The Opening of Misty Beethoven

The Opening of Misty Beethoven is an American pornographic comedy film released in 1976. It was produced with a relatively high budget and filmed on elaborate locations in Paris, New York City and Rome with a musical score, and owes much to its director Radley Metzger (directing this film as "Henry Paris"). According to author Toni Bentley, The Opening of Misty Beethoven is considered the "crown jewel" of the Golden Age of Porn (1969–1984).

Plot
An adult erotic take on George Bernard Shaw 1913 play Pygmalion, and its 1956 musical adaptation My Fair Lady, the film follows a sexologist who tries transforming a low-skilled prostitute into a goddess of passion. Her instruction includes seducing a gay male art dealer (played by gay porn actor Casey Donovan), pleasing three men at once, pegging a man, and similar sexual conquests. Shaw's character of Henry Higgins here becomes the sexologist Dr. Seymour Love, played by Jamie Gillis. Shaw's character of Eliza Doolittle here becomes Dolores "Misty" Beethoven, played by Constance Money. Shaw's Colonel Pickering here becomes Geraldine Rich, played by Jacqueline Beudant. As events unfold, Misty achieves "elevation" better than Love and Rich had hoped, and then cuts them off. Misty returns however, running the "school" and taking over for Dr. Love, leaving him in a very subservient position.

Cast

 * Constance Money as Misty Beethoven
 * Jamie Gillis as Dr. Seymour Love
 * Calvin Culver (aka Casey Donovan) as Jacque Beudant, art dealer
 * Jacqueline Beudant as Geraldine Rich
 * Gloria Leonard as Barbara Layman
 * Terri Hall as Tanya
 * Mark Margolis as unhappy man

2012 restoration
In 2012, DistribPix oversaw a complete restoration of the film, with the full cooperation of the director. The result had a limited exhibition in theaters, but the main outcome of the project was the first-ever official DVD and Blu-ray releases.

Awards
Awards from the Adult Film Association of America:
 * Best Picture
 * Best Director (Radley Metzger as "Henry Paris")
 * Best Actor (Jamie Gillis)
 * Best Screenplay (Radley Metzger as "Jake Barnes")
 * Best Editing (Bonnie Karrin)

Other awards

 * 2002 AVN Award - "Best Classic DVD"
 * The film was one of the first to be inducted into the XRCO Hall of Fame.

Music soundtrack
During the 2012 restoration of the film, a fully annotated CD soundtrack was released.

Remake
In 2004, Misty Beethoven: The Musical!, a musical remake, was released. It featured Sunset Thomas, Randy Spears, Julie Meadows, Asia Carrera, Chloe, Dave Cummings, Mike Horner, Evan Stone and Tyce Bune. It was directed by Veronica Hart. The film won the 2004 XRCO Award for "Best Comedy or Parody" and the 2005 AVN Award for "Best Sex Comedy".