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

by Jimmy McDonough

  “Zabriskie Point in gym socks,” Roger Greenspun, “Russ Meyer’s Film ‘Cherry, Harry and Raquel’ Opens,” New York Times, 4/23/70.

  “Cherry, Harry and Raquel is a rotten film . . . harsh vitality,” Aljean Harmetz, “Oh, Those Beautiful Dolls!” New York Times, 12/21/69.

  “Has been matched only by Gone With the Wind,” Steven M. Lovelady, “King Leer: ‘Nudie’ Film-maker, Russ Meyer, Scrambles to Outshock Big Studios,” Wall Street Journal, 4/24/68.

  “Like a yahooing cowboy,” RM to Nicholas Von Hoffman, “Dirty Movies Are His Bag,” Washington Post, 11/5/69.

  I’d been trying to get into Hollywood . . . the red carpet was being laid out for me,” RM to John Anders, “A Frank Visit with Russ Meyer,” Dallas Morning News, 4/13/75.

  “As I drove . . . in the world,” RM to Kevin Thomas, “King of the Nudies Takes on Biggest Film Caper Yet,” Los Angeles Times Calendar, 11/30/69.

  12. Strapping On Fox

  JM interviews: Richard Zanuck, David Brown, Roger Ebert, Stu Philips, Cynthia Myers, Erica Gavin, Dolly Read, John La Zar, Gordon MacLeod, Harrison Page, Lavell Roby, John Waters, Lynn Carey, Igo Kantor, Hugh Hefner, Charles Napier, Manny Diez, Kevin Thomas, Richard Brummer, David Prowse, Al Van Schmus.

  When contacted for an interview, guitar great Ed King—member of the Beyond the Valley of the Dolls band Strawberry Alarm Clock and later of Lynyrd Skynyrd—informed me that the only memory he had of making the movie was falling asleep on the toilet at home and missing his 6 a.m. wakeup call.

  “They’re all whores . . . good for anybody,” RM to MJ Simpson, “American Peep Show,” Total Film, 2/97.

  “Is it not time . . . technically interesting as well,” Roger Ebert, “. . . And a Critic,” Wall Street Journal, vol. 171, no. 91 5/8/68.

  “He writes . . . Rodgers & Hammerstein,” RM to Ted Mahar, “Meyer ‘King Leer’ of Soft-Core Cinema,” Sunday Oregonian, 4/29/79.

  “An odd and talkative kid,” Roger Ebert, “Thought Experiments: How Propeller-Heads, BNFs, Sercon Geeks, Newbies, Recovering GAFIAtors, and Kids in the Basements Invented the World Wide Web, All Except for the Delivery System,” Asimov’s Science Fiction online article, issue 0501, 1/2005.

  “His father died . . . there,” Betsy Kedrick as quoted by Paul Wood, “Profile on Bravo Features Ebert,” News-Gazette online article, 1/18/2003.

  “That wonderful . . . Bosomania,” RM to Harvey Fenton, “Thanks for the Mammaries: Russ Meyer,” Flesh & Blood Compendium.

  “Freako over tits,” RM to J. Scott Wynn, Shock Cinema, no. 13, 1998.

  “Ebert is more debauched . . . Look at that girl!’ ” RM to Kristi Turnquist, “Russ Meyer: Porno Potentate and Proud of It,” Willamette Valley Observer, 9/28/79.

  “Pendulous,” RM to Edward Guthmann, “Russ Meyer: Running the Gauntlet of Vice,” unknown Portland, Oregon, paper.

  “Roger got head . . . Great scene!” RM to Carel Rowe, “Russ Meyer,” The Perfect Vision, exact date/issue unknown, circa 1990, UK publication.

  Meyer, no more exchanges of wondrous body fluids: ACB/RM, countless interviews.

  “They started to talk . . . the piss,’ ” RM to David Chute, “Beyond the Valley of Russ Meyer,” Boston Phoenix, 5/22/79.

  “Would have conditions . . . outrageous proportions,” RM to Hope Urban, “Russ Meyer,” Velvet Hammer Burlesque souvenir program, 2/14/95.

  “Then again, I’d believe . . . my distended member,” confidential source.

  “I called Ebert . . . the big time,’ ” RM, E! True Hollywood Story documentary (see Filmography).

  “It’s a camp sexploitation . . . triple wedding,” Roger Ebert quoted by unknown author, Time, “Populist at the Movies,” vol. 95, no. 13, 3/3/70.

  “He made it clear . . . come under attack,” Roger Ebert, “Russ Meyer Busts Sleazy Stereotype,” Chicago Sun-Times, 11/15/85.

  “Meyer wanted everything in the movie except the kitchen sink,” Roger Ebert, “Russ Meyer: Ten Years After ‘Beyond,’ ” Film Comment, no. 16, 7–8/80.

  “Everything was unmentionable . . . bad trips were blamed,” Joan Didion, The White Album, Simon & Schuster, 1979.

  “A mood might have developed . . . dropping his guitar,” Roger Ebert, “Dead Man,” Chicago Sun-Times, 6/96.

  “Since he cannot really sing . . . must be a deeper purpose,” Roger Ebert, “Masked and Anonymous,” Chicago Sun-Times, 8/15/03.

  “The overall tenor . . . day of the job,” Roger Ebert, “The Last Waltz,” Chicago Sun-Times, 4/19/02.

  “We wanted the movie . . . inspiration for the characters,” Roger Ebert, “Russ Meyer: Ten Years After ‘Beyond,’ ” Film Comment, no. 16, 7–8/80.

  “That inauthenticity . . . was the hippies’ turn,” Stuart Klawans, “It’s One Long Dirty Joke but Hey, Man, It’s a Classic,” New York Times, 11/17/02.

  “It was my shot . . . wanted to make,” RM to Jon Casimir, “King Leer: A Life,” Sydney Morning Herald, 9/3/90.

  “You create the greatest satire . . . Michael Blodgett,” RM to David Frasier, DFA.

  “You wrote this . . . Eugene O’Neill,” Roger Ebert, “ ‘Dolls’ triggers flood of great memories,” Chicago Sun-Times, 2/7/03.

  “In 1969–70 . . . diseases or problems,” Michael Blodgett at UCLA Dolls panel, quoted from “Russ Meyer, Roger Ebert and ‘Beyond the Valley of the Dolls,’ ” Movie Talk from the Front Lines, Jerry Roberts and Steven Gaydos, editors.

  “Her idea of sexuality is . . . nostrils,” RM to Jonathan Ross, “Russ Meyer at the NFT,” The Very Breast of Russ Meyer.

  “Gay content is . . . characters insane,” Michael Musto, “Good Pill Hunting,” Village Voice, 11/20–26/02.

  “The way Indians . . . her teeth part,” Burt Prelutsky, “What’s a Sex Symbol to Do?” Los Angeles Times Calendar, 4/28/74.

  “There is a certain satisfaction . . . it’s a good feeling,” Edy Williams to Ted Mahar, “Sex-Bomb Reaps Revenge on Men,” The Oregonian, 8/26/70.

  “You mustn’t let a man . . . one piece at a time,” Edy Williams to Brad Castleman, “Edy Williams Sheds Mate Who Made Her Star of Nude Movies,” National Insider, 8/19/73.

  “I’m a baaaad Mormon . . . shoot!” Edy Williams to Susan Pile, John Moran, Patrick Tiloen Close, “Getting Intimate with Edy Williams,” Interview, no. 34, 7/73.

  She made . . . didn’t wear,” Edy Williams to Dorothy Manners, “Edy Williams Giving Up Sex Symbol Status,” Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, 3/14/71.

  “He conned everybody . . . other girls, too,” Edy Williams to Susan Pile, John Moran, Patrick Tiloen Close, “Getting Intimate with Edy Williams.”

  “I spent about three months being a spoiled bitch,” Edy Williams to John London, “Edy Williams is Five Feet Eight Inches Tall, with Tawny, Dark Auburn Hair, Sensuous Lips and Titillating Hips, Who Says So? Edy Williams,” London Evening News, 2/12/72.

  “I didn’t look too . . . on downers,” Edy Williams to Tony Crawley, “Swank Interview: Russ Meyer & Edy Williams,” Swank, vol. 19, no. 12, 2/73.

  “I am really inhibited . . . close after that,” Edy Williams to Susan Pile, John Moran, Patrick Tiloen Close, “Getting Intimate with Edy Williams.”

  “I really met my . . . was bizarre,” Edy Williams to John London, “Edy Williams is Five Feet Eight Inches Tall . . .”

  “Swing,” RM to Lowry and Black, “Russ Meyer Interviewed.”

  “recut the entire . . . three months,” RM, “The Low-Budget Producer,” The Movie Business: American Film Industry Practice.

  “Cut, cut, cut . . . the audience,” RM to David Frasier, DFA.

  “I always have seven . . . a laugh,” RM to Bob Andelman, “The Happy Pornographer: Revealing Conversation with Russ Meyer,” Gainesville magazine, 11/1/79.

  “R minus,” Zanuck as quoted by RM, Richard Cuskelly, “Russ Meyer Abdicating Title of ‘King of the Nudie Movies,’ ” Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, 4/12/70.

  Zanuck: “Buy one!” ACB/RM.

  “I have no message,�
� RM to Stephen Hunter, “King of the D-Cups Is Back with Another Vixen,” Baltimore Sun, 5/21/82.

  “Utter garbage . . . why bother?” Stanley Kauffman, “Myra Breckenridge and Other Disasters,” The New Republic, vol. 163, no. 3, 7/18/70.

  “True pornography . . . divorced from reality,” John Simon, “Meyer’s Blue Heaven,” The New Leader, vol. 53, no. 15, 7/20/70.

  “As funny as a burning orphanage,” Murf, “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls,” Variety, vol. 259, no. 6, 6/24/70.

  “A treat for the emotionally . . . totally degenerate enterprise,” Charles Champlin, Los Angeles Times, date unknown, quoted by RM in ACB/RM, vol. 2.

  “Breakdown . . . either one of them,” Charles Champlin, “Breakthrough or Breakdown in Film Standards?” Los Angeles Times Calendar, 7/5/70.

  “He thought it was the end . . . SATANIC glee!” RM to Scott Morrow, “Adventures in the Skin Trade,” Los Angeles Weekly, vol. 10, no. 3, 12/11–17/87.

  Screw’s 11 percent: Dan Mouer, “Muck & Meyer: Beyond the Valley of the Dolls,” Screw, no. 71, 7/13/70.

  “Arrested and jailed,” Charles Keating quoted by unknown author, “650 Protest Smut in Pix at L.A. Rally,” Daily Variety, vol. 135, no. 35, 1/26/71.

  “Meyer’s earnestly vulgar sensibility . . . has become patronizing,” Vincent Canby, “Screen: ‘Beyond the Valley of the Dolls’: Russ Meyer Presents a View of Show Biz: Film Seems to Parody His Earlier Efforts,” New York Times, 6/27/70.

  “Maybe Dolls represents . . . he can do,” Leslie Fiedler, “Beyond ‘Beyond the Valley of the Dolls,’ ” American Journal, vol. 1, no. 5, 1973.

  “Ebert forced Meyer . . . a disaster,” Myron Meisel, “Over, Around, Through and Beyond the Valley of the Super-Meyers,” Reader: Los Angeles Weekly, vol. 1, no. 24, 4/13/79.

  “It is as if Harold Robbins . . . with Gore Vidal,” John Simon, “Meyer’s Blue Heaven,” The New Leader, vol. 53, no. 15, 7/20/70.

  “The ultimate Russ Meyer . . . approach again,” RM to John Stanley, “ ‘Blazing Bosoms’ and the King of Sexploitation,” San Francisco Chronicle, 3/17/77.

  “We were an extraordinary . . . an old pornographer,” RM to M. Caen, “Russ Meyer: sein these,” Video News, no. 17, 2/83 (France, article translation by A. J. Ryan).

  “I thought, ‘Hey, this will . . . Lauren Bacall, y’know?’ ” Edy Williams, E! True Hollywood Story documentary (see Filmography).

  “No pussy,” RM, ACB/RM, vol. 2.

  “He ignores me . . . turns me on,” “I spent about three months being a spoiled bitch,” Edy Williams to London, “Edy Williams Is Five Feet Eight Inches Tall . . .”

  “He wanted to be the star . . . for the first year,” Edy Williams to John Stark and Michael Alexander, “Famous for Her Nude Romps in the World’s Pools, Edy Williams Tries to Make One More Splash,” People, vol. 26, no. 26, 6/29/87.

  “I don’t want your mother . . . a cripple,” Edy Williams as quoted by Russ Meyer, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! laser disc commentary.

  “Could not stand . . . out of nowhere,” RM to David Frasier, DFA.

  “I don’t think I’ve known . . . in between,” RM to Beth Winakor, “People . . . and Things,” Chicago Sun-Times, 11/17/76.

  “If your luggage . . . to the stockholders,” RM to Tony Crawley, “History of the Blue Movie: Part Six: Show ’Em,” Club International, vol. 5, no. 6, 6/81.

  “We’re exceptionally pleased . . . merely undress people,” Richard Zanuck to A. H. Weiler, “Meyer to Make 3 More Films for Fox,” New York Times, 2/17/70.

  “It was fantastic . . . rip Edy’s clothes off,” RM to Turan and Zito, Sinema.

  “Someone who takes himself . . . vests,” RM to Joyce Haber,” exact source unknown at press time.

  “The sex film . . . suspense, mystery,” RM to Terry Kay, “Russ Meyer Unnoticed in Company of His Wife,” Atlanta Journal, 7/12/71.

  “Most fervent hope . . . home town,” RM to unknown, “Meyer Readies a Treat for Smut Crusader,” Daily Variety, 1/27/71.

  Williams “begged” to be reinstated—RM to Dan Scapperotti, “50s Legend Russ Meyer,” Femme Fatales, vol. 6, 10/11, 4/98.

  “The plot is advanced through dialogue,” RM to Stan Hieronymus, “King of the Nudies Russ Meyer Says They’ve Shown All There Is to Show,” Champaign-Urbana News Gazette, 3/28/71.

  “The Seven Minutes will be beyond all doubt the finest movie I’ve ever made,” author unknown, “Beyond the Valley of the Nudies,” Panorama section, Chicago Daily News, 4/3–4/71.

  “The first night in every theater . . . audience knows,” RM to Ed Lowry and Louis Black, “Russ Meyer Interviewed,” Film Comment, vol. 16, no. 4, 7–8/80.

  “Talky censorship brings out the dullard in Meyer . . . a losing battle of mind over mattress,” unknown author, “The Seven Minutes,” Playboy, vol. 18, no. 10, 10/71.

  “Tedious,” Kevin Thomas, “ ‘Seven’ Attacks Censorship,” Los Angeles Times, 9/8/71.

  “Tepid,” Jay Cocks quoted in Filmfacts, “Seven Minutes,” vol. 14, 296–298, 1971.

  “Success . . . has spoiled King Leer,” New York magazine quoted, ibid.

  “A tombstone for the dead talents of Russ Meyer,” Al Goldstein, “An Oscar for Meyer’s Weenie,” Screw, no. 124, 7/19/71.

  “Bull in a china shop,” Irving Wallace to John Leverence and Sam Grogg Jr., “Irving Wallace—The Interview: The Author of the Word,” Journal of Popular Culture, vol. 7, no. 1, Summer 1973.

  “I took on an impossible task . . . an Irving Wallace book,” RM to unknown, “Russ Meyer Tells Press That He’s Returning to ‘What He Can Do Best,’ ” Boxoffice, 12/16/74.

  “They had a man out . . . my work was,” RM to Cameron Mackay, “The Pneumatic World of Russ Meyer,” Penthouse (UK), 2/81

  “Zanuck was always telling . . . one of my films,” RM to David Lees and Stan Berkowitz, “Russ Meyer, One-Man Movie Machine, Is at It Again,” Los Angeles Times Calendar, 1/7/79.

  “Two backs,” RM, Screw cable TV interview, date unknown.

  “Sex is out . . . by shark,” RM quoted by Dave Prowse, JM interview.

  “She used men . . . behind two thrones,” Edy Williams to Pile, Moran, Close, “Getting Intimate with Edy Williams.”

  “A pretty coat . . . smashed my Corvette,” Edy Williams to Ruth Batchelor, “Edy Williams: ‘I Think They Censor the Films Too Much,’ ” L.A. Free Press, no. 568, 6/6–12/75.

  “Have you any idea . . . but won’t?” Edy Williams to Donald Zec, “All About Edy: (Front Girl for the New Fifties),” Daily Mirror, 2/14/72.

  “Pack everything . . . Cannes Film Festival.” Edy Williams to Batchelor, “Edy Williams: ‘I Think They Censor the Films Too Much.’ ”

  “Disappearing acts” . . . “I am a sex symbol and I don’t want to be alone,” Edy Williams quoted by Lawrence Van Gelder, “Notes on People: This Book May Be Dangerous,” New York Times, 6/28/73 210.

  Edy in bed with a younger man: ACB/RM, vol. 2.

  “I trusted Russ . . . fucking and cooking,’ ” Edy Williams to Batchelor, “Edy Williams: ‘I Think They Censor the Films Too Much.’ ”

  “I just couldn’t picture . . . Edy Williams,” RM to Lowry and Black, “Russ Meyer Interviewed.”

  “The blacks hated it, the whites hated it,” RM to Louise Lague, “Russ Meyer: Back in the Soft Core Business,” Washington Star, 6/29/75.

  “Sort of like Mandingo without the sex,” RM to David Rosenbaum, “The Man Behind the Casabas,” Boston Phoenix, vol. 4, no. 31, 8/5/75.

  “A guy got up . . . the tin cups,” 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.

  “One thing I knew . . . do best,” RM to Christine Nieland, “Russ in Back in the Valley of the Vixens,” Chicago Daily News, 10/19–20/74.

  Some BVD trivia: distributor Jean-Pierre Jackson told me the only fight he ever got into with Meyer was over the titling of the 1980s French reissue of t
he film. Jackson insisted on Hollywood Vixens. Meyer had wanted Hollywood Vixens Au Lait (translation: Hollywood Vixens with Milk!).

  13. Run Like a Gazelle, Dear

  JM interviews: Charles Napier, Jim Ryan, Charles Pitt, Roger Ebert, Stanley Berkowitz, Haji, Richard Brummer, Erica Gavin, Jean-Pierre Jackson, John Waters, Fred Beiersdorf.

  Background on Raven de la Croix: Steve Sullivan, “Raven de la Croix: From Russ Meyer to the Realm of the Spirits,” Glamour Girls Then and Now, no. 14, 2–3/99.

  The prehistoric superimposed lightning effect that pops on during the Supervixens Shari Eubank electrocution scene came from the laboratory set-up used in James Whale’s 1930’s Frankenstein pictures, courtesy of Whale’s effects man himself, Kenneth Strickfadden. “We went over to his house and he had the stuff in his backyard in a garage,” said Jim Ryan. “We brought the camera over there and filmed the sparks off it.”

  “I really dig . . . violence,” RM to Terry Box, “Porn’s Disney,” Corpus Christi Caller, 11/20/76.

  “What is there . . . compete with that,” RM to Tony Rayns, “Dolls, Vixens, and Supervixens in the Films of Russ Meyer,” Late Night Video, vol. 2, no. 2, 1983.

  “An important day in my life,” RM to Pat H. Broeske, “After Two Flops, the ‘Nudie King’ Is Back in the Ring,” Southeast Daily News, 9/20/74.

  “Every reel, like a new linebacker,” RM to Gary Morris, “Russ Meyer’s Supervixens,” Bright Lights, vol. 1, no. 2, Spring 1975.

  “We never discussed . . . a calf being born,” Shari Eubank to Jason Thomas, “The Development of Supervixen,” Chicago Sun Times, 5/1/75.

  “She was dragged . . . bit you,” RM to Craig Reid, “Russ Meyer,” Adam, May 1981.

  “A little distracting—she used to do makeup with only sneakers on,” Charles Napier at UCLA Dolls panel, quoted from “Russ Meyer, Roger Ebert and ‘Beyond the Valley of the Dolls,’ ” Movie Talk from the Front Lines, Jerry Roberts and Steven Gaydos, editors.

  “I like the way the kid moves,” RM quoted by way of Charles Pitt to A. Leigh Charlton, “Super Camp Meets Super Raunch in ‘Super Vixens,’ ” UCLA Daily Bruin, 5/23/75.