The White Rabbit: She’s embarassed – I think she’s still a virgin.
Mad Hatter: Well if that’s the case, she should be embarassed. I’ve never heard of such a thing.
Alice: Well I’m trying to learn, honestly, but I can’t have everything shoved down my throat all at once.
Mad Hatter: Well I don’t see why not.
This Ain’t Your Childhood “Alice In Wonderland!”
As the dialogue above clearly warns, this is a VERY different approach to a childhood classic – and a fascinating look at a cult Hollywood classic!
The characters may be the same – but their motivation is completely different! Meet Kristine DeBell – who debuted as the star of an X-rated MUSICAL version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland at the age of 22!
Yes, it was a musical! Check out the trailer!
Hooray For Hollywood!
It’s a story as old as Hollywood itself – find a classic story and exploit it! This 1975 movie is notorious for a number of reasons – but first, meet Kristine DeBell…a young Actress who got the break of a lifetime in 1975 when she was cast to star in an “adult” version of a classic children’s story!
In this X-rated musical version of “Alice In Wonderland”, Alice is a cheerful, outgoing and virginal librarian. After rejecting the offensive advances of a man named William, a white rabbit magically appears to take her to Wonderland. And in THIS wonderland, it’s all about X-rated pleasure!
Or Was It An “R”-Rated Musical Comedy?
While the first poster clearly says this is an X-rated movie, one other fascinating aspect of this story is that there were THREE separate versions of the film! Yes, it was an “R”-rated musical comedy as well…look at this version of the poster!
You see, this film was cut into many different versions to satisfy a wide variety of audiences! This wasn’t that unusual in the 70’s: movies were made in multiple versions to maximize their distribution, as many drive-ins around the country wouldn’t show X-rated films…
“Dirty Dorothy?”
According to David J. Hogan’s book “The Wizard of OZ FAQ,” Bill Osco, the producer of “Alice in Wonderland” had originally intended to star Kristine DeBell in an X-rated parody of the Wizard of OZ to be entitled “Dirty Dorothy.” He eventually decided to do a take-off on Lewis Carroll’s “Alice” books instead, because their rights were in the public domain and there would be less risk of a copyright infringement lawsuit!
So What EXACTLY Did Kristine DeBell Do In The Film?
And what about THIS XXX-Rated version of the movie? Yes, there was an even more extreme version of the film, which was shown in grindhouse theaters that catered to a more extreme audience. It raises the question: just what did Kristine DeBell do in this movie?
As I told you, there were three versions of the film released: the original X-rated version, plus a cleaner “R” version…and a notorious XXX-rating as well!
Thanks to the terrific SHOCK magazine issue #49, DeBell addressed the multiple cuts:
Once I was hired, at some point I said, ‘eww yuck! I mean, I’ll do that maybe, but I’m not doing that!” She adds, “They actually cut out three minutes to get an R-rating. It’s funny that after they released it as an R, one year later, the producers came out and said (husky voice) ‘oh yeah, yeah, here’s all the XXX that we filmed but didn’t put it in then.’ It’s like, ‘REALLY?’ (laughs)”
Several years ago, DeBell posted this great response on her Facebook page, where she describes exactly what she did and didn’t do in the movie:
“I have had the opportunity of late to set the record straight about my appearance in “Alice In Wonderland.” I think my comment on the film that sums it up best is “who’s in the triple X version? I did three naughty things in that movie…”
Here is a great writeup from DeBell’s Facebook page that explains it all:
https://www.facebook.com/kristinedebellfans/posts/487318431324689
In addition to appearing in “Alice In Wonderland”, DeBell also appeared in Playboy…she was on the April 1976 cover of the magazine…
Hello, Bill Murray!
After her notoriety playing Alice, Kristine moved into mainstream film and television. Her most prominent film role was camp counselor A.L., alongside Bill Murray in the comedy “Meatballs!”
After appearing as Jackie Chan’s girlfriend in “The Big Brawl”, she appeared in a number of television series, including “The Young and the Restless”, “B. J. and the Bear” and “Night Court”.
DeBell achieved fame through a unique role – and she’s not the only sex kitten to do so…
The “Queen Of Artsploitation!”
Swedish Actress Christina Lindberg was the “Queen of Artsploitation”, with a string of provocative european art films full of “adult situations”…
She achieved the same sort of X-rated notoriety for her role in “Thriller: A Cruel Picture”, which was also released in multiple versions…you can read all about Quentin Tarantino’s favorite exploitation film by clicking here:
Another way to become famous was to be a “Bond girl”, starring in one of the many 007 films…
Claudine Auger achieved fame as the “Bond girl” in “Thunderbolt” – you can read all about her career by clicking on my story here:
Starring in an exploitation film isn’t always the key to stardom…here is one cautionary tale:
Anne Sparrow starred in the cult classic “The Sinful Dwarf” – yes, if you follow my blog, you know all about this film:
“The Sinful Dwarf” was also released in many different versions, and the young actress who stars in the film, Anne Sparrow, made this film and then disappeared forever!
Read all about this cinematic mystery by clicking on my story here:
There you have it: a look at how movies are made once but released in many different ways…let me know if you’ve experienced any of them!
