Filmsite Movie Review
10 (1979)
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Background

10 (1979) is writer/director Blake Edwards' financially-successful romantic sex comedy. This film included one of the first true leading man roles for British comic actor/musician Dudley Moore, who had previously starred in the comedy-thriller Foul Play (1978), with Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase, and the UK film Bedazzled (1967) with Raquel Welch and Peter Cook.

"10" described itself as "a temptingly tasteful comedy for adults who can count."

The movie was known for introducing to the cultural wasteland a numerical rating system for the attractiveness of beautiful women. One of its film's posters described the rating system:

There are 42 billion people in the world
On a 1 to 10 scale,
627 million rate a 3.
143,000 rate a 5.
77 rate a 9.
Yesterday, George Webber saw a 10.

Another of its taglines referred back to Jaws (1975):

Just when he thought it was safe to go back in the water.

The Story


Successful middle-aged composer/songwriter George Webber (Dudley Moore) suffers a mid-life crisis at age 42, feeling that sex has passed him by, although he has a solid relationship with long-suffering singer Samantha Taylor (Julie Andrews) - a recording artist and musical theatre star. To wile away some of his time, he uses a telescope to spy on the wild orgies at his neighbor's (Don Calfa) house.

One day, he is riding in his Rolls Royce convertible through Malibu and sees the woman of his dreams, Jenny Miles (Bo Derek in her film debut), riding in a white gown within the back of a limousine to her wedding. He follows her to the ceremony, while experiencing many mishaps (a car accident, a bee sting on his nose from the floral display, etc.).

He relates his newfound obsession to his black therapist Dr. Croce (John Hancock):

Therapist: What were you thoughts at the moment of this fixation?
George: She was the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.
Therapist: Uh, on a scale from 1 to 10?
George: Eleven.
Therapist: You said there was no such thing as a 10.
George: There's nothing unusual.

He becomes hopelessly obsessed with the betrothed woman and secretly follows her to Mexico, where she has traveled to enjoy her honeymoon.

In a memorable sequence, accident-prone George spies on sexy, corn-row haired, gorgeous Jenny on the beach, while burning his feet on the hot sand. After saving her fianceé David's (Sam Jones) life in the surf, and while he is hospitalized, he meets with her privately.

As they speak about different music preferences (while smoking dope), she ultimately attempts to seduce him to the sounds of Maurice Ravel's "Bolero" playing in the background:

Jenny: I like different music for different things. I like to listen to rock. I like to dance to jazz.
George: What do you like to do to Prokofiev?
Jenny: F--k. And not only Prokofiev, Ravel. Did you ever do it to Ravel's Bolero?

George (nervously): No.
Jenny: My uncle turned me on to it - (George coughs) my step-mother's younger brother. I used to spend weekends at his house in Surrey when I was going to school in England. Uncle Fred said that Bolero was the most descriptive sex music ever written. And he proved it. (She puts on a phonograph recording of Bolero, enters her bedroom and strips, then returns to George) George, I forgot the joint.