Main Cast: Robert Moloney, John Sarno, Wayne Maunder, Marianne McAndrew, Philip Carey, Edy Williams, Jay C. Flippen
Release Year: 1971
Country: US
Run Time: 115 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Russ Meyer followed-up his delirious Beyond the Valley of the Dolls with this surprisingly straighforward drama, which offered little of Meyer's traditional tongue-in-cheek humor or remarkably proportioned women in favor of a serious message about the evils of censorship. A bookstore sells a copy of a notorious erotic novel, entitled The Seven Minutes, to a teenager who is later arrested for rape. A prosecutor on a crusade against pornography seizes upon this as an opportunity to have the book declared obscene, and the trial sparks a heated debate about the issue of pornography vs. free speech, as well as revealing a startling revelation about the novel's true author. Adapted from a novel by Irving Wallace, The Seven Minutes featured one of Meyer's more interesting casts, including veteran character actors John Carradine and Alexander D'Arcy, a post-Munsters Yvonne de Carlo, a pre-Magnum P.I. Tom Selleck, lounge comic Jackie Gayle, and Wolfman Jack as himself. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Lyle Bettger - Frank Griffith; Richard Angarola - Father Sarfatti; Bill Baldwin - Commentator; Judith Baldwin - Fremont's Girl Friend; Calvin Bartlett - Olin Adams; David Brian - Cardinal; John Carradine - Sean O'Flanagan; Barry Coe - Court Bailiff; Regis J. Cordic - Louis Polk; Alex D'Arcy - Christian Leroux; Yvonne De Carlo - Constance Cumberland; George de Normand; Shawn Devereaux - Yerkes' Girl friend; Charles Drake - Sgt. Kellog; Jackie Gayle - Norman Quandt; John Gruber - Dr. Quigley; Lynn Hamilton - Avis; Robin Hughes - Ashcroft; Jim Iglehart - Clay Rutherford; Wolfman Jack - Himself; Kate Jackson; Ken Jones - Charles Wynter; Marthe Keller; Berry Kroeger - Paul Van Fleet; Stuart Lancaster - Dr. Roger Trimble; Lillian Lehman - Librarian; Charles Napier - Officer Iverson; Kay Peters - Olivia St. Clair; Ron Randell - Merle Reid; Henry Rowland - Yerkes' Butler; Jeffrey Sayre - Juror; Tom Selleck - Phil Sanford; Jan Shutan - Anna Lou White; Olan Soule - Harvey Underwood; Harold J. Stone - Judge; Vince Williams; Stanley Adams - Irwin Blair; Bill Durkin - George Perkins; Paul Stader - Thug; Patrick Wright - 1st Detective; James Bacon - Reporter; Yvonne D'Angers - Sheri Moore; Robert Moloney - Ben Fremont; John Sarno - Jerry Griffith; John Lawrence - Howard Moore
Credit
Rodger Maus - Art Director, Bill Thomas - Costume Designer, David Hall - First Assistant Director, Russ Meyer - Director, Dick Wormell - Editor, Stu Phillips - Composer (Music Score), Stu Phillips - Musical Direction/Supervision, Stu Phillips - Songwriter, Bob Stone - Songwriter, Del Acevedo - Makeup, Dan Striepeke - Makeup, Lynn Reynolds - Makeup, Fred Mandl - Cinematographer, Russ Meyer - Producer, Raphael Bretton - Set Designer, Walter Scott - Set Designer, Howard A. Anderson - Special Effects, Don Bassman - Sound/Sound Designer, Theodore Soderberg - Sound/Sound Designer, Richard Warren Lewis - Screenwriter, Irving Wallace - Book Author
After a teenager who purchased the erotic novel The Seven Minutes is charged for rape, an eager prosecutor who is against pornography (and preparing for an upcoming election) uses the scandal to declare the book as obscene and brings charges against the bookstore. The subsequent trial soon creates a heated debate about the issue of pornography vs. free speech. The young defense lawyer must also solve the mystery of the novel's true author.
This was Meyer's second, and last, mainstream production for FOX. The film began production soon after the success of Meyer's highest grossing film, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.[1]
As with many of his movies, Meyers used several of the same actors in his previous productions including then-wife Edy Williams, Charles Napier, Henry Rowland, and James Inglehart.
