Debbie Does Dallas Uncovered

Much like last year's Inside Deep Throat, the 2005 documentary Debbie Does Dallas Uncovered seeks to expose some of the controversies surrounding the legendary 1978 porn film. However, the story of its reclusive star, Bambi Woods, and troubled producer, Mickey Zaffarano are the focus of this documentary, which hardly does its job touching on the controversies surrounding the film.

The plot of Debbie Does Dallas was simple enough. Cheerleader Debbie decides she want to try out for the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, but she doesn't have the funds to get to Dallas. So she and her friends devise a plan to raise money-by doing the football team in exchange for money. Cast as Debbie was Bambi Woods, chosen for her girl-next-door looks and sweet personality. Little is known about Woods, other than she came from a religious background and was appearing in her first porn film. She only appeared in a few more adult films after Debbie Does Dallas before disappearing from the industry. Many believe that she dies of a drug overdose in 1986, but those reports remain unconfirmed. Here the filmmaker hires a private investigator to track down what happened to Woods, but he comes up empty-handed, mainly due in part to the fact that nobody is really sure what Woods' real name was, though it was rumored to be Barbara Woodson. The distributor of Debbie Does Dallas, however, maintains that he thinks Woods is alive, but does not want to be discovered.

Most of the other females from the film refuse to speak with the filmmaker, having moved on with their lives, with the exception of Robin Byrd, the well-known NYC cable access TV host. He speaks with several of the male leads, though, including porn legend Eric Edwards, who despite being a veteran of over 1000 films and AVN Hall of Famer, seems to regret his porn years, having left the industry to protect his two young sons. Actors R. Bolla and Herschel Savage complain of the lack of stability in the porn industry and found it difficult to find regular acting gigs after their stints in adult films. The film criticizes the fact that porn actors don't make residuals off the films they appear in, which is a moot point considering that most mainstream actors rarely do either. Though Edwards and Savage seem quick to pass judgment on the industry, both still earn a living off it with Edwards working as an editor and Savage still appearing in films. Only Robin Byrd comes across with a sense of pride about her appearance in the film, maintaining that she has no regrets and never did anything against her will.

The documentary also touches on the controversy surrounding Mickey Zaffarano, the film's producer and an infamous mob boss. Zaffarano was a target of the FBI's MIPORN sting that brought down 55 people in 1980 of film piracy and pornography charges. Zaffarano suffered a fatal heart attack at the moment FBI agents raided his business and tried to arrest him. A seemingly unfocused interview with undercover FBI agent Pat Livingston (whose story in covered in detail in Legs McNeil's book The Other Hollywood) is shown here, but it rarely finds relation to the Debbie Does Dallas story. Instead, it fuels more criticism of the adult industry while only briefly touching on the fact that Livingston's bizarre undercover arrest for shoplifting (as Pat Salamone) brought down the entire MIPORN case.

The only purpose Debbie Does Dallas Uncovered seems to serve is to condemn the adult industry, but using one of its most successful titles as a backdrop. The doc is unfocused, poorly made, and never uncovers any of the secrets surrounding the film it claims to be about. It tries to expose the life of porn actors as rife with drug abuse, exploitation, and insecurity, which may all be true, but can also be said about those in the mainstream industry. That's entertainment, folks. However, the film, produced by the Sundance Channel, seems to be made by some right-wing fundamentalists seeking to warn people of the dangers of the adult industry.