"Heavy Petting" is an entertaining documentary featuring an extraordinary cast of people talking about their recollections of sex back in the '50s. Amidst the testimonials of these writers, musicians, actors/actresses, and... tradespeople and businessmen (?) the movie is constantly interspersed with footage of movies, TV shows and after-school specials that demonstrate some of the old timey attitudes the interviewees are speaking about.

The cast includes David Byrne, Sandra Bernhard, Spalding Gray, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Laurie Anderson, Oates from Hall and Oates, and a few others who aren't famous nor in the entertainment industry, making their inclusion surprising when you realise they're not famous like the others.

With all the quick edits, and at times too-quick contributions from the stars, the movie moves along like rapid fire. It's entertaining, but I didn't learn much from watching it.

I guess it is up to us Australians commenting here (both of us) who want to tell you HEAVY PETTING is a very funny documentary. Barely released (no pun there) in 1989 and seen sometimes on a double feature with DIRTY DANCING, this look at sex hygiene and teen social short films of the 50s manages to be laugh out loud funny in between so called celebs offering smirking advice on how they first managed to grope, be groped or get a bra off a prom date. Probably teenagers will get the best from it, shrieking at seeing 50 year olds who look like their parents (or older) tell about their clumsy 1950s finger fests or worse, why they gave up after a few sessions. Much of the footage was already seen in LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL and is seen again in the dance DVD TWIST from 1992; Whilst reviewers in mainstream media might be deflated, this film plays fairly well to any audience. As a cinema owner of the 80s, it was a lot of fun to watch the teens in the crowd scream at the revelations from the wrinklies on screen. My summary above is a lyric from the 1933 Busby Berkely musical GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 sequence: the called PETTIN IN THE PARK which is also as risqué as anything seen in HEAVY PETTING

In this day and age, no one can resist poking fun at 1950s sexual mores. "Heavy Petting" (a term referring to non-penetrative sex) is a look at those mores, featuring interviews with famous people who discuss how they learned about sex during that era, interspersed with footage from 1950s sex ed films. It's really funny to hear the interviewees (among them Spalding Gray and David Byrne) describe their first sexual experiences. I guess that a sad irony is that even in the 21st century, Americans still have a childish attitude towards sex (which among other things, means that we have unwanted pregnancies than most industrialized countries). But otherwise it's a really good, really funny documentary. It's amazing how, even though sexuality was officially repressed, so much of the culture seemed overtly sexual (just look at Elvis's dancing). I recommend it.

"I think he called it a 'dick'." Indeed!