Russ Meyer was born on 21 March 1922.
People know him primarily for his sexploitation films. But I barely think of that. He first entered my radar when I saw Eve and the Handyman. I loved that it was genuinely funny. And he continued to make films throughout his career that maintained this.
I also appreciate that his films are sex-positive. But this is largely true of the nudie cuties. Compared to films today, they have a breezy charm. But when simply showing women’s breasts was subversive, I guess this makes sense.
All of this is fun. But time has largely passed by these films. They are still good — way better than watchable. But Rush Meyer wasn’t a one-trick pony. He was a serious filmmaker. And we see this most clearly in the mid-1960s. He made three serious exploitation films:
- Mudhoney (1965)
- Motorpsycho! (1965)
- Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)
Meyer returned to his sexy films for a while. Then Zanuck and Brown hired him to work at 20th Century Fox. He made the interesting Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. Then Fox signed a three-picture deal, which resulted in only one film, The Seven Minutes. After that, he made a handful of mostly sex comedies. And he ended his life making millions selling his catalog.
You can celebrate Russ Meyer’s birthday with any of his films. But I most wish that people watched the three mid-60s films listed above. You should really watch them all. But if you are only going to watch one, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! is the best.
Image cropped from Russ Meyer by Rebert under CC BY-SA 3.0.