Prior to interviewing Victoria Vetri,she told me an amusing story concerning the making of WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH: When it came time to do the scene where she comes out of the water with a fish in her mouth(see picture above left),the director,Val Guest,had Tory put an actual dead fish in her mouth. To add insult to injury, the director did a number of takes,as Tory emerged from the water with the dead fish clenched between her teeth.Ever the trouper, Tory did the retakes without complaining. As you can see, being an actress isn't all,glitz, glamour and adulation.
JV: I was surprised when you told me that INVASION OF THE BEE GIRLS was made by Warner Brothers. I always thought it was the product of an independent company.
VV: I think an independent company got a hold of it. But Saul Weintraub,who worked for Warner,wanted me to fullfill my obligation since I couldn't do ENTER THE DRAGON. Now, I'm thinking about this carefully because my agent who handled this is now retired. Warner and Hammer did WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH together. This was a Warner Brothers and independent production and I think they finally released it to the independent company. And from what you told me,someone else has bought it now and released it under another title.But my paycheck said Warners on it.
JV: For Television and Video Tape the title INVASION OF THE BEE GIRLS is still used. But it was re released as GRAVEYARD TRAMPS.
VV:(laughs)GRAVEYARD TRAMPS! Oh my God! I liked the shooting title THE HONEY FACTOR. It sounded more sci-fi.
JV: I didn't see INVASION OF THE BEE GIRLS when it was first released, but saw it at a drive-in under the new title and thought it was a fun film.
VV: I think it's kind of fun. I mean, it's so ridiculous it's funny. I had fun making it. Unless something really spectacular comes up in my career to make me do another horror movie, I have to be honest,I don't want to end up being a horror queen in films. I'd like to branch off. I'm trying to get a rock group together and get a video out,pursue my singing and maybe do some serious acting. I'm not saying that one cannot do serious acting in horror films. I saw a short today on cable. It was about Tobe Hooper who did THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE,now he's done POLTERGEIST. When TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE came out, people thought that without even showing too much,it was the most terrifying film ever and then he got money behind POLTERGEIST. But I for one do not go out of my way to see horror movies. If FRIDAY THE 13TH is on cable,I will turn it on.But I won't go pay five fifty to see it at a theatre. The one I loved,I saw it three times,is Alien. Is that considered a horror movie? That I would've done in a minute. If they'd come to me and said," Hey,you want to play any part? Do you want to play the Alien?". I would've said," Sure"!(imitates an alien screech). I'd come bursting out(does another Alien screech). That I would've enjoyed.
JV: When you did the recent "PLAYMATES FOREVER" spread in PLAYBOY,did you do it because,going back to one of my first questions, you'd be working again with the much touted "PLAYBOY FAMILY"?
VV: No. What happened was, I was a waitress and bartender at the time and a lady came in and said," Are you Victoria Vetri?" I said," Yes." She said," We have been looking all over for you." She handed me her card from Playboy and said," We're doing a reshoot of "Playmates Forever". Would you be interested?" I said," First of all,how much?" She said," Well, a thousand dollars for half a days work." I said," I'll think about it",playing real hard to get because at this point I had already established that I hated Playboy and everything it stood for. And then my agent said," Well,it can't hurt." I said," Okey,on one condition. I did Playboy B.P,before pubic. I'm not going to show any frontal nudity. I want it as modest as I can have it and I refuse to pose as if I'm visiting my gynecologist like those other girls." So they said," Okey,fine." I got what I wanted. I really don't have the hostilities that I used to have about Playboy.
JV: What in your opinion qualifies as the most erotic moment in any movie that you've seen?
VV: WIFEMISTRESS with Marcello Mastroianni. I changed my mind from last night. SWEPT AWAY came off the top of my head. WIFEMISTRESS has everything in it voyeurism,eroticism,emotional,sexy;it's done in good taste. It's Italian,of course, and I think you can relate to that.
JV: You did a hair oil commercial in which you sang a song with the line," I like it long." Was this commercial banned from TV because it was considered too provocative?
VV: That was for Groom and Clean. It was a double entendre. They didn't take it off the air. It kind of wore it's way off the air and I was the first girl on TV to wear hotpants and boots. At first, I got it for my voice over, because I sing. The song was something like: (sings)" Ooh, I love it long. Just as long as you spray on Groom and Clean.Yeah, I love it long." That's what the little jingle was. We did different variations of it,like,he was going to get a haircut and I walk in and say," You cut off one lock of his hair and I'll melt your scissors." Then I go into this little song and dance. Then we did one where he's driving away in a XKE and I put my foot on the bumper and I say," Cut off one lock of that hair and I'll strip your gears." I did about three of those commercials. They got good airplay and they were supposedly racy for TV commercials. They're very liberal now,but that was the start of TV commercials being liberal. If it was banned I never knew about it,because it was a a long,long time.
To be continued...........
