Russ Meyer: A fascinating Dirty Old Man and his influence on moviemaking
When I was a kid, I was fascinated with the Movies section of the newspaper. I think it was all the pictures that I couldn't understand, and movies I certainly wasn't allowed to see. Along with ads for Johnny Wadd movies, some of the most intriguing (and largest) ads were those for Russ Meyer movies. I hesitate to call them "films": that would be giving them a little too much artistic cachet. But, he certainly had an influence on filmmakers, for good or bad. If it wasn't for Russ, we might not know Roger Ebert (who, now that he is older, is seen by those who don't know his history with Russ as something of a wizened, fatherly figure--the Gandolf of film reviewers.) For those of you who don't know, Ebert along with Meyer penned the script for Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Meyer's first "legit"--but no less, shall we say, unique--movie.
Nowadays, when I watch BVoD, I'm really impressed by the way in which it shows 60's youth filtered through the viewpoint of a someone who could be considered the quintessential Dirty Old Man. It's shocking--just not in a good way....
However--I'd totally forgotten about Meyer's interactions with The Sex Pistols (who were more about being pistols than they were about sex.) In a recent post on Flavorwire of 10 Great Films That Were Never Made, I watched this great clip from a 1988 U.K. documentary--with both Meyer and Ebert talking about some of their work:
Russ Meyer-- the most fascinating Dirty Old Man to emerge from The Greatest Generation. (think about it.)
