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[tab title="Movie Review"]
You can tell EXACTLY what kind of bonkers film this is going to be by the wacky opening credits as a blonde, eager to strip for writer/director Edward D. Wood, Jr’s 16mm camera, takes her lipstick and starts coloring her nipples with it. Her ass follows. Soon her hairy nether regions get decorated, too. Edited together with haphazardly shot scenes of Los Angeles and a host of other naked females parading down the blood red-carpeted stairs, Take It Out In Trade begins.
Mac McGregor, Private Investigator, is the name. We are advised to remember it because, at one point or another, we all will need a goofy-looking private eye stumbling about in our lives. That’s what McGregor (O'Donnell) alludes to as he walks us through his favorite sex-obsessed and drug-filled city. The case this time, as explained through random scenes in which he mugs for the camera and spies on all sorts of sex acts, involves The Rileys missing (but very beautiful) daughter, Shirley (Donna Stanley).
McGregor will spare no expense in finding out where this missing 20-year-old girl has gone. He’ll even beat up an old woman and deny her of her heroin in order to get the chance to speak to the crossdressing Alecia (Ed Wood) who might know a thing or two about this missing fine young woman. Alecia, in a lime green dress and blue eye shadow, is down for a good time. That is until Mac threatens to attack.
But one does not mess with Alecia without interesting consequences. McGregor also doesn’t exactly take his job seriously, so there’s bound to be bumpy times ahead . . . for he is, as he often repeats pausing for dramatic effects, THE CHASER. Dun dun dunnnnnnnn. Of course, with Wood, we have to point out what works: the LGBTQ community – as this progressive film actually depicts NORMAL and HEALTHY relationships – gets the shining star. {googleads}
The release of Take It Out In Trade, Ed Wood’s softcore pornographic comedy, makes it blu-ray debut thanks to Something Weird Video and American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) combined efforts. This is a film long thought lost. Except it wasn’t. There have been various versions and outtakes floating around of the movie for awhile now, just nothing officially packaged and organized as well as it is presented with this new release. Plus, the ragged film looks as good as it is going to get thanks to the new 2K scan.
Completists are surely going to want to scoop this release (and for good reason) as the film, shot on a typical low budget and filled with slapstick moments that hilariously don’t work (albeit for a couple involving Ed Wood), does all the wrong things in all the right ways. All of this, plus some very naked ladies, in a script that has all the usual Ed Woodian tropes. Mismatched footage, bumbling actors, and wacky edits await fans.
Looking for a “tramp witch”, as described by Alecia, is not easy. It involves many unnecessary travels to Greece and France and Argentina (you know, shots of people wearing beanies as they sit at small tables in drab corner offices all “dressed up” to be hilariously exotic) and the spying on of many, many couples (recycled footage) as they fornicate here, there, and everywhere.
The film easily “reads” like one of Wood’s pulpy detective novels. It’s also full of nudie cuties and some pretty awful acting, making it a sort of hodgepodge of Wood’s greatest hits. Hell, he himself turns in a great performance and makes the most of his comedic turns. Could this film be any more inspired by Russ Meyer or John Waters? Because Wood turns in one of his best latter-day films.
Get your Wood fetish on with Take It Out In Trade, a film which bothers not with criticizing ANYONE’s choices in a relationship, and enjoy this LA-centered house of ill repute this holiday season.
Easy sleazy!
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[tab title="Details"]
MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 98 mins
Director: Edward D. Wood Jr.
Writer: Edward D. Wood Jr.
Cast: L.G. Allard, Nona Carver, Linda Colpin
Genre: Comedy
Tagline:
Memorable Movie Quote:
Theatrical Distributor: MarJon Film Distributors
Official Site:
Release Date:
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: November 13, 2018
Synopsis: A couple hire a detective to locate their missing daughter. He finds her in a "house of ill-repute."
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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]
Blu-ray Details:
Home Video Distributor: AGFA American Genre Film Archive
Available on Blu-ray - November 13, 2018
Screen Formats: 1.33:1
Subtitles: none
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A
With an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, Something Weird Video and AGFA presents Ed Wood’s Take It Out In Trade with a blisteringly brilliant and crisp 2k restoration. It is minted from the film’s original camera negative and it shows. Colors are strong. Black levels are pristine. And the greens are solid. Shadows are thick and defined. Skin tones are good, too. And the flesh is immaculate. Pores are visible and the women are fabulous. Sure, there are limitations to the transfer but all that is due to a limited budget. The sound is presented in a DTS-HD track.
Supplements:
Commentary:
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Included is a commentary track with filmmaker Frank Henenlotter (Basket Case), Ed Wood biographer Rudolph Grey, and AGFA’s Joseph A. Ziemba.
Special Features:
This special Blu-ray/DVD combo includes the bonus movie The Love Feast (1969) starring Ed Wood. It, too, has been scanned in 2K from an original 35mm theatrical print. Rounding out the collection is Take It In Trade: The Outtakes and a 10-page booklet with an essay.
- Take It Out In Trade: The Outtakes
- The Love Feast
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[tab title="Art"]
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