The Seven Minutes is a 1971 American courtroom drama film directed by Russ Meyer. It is based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Irving Wallace.
Everyone's talking about the scandalous book The Seven Minutes, reputed to be the most pornographic book ever published. The ones who don't want to get their hands on it want it banned for the moral good. When well-adjusted, well-to-do high school jock Jerry Griffith (John Sarno) is arrested for a shocking crime, The Seven Minutes is found in his possession. Prosecutor Elmo Duncan (Philip Carey) is eager to use the scandal to have the book banned in order to further his career. Ben Fremont, the innocent bookseller who sold the book to Jerry, is arrested on charges of corrupting public morals. But Duncan's true plan is to make it illegal not only to sell The Seven Minutes, but to possess it, thus establishing precedent to ban all pornography everywhere.
With no one else to turn to, Ben Fremont reaches out to his old friend lawyer Mike Barrett (Wayne Maunder), who agrees to defend him in court. Only after accepting the case does Mike realize that they are standing at what may be a watershed moment in censorship and freedom of speech, and that he must defend not only his client, but the right of The Seven Minutes to exist. Soon Mike's case hinges on uncovering the true intentions of the book's mysterious, pseudonymous author. Unfortunately for Mike, the author is dead.
Tropes:
- Amoral Attorney: Duncan takes advantage of a rape case to twist facts and get an offensive book banned. He hopes to use the resulting press to eventually become senator.
- Crusading Lawyer: Mike is the heroic lawyer defending freedom of speech and artistic expression and he refuses to compromise on his ideals, be it to appease his fiance or to take up Duncan's associate's offer to become senator.
- Disposable Fiancé: Faye Osborn is Mike's fiancée at the start of the story. Faye is unsupportive of Mike's involvement in the case because it runs counter to the interests of her father, whose network the Griffiths sponsor. Mike ends up trading her off for Maggie, who has personal stakes in the case and helps him collect evidence.
- Driver Faces Passenger: Egregious in the scene where Faye takes Mike to the airport; Faye stares very intently at Mike as she drives and tells him about her conversation with her father at the same time, only occasionally glancing at the road.
- False Rape Accusation: Jerry did not rape Sheri, his friend did, and Jerry even tried to stop him, but was ultimately silenced when the friend threatened to reveal his problem.
- Faking the Dead: The book's author is actually Constance Cumberland, who had her publisher issue the cover story that J.J. Jadway was Driven to Suicide after the book's publication, in order to protect her identity.
- Fictional Document: The Seven Minutes as a work exists only in The Seven Minutes, the novel. While many people discuss the book's impact on them, its actual contents are never revealed.
- It's Not Porn, It's Art: The Seven Minutes is revealed to be an intimate and moving portrayal of a woman's sexual experience that has had a profound emotional effect on those who've actually read it. Its detractors, on the other hand, can't look past its pornographic content. While ultimately The Seven Minutes is found to have literary merit, Mike argues that the true issue is the right of adults to consume whatever media they choose regardless of merit.
- The Loins Sleep Tonight:
- Jerry fails to sleep with Sheri, consensually or otherwise, because of his impotence. His shame and feeling that something might be wrong with him prevents him from revealing the truth.
- It's revealed that the book The Seven Minutes concerns a woman who manages to "cure" her lover from his impotence.
- Moral Guardians: The antagonists of the film want to ban the book The Seven Minutes for being supposedly obscene. Some of the witnesses who testify in court against the book are high-and-mighty members of a decency league.
- Moustache de Plume: The book's author J.J. Jadway is thought to be a man who committed suicide after the poor reception of his book. "He" is actually Constance Cumberland, a movie star who intended to take the book's secret to her grave but was inspired to come out after a private talk with Jerry in which he disclosed his problem to her.
- Parental Title Characterization: Faye most commonly refers to her father as "Daddy", befitting her personality as a shallow and spoiled Rich Bitch.
- Rich Bitch: Faye, the daughter of a television executive, could care less about Mike's case and would much prefer that he become an underling to her father. Her only concern is how Mike's involvement might affect her father negatively, and when Mike refuses to compromise his integrity, she dumps him.Faye: You're second-rate, Mike, and I only have time for number one!
