A Blue-Ribbon Career as Black Emanuelle
"Any excuse is a good excuse to get naked."
These are words by which Mr. Skin lives and breathes, and, more skinportantly, they are the exact words that once dripped from the quivering lips of Indonesian-born eyeful Laura Gemser (Picture: ), the undisputed goddess of '70s skinternational softcore cinema.
Breast known for headlining the phenomenally popular series of Black Emanuelle films, lusty Laura remains an enduring legend whose exotic beauty is bested only by her enthusiasm for flashing flesh on film. And with the release of the brand new collection Black Emanuelle's Box: Vol. 2 (Picture: ), a grand release of your own won't be far behind!
Hard Facts
Often mistakenly identified as Dutch, Laurette Marcia Gemser was born in Java, Indonesia, and with her willowy frame and sky-high cheekbones, she grew up to be a knockout model, traveling and working across Europe. And not the type of model who struts on a catwalk in the latest fashions, either; instead, Gemser preferred posing in the most ap-peel-ing outfit of all-her birthday suit-for various men's mags.
In the mid-1970s she made the jump to film, and costume designers across Italy were out of work, since from the get-go Laura required very little in the way of wardrobe. An ancillary role in Free Love (1974) led to her being cast in Emmanuelle 2 (1975). The contrast of masseuse Laura's coffee-colored Javanese flesh digging into the creamy skin of Sylvia Kristel's blonde bosom (Picture: ) pal proved to be too heady a combo to leave at just one scene. And so the character of Black Emanuelle was born unto a pubic-pining public! So as not to cause confusion, Laura's character always spelled her moniker with one "m", but she more than made up for that missing letter by giving good BBB.
Laura recently recalled, "When my first Emanuelle movie came out, there was this big poster, and I was [topless]. It was out one day and they censored it! So people were curious to see it. In those days, it was rather scandalous!" Still racy after all these years, Black Emanuelle (1975) remains the crown jewel in Gemser's titty-lating tiara. Filmed at the height of her considerable beauty, Black Emanuelle sets the tone (and the bone!) for all subsequent entries into Laura's can(y)on with graphic, Sapphic pairings, cheerful promiscuity, and ventures into far-off lands (and glands) with Laura's intrepid girl reporter.
Laura explained that the plots of her Emanuelle series didn't have a lot of variation. But who's watching for the plot? "It seemed like a long, long movie that didn't end," she said. "I found myself in a strange situation, and I always had to get myself undressed to get out of it!"
Emanuelle got out of it again-out of her clothes, that is-in Emanuelle on Taboo Island (1976) (Picture: ), where she showed plenty of taboob, which she also did in its follow-up, the Joe D'Amato-helmed Emanuelle in Bangkok (1976) (Picture: ). And bang cock she did-though, this being Black Emanuelle and all, she didn't limit herself to just guys. In one mam-orable scene, our horny heroine beds down with angelic blonde Debra Berger (Picture: ) for a chocolate-on-vanilla girl grapple the likes of which had not been seen since, well, Emmanuelle 2!
That same year found Laura in D'Amato's Black Cobra (1976) (Picture: ) alongside her new husband, Italian actor Gabriele Tinti . . . and Jack Palance! As a reptile lover whose own snake gets charmed by Laura, City Slicker Palance must've wanted to titty-up to topless Laura!
And speaking of horses, a lucky equine actor named Pedro got a release of his own with the release of the infamous, skinfamous Emanuelle in America (1976). Not only did the horse in question receive some manual loving (from Laura? Neigh, unfortunately), but as Black Emanuelle, Laura uncovered a snuff ring and boffed her way across this great land of ours. Threesomes, bondage, kink . . . nothing's too out-of-bounds for ole Black E! Emanuelle in America (Picture: ) still has a ceaseless cult following today, and David Cronenberg has said that he found the snuff footage so appalling and intriguing that it inspired him to make Videodrome (1983). Dead sexy!
In Emanuelle Around the World (1977), Miss Gemser took icy blonde sex bombs Brigitte Petronio (Picture: ) and Karin Schubert (Picture: ) on a journey around her heavenly body. Black Emmanuelle, White Emmanuelle (1977) saw Laura going head to head and end to end with her creamy blonde counterpart, Annie Belle. And in Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals (1977) (Picture: ), she got eaten . . . out! Although every role Laura took on involved some manner of girl-girl grappling, she actually found lesbian scenes very difficult. She later mused, "It's hard to make love with the women, you know? It's really hard." It sure is hard. You don't have to tell that to Mr. Skin, Laura!
So it's a testament to Laura's prowess as an actress that she was able to pull off Sister Emanuelle (1978) (Picture: ) with such grace, charm, and inimitable heat. After getting thee to a nunnery and repenting for her past sins, she proceeds to immediately replace her vow of chastity with one of chest-titties, getting out of the "habit" to introduce her fellow sisters to the joys of penguin poon. Now that's hole-y!
Laura got back to nature by getting au naturel (natch) in its follow-up, Emanuelle in the Country (1978) (Picture: ). Talk about putting the "cunt" in "country"! And with Emanuelle and the White Slave Trade (1978), she went undercover to delve deep into a secret prostitution ring, only to uncover herself and delve deep into the prostitutes.
In 1979 Gemser took a break from portraying skinvestigative journalist Emanuelle, but not from serving up her Javanese jugs, in Private Collections (1979) (Picture: ), a triptych of erotic tales featuring Laura's tail in the segment "Island of the Sirens." You'll wail like one when you see Laura on the beach, in the jungle, and never with more than a few errant leaves as a costume. The section was directed by Just Jaeckin-the man who helmed the original Emmanuelle (1974) starring Sylvia Kristel-so you know you'll be just jerkin'.
That same year saw the release of the introspective Fury (1979) (Picture: ) and the skintrospective Erotic Nights of the Living Dead (1979), in which Laura and Dirce Funari (Picture: ) hit the beach for a little clam bake of their own. And Emanuelle's Daughter: Queen of Sados (1979) (Picture: ) featured Laura as we'd never seen her before: perched backwards atop a dude's dong, introducing a legion of viewers to the wonders of reverse cowgirl.
Entering into the 1980s, Laura shied away from the character that made her a superstar, opting instead to branch out into fare outside of the Emanuelle franchise, most of which was directed by mentor D'Amato and none of which strayed too far from the Laura-in-various-stages-of-undress- and-making-it-with-an-array-of-persons -of-all-genders M.O.
1982 was pure magic: at long last, the return of Black Emanuelle! With Violence in a Women's Prison (1982) and Women's Prison Massacre (1983), Laura jumped on the craze for lady jail flicks via jumping on flesh-starved inmates, but unfortunately, after Laura's double header slamming clammer in the slammer, she bid ciao to Black Emmanuelle forever, although some of her later films would cleverly include the name "Emanuelle" in the title. Luckily the vaginally titled collection Black Emanuelle's Box: Vol. 2 was released on November 13th, allowing the next generation of Gemser groupies a shot at owning Black Emanuelle 2, Black Emmanuelle, White Emmanuelle, and Emanuelle and the White Slave Trade.
Post-Emanuelle, Laura's E-mam-uelles still, thankfully, enjoyed plenty of screen time. To wit, in Horror Safari (1982), they took the sting out of a brutal murder scene that took place under a waterfall, and The Alcove (1984) (Picture: ) found her paired once again opposite Annie Belle and under the familiar direction of D'Amato. Her work became more sporadic but no less titillating throughout the '80s, most notably in Top Model (1988), a vehicle for Italian icon Jessica Moore (Picture: ), and in the drama Riflessi di luce (1988) (Picture: ), also with Moore, which is best known as Laura's last flesh flash on film.
Later that year she decided to step behind the camera and became a costume designer for movies such as Metamorphosis (1990) and Troll 2 (1990). It's ironic that a woman infamous for her disdain for garments would turn to designing them! But when her husband, Gabriele Tinti, died in 1991, Laura decided to turn her back on moviedom forever and now lives a quiet life in Italy.
Thanks in part to the reissuing of Laura's carnal collection on DVD, her popularity hasn't ever ebbed; in fact, most would agree that her global adoration is now on par with that of original Emmanuelle Sylvia Kristel. But Laura herself is quick to play down her part in erotic cinema history. "I refused a lot of scenes," she recently claimed of the hardcore scenes from her Emanuelle days. "They put a stand-in, and I didn't know . . . There was a scene in a train, she was making love with a whole team, but I refused that scene, and they used stand-ins!" Laura lovers know that no one could ever stand in for the original, trailblazing, lapgrazing legend, the Skindonesian goddess who keeps them blowing like Krakatoa.
