Big Bosoms and Square Jaws: Russ Meyer, King of the Sex Film
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“It mustn’t come across . . . I went along,” RM to David Frasier, DFA.
“Teas was a fluke . . . for assistants,” RM to Robert Cross, “The ‘Skin Flicks’ of Producer Russ Meyer,” Chicago Tribune, 2/16/69.
“Written on the back of a laundry ticket,” RM to David Frasier, DFA.
“There was no contact . . . no sex,” RM to R. Allen Leider, “Russ Meyer Thinks Big,” Porno Movie Girls, no. 1, 1976.
“He put his job . . . being done,” RM to David Frasier, DFA.
“An experimental sex comedy,” “Even Walt Disney . . . what would happen,” RM to Arv Miller, “Between the Valleys of My Ultra-Vixens,” Part One, Fling, no. 159, 7/90.
“You put ’em in a movie . . . slammer time,” RM to David Frasier, DFA.
“The heir to a vast fortune,” ibid.
“Interested in breaking into . . . get laid,” ibid.
“Come on like a steam engine . . . my teeth,” RM to Nathan Rabin, 1995 interview, The Tenacity of the Cockroach, 2002.
“If any of those girls . . . not actresses,” Bill Teas to Burr Snider, “The Blue Movie That Started It All,” San Francisco Examiner, 11/18/81.
“I got a lot more . . . pay him,” “had heard . . . bust us,” “I always started . . . Ann Peters,” “She had the best . . . conical breasts.” “I just had that built-in . . . out of nothing,” “Teas, to a large part . . . making the movie,” RM to David Frasier, DFA.
“Like one of the old-timers . . . come of it,” Bill Teas to Burr Snider, Burr Snider, “The Blue Movie That Started It All.”
“Was never terribly enthusiastic . . . some chick,” RM to Braden-Lowe, “Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Meyer.”
“Wrestled him back . . . saved my career,” RM to Burton Wolfe, “King of the Nudie Movies.”
“His best work . . . vodka hangover,” RM to David Frasier, DFA.
“Glorified home movie,” RM to Alex Bennett, “Screw Interview with Russ Meyer: The Barnum of Boobs,” Screw, no. 411, 1/17/77.
“What made these films . . . a lamppost,” RM to David Frasier, DFA.
“In those days unheard of,” ibid.
“We couldn’t find anybody with the courage to screen it,” RM to Rick H. Berger, “Laugh at the Establishment: Meyer’s Sexploitation Films Soft-core,” Daily Trojan, 1/8/76.
“No one had ever seen as bare a film as Teas,” RM to Braden-Lowe.
“A perverted Mr. Hulot’s Holiday,” “amazingly good,” “The Immoral Mr. Teas,” Variety, vol. 217, no. 9, 1/27/60.
“A statement had been made . . . get involved,” RM to David Frasier, DFA.
“Fellow paisan,” RM to Turan and Zito, Sinema.
“They convened . . . unheard of,” RM to David Frasier, DFA.
“Passing a censor . . . steal,” ibid.
“A week . . . bought Cadillacs,” RM to Barney Hoskyns, “Thanks for the Mammaries,” New Musical Express, 1/22/83.
“A kind of imperturbable . . . makes a million,” Leslie Fiedler, “A Night with Mr. Teas,” Show, vol. 1, no. 1, 10/61.
Teas New York cuts, JM interview with distributor William Mishkin, see McDonough, The Ghastly One.
“I’m a class pornographer . . . a motel room,” RM to Murry Frymer, “ ‘Ultra Vixens’ Is an Assault to the Senses,” San Jose Mercury-News, 9/23/79.
“They’d fight strenuously . . . with business,” RM to David Frasier, DFA.
“Teas would listen . . . steaming, seething,” ibid.
“Accused me of cheating . . . offended me,” RM to David Frasier, DFA.
“Teas made a lot of money . . . $40,000 apiece,” RM to Paul Sherman, Filmfax, no. 28, 8–9/91.
“So they bought him off for $750,” ibid.
“Heavy into the sauce,” ibid.
Meyer’s unpublished thirty-one-page handwritten response to Burr Snider is dated 11/29/81. A fascinating, heartfelt document.
“By the early 1960s sexual desire, especially male sexual desire, was economically legitimate,” Eric Schaefer, Bold! Daring! Shocking! True!
“Opened up the floodgates of permissiveness as we know it in these United States”—an interesting quote. Despite much digging by both myself and Dave Frasier, the location of this quote was not tracked down in any Time article on Russ Meyer or any search of the magazine in general, despite its having been referenced in countless articles, such as “Russ Meyer at the Floodgates,” Ross Woodbury, Gross Valley, Nevada Mountain Messenger, 10/3/79.
“The real driving force . . . to movement,” RM to Tricia White, “Russ Meyer Is Porno’s DeMille,” Las Vegas Sun, 3/23/77.
“I don’t know why . . . look at it,” RM to Richard Seeley, “Russ Meyer Enjoys His Work.” Detroit Register, 11/28/79 921.
“So innocent it is almost wistful,” Turan, “ ‘Immoral Mr. Teas’ in Retrospect.”
“One of the canniest . . . skin flicks,” “Russ Meyer: King of the Nudies,” Film Comment, vol. 9, no. 1, 1–2/73
“Who can never hope . . . other than visual,” Frasier, Russ Meyer: The Life and Films.
“She performs cunnilingus [sic] on him while he’s writing out her ticket,” RM to David Rosenbaum, “The Man Behind the Casabas,” Boston Phoenix, vol. 4, no. 31, 8/5/75.
“Wail away at it,” RM to Sergei Hasenecz and Charles Schneider, “A Clean Breast: Titillating Talk with Russ Meyer.”
“Un-American,” RM to Don Safran, “Britain’s Townsend Due,” Dallas Times Herald, 4/20/69.
“What does a woman . . . to pitch,” RM to David Frasier, DFA.
“He’s still the first Sergeant . . . got over it,” Eve Meyer to Burton Wolfe, “King of the Nudie Movies.”
6. The Handyman
JM interviews: Richard Brummer, Jim Ryan, Jean Duran, Paula Parker, John McCormick, Jean-Pierre Jackson, David Frasier, Stan Berkowitz, Dave Prowse, Roger Ebert, David Friedman, Marvin Friedlander, John Furlong, Dolores Fox, Charles Sumners, Rob Shaffner.
“I made movie . . . really mattered,” RM, ACB/RM, vol. 2.
“I have no gods . . . Foreign Correspondent,” RM to Diana Loevy, “Son of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls,” Home Video, vol. 2, no. 6, 5/81.
“After Teas . . . six times,” RM to David Frasier, DFA.
“As rigid . . . morality play,” David Friedman to David Chute, “Wages of Sin,” second half of two-part article, Film Comment, vol. 22, no. 5, 9/86.
“Our theory . . . new set of tits,” ibid.
“Our whole business was . . . see next week,’ ” David Friedman on the DVD commentary track to his picture The Defilers. Something Weird has released a number of Friedman-made or -distributed titles on DVD, most containing very entertaining and informative commentaries by the mighty monarch. They are essential for any student of exploitation history.
“I had the one sheet . . . even started,” Friedman, Defilers commentary.
“Some stiff directing . . . bless him for it,” ibid.
“The most erotic films ever made,” RM to Scott Eyeman, “The Survival of Russ Meyer, Exit, 7/30/75.
“For a month I worked harder than I ever have in my life,” Eve Meyer to Jane Wilson, “What’s a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Business Like This, Eve? (Well, Maybe Crying All the Way to the Bank),” Los Angeles Times West magazine, 5/9/71.
“Eve All Smirk, No Smoke,” Los Angeles Examiner, 5/8/61.
“City girl who likes to swim in country stream,” “the legend and lore of bathing suits,” uncredited review, “Erotica,” Filmfacts, no. 5, 1962.
“Meeting Sherry . . . U.S.S. Ticonderoga,” RM, ACB/RM, vol. 1.
“Banjo-bodied,” ibid.
Description of Europe in the Raw shoot, “Thanks for the Mammaries: Russ Meyer,” Flesh & Blood Compendium, Fab Press, 2003 (UK).
“With a very obvious . . . thin subterfuge,” unknown author, “Europe in the Raw,” Modern Man magazine, Winter 1963.
“Tits and War,” ibid.
“Russ seeking downright pity did a real number on Mrs. Meyer,”
RM/ACB, vol. 1.
“Joyful adultery,” ibid.
“It is not a love affair . . . strictly carnal,” Veronica Vera, “Veronica Vera’s New York,” Adam, vol. 31, no. 12, circa 1980s.
“We never spent . . . to a motel,” RM to Tonmy Mastroianni, “Beneath the Valley of the Skin Flicker,” Cleveland Press, 8/23/79.
“The boy doesn’t . . . doesn’t know,” RM to Norman Dresser, “Things Mostly Big and Busty in Russ Meyer’s Standards,” The Blade, Toledo, Ohio, 7/19/79.
“Jest to a roomful of fans that he’d named his son Mr. Mattress,” reported by Michael Flores, “Breast of Russ Meyer—the Interview,” It’s Only a Movie newsletter, no. 5, 1995.
“The public just grew tired of seeing the same old thing,” RM to David Frasier, DFA.
“I realized nudies . . . sort of story,” RM to Tony Crawley, “History of the Blue Movie [Part 5],” Marilyn Chambers’ Best of Club, no. 15, 1981.
“I said, now I must . . . with giant breasts,” RM to Turan and Zito, Sinema.
7. Top Lust, Top Hate, Top Heavy
JM interviews: David Frasier, Douglas Kues, David Friedman, Rudolph Grey, Fred Beiersdorf, Dolores Fox, Jim Ryan, George Karhl, George Costello, Ulli Lommel, E. E. ‘Mick’ Nathanson, Charlie Sumners, Ben Rocco, John McCormick, Haji, Charles Napier, Andre Brummer, John Waters.
“No woman . . . they’re through,” RM to David Frasier, DFA.
Opening description based on David Frasier’s interviews with Meyer, DFA and ACB/RM, “Interview,” Cinefocus 1.2, Fall 1990; various other interviews.
“The worst part . . . only one Kitten,” RM to Dale Ashmun, “Mondo Russo: Russ Meyer Interview,” Film Threat, no. 15, 1988.
“I told her, ‘I want you . . . your big tits,’ ” RM to David Frasier, DFA.
“I shot without . . . facing a crowd,” ibid.
“With her big tits away from me,” ibid.
“From the side . . . one iota,” ibid.
“Box office,” ibid.
Maitland background: “Lorna,” two-part article, Fling, vol. 10, no. 1/2, 3–5/67, uncredited, probably by Arv Miller. Features many great photos by Meyer.
“I was dressed with a rather secretarial look,” Lorna Maitland, Mondo Topless.
“A good actress . . . her name,” RM to Jan Golab, “Return from Beyond the Valley of the Dolls,’ Los Angeles, vol. 31, no. 12, 12/86.
“From then on . . . difficult guy,” RM to Jim Morton, Research: Incredibly Strange Films.
“Once you’ve unwrapped them, the thrill is gone,” RM to Ron Base, “Meyer Mammary Films Smothered the World,” Toronto Sun, 1/14/76.
“Ninety percent . . . they can pussywhip,” RM to Rose Raidt, “I Couldn’t Survive on the Raincoat Brigade,” Up the Creek, vol. 1, no. 32, 8/17/79.
“In the morning . . . chick’s computer,” RM to Morton, Research: Incredibly Strange Films.
“Russ’s whole life was to not give the upper hand to The Ace,” RM on either one of the laser disc commentaries or ACB. Misplaced at press time, apologies.
“She did a number on my head,” RM to Gene Ross, “Russ Meyer: The Brains Behind the Brest, Boormann and Beyond,” Adult Video News, vol. 2, no. 4, 6/87.
“Absolutely hated his guts,” ibid.
“We find the locations and then we write the story,” “Close-up, Russ Meyer,” author unknown, This Week, 11/26/87.
“Where everyone quotes . . . its Commandments,” Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital website.
“Gothic period,” Roger Ebert, “Russ Meyer: King of the Nudies,” Film Comment, Jan.–Feb. 1973.
“Without artistic surrender . . . for one man,” Lorna theatrical trailer.
“My stories are morality . . . you gotta pay for it,” RM to Turan and Zito, Sinema.
“The moralizing . . . whore that I am,” RM to Gene Ross, “Russ Meyer: The Brains Behind . . .”
“Did I shoot . . . in color,” RM to David Frasier, DFA.
“It’s the same thing . . . big tits,” ibid.
“Bending over, tits swaying,” ibid.
“Everything that’s nice, but strictly a bum bang,” RM, ACB/RM.
“A real shit, but everything in the sack hubby wasn’t,” ibid.
“I feel that it’s important . . . a bad, bad time,” RM, Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens laser disc commentary.
“Lorna was the first dramatic naked-lady movie,” William Rotsler, publication/date unknown, quoted by Luke Ford, “Russ Meyer,” lukeford.com.
“The films with nudity . . . top heavy,” William Rotsler, Contemporary Erotic Cinema, Penthouse/Ballantine, 1973.
“so that it would ‘look dirty,’ like an old, scratched 16 mm stag film,” David Friedman.
“They were all afraid . . . got something,” RM to David Frasier, DFA.
“Lorna played . . . skid row,” RM to Frank Thistle, “King Leer,” Adam Film World, vol. 7, no. 6, 9/79.
“A theater in Amherst, Massachusetts,” as reported by Turan and Zito, Sinema.
“The tennis shoe brigade,” RM to Sunny Shubert, “Sex in My Films Just for Laughs,” Bloomington Herald Telephone & Bedford Daily Times-Mail, 6/29/75.
“If it were all so okay . . . in this field,” RM to David Frasier, DFA.
Mudhoney seizure in Long, Texas: ACB/RM.
“Russ puts women . . . women at all,” Eve Meyer to Jane Wilson, “What’s a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Business Like This, Eve? (Well, Maybe Crying All the Way to the Bank),” Los Angeles Times West, 5/9/71.
“Didn’t like the idea . . . other women,” RM to David Frasier, DFA.
Eve illness, “I can never have a baby, now. I hope you’re satisfied,” ACB/RM.
Christane Schmidtmer/Eve affair: JM interview with Jim Ryan, other sources.
“Good, clean, wholesome sex,” RM to Roger Ebert, “Why Meyer Is King of the Skin Flicks,” Chicago Sun-Times, 2/16/69.
RM flight to Germany: ACB/RM.
“One of the most lecherous men in Hollywood,” RM to Harvey Fenton, “Thanks for the Mammaries: Russ Meyer,” Flesh & Blood Compendium.
“Russ and I . . . direct one,” Al Zugsmith to Todd McCarthy and Charles Flynn, Kings of the B’s.
Artur Brauner background: Fritz Lang: The Nature of the Beast, Patrick McGilligan, St. Martin’s Press.
“He’s a man . . . doesn’t have tits!” RM as quoted by Uli Lommel, JM interview.
“I would have gone crazy . . . remarkable women,” RM to Paul Sherman, “Some of My Breast Kept Secrets: An Interview with Russ Meyer,” Filmfax, no. 28, 8–9/91.
RM buying Porsche: ACB/RM.
“A disgrace to the film industry . . . a setback for the business,” Dale, “Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure,” Variety, 3/17/65.
“They said it couldn’t be filmed, and it hasn’t been,” Raymond Durgnat, “Fanny Hill,” Films & Filming, vol. 12, no. 8, 5/66.
“We broke up . . . son of a bitch,” RM to Kristine McKenna, “The Big Boob Theory,” Los Angeles, 6/2000.
“I don’t like a woman that’s too smart,” “Let’s do what I want to do all the time,” RM to Arv Miller, “Between the Valleys of My Ultravixens,” Part Three, Fling, vol. 31, no. 6, issue 161, 9/90.
Eve Meyer plane crash: World Disasters: Tragedies in the Modern Age, Keith Eastlake, Henry Russell, Mike Sharpe, Fitzroy Dearborn, 2001.
“And did I ever . . . I think so,” RM, ACB/RM, vol 3.
“I want willing hands hovering around,” Stuart Lancaster to Kris Gilpin, Interview: Stuart Lancaster,” Draculina, no. 11, 1990.
“My homage to Grapes of Wrath,” RM to Allen Greenfield, “Direct It: Russ Meyer Tells You How,” Video Review, vol. 2, no. 6, 12/81 1128.
“Unforgettable grotesques ripped from the pages of some abysmal southern novel,” from a fanzine I have only one page of. I’d love to identify the author.
“My films can be taken . . . they’re both,” RM to Maureen Koch, “Inter/View with Russ Meyer and Edy Wlliams,” Andy Wa
rhol’s Interview, no. 19 2/72.
“Laughing so hard . . . a heart attack.” Stuart Lancaster to John Donnelly, “Stuart Lancaster,” Psychotronic Video, no. 17, Winter 1994.
“Intelligentsia” “played seriously . . . bigger, best,” RM to William L. Kahrl, “Peep Show Becomes Fine Art: The Transmogrification of Russ Meyer,” World’s Fair, vol. II, no. 4, Fall 1982.
“I made a gamble . . . made the film,” David Frasier, DFA.
“Her tits had kinda gone south,” RM to Hasenecz and Schneider, Cad.
“It’s not like . . . her knees now,” RM to David Glassman, “Director Meyer Gives Thanks for the Mammaries,” UCLA Daily Bruin, 1/24/80.
“It represented a down deep solid lack of trust,” RM to Morton, Research: Incredibly Strange Films.
“I came visiting . . . in Quebec,” Haji to Matt Maranian, “The Best of the Breast! Russ Meyer’s Vixens Speak,” Boing Boing, no. 14, 1995.
“You earthlings are very strange people,” Haji to Ronald L. Smith, “From Pussycat to Double-D Avenger,” Phantom of Movies Videoscope, no. 45, Winter 2003.
“These people . . . the high heels,” Haji to Beth Accomando, “Faster, Russ! Go! Go!” 1996 article of unknown origin, reprinted online.
“I think a lot . . . the ocean,” Haji to Maranian, “The Best of the Breast! Russ Meyer’s Vixens Speak.”
“One guy asked me . . . bust your head!” Haji to Jewel Shepard, Invasion of the B-Girls, Jewel Shepard, Eclipse Books, 1992.
“Fart sacks,” RM to Dale Ashmun, “Mondo Russo: Russ Meyer Interview,” Film Threat, no. 15, 1988.
“It was so cold . . . before you went in,” Haji to Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital website.
“Clawed the shit out of me,” RM to Ashmun, “Mondo Russo.”
“I slept by the door with an axe handle,” ibid.
“Vital juices,” ibid.
“Two actors ended up in the hospital, one with a hole in his stomach two inches wide,” Steve Oliver to David Lees and Stan Berkowitz, “Russ Meyer, One-Man Movie Machine Is at It Again,” Los Angeles Times Calendar, 1/7/79.
“There’d never be . . . Brummer around!” RM speaking at the Los Feliz Theatre, 12/11/87, as reported by Kris Gilpin, Draculina Fear Book, no. 2, 11/93.
“A film that lacks . . . his point is,” James Powers, “ ‘Motorpsycho!’ Is Exploitable,” Hollywood Reporter, vol. 186, no. 45, 8/13/65.