Big Bosoms and Square Jaws: Russ Meyer, King of the Sex Film

by Jimmy McDonough

  The hapless cast and crew steel themselves for another trip to the remote location for 1967’s Common-Law Cabin. The boat would sometimes run adrift, forcing Meyer to jump in the water and tug it along, “like Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen.” (Courtesy Alaina Capri)

  The bleak view over Meyer’s shoulder as he directs Alaina Capri and Babette Bardot in Common-Law Cabin. “Meyer loved the desert,” said actor Charles Napier. “Asked him why one time and he said, ‘Because you can die there.’” (Courtesy Alaina Capri)

  Nothing but the best for Meyer stars: Common-Law Cabin star Alaina Capri doing her own on-location makeup. (Courtesy Alaina Capri)

  The great Anthony James Ryan, Meyer confidant and clean-up man, not to mention star of the silver screen, behind the counter at Modern Photo, 2003. “I think Jim lived quite vicariously off Meyer’s hijinks,” said John McCormick. (Jimmy Vapor)

  The chest-shaving scene with Jan Sinclair and Paul Lockwood from 1968’s Finders Keepers, Lovers Weepers. “Meyer was smacking his lips filming that one,” said George Costello. “He was really into it.”

  The feral Erica Gavin in an ad for Meyer’s X-rated 1968 smash, Vixen. “Basically this is a woman that is a racist, a sex fiend, an incest partner, a lesbian,” said Gavin. “[And] an all-American girl that saves a plane from being hijacked by the Communists.”

  Russ Meyer shooting Vixen, photographed by Erica Gavin. “I wanted him to love me,” said Gavin. (Courtesy Erica Gavin)

  Erica Gavin and Meyer lieutenant George Costello confide and conspire during the shooting of Vixen. Meyer terrorized the actress, pushing her, said Haji, “right into George’s arms.” (Courtesy Erica Gavin)

  Teutonic bombshell Uschi Digard and RM share a moment in Meyer’s pool for Cherry, Harry, and Racquel. “The dedication of a Watusi gun-bearer,” said Meyer of the actress. “She’d run over bare coals and cut glass.”

  Ad for Meyer’s human comic strip, 1970’s Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. RM considered the picture his masterpiece.

  Roger Ebert and Russ Meyer, circa 1970. According to Erica Gavin, Ebert was “awestruck” by Meyer’s world. “Russ took him under his wing. . . . It was like, ‘All right, kiddo, I’m gonna show you what tits ’n’ ass is all about.’” (Courtesy Roger Ebert)

  Beyond the Valley of the Dolls: John La Zar (left) as the sexual question mark Z-Man, posing between takes with RM screenwriter Manny Diez. Meyer surveyed John’s new rack and muttered, “Y’know what you need, kid, after this? A good Western.” (Courtesy Manny Diez)

  The ferocious Edy Williams, star of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and Meyer wife number three. “I don’t think I’ve known any woman who made me happier or more unhappy,” said RM. “She’s the ultimate bitch and the ultimate sex symbol.”

  The Seven Minutes, Meyer’s 1971 flop for Fox. “A losing battle of mind over mattress,” said Playboy.

  Ad for 1979’s Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens, starring the fabulous Kitten Natividad. Said the actress of her director, “When he wanted me to cry he’d say, ‘Pretend they’re beating your dog.’ When he wanted me to look sexy, he’d say, ‘C’mon, baby, jerk off the whole world.’”

  Beyond the Valley of the Dolls all-femme supergroup the Carrie Nations (Cynthia Myers, Marcia McBroom, and Dolly Reed). “Showgirls on LSD” is how John Waters described them.

  The marriage of Russ and Edy, 1970 (left to right: David Gurian, Edy, Russ, Erica Gavin). Said Edy, “I thought, ‘Hey, this will be swell—like Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, y’know?’” (Peter Borsari)

  Ad for Meyer’s 1976 atrocity Up! starring the delectable Raven De La Croix. She recalled being “thrown and whipped and raped and punched throughout the whole thing.”

  Jim Ryan and a stogie-smoking Meyer prepare to shoot the Supervixens scene in which Shari Eubank smashes an axe into her boyfriend’s car. (Paul Fox, courtesy of Dolores Fox)

  Meyer’s sex life was the stuff of legend, worthy of tabloid headlines.

  Russ and his beloved wolf-dog Harry, circa 1980. Screenwriter John McCormick was shaken after Harry sank his teeth into his arm. “I never told Russ about it,” said McCormick. “I knew he’d take the dog’s side.” (Paul Fox, courtesy Dolores Fox)

  Porn star Viper about to unleash her new implants on a roomful of Vegas fans as disgusted Russ Meyer buries himself in his autobiography manuscript, 1990. “Meyer couldn’t keep up with the adult industry, and it passed him by,” said Porno vet Bill Margold. (Bill Margold)

  RM and combat buddy Charlie Sumners document another 166th reunion with Meyer’s old wartime Eyemo camera. As reporter Kay Hively recalled, “RM was directing a movie the whole time we were here.’” (Charles Sumners)

  The utilitarian bed of Russ Meyer, 1990. Note the box of tissues on left. Said Jane Hower of Meyer’s lovemaking, “Very straightforward—hug, kiss, touch and put it in.” (David K. Frasier)

  Meyer’s last paramour, stripper Melissa Mounds. Recalled Jim Ryan, “I’d say, ‘Meyer, you bought her an engagement ring for three thousand dollars and she loses it?’ He said, ‘It’s worth it.’” (Dolores Fox)

  Russ Meyer, 1998. “Russ is losin’ it,” Charlie Sumners told his wife. (J. Scott Wynn)

  Source Notes

  All author interviews are listed at the head of individual chapter source notes. Most of them took place between 2002 and 2004.

  Interviews with Meyer from David K. Frasier’s archive are referred to in source notes as DFA. These interviews were done 8/16–17/90, 8/19/90. A small portion of this material was published in Cinefocus 1.2, Fall 1990, and reprinted, albeit somewhat changed, in Meyer’s autobiography. At times my transcriptions of these interviews vary slightly from Mr. Frasier’s.

  A listing of individual articles utilized for my research on this book would run hundreds of pages, so I have only noted what is quoted in the text. At the risk of throwing Frasier’s name into the text once again, this book benefited greatly from his bibliography work in Russ Meyer: The Life and Films. Suffice to say I have been through the entire Frasier archive of 1,148 pieces of text, plus hundreds more articles and books published since then. Full info on any book listed in the chapter source notes can be found in the bibliography. Meyer’s A Clean Breast autobiography is referred to as ACB/RM in the chapter source notes.

  I regret to say the following people either declined or ignored my interview requests: Bill Moore, Malcolm McLaren, Taime Downe, Artur Brauner, Ron Vogel, John Landis, Rick Garrard, Stephen Hunter, Melissa Mounds, Shari Eubank, and Bunny Yeager. Due to constraints on the interview process, I declined to speak with both Edy Williams and RM’s former counsel, A. Lee Blackman. Attempts to reach Charles Keating Jr., Donna Scott, Rena Horten, and Uschi Digard proved unsuccessful. Uschi, Rena, Donna: if you’re out there and reading this, drop me a line care of the publisher. I’d love to hear your side of the story. Readers who’ve enjoyed this work might want to check out my biography of Andy Milligan, The Ghastly One. It mirrors this book in many strange ways.

  Books and Articles by Russ Meyer

  Dixie Sparkle. All–Eve Meyer digest. Mid- to late fifties. Uncredited.

  The Glamour Camera of Russ Meyer. Whitestone Publications, 1958.

  “The Low-Budget Producer.” The Movie Business: American Film Industry Practice. Edited by A. William Bluem and Jason E. Squire. Hastings House, 1979.

  “My Friend Cleavage.” Oui, vol. 5, no. 8, August, 1976.

  A Clean Breast, Adolph Albion Schwartz (Russ Meyer), three volumes. Hauck Publishing, 2000.

  Meyer contributed countless layouts to such men’s magazines as Night and Day, Playboy, Gent, Adam, Escapade, and many others. He also wrote occasional articles to accompany his layouts. Three are listed below; I’m sure there are many more.

  “The Full Figure,” Candid Photography, Fawcett Book 318, 1956. Fawcett Publications.

  “Commercial Glamour,” Photographing Glamour, Fawcett Book 412, 1959. Fawcett Publications.

  “The Glamour Technique of Russ Me
yer,” Famous Photographers Photograph Beautiful Women, #46, 1963. Whitestone Publications.

  Books About Meyer

  Frasier, David K. Russ Meyer: The Life and Films. McFarland and Company, 1990.

  Green, Doyle. Hips, Lips, Tits, Power: The Films of Russ Meyer. Creation Books (UK), 2004.

  Jackson, Jean-Pierre. Russ Meyer, ou, Trente ans de Cinéma Erotique à Hollywood. (France) PAC, 1982.

  Thissen, Rolf. Russ Meyer, der König des Sexfilms. W. Heyne (Germany), 1987.

  Woods, Paul A. The Very Breast of Russ Meyer. Plexus (UK), 2004.

  Selected Reference

  Binstein, Michael, and Charles Bowden. Trust Me: Charles Keating and the Missing Billions. Random House, 1993.

  Butterfield, Ralph, editor. Patton’s G.I. Photographers. Iowa State University Press, 1992.

  Cohan, Stephen, and Ina Rae Hark, editors. The Road Movie Book. Routledge, 1997 (UK).

  Friedman, David. F., with Don De Nevi. A Youth in Babylon: Confessions of a Trash-Film King. Prometheus Books, 1990.

  Gertz, Elmer. To Life: The Story of a Chicago Lawyer. Southern Illinois University Press, 1990.

  Fenton, Harvey, editor. Flesh and Blood Compendium. Fab Press, 2003 (UK).

  Flynt, Larry, with Kenneth Ross. An Unseemly Man. Bloomsbury, 1996.

  Harris, Marlys J. The Zanucks of Hollywood: The Dark Legacy of an American Dynasty. Crown, 1989.

  Lewis, Jon, Hollywood v. Hardcore: How the Struggle over Censorship Saved the Modern Film Industry. New York University Press, 2000.

  McCarthy, Todd, and Charles Flynn, editors. Kings of the B’s: Working Within the Hollywood System. Dutton, 1975.

  McDonough, Jimmy. The Ghastly One: The Sex-Gore Netherworld of Filmmaker Andy Milligan. Chicago Review Press, 2001.

  Philips, Stu. “Stu Who?” Forty Years of Navigating the Minefields of the Music Business. Cisum Press, 2003.

  Pomerance Murray, editor. Bad: Infamy, Darkness, Evil and Slime on Screen. State University of New York Press, 2004.

  Ross, Jonathan. The Incredibly Strange Film Book. Simon & Schuster, 1993 (UK).

  Schaefer, Eric. Bold! Daring! Shocking! True! A History of Exploitation Films, 1919–1959. Duke University Press, 1999.

  Schneider, Charles Editor. Cad: A Handbook for Heels. Feral House, 1992.

  Spitz, Marc, and Brendan Mullen. We Got the Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of L.A. Punk. Three Rivers Press, 2001.

  Storm, Tempest, with Bill Boyd. The Lady Is a Vamp. Peachtree Publishers, 1987.

  Sullivan, Steve. Bombshells: Glamour Girls of a Lifetime. St. Martin’s Press, 1998.

  ———. Glamour Girls: The Illustrated Encyclopedia. St. Martin’s Press, 1999.

  ———. Va Va Voom! Bombshells, Pinups, Sexpots and Glamour Girls. Rhino Books/General Publishing Group, Inc., 1995.

  Sumners, Charles Eugene. Darkness Visible: Memoir of a World War II Combat Photographer. McFarland Press, 2002.

  Thompson, Stephen, and The Onion. The Tenacity of The Cockroach: Conversations with Entertainment’s Most Enduring Outsiders. Three Rivers Press, 2002.

  Tomko, William J. Turan. Photo by Signal Corps. Manuscript privately printed by Tomko.

  Turan, Kenneth, and Stephen F. Zito. Sinema: American Pornographic Films and the People Who Make Them, Praeger Publishers, 1974.

  Vale, V., and Andrea Juno, eds. RE/SEARCH #10: Incredibly Strange Films. RE/SEARCH Publications, 1986.

  Wallace, Irving. The Seven Minutes. Simon & Schuster, 1969.

  Waters, John. Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste, Dell 1981.

  ———. Crackpot: The Obsessions of John Waters. Scribners, 2003.

  Introduction: Bigger than Life

  JM interviews: Hugh Hefner, Erica Gavin, David K. Frasier, Roger Ebert, Richard Brummer, Lux Interior, John McCormick, Stan Berkowitz, Arv Miller, David F. Friedman, Lou Filipovitch, Raven de la Croix, Charles Napier, Tura Satana.

  John Furlong, the man responsible for the opening narration of Faster, Pussycat, informed me that he was utilizing his best Richard Burton impression. News to me.

  “Hi Mom, sorry . . . you tomorrow” . . . “I’d never . . . John Ford films,” My Christmas with Russ: Road-Tripping, Grave-Visiting and Plotting “Up the Valley of the Beyond,” John McCormick, L.A. Weekly, 12/9–15, 1994. Highly recommended by the author.

  “High-class pornographer,” RM to Dan Huff, “ ‘High-Class Pornographer’ Enjoys Flak, All the Way to the Bank,” Tucson Citizen, 11/13/79.

  “A directness . . . in Hollywood films,” “Russ Meyer: King of the Nudies Takes a Bow, Roger Ebert,” Chicago Sun-Times, 1/9/83.

  “I love vulgarity,” Helmut Newton, Autobiography, Helmut Newton, Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2003.

  “I don’t pretend . . . express trains!” RM to Stan Berkowitz, “18—Count ’Em—18 Couplings and an X-Rating: Russ Meyer in Hollywood,” UCLA Daily Bruin, no. 79, 1/7/70.

  “Meyer is both for . . . a kind of style,” Alan Brien, “The Vampire in the Dark,” London Sunday Times, 11/25/79.

  “In Meyer’s film world . . . possess the ‘square jaws,’” Lips, Hips, Tits, Power.

  “The first time . . . the psychedelic state,” Jeff McDonald to Jaime Pina, “Jeff Macdonald of Redd Kross,” Hollywood Book and Poster News, 12/86.

  “I’m laughing at the world,” RM to Charles Petzold, “He Puts a Grin in Skin Movies.” Philadelphia Daily News, 4/28/69.

  “I believe . . . the heaving bosoms.” Roger Ebert, “Russ Meyer Busts Sleazy Stereotype,” Chicago Sun-Times, 11/15/85.

  “I won’t become . . . has huge breasts,” RM to Steven Smith, “Soft-Porn King Makes No Apologies,” Eugene Register-Guard, 9/27/79.

  “Like an explorer . . . for bigger bosoms,” Catherine Chapin, “Meyer’s Core Is Soft, but He Thinks Big,” Charlotte Observer, 8/5/79.

  “The pneumatic . . . man,” RM to Taffy Jacaway, “X-Rated Producer Lets Hair Down, Down, Down, Down,” Tacoma News-Journal, 7/4/75.

  “As distinctive . . . to her husband,” Kristen Hatch, “The Sweeter the Kitten, the Sharper the Claws,” Bad: Infamy, Darkness, Evil and Slime on Screen.

  “I get an idea . . . a movie,” RM to Dan Yakir and Bruce Davis, “An Interview: Beyond the Big Breast—Can Russ Meyer Keep It ‘Up’!” The Thousand Eyes magazine, vol. 2, no. 4, 12/76.

  “I’m in it . . . no bones about it,” RM to Jackie Brooks, “Assessment of X-Rated Movies,” The State, 8/5/79.

  “I”d probably make 20 RM films,” RM to Phyliss Braden-Lowe, “Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Meyer,” Pop Arts Entertainment Supplement to the Portland State University Vanguard, circa 1987.

  “I would hit upon . . . a budget,” RM, “The Low-Budget Producer,” see Books and Articles by Russ Meyer.

  “Carried it,” Roger Ebert, “Russ Meyer: King of the Nudies.” Film Comment, Jan/Feb 1973.

  “Every film is exploitation . . . same game,” RM to Menetaos Toutsidis, “Film Is ‘Full of Sex Fun,’ ” The News, Adelaide, Australia, 5/4/81.

  “Meyer films don’t . . . their audiences,” David Ansen, “Russ Meyer: Auteur of Sleaze,” The Real Paper, 7/30/75.

  I don’t let . . . action,” RM to Robert Baum, “When Russ Meyer Brought His Raven to Lunch,” Patriot Ledger, 10/30/76.

  “It’s my genre . . . really matter,” RM to Ellen Goosenberg, “Supervixen Russ Meyer,” The Drummer, 7/29/75.

  “I deal with . . . beyond women,” RM to Tom Teicholz, “Movies: Tit for Tat: Russ Meyer,” Interview, 1/86.

  “Four F’s,” RM cited by Gordon Burn, “Rising Below Vulgarity,” Sight and Sound, vol. 6, issue 12, 12/1996. Original source of quote unknown.

  “Russ not only . . . in women,” Haji to Ronald L. Smith, “Haji: from Pussycat to Double-D Avenger!” Phantom of the Movies’ Videscope, no. 45, Winter 2003.

  “His women had an exuberance . . . films anymore,” Camille Paglia, quoted on lukeford.com. Origin of quote unknown.

  Paglia and Tura Satana: Ann Magnuson, “Russ Mey
er: Thing King of B Movies on DD Cups and XXX Ratings,” Details, 3/93. Magnuson reports that “Tura Satana is Camille Paglia’s wet dream!” She goes on to say that Paglia saw Meyer’s films at a grungy New Haven porn theater while she was in grad school.

  “Deals a body-blow to the idea that women are victims” . . . “an unexpected celebration of bad-girl empowerment,” B. Ruby Rich, “What’s New, Pussycat?” Village Voice, 1/11–17/95.

  “Hopefully it’s my dick,” RM to Paul Fishbein, “Interview: Russ Meyer,” Adult Video News, vol. 1, no. 4, 6/83.

  “I love to put sex . . . erotic and funny,” RM to Tony Rayns, “Dolls, Vixens, and Supervixens in the Films of Russ Meyer,” Late Night Video, vol. 2, no. 2, 1983.

  “Who knows more . . . Russ Meyer?” RM to Howard Gensler, Premiere, vol. 2, no. 9, 5/89.

  “I portray sex . . . in bed,” RM to Craig Trigger, “Russ Meyer Keeps Few Secrets: I’m in the Business for Greed, Lust.” Miami Hurricane, 11/19/76.

  “Former prizefighter now operating a successful chain of South American brothels,” John Simon, “Meyer’s Blue Heaven.” The New Leader, 7/20/70.

  “Genuine, impure, adulterated, no-bullshit working class American,” Richard Corliss, “Film: Cherry, Harry & Raquel!” Village Voice, 6/11/70.