Love as Disorder. 1973. USA. Directed by Ben Maddow. With Diana Sands, Kevin McCarthy, Viveca Lindfors, Lee Grant, Osceola Archer, Herbert Berghof. 35mm. 78 min.
Shot on location in Manhattan, Ben Maddow’s ensemble relationship drama was originally released in 1963 under the title An Affair of the Skin, starring Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) as middle-aged lothario Allen and Viveca Landfors as his beleaguered wife Victoria. A decade later, the film was re-edited and rereleased as Love as Disorder, placing greater emphasis on a voiceover narration from its sole character of color, a free-spirited photographer named Janice (unforgettably portrayed by Diana Sands, who died just a year after the film's rerelease, at the age of 39). While Allen considers courting Janice before backing off, race is almost beside the point in these down-and-out bohemians’ endless discussions about love and freedom (with Janice serving more as an observer than a participant). Commenting from the sidelines, her sly take on things is the pulse of the film, making it much more than just another post-beatnik curio.