eloquent—another surprise. It’s also a bit superior and rude—not a surprise at all.
Acapulco Uncensored is mainly supposed to be a titillation movie, and it offers plenty of that, including Kathy Williams, aka Ira Makepeace, briefly implying oral sex. Surprisingly for the era, there are flashes of pubes. Gordon pushes the envelope—she’d be offering extended looks at her old growth forest if she weren’t shaved. We presume that was a decision made to confound the censors. If the camera goes low enough that there should be hair but none is seen, should those frames be cut? Apparently not. Acapulco Uncensored is a worthy cinematic oddity, and you’ll even learn a few things. It premiered in the U.S.—and weakened some taboos—today in 1968.
