Barbara Eden in Harper Valley P.T.A. (1978)

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See, here's why you should never base a 90-minute movie on a 3-minute song: mercifully the song ends shortly, while the movie just drones on and on, ad nauseam. Add the fact that the comedy here is about half as intelligent as that found in an average Dukes of Hazzard episode and the fact the goddam song plays every nine seconds - and you're looking at a film which deserves the obscurity in which it currently resides.

Looking at a 1978 Barbara Eden should prove to be an easy task, but there's just no getting around how dizzyingly stupid this movie is. Eden seems less adorable with every passing scene. To those out there blissfully unaware of the novelty country hit song, Harper Valley P.T.A., it’s about a free-spirited and mini-skirted Mama who verbally berates the entire P.T.A. while saluting her feminine individuality.

The movie is about vandalism, pink elephants, and moronic wah-wah-wahhhhhhh humor. Eden doesn't just take to yelling at people, she exacts all sorts of arcane revenge on the board members. Each episode ends with another humiliation, a freeze frame shot, and a jangly riff of the ol’ theme song. If it sounds like Hee Haw, then you obviously know your stuff!

I'll confess that it's fun to see tough guy Ronny Cox A) with hair and B) playing a love struck country bumpkin - but the novelty wears off pretty quickly. Also worthy of a neck-breaking double take is the appearance of a young Clint Howard as a pre-pubescent and zit-covered delivery boy. Of paramount entertainment value is, of course, Barbara Eden's massive chest. Alas, the babies don't get unleashed (in a PG comedy), though there is one bra moment and a whole lot of jiggling throughout. She's still sexier in that silly old genie show.

Nudity Report: Jeanie jounces all over this insipid farce, though the closest she gets to naked is during one brief faux-seduction sequence when she strips down to her bra. You just gotta admire the strength of that industrial strength fabric.

IMDb Summary: 156 IMDb users rate this one at 4.6/10.

Box Office: Your guess is as good as mine.

DVD Info: Astonishingly unavailable on DVD.


Written by Scott Weinberg