The Caroline Munro Archive: Partner, February 1980

by John Scoleri

Welcome to the latest installment of this semi-regular feature on bare•bones in which I share rarities from my Caroline Munro collection. This time out we look at an appearance in Partner, featuring an interview and three rare photos by P.O. Stearns.

Partner
Volume 1 Number 9

February, 1980

Star Crash Star Slips Out

The S&M side of Caroline Munro

By James Reynolds

I first became aware of Caroline Munro during a screening of The Golden Voyage of Sinbad several years ago. During the ensuing years I kept an eye out for her obvious charms and was rewarded with a number of appearances in larger, more substantial films. Through devoted research I've traced her career from its origins.

Her first role was a silent walk-on in Casino Royale. She was picked up by British Hammer Films after that and featured in such cheap horror numbers as The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Captain Kronos, and At the Earth's Core. She was also featured in many TV shows at that time, including the highly popular New Avengers, but will be better remembered by tube viewers as the provocative Noxema Shaving Cream Girl.

Caroline finally scored big time when she landed a juicy role in the James Bond blockbuster, The Spy Who Loved Me and launched herself last year into the female lead in Starcrash. As Stella Star, she cavorts through that one in a number of scanty outfits, leaving little to her fan's imaginations. The film was largely ignored by the critics, but Caroline's curves made it a financial success. 

The space opera also provided the ultimate showcase for the Munro mystique. The tough-girl role and the skin-tight vinyl costumes are representative of the image that she has worked so hard to cultivate, one which is rapidly becoming her trademark.

She plays openly aggressive, strong, fearless women—a feminist's (or masochist's) delight. She's usually seen casting a smoldering look of pure sexual promise at her victim just before she shoots or stabs him. She stands gripping her weapon in spread-eagle stance, clothed in delicious, shiny black leather, as she gazes at you with an inviting yet challenging smile. The overtures to the bondage-minded are totally unmistakable and are quite stimulating to entertain. 

Having been a fan and knowing this much of her background, it was with obvious pleasure that I accepted an offer to appear at a recent science-fiction convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at which she was scheduled to appear. I'd be with her for three days and saw it as a magnificent opportunity to mix business with pleasure at last.

I interviewed her privately over dinner one evening.

"Caroline," I asked, "are you pleased with the way your career is moving?"

"Yes," she replied in a soft, velvety voice colored by a rich British accent. "It has taken time but I feel I'm definitely now known well enough to accept larger and more challenging roles. As you know, I met my husband, Judd Hamilton, while we worked together in the film, A Talent for Loving, and he has since become my producer and helps to guide my career. We're now in the process of expanding our operating base."

"By becoming more serious, will we be seeing you in less revealing outfits?"

"No," she smiled shyly. "I would never do that to my fans. I doubt that they would let me. And, after all, they have been very loyal and devoted to me over the past ten years and have helped me to build my career, so why would I disappoint them? Anyhow, it's fun to dress sexy and realize you're an object of desire."

"In keeping in that vein, do you think you will ever do us a favor and pose completely nude?"

"I doubt it very much," she laughed. "I realized a long time ago that a woman is much more desirable if she maintains some mystery about herself. I like to tease and stimulate a man. Show him just enough to really excite him and appeal to his most private fantasies. But, by appearing totally nude I dispel that touch of mystery and leave nothing for him to imagine. Also, you must remember that during my early life, I was educated in a convent with a very strict background and, basically, I am a very shy person. I really am."

"Has your position on nudity cost you any major roles?"

"Yes, indeed." Caroline replied, crossing her long, lovely legs and flashing her green eyes. "I've been approached for a number of roles, including a good part in Joan Collins' film, The Bitch, but I honestly feel it wouldn't do my career any good to go nude. I prefer a woman of mystery."

"Not even a brief flash?" I ventured.

"Oh, perhaps," she answered. "Perhaps a glimpse of my exposed breast or a rear view if it was tastefully done, but basically I'd say no."

"You are gaining a large reputation as a symbol to the leather cultists because of the variety of revealing costumes you wear. You also appeal to the large bondage audiences. Does that bother you?"

"Not at all. As a matter of fact, I rather enjoy it. I love the feel of leather and vinyl against my body and i shows me off to my best advantage. I feel a woman is terribly sexy and desirable in what you refer to as a bondage outfit with high-heeled, glistening boots. It excites me to wear that type of outfit and I know the men find it enjoyable."

"I find a man is somewhat frightened but attracted to a strong, aggressive woman who isn't afraid to be in control. Sometimes I like being in command."

"Sexually?"

"Of course. What woman doesn't?"

"Have you ever considered going into serious bondage with someone?"

"Not really, although the thought has crossed my mind on several occasions. I admit that I'm somewhat curious as to what it must be like. However, I really am shy and prefer the man to dominate, so it's probably only a fantasy that will stay in my mind... it might be fun, though."

"Are any of our friends in the film colony into bondage?"

"Quite a few, but I'd rather not reveal who they are. I respect their privacy."

"Do you enjoy this image you project?"

"Yes. I'm a strong woman and I am in control of myself and my career. I enjoy the roles I've played and I like the idea of exciting my fans. As I already mentioned, by avoiding complete nudity I am more of a challenge, a mystery, an object of total desire and stimulation to them."

"What about your own, private fantasies?"

"I keep them private. They're mine."

"Any hint at all as to what excites you?"

"Oh, I'd like very much to be completely alone with a man somewhere in a desert or private island to do whatever we please in complete freedom and privacy. Oddly enough, I'd also like to climb Mount Everest by myself. I've often thought of doing that."

"You realize there's a lot of Freudian significance in that dream?"

"Yes, I suppose there is," she dreamily replied, "but then I like to climb any peak I see before me, career or otherwise."

Stay tuned for more rarities from my Caroline Munro Archive!