Some videos stay on the unreleased shelf because they're terrible; others because the manufacturer hopes that time (and the tendency of this year's product to be generally less interesting than last year's) will be kinder to his feature if released a couple of years late. Besides, who knows? It might have some babe in the cast who, two or three years later, has really made a name for herself, and this early video can ride the coattails of her current fame.

But I can guaranteed that no video in history has been held back for the reason Body And Soul (originally titled After Midnight) was. It became the centerpiece of a lawsuit intended to set a "community standard" for what sexually explicit videos would be protected in Memphis, TN, and what wouldn't.

Unfortunately, the declaratory judgement lawsuit failed (see our "Legal News & Views" column in the June, 1994 issue for more details), so Pinnacle has decided to release the tape to the public. Why the tape couldn't be distributed during the pendency of the lawsuit is too long a story to go into here, but everyone connected with its production deserves applause for letting their investment in this video garner no return for almost three years.

Simply put, this is an outstanding feature with at least two nominations-worthy sex scenes, and an equally fine tease performance by a pre-Vivid-contract Ashlyn Gere. This tape also contains very early appearances of then-newcomers Alex Jordan and Tyffany Million — and long-time viewers will be reminded why these two ladies are top stars today.

The story, by L.S. Talbot, concerns a writer (Mike Horner) who rents a room in a sleazy motel across the street from an abandoned bordello. In these "quiet" surroundings, Horner hopes to finish his novel — but as night falls, Horner finds himself drawn to the window, where he observes a beautiful woman (Gere) dancing by herself in an empty room across the way. Eventually, Gere notices Horner watching, and thereafter directs all her sexy moves toward him. However, when Horner looks away for a moment, she disappears. Horner quickly becomes obsessed with Gere, dreams about her — and can't wait till it's night again.

The next evening, however, the room across the way is occupied by a couple in bed (Nick East and Shawana Mason, who's only appeared in one other XXX feature). Mason's long blonde hair, pretty face and natural tits are shown to their fullest as the couple spends a long time fucking face to face before switching to dog style, then cowgirl, till Nick cums in Shawana's mouth. Again, Horner looks away for a moment and the entire scene disappears, bed and all — but this night, Gere comes to Horner's room and asks him to join her.

By now, Horner has pretty much lost all interest in his writing, not to mention he hasn't gotten a hell of a lot of sleep — partly because of the loud, energetic banging Cal Jammer gives Tyffany Million next door — but he still can't stay away from that window come twilight. This time, however, Horner is magically transported into the neighboring room itself, to watch Marc Wallice and Lorrin Mick in the tape's only anal scene. Wallice takes Mick from behind, in a spoon-like position, and she obviously loves every stroke. Then he switches his attention to her ass, and though there's no insertion shot, Wallice gives Mick a good long rectal plowing before cumming on her tits. When it's all over, Gere, who's been at Horner's side throughout, asks him to join to her, body and soul.

Horner is just about to agree, when his landlord's pounding on the door awakens him. (Has it all been a dream?) Girlfriend Alex Jordan shows up shortly after, and she and Horner engage in one of the hottest, most ultra-realistic scenes I've seen in the past couple of years. Talk about foreplay: Horner and Jordan spend at least five minutes kissing each other — on the mouth, on the tits, up and down their bodies. Finally, Horner's attention centers on Jordan's pussy, and he begins a long lick session that has her moaning, "Yes, yes!" Then there's more full-body kissing, till Jordan grabs Horner's cock and starts licking it like a popsicle. Presently, she gets down to real b.j. business, while fingering her own pussy with abandon. And speaking of "abandon", that's the only way to describe the amount of energy expended by this couple in the following doggie style and missionary positions. No real life couple could have done it better, even on the honeymoon. It's definitely nomination time! After all that, the cumshot to Jordan's tummy seems almost superfluous.

But when Horner wakes up, Jordan is gone — and Gere has appeared, ready to take him, "body and soul". And does she ever! She leaps for his cock and practically devours it, till he maneuvers her into a 69 position on the bed. From there, it's a long backdoor pounding, then a long, sweaty face-to-face interface before Horner cums hard enough to splatter Gere's body from pussy to hairline. You may remember that Gere won our Female Performer of the Year award for her work in '92, and this video would have rated right up with her best performances. Her lovefest with Horner is certainly worth a nomination this year. Oh, yes; there's a kind of a surprise ending which we won't reveal, except to say that this is one feature that never loses your interest. Director Michael Craig, who, sadly, no longer makes XXX, leaves a legacy with this tape that will take a long time for someone to equal. We rarely give such a high rating to a "studio shoot," but Craig's expertise and the top-quality performances by everyone in the cast overcome that minor shortfall. I'm putting Body And Soul in my personal collection of all-time great XXX tapes. Higher praise I cannot give. With Gere on the box, retailers should have no problem selling/renting this fine feature.