THE LAST AMERICAN VIRGIN

US, 1982, 92 minutes, Colour.
Lawrence Monoson, Diane Franklin, Steve Antin.
Directed by Boaz Davidson.

The Last American Virgin is an exploitation film from the Cannon Group. Israeli director Boaz Davison succeeded at the box office with his series of Lemon Popsicle films, set in Tel Aviv and showing the sexual adventures of three boys - backed with contemporary music. The Lemon Popsicle original screenplay is transferred, almost sequence by sequence, to contemporary Los Angeles. Three boys with similar appearance to the Israeli actors are used and there is a contemporary American musical background. The film fits into the high school exploitation sex comedies so prevalent in the '70s and '80s.

The basic plot does transfer sufficiently well from Tel Aviv in the '50s to Los Angeles in the '80s. The film somehow or other has its cake and eats it. While being exploitive at the opening, the final focus on the hero shows him compassionate in his support of the attractive heroine to help her with the abortion - and then his betrayal by her as she returns to his callous friend. This was the emphasis in the original as well as its counterpart. However, the screenplay at times makes the hero as gross as his friends. A sheerly commercial venture.