“Where am I anyway, heaven?”
Badly beaten George to (not really yellow, not really Emanuelle) Dr. Emy Wong.

While spending some leisure time in Hong Kong, swinging pilot George (Giuseppe Pambieri) laughs it up with friends in the red light district. Later, during a contemplative walk on a pier with his hooker, George is violently beaten and robbed. He awakens in a hospital where the beautiful Dr. Emy Wong (Chai Lee) supervises his rehabilitation. George develops a crush on the demure exotic, who spurns his advances because of an impending arranged marriage. George’s company sends over Helen (Ilona Staller), the “director’s secretary,” to make sure that he is “taken care of” after his release from the hospital. She takes George home where the two of them swim naked in her pool and have softcore sex by the beach. Though the sexy American blond (Helen) proves a nice diversion, George simply can’t get Emy out of his head. He returns to the hospital and charms the doctor into a scenic montage… which inevitably leads to love. The pilot and Emy decide to marry, but not before he has to leave Hong Kong for an extended period. While George is away, Emy begins furnishing their new home and buys a wedding dress. Fate, however, proves unkind to our lovers. George writes to Emmy daily, but the jealous Helen intercepts his letters and throws them away. Evidently, he’s been given an important assignment that will keep him occupied for several months. Since Emy seems physically unable to make a phone call, she logically assume that George has left her. She confronts the scheming Helen at the airport, who fabricates a story about George marrying a rich Australian girl. Devastated, Emy contemplates suicide, but is saved by a local who proceeds to get her drunk and attempts to rape her. Seeing prostitution as her only option (why not?), Emy finds herself at a house of ill repute. Soon she becomes an in-demand prostitute, inexplicably leaving her career and home behind. Will George and Emy be reunited? Will anyone be able to watch long enough to find out?

“Yellow Emanuelle” is one of the endless knock-off’s of Just Jaeckin’s popular “Emmanuelle: Joys of a Woman” from 1974. There were dozens of films that simply used the Emmanuelle moniker (dropping one of the m’s), which became synonymous with softcore sex. Not to be confused with the bizarre “Emanuelle/Black Emanuelle” films made with Laura Gemser, the unfortunately titled “Yellow” is a difficult film to categorize. Aside from the tepid softcore sex scenes, which are brief and poorly executed, there is very little that differentiates this film from a soapy ‘50’s melodrama. “Yellow,” released in 1977, is basically a travelogue/love story spiced with nudity and moments of sex. The simple narrative is given substantial weight by the beautiful location photography by Guido Mancori, but we’re in exploitation territory here so who cares about the pretty scenery. Though horrible on many levels, at least the Gemser films (many directed by sleaze king Joe D’Amato) were true to convention. If Gemser/Emanuelle wasn’t having sex with someone, she was either being chased by cannibals or bitch slapping a lesbian warden.

“Yellow” really wants to be taken seriously, which can be extremely detrimental to a title posing as grindhouse entertainment. The exploitation devout don’t ask for much, just a modest return on their investment. If a film promising lurid sex mocks its audience with a romantic travelogue, the end result often feels sleazier than any Gemser outing. The annoying theme song “The Sensual World of Emy Wong” hints at what the original title might have been. Maybe the initial intention was a sexy variation of “The World of Suzie Wong?” Even with this as a consideration, the film is so poorly constructed that it’s impossible to view in any true dramatic context. The Shakespearean machinations thrown into the mix are somewhat amusing, but quickly grow tiresome. Of interest to some will be the screen presence of Staller, also known as Cicciolina, a porn star who eventually became a member of Italian Parliament. Both she and featured actress Lee are quite stunning and each are sporadically naked throughout.

The soundtrack features some great 70’s sleaze/lounge from Nico Fidenco whose credits include soundtracks for several of the Gemser “Emanuelle’s” and the brilliant “Zombie Holocaust” (aka “Dr. Butcher.”) The late director, Bitto Albertini, was also responsible for “Escape from Galaxy 3” a bad science fiction film from 1981 billed in Europe as “Star Crash 2.”

This DVD release from Exploitation Digital is, once again, a much better treatment than the title deserves. The picture, for the most part, is beautiful; presented in 1.85:1 widescreen. A few of the shots are a bit fuzzy and the last scene, more than likely cut before release, seems to be from a video dupe. Ultimately, it’s a very sharp, colorful presentation of this obscure title. The Dolby Digital sound is also superior (especially when that great lounge/sleaze kicks in). The special features include 5 deleted scenes (less scenes than extended shots), the original trailer and four other trailers available from Exploitation Digital. Make sure you check out the trailer for “Porno Holocaust,” which actually does live up to its name!