This terrific-looking movie displays great big sprawling London at its shiny, sparkly best, not to mention the film's small but gorgeous all-black cast. The models are introduced in sophisticated, romantic encounters nothing like the thug-and-hustler black images we're so accustomed to. Tall, masculine Blade has a Gary Cooperish maturity masking a barely-under-control masculinity. French Fred's droopy lids are like curtains that open on a world of poetic possibilities. Schoolboy-mischievous British Saki (seen on the cover) is all guy once he sneaks a lover into the Royal Guards' dormitory in a borrowed scarlet costume! Handsome host Maxwell is just that wee bit prissy, which goes so well with an English accent. His pick-ups are as butch as bulldogs, with smiles as knowing and good-humored as Noël Coward characters. The videographer takes full advantange of the differing skin tones of the well-hung cast to keep the sex scenes lovely to look at. The editor very cleverly chooses shots to allow dialogue to be dubbed into outdoor scenes shot in locations where microphones might not be welcomed. When did you ever see an American black pick up a French one in front of the real, absolutely authentic Buckingham Palace? Well, get ready for it. It's tremendously refreshing. There's also a sensational scene in a London leather bar that looks like it came out of a stylish musical comedy. And the dudes in that scene call each other the next morning! How about that?

RETAILING: Ethnic shelf, but no thugs or hustlers. Sophisticated blacks make pleasant pick-ups in beautifully shot London.