The Telephone Book

I saw this come up in the list of trailers on the Cinefamily Vimeo and was intrigued enough to look for more clips and found "The Telephone Book (1971) Obscene Phone Caller Confession" which was weird, but the one the clip that made me purchase the DVD immediately was "Lucy Lee Flippin in The Telephone Book" and not only me, one of my friends wanted to buy it also. The movie structure is a lot like a French art movie mixed up with Wharhol with a young lady falling in love with the world's best obscene caller and having adventures trying to track him down. I thought the scene with the train flasher running away from the protagonist as he was scared of dirty women was funny. There are sex scenes in the movie, but they are shot artistically so you can call this art more than sleaze. The scene in the pornographer's den has a woman who does the fastest boobie shaking I have seen. It's hard to really explain the progression of this movie in any logical sense, the colour sequence at the end and the animation will either be the icing on the cake or make you turn off the movie. Not sure who to recommend this movie to, hopefully fans of rare weird releases will enjoy it as I have heard other reviewers saying they had never heard of it and they have been out looking for titles like this for years.

this sex romp is so very early 60's! It's got a Laugh-in star and a naked guy draped across a desk with a flower in his... it pokes fun at the sexual revolution in a candid, silly, off-beat way that one seldom sees in films from more recent, jaded decades. It has a lot of nudity but I wouldn't call it pornographic -- just kooky

This should have been a smutty, smarmy sex comedy, but due to the immensely likeable Sarah Kennedy ("Rowan and Martin's 'Laugh In" and "Match Game") "The Telephone Book" is almost cute. Well, quirky, cute and smutty might be a better description. Ms. Kennedy is a lonely, sensitive young woman living in New York, who is the recipient of an obscene phone call. However, this is not just any obscene phone call, but the "Citizen Kane" of obscene phone calls. Kennedy makes it her mission to track down this caller, taking her down a winding trail of early 70s perversion. Nelson Lyon points his wonderful cast, (Roger C. Carmel, Barry Morse, Dolph Sweet, AND Jill Clayburgh who wears a sleep mask and has a very big gun), in the right direction, while providing the look of 70s New York grindhouse fare. Yes, this movie earns its X rating (particularly due to the animated scene near the end of the movie), but with the exception of the animation, "The Telephone Book" is far from pornographic, but a charming-in-a-strange-way sexy movie, that defies classification.

This dang movie reminded me of my last dang bowel movement. It was so dang hard to sit through. lol

Odd non-sequiturs and wild witty digressions delivered with soothing calm..excellent compositions, hilarious animation and a nice soft core thrill-- this is lots of fun!! I had the good fortune to be able to produce 2 full length CDs with Nelson Lyon and Hal Willner. It's a drag that such a brilliant artist doesn't have a filmography and discography a mile long. However, I would urge anyone who enjoys this film to also check out Nelson's work with Paris Records: Dead City Radio by W.S. Burroughs and Give Me Your Hump! The Unspeakable Terry Southern Record. Like The Telephone Book, these projects are loaded with cameos from Nelson's friends--all of whom are well known stars. He took great care with his productions- in fact, his perfectionism almost drove us nuts! All the same, Nelson's production values were well worth it, and I will value his friendship for the rest of my life. Nelson Lyon 1939-2012.. We miss you, Nels, and I know you would never want to "rest in peace".

Not bad, I actually did not like the animations at the end, thought they were over the top and crude. I understand they were an afterthought when they had problems with the filming of the original intended ending, and it shows.

"A series of obscene phone calls from a stranger begins to command a woman's attention" Sarah Kennedy who plays Alice, the one who receives the obscene calls is absolutely adorable and fun to watch. Eventually she falls in love with the so called greatest obscene phone caller of all time. Beautifully filmed. And a great animation segment at one point during the film that will blow your mind. This is a lost gem. Definitely a film worth being shown at an old theater with original print.

You gotta see it to believe it. Weird and perfect.