Julian Lennon Cassette Shows a Performer Developing; New Adult Films Emphasize Plot More, Nudity Less

“I wasn’t acting, I was just plain scared,” Julian Lennon insisted, recalling his reaction to his first concert. “The fear is still there in all the shows, but you get more confident and go ahead in spite of it.”

The young singer/songwriter--son of the late John Lennon--has a permanent record of his jitters early in his first tour. The whole experience is captured on a 58-minute videocassette, “Stand by Me: A Portrait of Julian Lennon” (MCA, $29.95), a mixture of concert and interview footage. This is a bit different from the standard concert videocassette. For one thing, there’s a sense of urgency and importance about it all, since it chronicles the evolution of the great John Lennon’s son into a capable concert performer. Unlike the standard concert film, this one offers mostly fragments of songs. “This isn’t a substitute for a concert,” he said. “It’s more a personal look at what happened to me on my first tour.”

With his successful debut album, “Valotte,” young Lennon emerged as a star this year. All 10 songs from his album are on the cassette, including two oldies, “Day Tripper” and “Stand by Me,” that aren’t on the album.

When Lennon decided to hire a camera crew to shoot the tour, there were no plans to make a home videocassette. “I just wanted a diary of the tour from the beginning,” he said. “I wasn’t going to do anything with it at first. But after the crew started shooting, I thought it might be turned into something more than a diary just for me.”

It was neither shot according to a plan, he pointed out, nor in any way staged: “The crew followed anybody and everybody. They shot what they wanted. The highlights were edited into a final form. We left out the swearing and the raunchy bits. The outtakes are interesting. They’d make a really interesting video.”

The interview and his narrative were culled from the highlights of an uninterrupted four-hour interview, which, he revealed, was the longest he’s ever done.

“I wanted to answer questions people have about me and what I’m doing and why I’m doing it,” he said.

Lennon’s videocassette was released last week, a few days before the fifth anniversary of his father’s death. There’s always a flurry of interest in his father this time of year. Some of that interest will undoubtedly spill over on young Lennon and his videocassette.

SIMULATED ADULT MOVIES: The sale and rental of hard-core adult movies has been banned in communities located in 13 areas of the country, mostly in conservative Southern and Southwestern states, such as North Carolina, Florida, Texas, Kentucky and Arizona.

Rather than abandon these markets, many adult film companies are providing them with soft-core or simulated adult movies that don’t violate community standards. These movies feature less nudity, relatively mild sex scenes and more emphasis on plot.

To make these movies, an extra camera is used to shoot sex scenes from less revealing angles.

Adult movies companies have found that soft-core films are also in demand in communities that don’t have restrictive standards. “Simulated adult movies have expanded the adult film market,” noted Steelman Rocco, a Video Insider magazine columnist who specializes in wrestling and adult movies. “People who are offended by hard-core movies can deal with these. They’re racy but not raunchy.”

According to Rocco, these movies, once 1%-2% of the market, now make up about 20%. But he said they are, in one sense, a disadvantage to adult film companies: “These movies cost 10%-20% more to make. But the film companies absorb the extra costs. They figure it’s worth it to reach markets they wouldn’t normally reach.”

Some adult movie companies make two other versions of a given adult movie. One, somewhere between hard-core and soft-core, is for cable TV. Another, for the Latino market, is the hard-core movie dubbed into Spanish.

ODDS ‘N’ ENDS: MCA will release the two-hour premiere “Miami Vice” show early next week at $29.95. . . . When CBS/Fox releases “Return of the Jedi”--the third “Star Wars” movie--on Feb. 25, will there be a bargain package price for all three? No news yet. RCA/Columbia is expected to ship a whopping 400,000-500,000 copies of this $79.95 title. . . . George and Gracie at $14.95. Next month, RCA/Columbia is releasing two episodes of the “The Burns and Allen Show” from the 1952-53 TV season. . . . More old TV: Disney is releasing five volumes of “The Mickey Mouse Club,” each containing three episodes of the 1955-58 series. Each volume sells for $49.95.

OLD MOVIES: An interesting cult movie, “Phantom of the Paradise” (1974) is available this week on Key Video at $59.98. Its structure is interesting. Directed by Brian De Palma and starring Paul Williams, this is a searing parody of the record industry couched in a spoof of the grand old silent movie “Phantom of the Opera.” Also from Key at $59.98, the religious drama “The Song of Bernadette” (1943), notable for Jennifer Jones’ Oscar-winning performance as a young girl who saw a miracle at Lourdes. Overly pious by today’s standards but saved by Jones’ glowing acting.

“Men in War” (1957) is out this week on Prism at $49.95. Starring Robert Ryan and Aldo Ray, it’s one of the best movies about the Korean War.

Next week on Nostalgia Merchant at $19.95, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” (1941), a comedy directed by, of all people, Alfred Hitchcock. Carole Lombard, the queen of screwball comedies, and Robert Montgomery are the stars of this zany story about a husband and wife who turn out to be illegally married.

“Aguirre, Wrath of God” (Continental, $39.95), released this week, is subtitled and not, as reported here last week, dubbed. The 1972 German classic stars Klaus Kinski and was directed by Werner Herzog.

NEW MOVIES: Clint Eastwood’s “Pale Rider” (Warner, $79.95) is the major new release of this week. This one should be a very popular rental. Also available this week are “The Heavenly Kid” (Thorn, $79.95), a teen fantasy starring Lewis Smith, and “Return to Oz” (Disney, $79.95), a sequel to “The Wizard of Oz,” with Piper Laurie and Nicol Williamson, that didn’t do well at the box office. Some industry analysts predict that this unusual, scary movie will be a rental hit.

“Lifeforce” (Vestron, $79.95), director Tobe Hooper’s underrated sci-fi thriller, featuring Steve Railsback, is also out this week.

“D.A.R.Y.L.” and “Explorers” will be in the stores next week from Paramount. “The Last Dragon” will be the major release during Christmas week.

In January: “Mask,” “Prizzi’s Honor,” “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome,” “St. Elmo’s Fire,” “Rambo: First Blood Part II,” “Red Sonja” and “My Science Project.”

(Charts compiled by Billboard magazine)

TOP VIDEOCASSETTES, RENTALS 1--”Beverly Hills Cop” (Paramount).

2--”Ghostbusters” (RCA/Columbia).

3--”Gremlins” (Warner).

4--”The Emerald Forest” (Embassy).

5--”Brewster’s Millions” (MCA).

6--”Ladyhawke” (Warner).

7--”The Breakfast Club” (MCA).

8--”Vision Quest” (Warner).

9--”Amadeus” (Thorn).

10--”Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment” (Warner).

TOP VIDEOCASSETTES, SALES 1--”Beverly Hills Cop” (Paramount).

2--”Jane Fonda’s New Workout” (Karl-Lorimar).

3--”Pinocchio” (Disney).

4--”White Christmas” (Paramount).

5--”The Best of John Belushi” (Warner).

6--”Ghostbusters” (RCA/Columbia).

7--”Jane Fonda’s Workout” (Karl-Lorimar).

8--”Gremlins” (Warner).

9--”Dumbo” (Disney).

10--”Mary Poppins” (Disney).