I guess it is up to us Australians commenting here (both of us) who want to tell you HEAVY PETTING is a very funny documentary. Barely released (no pun there) in 1989 and seen sometimes on a double feature with DIRTY DANCING, this look at sex hygiene and teen social short films of the 50s manages to be laugh out loud funny in between so called celebs offering smirking advice on how they first managed to grope, be groped or get a bra off a prom date. Probably teenagers will get the best from it, shrieking at seeing 50 year olds who look like their parents (or older) tell about their clumsy 1950s finger fests or worse, why they gave up after a few sessions. Much of the footage was already seen in LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL and is seen again in the dance DVD TWIST from 1992; Whilst reviewers in mainstream media might be deflated, this film plays fairly well to any audience. As a cinema owner of the 80s, it was a lot of fun to watch the teens in the crowd scream at the revelations from the wrinklies on screen. My summary above is a lyric from the 1933 Busby Berkely musical GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 sequence: the called PETTIN IN THE PARK which is also as risqué as anything seen in HEAVY PETTING
Review of Heavy Petting
