Score (1973) follows one married couple for twenty-four hours as they seduce another married couple in their home on the French Riviera. The film is based on the off-broadway play by Jerry Douglas who also penned the script of the film. Douglas took his cues from Oh Calcutta and incorporated scenes of nudity into his play. Claire Wilbur and Gerald Grant appeared in the stage version and then reprised their roles for the Radley Metzger film adaptation.
Metzger’s film, with its hardcore sex scenes between two men, was something of a coup in its moment. A mainstream adult film like Score including explicit scenes of gay sex was unheard of. Score has since been credited with normalizing gay sex in mainstream adult films. In contrast the sex scenes between Wilbur and Lynn Lowry are all simulated.
Douglas’ script is hilarious. Douglas works in lines like “I’m not much of a junkie” and “I think marriage is a no-no” without ever losing the voice of his characters. The game of seduction is played with humor as Grant and Wilbur lay their traps for Lowry and Calvin Culver. Lowry in particular gets a number of the best lines as the repressed Catholic suddenly confronted with long dormant sexual urges.
Lowry was cast in Score based on her work in Sugar Cookies (1973). In both films Lowry plays a naive and sexually inexperienced young woman. It was these qualities in her performance in Sugar Cookies that made Lowry ideal for Score. The entire premise of Score only works if Lowry can convincingly play that sexual and emotional journey from repressed Catholic to swinging wife. Luckily for all involved Lowry is more than up to the task.
Set entirely in a single villa, Score is very much tied to its theater roots. However Metzger circumvents that limitation via some highly expressive framing choices. Metzger shoots Score through reflections, mirrors, glass, and lampshades to create a disoriented sense of space where naked bodies become interchangeable. It’s almost psychedelic how Metzger shoots Score.
In the end though, Score is a study in seduction. In Metzger’s own words “seduction is not gender based”. The film celebrates the personal liberation that comes with sexual fluidity. There are laughs along the way but never at the expense of the characters or their games of seduction. It’s this balance coupled with Douglas’ wit and Metzger’s framing that has ensured Score‘s cult status.
