Myra Breckinridge - Man or Woman?
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Myra Breckinridge - Man or Woman? |
| Original title | Myra Breckinridge |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1970 |
| length | 94 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 18 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Michael Sarne |
| script | Michael Sarne, David Giler |
| production | Robert Fryer |
| music | John Philips |
| camera | Richard Moore |
| cut | Danford B. Greene |
| occupation | |
| |
Myra Breckinridge - Man or Woman? is a 1969 film satire on Hollywood and American sexual morality. Directed by Michael Sarne , it stars Mae West , Raquel Welch and John Huston . The film is based on the novel of the same name (1968) by Gore Vidal .
action
The parodic-satirical story is designed as an over-the-top anti-establishment happening, in keeping with the zeitgeist prevailing at the time (late 1960s). The young Myron Breckinridge desperately wants to be operated on from a man to a woman. While waiting for the sex reassignment, a completely stoned surgeon stumbled into the operating room. Before he puts on the knife, he briefly advises Myron. The gaunt old man makes it very clear to Myron: “Once we've snipped something away, it will never grow back. I mean, it's not like hair or fingernails… ”However, Myron wants to stick to his intention, and the surgeon finally performs the delicate procedure. He is watched by an enthusiastic crowd, who accompany and celebrate this medical achievement with frenetic applause. After the operation, the curvy young woman who has become Myra goes straight to Hollywood while old Myron, as an alter ego, never completely disappears from history.
Myra attends an acting school run by Myra's uncle Buck Loner, a former cowboy film star, in Los Angeles. The real reason for Myra's visit to Uncle Buck, however, is different: As the alleged widow of Myron, she claims half of his property, which Myra believes is her own. Uncle Buck tries to stop Myra and first gets her a job in his agency. One of Buck's various friends is the well-worn, aged Letitia Van Allen, a former talent scout in old Hollywood. The still sex-hungry Letitia owns an acting agency, which is appropriately reserved "only for leading actors" and is only intended to serve the pompous operator as a supplier of toy boys. One of Letitia's young stallions is called Rusty. With him and his girlfriend, the blond innocence Mary Ann, Myra Breckinridge is now beginning to broaden her sexual horizons. Things soon get completely out of hand due to drugs (marijuana), debauchery (a solid orgy) and new sexual practices ("pegging", see under production notes) ...
Production notes
Myra Breckinridge - Man or Woman? was written in the second half of 1969 and was premiered on June 24, 1970. The film opened in Germany on October 2, 1970. In this country, the controversy surrounding this strip was far less and less morally sour than in the United States. In the US, this production was one of only two US films from 1970 that received a so-called X-Rating, which means that it was only released to cinema-goers of legal age. The reason for this was a scene with Raquel Welch, in which she penetrates a man using forced pegging . Myra Breckinridge was only reduced to a less strict R-rating after a cut-related defusing .
Jack Martin Smith designed the film structures. Edith Head designed Mae West's costumes, Theadora Van Runkle everyone else. Lionel Newman took over the musical direction.
Some later television stars like Tom Selleck (Magnum) and Farrah Fawcett (Charlie's Angels) received one of their first movie roles here. For the scandal-tested Mae West, Myra meant Breckinridge - man or woman? the first return to the motion picture camera in 26 years. Only one more movie (Sextets) was to follow until her death in 1980.
Reviews
The film received angry reviews, which sometimes amounted to hateful comments. Myra Breckinridge regularly ranks high on US lists of critics for the supposedly worst films ever made . Below is a brief overview of the reviews:
In Time magazine , for example, in 1970 the following could be read in the edition of July 6: "Myra Breckinridge is as funny as a child molester. The film is an insult to intelligence, an affront to delicacy, and an abomination to the eye. […] The result is an incoherent story of sodomy, emasculation, autoerotism and just plain bad taste ”.
The Miami News critic , Herb Kelly, described Myra Breckinridge in the August 29, 1970 issue "as the worst film of all time ... that no one can hold a candle to when it comes to tastelessness and boredom."
“The film adaptation of Gore Vidal's Hollywood-related transsexual satire starts promisingly, but after a while it plunges into abyss thanks to a naive director. As a lustful artist agent, Mae West provides some funny moments after an absence of more than 26 years, even though her part is very short. John Huston ... is good, while the title character Raquel Welch, like the whole film, is good at the beginning, but abandoned as the story progresses, to the point where she has to keep everything going on her own ( but cannot). "
“Gore Vidal's loosely structured comedy novel on the subject of sex reassignment was probably impossible to film, but that version doesn't even give the book a chance. (...) As bad as a film can only be bad. "
“Staged in a very spirited and original way at times, the film lacks stylistic cohesion. The initial lightness of the gags is lost more and more in stupid, non-binding images and idioms. "
“A sharp, satirical novel that turned into a disreputable, aimless film that became the watershed of permissiveness. After an international outcry, even the producing studio distanced itself from him. A few good laughs emerge from this quagmire ... "
Individual evidence
- ^ Myra Breckinridge in Time
- ↑ Myra Breckinridge - Man or Woman? In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 1, 2018 .
Web links
- Myra Breckinridge - Man or Woman? in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Variety criticism