A Life in Dirty Movies

Joe Sarno (1921-2010) was one of the most respected filmmakers in a disreputable genre. With his wife and collaborator Peggy, Sarno made movies during the 1960s and early 1970s that explored adult sexuality and morality under the guise of sexploitation (with titles such as Sin in the Suburbs and The Love Merchant). Sarno earned the name "the Ingmar Bergman of 42nd Street" for his carefully composed images, European sensibility, and focus on women characters taking charge of their own sexuality, but he was no longer able to make his kind of femme-centered, elegantly-produced movies after being displaced by the rise of the X-rated film industry. Director Wiktor Ericsson's documentary offers a survey of Sarno's career but the real focus is on the couple themselves—who were together and still in love after more than 40 years—and on Sarno's late attempt at a comeback. Somewhat disingenuously, Ericsson completely ignores the 15-year stretch when Sarno made X-rated films under a number of pseudonyms, but A Life in Dirty Movies remains compelling for its story of the Sarnos long partnership, Joe's desire to keep making films, and Peggy's determination to support his dreams and legacy even as she acknowledges that he is completely out of step with the times. Featuring interviews with filmmaker John Waters and sex educator Annie Sprinkle, this unrated documentary includes explicit nudity and softcore sex scenes. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)