The Stewardesses (4 Stars)

This is Ingrid Steeger's fourth Swiss film, made in 1971. It was made in the style of the report films of the early 1970's, but the tales are interconnected by having the same characters in most of the episodes. Basically, the purpose of the film is to show how stewardesses – or should we call them flight attendants? – spend their time when they're off duty, most of which concerns sexual activities. There were protests when the film was first released. Stewardesses claimed they were being portrayed in a bad light. For that reason a disclaimer was added to the film during the first sex scene..

"This film is not a report. It is not based on facts. We are not of the opinion that stewardesses behave the way that they're shown in this film".

So now we know that the film doesn't want to tell us that stewardesses have sex with pilots while they're in the air. It's amusing that we need to be told that. Anyone who knows the German report films should know by now that none of the report films are based on facts, even if they claim otherwise, whether they're schoolgirl reports, housewife reports or nurse reports.

The film's main character isn't Ingrid Steeger, unfortunately, it's Jenny Morris, played by Margrit Siegel, an actress who only appeared in eight films, all of them directed by Erwin C. Dietrich. We're invited to feel sorry for her. She's in love with the pilot that she's riding in the cockpit (accidentally leaving the intercom on, so the passengers hear everything), but he's engaged to another stewardess. Jenny spends her 48 hour break in Zurich trying to find love. The first man, an elderly businessman, falls asleep in the hotel before they even get started. The second man is built too small to satisfy her. The third man, a co-pilot, collapses drunk before they get into bed. Poor Jenny.

The pilot's fiancee, Frances, has lovers in every city she visits, but she breaks off all her other relationships when she gets engaged. A large part of the film is spent with sightseeing in Rome with the pilot. It looks like Erwin C. Dietrich thought it necessary to add some culture to the film. The film is shot in Zurich, Rome, Copenhagen and Munich. Amusingly, the street scenes weren't filmed with a permit and paid extras. Passers by are obviously looking at the camera, and in one scene a woman is even photographing Frances and the pilot, probably because she thought they were famous actors.

The third stewardess, Evelyn, has nowhere to stay in Copenhagen, so Frances sends her to live with Sven, one of her ex-lovers. Sven is sharing an apartment with another couple, Olaf and Ingrid. Here we finally see Ingrid Steeger, playing her namesake. When Frances isn't having sex with Sven they're walking around the city sightseeing. Even more sightseeing!

There's an interesting scene where the two couples are sitting in the apartment watching a Danish hardcore pornographic film. In voiceover, Evelyn is saying that the film is boring and sending her to sleep. That was obviously Erwin C. Dietrich's opinion of hardcore pornography. Evelyn thinks to herself, "Why doesn't a Danish producer make a sex comedy with Ingrid in the main role? She looks delicious". Those are definitely Erwin's own thoughts!

At the end of the film there's a twist. We see an unnamed man in a cinema who's been watching the whole film. He walks out, shaking his head, thinking the film was silly or infeasible. The cinema is in West Berlin, near the Gedächtniskirche. As he's waiting at a bus stop Ingrid Steeger walks up to him. She tells him she's a stewardess and she wants to have sex with him. She wasn't a stewardess in the film, but she's a stewardess in real life. She takes him into one of the beautiful old town houses in the city centre and undresses on the stairs.

But there's a second twist. He was only daydreaming. There's no Ingrid. That's sad.

This is an enjoyable film, even though there's too much sightseeing and not enough Ingrid.