I imagine that this movie might have been the last time that a mainstream Hollywood film would be accused of being kiddie porn. Nothing like this would ever even be pitched as an idea by anyone working within the system that currently exists unless they weren't interested in working again. It's not porn at all, of course, in actuality it's a really well-made, beautifully-shot drama about a whorehouse set in New Orleans in 1917. This movie was considered controversial when it came out due to nude scenes involving a 12 year old Brooke Shields and while the movie itself might not seems as shocking today when viewing it I think the subject matter itself would probably be considered even more outrageous due to the sick obsession society in general these days has with child pornography and how it's misinterpreted as anything involving young people and sex. This film is based on a real story and it reflects that reality really well. Is the underage nudity necessary? Maybe not but it does add to the realism and that's what elevates it to great art and not watered-down nonsense that is created today.
I can comfortably say that I didn't feel like that much of a pervert watching this as I was way more excited by the idea of Barbara Steele as a hooker than little Brooke and would have payed way more for the queen of Italian horror.
Huggy Bear(Antonio Fargas) also appears as a smooth piano-playin' philosophizer, Susan Sarandon plays Brooke's whore of a mom and you get to see lots of her and Kieth Carradine has a big role as a bit of a pervy photographer.
I know that I sound like a broken record but the real tragedy to me is that films like this that delved into uncomfortable areas and gritty truths died out in the 70's and were replaced with disposable garbage. It's too bad that we have to always look backwards to find anything worthwhile.
The trailer calls this her debut but horror movie fans know that she was in ALICE, SWEET ALICE a couple of years earlier:
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