Written by D. Alvelo, Tom Lazarus and directed by Kelley Cauthen, this 1996 film was originally titled CENTERFOLD when I first saw it, but has been re-titled and sold as NAKED AMBITION. Whatever you call it, it’s long remained a favorite film of mine, due to it’s star GABRIELLA HALL

Starting in the mid-90’s (as Laura Saldivar) this voluptuous brunette went on to appear in over 50 softcore films and TV shows. She was a staple of late-night cable TV for the next decade. This is one of her earliest starring roles. She plays Gail, an aspiring model/actress, living in L.A. with her boyfriend Scott (Justin Lauer) who also does some modeling and is said to want to be a writer. But neither has had much luck in the 3 years they’ve been in town, and are both working crappy jobs (Gail is a bartender, Scott is a Production Assistant) to get by. After hearing that a fellow actress, whom Gail believes is less talented than her, got a role on a major TV series after posing as a centerfold, Gail decides to do the same thing. She approaches her photographer friend Manny (Christopher Maleki) to take some nude photos of her, which he then sends to Robert (Antonio de Santiago), the owner of All American Girl magazine. Robert is impressed, asks to meet Gail and then offers to make her the centerfold in an upcoming issue of the magazine.

This causes strife with Scott, who doesn’t approve of the nude photos, so he and Gail break up. Gail moves into the mansion Robert owns, where several past and future centerfolds for the magazine reside (ala the Playboy mansion). Gail becomes friends with fellow centerfold Billie (Cheryl Bartel), a free spirited gal who isn’t above using sex to get what she wants, and that includes sleeping with a big-time movie producer named Dick (Michael John Meyer) in exchange for him getting her a role in a big budget spy movie. But of course trouble soon arises, as Gail catches Dick’s eye, and he starts coming on to her and offering her the role instead. We also find out that Robert is involved in some kind of real estate scheme and is trying to blackmail a local State Senator (Jim Kochner) to help him with this deal, by secretly filming the Senator having sex with some of the centerfolds, including Billie who is reluctant to do so, but feels that she has no other choice once she realizes that Dick will giving that movie role to Gail instead of her. But is Gail willing to do what she has to do to get that role, and is there any hope for her to get back together with Scott. Watch the film to find out.

This film was made during the era when softcore films still attempted to serious movies, not just skin flicks. Gabriella proves to be a very capable actress in this film, which is impressive since she’s still relatively new here, and she carries most of the film on her shoulders. She really captures the conflicting emotions that Gail goes experiences throughout the film. And, of course, there are several hot sex scenes. Gabriella has a scene with Lauer, as their characters have sex in their apartment, preceded by Gabriella doing a sexy strip tease for him. That’s her only full sex scene (and it’s a good one), but she does have a few other scenes where gets nude to pose for pictures. Cheryl Bartel has two scenes, one with Michael John Meyer, where they have romantic sex in a bedroom. And she has a later scene with Jim Kochner in a horse stable, but that’s less erotic, as her character is being forced to have sex. Bartel also has another scene where she strips completely naked and jumps into a pool. And there’s a threesome scene, where Angela Mia and J.J. Mantia (aka Julianne Mantia) have sex with Jim Kochner in a hot tub.

Well-acted film with some hot sex scenes. Chacebook rating: 4 STARS

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