Adaptation of Irving Wallace's book about a 30-year-old novel titled "The Seven Minutes," banned worldwide for three decades as being depraved and obscene, coming under fire once again after the son of a major political contributor in California is charged with raping a girl--under the influence of the erotic material! This coincides with the case of a bookstore manager arrested for selling a recent reprint of "The Seven Minutes", resulting in a trial that pits pornography against free speech. Director Russ Meyer's second (and final) film for 20th Century Fox is admirably serious in its attempt to show the hypocrisy of so-called purveyors of decency and political opportunists looking for a legal scapegoat, yet it is too bogged down in talk to appeal to Meyer's fan-base (despite the quick cutting which reduces most shots to a length of seven seconds or less). Yvonne De Carlo has a bravura cameo in the third act as a key witness for the defense, and there's an amusingly old-fashioned tag featuring the defense attorney and his girl making love in front of a roaring fire. But the majority of "The Seven Minutes" concerns itself with the legal protection of salacious material instead of the usual Russ Meyer presentation of salacious material, which didn't thrill audiences in 1971 and probably won't today. *1/2 from ****

Despite being a big fan of his work,I have somehow not gotten round to seeing auteur film maker Russ Meyer's 5 final works for the last year or so! Preparing to write my 800th IMDb review,I felt that it was the perfect time,to at last count down Meyer's minutes.The plot:Going undercover,2 cops raid a bookstore where they find a book called The 7 Minutes being sold.With the book being banned over "moral decay",the cops tell the bookstore owner that along with facing a huge fine,he also faces jail.Making out with his girlfriend,lawyer Mike Barrett finds his fun get rudely interrupted by a call requesting for his skills on a case involving The 7 Minutes.Due to him having been involved in a number of cases related to the case,Barrett gives the store owner directions over how he should plead in court in order to avoid serving time.As he prepares to notch up another successful 7 Minutes case, Jerry Griffith brutally rapes a girl,who is later found dead.Being a big power player in the city,Jerry's dad Frank decides to take advantage of The 7 Minutes being found in his sons car,by turning Jerry's murder case around,into being a battle of "morality",as Frank makes the count for the final 7 minutes.View on the film:Filming over 24 hours worth of usable footage, (good to see that he did not waste any stock!) directing auteur Russ Meyer closely works with editor Dick Wormell to keep each take lasting no longer then 3 or 4 seconds.Along with making the 2 hour running time glide along,Meyer & Wormell also give the film an excellent zany atmosphere,thanks to the rapid-fire editing raising all the tension in the trial to an over the top melodrama.Whilst Fox (who after this flopped,ripped up Meyer's 3 picture deal) put tough restrictions on how much skin he could show, (with there only being the odd peak at Meyer's beauties)Meyer makes sure to still leave a mark that is clear to see,by splashing saturated colours over the most violent scenes,and superbly using extremely stylised close-up,to give the most dramatic scenes an underlying comedic tone.Although Meyer stayed away from the writing room, Manny Diez & Richard Warren Lewis adaptation of Irving Wallace's novel offers a tantalising mix of off-beat private eye sleuthing with a warped court room showdown.Holding back the court for the first hour,the writers make Mike Barrett's search for defence one that takes the film in a number of fantastic detours,which goes from Barrett trying to get the book dealt with by the book,to searching round for a long lost Hollywood star.Unleashing the court room setting with Wormell's razor-sharp editing & Meyer's fast-pace close-ups,the writers make sure to keep up with Meyer's stylised filming by making the case one that appears deadly serious,but slowly reveals itself to be a delightfully exaggerated affair,as Meyer's clock strikes 7.

I just watched this film on Bravo. While I admit to being a bit of a Russ Meyer fan in the same way many people slow down to look at train wrecks, I actually found this movie surprisingly entertaining. Russ Meyer is the master of campy dialogue, bizarre twists and nonsensical plots, and of course larger (pun intended) than life characters. This movie has them all, but at a much more subdued level than most of his other films. In many ways, this film works ... much better at least than other Russ Meyer films.If you are looking for a quality film delving into the drama of the courtroom, forget it here. With even a modicum of legal savvy it is easy to see all the holes in the courtroom antics of both sides. The twist at the end might be typical Russ Meyer, but it was also pretty predictable. Normally, I dislike predictability in a movie, but Russ Meyer flicks are usually such mixed up, twisted messes, that seeing a plot actually come to fruition with a credible twist that fits into the rest of the story was a bit of a treat.I echo the sentiments of other users when they say that this is not a Russ Meyer fan's movie. Unfortunately, the only people who likely will ever see this film are the serious Russ Meyer fans who want to see everything the man has made. (Said fans can look for the cameo of Russ as well, in true Hitchcockian style *smile*.) I felt this was a good film, easy to watch, fun and sexy at times, with a few valuable (yet no doubt satirical) comments about the hypocrisy of the day. Being that Russ had his own personal problems with censorship, the movie is an obvious "poke-in-the-nose" at all the holier-than-thou types out to save society while wallowing in their own debauchery.My Rating: 7 / 10 (Unless you are looking for a Russ Meyer genre film, then only 2 / 10)

After Russ Meyer hit it big with BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS for 20th Century Fox, he directed his second movie for the studio's two-picture deal with him. THE SEVEN MINUTES was a box office flop and ruined any chances Meyer may have had to continue with Fox. But I actually found myself liking this movie and while it's not as fantastic as his comedies or action flicks, MINUTES is still unique in its own way."The Seven Minutes" is a book that has been charged with obscenity and is blamed for leading a young boy to rape a girl. The film revolves around the court case against the book. That's pretty much it. Regular Meyer fans will be disappointed in this film, no doubt. While it does feature Edy Williams, Charles Napier, Stuart Lancaster, a young Tom Selleck, the actor who plays Martin Bormann, and the black boxer from BVD, these cast members appear in what amount to cameos and disappear very quickly. Yvonne de Carlo is great as an old-time Hollywood actress, though. The major problem with the film is that it is a serious film, not a slapstick comedy, a real turning point for Meyer. I wonder if he even wanted to make this film, as it is such a departure from his regular content.THE SEVEN MINUTES is not filled with busty beauties or excellent music or outrageous situations, but features lots of Meyer's trademark lightning-quick editing and enough twists and turns in the plot to get the viewer involved in the story. The surprise ending is totally out of left field. Still, I would only recommend THE SEVEN MINUTES to diehard Meyer fans and even then, very carefully. The film is very hard to find, but I was able to rent it from Video Vault in Alexandria, VA. Even Meyer doesn't offer it on his Bosomania label! So if you spend lots of time searching for it, expecting another BVD or SUPERVIXENS, you will be disappointed when you finally see it. Worth one viewing.