The Swinging Cheerleaders (1974)

 Director Jack Hill, who is still with us at 89, is principally rememberd for three things, making some women in prision pictures, launching the career of Pam Geir, and this movie. With a title like 'The Swinging Cheerleaders" you instantly know why this picture got a green light and basically what its going to be about. Hill delivers the requist T & A but decided that while has was at it, he might as well try to make it a good movie in the bargain.

Svelte burnett Jo Johnston plays Katie, a student at the fictional Mesa State, who goes undercover on the cheersquade to write an expose on those "swinging cheerleaders" for a small underground newspaper, because 1970's. While on the squade she earns the ire of the head cheerleader played by the buxom Colleen Camp, and befriends others, principly Rosanne Kayton (token black beauty) and the illfated genra regular Rainbaux Smith. Katie also discovers that the football coach, and some in the faculty and alumni assocaition, are fixing games to win at gambling. Katie slowly convinces the team's star player Buck (Ron Hijak) that the coach's recent odd calls are part of this scheme. She also has sex with Buck who is dating Colleen's character so catieness. 

The acting is decent. The story well constructed and smarter then it needs to be. There is even some pathos to Rainbaux Smith's character and her reluctance to go all the way with nice guy boyfriend Ross (Ric Carrott). Of course Rainbaux over compensates in trying to overcome her fear of sex and ends up in an orgy courtesy of the smarmy Ron (Ian Sander).

While the movie gets slightly heavy at times it's surprising engaging throughout, even when everybody is cloathed and just talking. The ending, when Buck has been kidnapped to prevent him from playing in and winning the big game, and our lead cheerleaders and a small group of allies must rescue him before Mesa State loses, well that's right out of a period Disney film, only its not Kathleen Cody trying to rescue Kurt Russell.

"The Swinging Cheerleaders" is trying to be a bunch of different types of movies at once, and does a remarkably good job of balancing it all. It is exploitive yes, silly definitely, but it managed to avoid feeling dumb or needlessly gross, which is quite the accomplishment. ***