by MATTHEW HAYS

Could there be a screwier decade than the '70s? Nixon got re-elected, The Brady Bunch got a Saturday morning cartoon and New York City almost declared bankruptcy.

Even given this context, Once Upon a Girl, the '76 oddity that will screen at the Parc this weekend, stands as a nutty surprise. Director Don Jurwich opens the film with a live-action wrap-around thread sequence. Mother Goose, here played in rather bottom-drawer drag by what is clearly a man in a bad wig (none other than Hal Smith of The Andy Griffith Show fame), is put on trial and told to answer for all those "low-downdest stories" she's been telling. Goose then begins to recount the erotic anecdotes, fairy tales that have been cleverly revamped and dirtied down by Jurwich (who notably later produced various Scooby-Doo cartoons).

This allows the film to segue into several different stories. One has Jack (of Beanstalk fame) stalking one young lass as she bathes her feet in the river. Lots of masturbation and bestiality ensue, with the gal getting quite a thrill from a thirsty frog who has a breast fetish. We also meet "Pimpy," the long lost (and rarely mentioned) eighth dwarf, who tells of further lurid tales. There is more groaning and moaning, more cheeseball animation and lots of plot turns that allow for mythic childhood fairy tale figures to get it on.

Once Upon a Girl is very funny for a bunch of reasons, but mainly (and I doubt very much that the filmmakers thought of this for a moment) because academics have certainly made solid arguments that these fairy tales, in their most ostensibly innocent of forms, were intensely, innately sexual. In its own entirely clumsy way, Once Upon a Girl lays bare that concept.

But the film has clearly fermented beautifully, showing its age and era in the most delightful ways. There are even some arcane gay stereotypes that had me on the floor laughing. Once Upon a Girl is well worth seeing and, without a hint of facetiousness, I suggest this would probably screen best with a few friends and a couple of joints.

Once Upon a Girl screens at the Cinéma du Parc this weekend. See rep listings for showtimes

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