Born Heli Weinreich in Berlin, Germany, Gigi Darlene immigrated to Queens as a teenager, where she transitioned from exotic dancing to acting. Known for her roles in 50,000 B.C. (Before Clothing) (1963) and White Slaves of Chinatown (1964), Gigi's work reflects the audacious spirit of 1960s exploitation cinema. Her collaborations with directors like Doris Wishman in films such as Nudes on Tiger Reef (1964) showcase her embrace of the provocative and the playful, making her a memorable figure in the realm of cult films.
Rent-a-Girl Shortie
A trio of key scenes from "Rent-A-Girl" (1965), one of the better low-budget New York "roughies" from the '60s. Director William L. Rose was also the cinematographer for "The Defilers" (1965), the classic Hollywood roughie from sexploitation producer David F. Friedman and director Lee Frost. (Clips from that film are also on this archive.) This film is about a sleazy New York modeling agency that rents out girls to perverted clients with "special needs". Fetishes include an eccentric artist who paints directly on his nude models and a water freak who likes to drench bound beauties with a garden hose. Agency owner Mrs. Grant also throws wild "swingers only" parties with peculiar adult games for her depraved friends and clients. Scene 1: a decadent party with Darlene Bennett (who made many exploitation films) and two other girls, one of whom is black, playing strip billiards. Interesting to note that black actresses, utterly neglected by Hollywood in the '60s, were used quite often in these independent features. Scene 2: For the amusement of the party guests, Darlene and another girl wrestle on the floor; they wear masks and spank each other with rolled newspapers. Scene 3: Mrs. Grant's girls blackmail her in a classic "turnabout" power exchange. Mistress becomes slave as she is forced to submit to a humiliating and painful paddle spanking and a harsh whipping with a flogger. A scene that serves the plot (ironic and just retribution) and adds more fetish elements in a non-gratuitous manner -- rare for this genre. Most of these grind house films were schlock, shot in 5-7 days for around $10,000. "Rent-A-Girl" (like "The Defilers") is a cut above for its script which delivers all the requisite titillation items (nudity, decadence, kinky fetishes) as legitimate plot elements within the story. To see more clips and trailers in this series, search for "exploitation", "fetish film", "stag film", "sexploitation" and "nunsploitation". Other films in this series include: Olga's House of Shame, The Defilers, The Love Girls, Olga's Girls, Motel Confidential, Venus in Furs, Sweet Sugar, Cool It Baby, All Women are Bad, The Ramrodder, Honey, women in prison and '30s French fetish films, Irving Klaw, Bettie Page, et al.
