In 1956, Picturegoer magazine wrote an article about the perils of show business for aspiring actresses. The problem was so pervasive in Hollywood that there was an open practice where aspiring actresses would submit marked glamour shots to let producers and directors know that they were open to sexual advances and exploitation in exchange for career opportunities. The markings on glamour shots varied but typically included a simple star marking or “available” notation on the glamour shot suggesting the actress was open to relationships beyond professional interactions. Over the years, slang terms have been used to describe the practice such as the “casting couch”.
Many of the less talented aspiring actresses would be then be wooed by the adult industry which beginning in the 1960s and 1970s, offered less talented but sexy actresses a somewhat decent living that “paid the rent” in return for starring in sexploitation movies.
The movie showcased here exposes the casting couch best, and is titled “Career Bed”. Although a low budget B black and white movie, it does a superb job of ripping the band-aid off the practice. It stars Honey Hunter as the “pushy mom” trying to sell her daughter, played by Jennifer Welles. It covers all of the issues discussed in the 1956 article where out of poverty, mother and daughter duos would sell their beauty and bodies encouraging exploitation, if they thought it would help tip the scales towards a multi-year studio contract.
Interestingly enough, Jennifer Welles (aka Lisa Duran in the credits here) starred in several black and white sexploitation films that were very socially relevant for the time, including a movie about a politician with skeletons in his closet (The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful 1970) and a madame at a brothel (This Sporting House 1969) - both with tragic endings.
