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Terrific "coming of age" porn; almost too much of a good thing
lor_16 March 2011
Carlos Tobalina made so many porn films & videos that the wheat has gotten lost amidst the chaff, but THREE RIPENING CHERRIES holds up very well and deserves rediscovery. Boasting a terrific female cast, it is still stimulating decades later, revived by Alpha Blue Archives from a nice looking print.

Premise is three young sisters (Lynn LeMay, Brooke West and Misty Regan) fantasizing about sex, while their mom (oddly but effectively-cast loops star Kitty Shayne) wants them to hold out for true love. It's credited as being based on a Guy de Maupassant story, no less.

Opening reels spotlight Shayne exclusively, as she tells her offspring, plus visiting European gal Claudia (Rosa Lee), about her own sexual history, in order to have them benefit from her experience and avoid various pitfalls.

WIth pigtails Shayne portrays herself back in her teen years, humping in the backseat of a car, getting raped by an older man (not shown at all on screen -this being a non-violent sex movie), and ultimately achieving orgasms with her husband, their dad. Pop is a sailor who only is home intermittently, merely making mom's heart grow fonder.

I greatly enjoyed this reel or two of Shayne, one of my favorite film and magazine porn starlets. After she's finished proselytizing, the three daughters head to their bedroom and have an incestuous lesbian three-way sex scene, presented refreshingly in a no-guilt, matter-of-fact way by Tobalina.

At this point CHERRIES will definitely separate the men from the boys in the audience, as the trio's sex action continues for well over half an hour, intercutting their strictly-in-the-family licking & groping with fantasized footage of them servicing young Jon Martin or a couple of studs. Tobalina pours it on so unrelentingly at this point that I'm sure a popcorn break or perhaps a stroll to the men's room was mandatory during this endless sequence.

When they're finally done, the girls head out to put their dreams into practice, with strictly comical results. They try to pick up the two school studs from the fantasy, and are rebuffed, as the guys reveal to them that they're already a couple, gay variety.

Dreams of making it with a teacher also fizzle, as the phys. ed. prof who agrees to a motel assignation with Misty simply can't get it up. A grey-haired math teacher is only interested in s&m. Crestfallen, the girls conclude that mom was right, and they should hold out for true love rather than immediate & constant gratification.

Besides the great Shayne, Tobalina's casting makes CHERRIES a satisfying experience. Blonde star LeMay was one of the best of her generation, and at a very young age both Regan and West are truly beautiful and voluptuous here. They're all photographed flatteringly, not all that common in porn.

Perhaps Tobalina's best gimmick is a subtle but definite emphasis on softcore within the overall hardcore context. Instead of immediately jumping to the XXX tight closeups, most of the film unfolds from strictly softcore angles and vantage points, including a large amount of the Jon Martin footage. This may appear cryptic to today's all-sex (and no story) generation, but it proves to be very effective.
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8/10
One of Carlos Tobalina's best hardcore films
Woodyanders25 March 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Sally (yummy Dorothy LeMay), Lucy (super cute Misty Regan), and Ann (fetching brunette Brooke West) are three sibling suburban virgins who are all eager to learn about the joys of sex, so they decide to aggressively pursue their carnal education. Director Carlos Tobalina relates the simple, yet eventful and absorbing story at a snappy pace, maintains an engaging upbeat tone throughout, and presents all the sex in a refreshingly pleasant and positive manner. The plentiful sex scenes are quite vigorous and arousing, with a lengthy incestuous lesbian tryst between our titular trio rating as the highly erotic highlight. Lucky Jon Martin gets to tag team all three ladies at once, David Morris and Aaron Stuart also are on hand to demonstrate their lovemaking prowess, and Kitty Wayne contributes a solid turn as our randy trio's worldly mother Rose. Roy McNamara's blithely ribald script keeps things light and breezy with an amusing sense of cheerfully raunchy humor: The gym teacher who's unable to get an erection during a motel encounter with Lucy and the math teacher who turns out to be a closet S&M enthusiast provide the biggest laughs. The jaunty rockin' music adds lots of extra bouncy pep. Joseph D. Ferminan's crisp cinematography gives this picture an attractive sunny look. Best of all, the three female leads are all blazing hot and display a winningly naughty'n'natural on-screen chemistry. Recommended viewing.
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Regan Steals the Picture
Michael_Elliott4 July 2020
Three Ripening Cherries (1979)

*** (out of 4)

A mom (Kitty Shayne) warns her three daughters (Misty Regan, Brooke West, Lynn LeMay) that having sex before marriage isn't as good as they might think and tries to push them into saving their virginity. The three ladies then go back to their bed and play around with one another as they fantasies what it would be like to have sex.

Carlos Tobalina's THREE RIPENING CHERRIES appears to be his "masterpiece" as far as a Tobalina goes. It seems that the majority of the people who watch his film leave this one calling it the best and it's easy to see why as it's certainly well-made, features a fun story and it also delivers some very erotic scenes with the three lovely leading ladies.

Of course, you have the entire idea of three sisters licking and touching one another but we'll just overlook that part. The film works extremely well as a fantasy and especially how the ladies envision themselves losing their virginity. I thought the fantasy sequences were well-directed by Tobalina and they also managed to be quite erotic as it really did seem as if the three females were really into it and not just there for the work.

This is especially true for Regan who easily steals the film. I thought she was extremely charming and especially during the finale where she whines because the man she picked just can't give her what she wants. Overall THREE RIPENING CHERRIES isn't what I'd consider a masterpiece of the genre but it's certainly a fun and charming picture that shows Tobalina could do something right.
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