Gold of the Amazon Women

The excellent reference book "DVD Delirium" suggests hard liquor before an attempt to watch the 1979 TV movie "Gold of the Amazon Women," but somehow, I made it through without. In this amusing cheese(cake) fest, Swedish actor Bo Svenson--38 here and in mid-career--searches the Amazon basin with his thrill-seeking sidekick for the legendary Seven Cities of Gold. They are ultimately captured by a group of white-skinned Amazons, led by the Swedish actress Anita Ekberg--48 here and at the end of her career. The picture actually feels like two separate films, with a fairly serious first half dealing with jungle exploration and some murder attempts on our heroes perpetrated by drug dealer Donald Pleasence (has any modern-day actor appeared in more dubious projects?), but once the girls appear, the film becomes mere male-fantasy camp, with men in cages being forced to sexually please some truly dynamite-looking women. And these guys want to escape?!?! It must be said that Ekberg looks fairly blowsy and out of shape here, unlike her lithe and athletic-looking underlings; she's a looooong way from her Miss Sweden 1951 win, not to mention here "La Dolce Vita" (1960) breakthrough. The film itself also features a helicopter attack, poison ants and snakes, crocodiles, a battle between the Amazons and blowgun-wielding natives, fistfights, smack-addicted Amazons, and the discovery of the Lost City. My advice is to put your brain on hold and enjoy this lighthearted, cheesy fun for what it is. Alright, maybe drink a few beers first...