No serious student of cinema in the seventies should go through life without knowing the name Candida Royalle. Born Candice Vitala in New York City just a couple weeks before Halloween in 1950, Candida developed an active interest in the arts as a youth. While she eventually found her calling in film, Candida initially had her eye on music, dance and design and she would end up studying all at a number of New York area schools. Her amazing looks, and open-minded attitude, eventually placed her on the big-screen in her mid-twenties when she made her adult-film debut in 1975’s The Analyst. Royalle immediately established herself as one of the key figures in Porn’s Golden Age due to her striking dark beauty, natural acting abilities and obvious intelligence.
Royalle shot well over two-dozen adult productions throughout the mid-to-late seventies and she brought a real sense of class and style to each project. While she was one of the leading lights of the adult-film world, Candida was much more ambitious than many of her peers and, as the seventies gave way to the eighties, her interest turned more and more behind the camera. Blue Magic (1982) was a pivotal film for Royalle as it not only gave her one of her most memorable roles but it also marked the first production she would script.
Blue Magic would help lead Candida to form her own production company, Femme, within a couple years of its release. As the leader of Femmes Productions, Candida Royalle not only scripted but also directed her own movies in an attempt to make adult films geared towards a female audience. Royalle has continued in the industry and is now one of the most beloved and respected icons in its history. Now also an acclaimed author, Royalle maintains an excellent website which can be viewed here.
While it was shot in 1981, Blue Magic (like all of the remaining shot on film productions from the early eighties) still has the spirit of the seventies coursing through it. Directed with flair by Larry Revene, the just over an hour Blue Magic is finally most notable for its cast (which sees Royalle joined by adult royalty Veronica Hart, Samantha Fox, Merle Michaels and Jack Wrangler). Candida’s sharp and quite humorous dialogue, which has more in common with the rhythm of a classic screwball comedy rather than a typical adult production of the period, also makes the film extremely memorable. Blue Magic, a rather daffy supernatural period piece concerning a witch like character who invites a group of strangers to her castle for a weekend of otherworldly delights, isn’t among the absolute best that any of the talented cast had shot but it’s a fun and memorable adult film that is essential viewing for fans of the genre.
VideoXPix’s DVD of the film is fine. The print utilized is a bit faded but is in fairly good shape, and Revene’s own cinematography is still quite striking. The period based costume design of Eddie Heath, who also handled the film’s impressive art design, is also quite nice and makes Blue Magic look like a much more expensive production than it actually was. Royalle’s sharp dialogue is in good hands with the entire main cast, especially Hart and Fox, as they were some of the best adult actors of the period.
Candida Royalle and Veronica Hart would soon reteam with excellent Delicious and Revene would hit paydirt with just a year later with the tremendous Hart vehicle Wanda Whips Wall Street (both available from DistribPix), one of the best adult films ever made.
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