Russ Meyer

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Russ Meyer, 1970

Russell Albion "Russ" Meyer (born March 21, 1922 in Oakland , California , † September 18, 2004 in Los Angeles , California) was an American director , screenwriter and producer . He became known through successful low-budget films that can be assigned to the sexploitation genre .

Life

Meyer was born the son of a German- born police officer who left the family before his son was born. At the age of 15, Meyer was making small films at home. During the Second World War he was stationed in Europe as a war correspondent . After returning to the USA, he found work as a photographer , including for the newly founded magazine Playboy .

In 1958 he founded with his then-wife Eve his own production company and has been one of his first films, The Immoral Mr. Teas ( The Immoral Mr. Teas ) 1959 over 1 million dollars to take, which allowed him from now on exclusively to dedicate to filmmaking.

In the following decade he made about twenty films, which often brought in many times their budget in profit through the fastest and cheapest possible production . His biggest success was the movie Valley of the Dolls ( Beyond the Valley of the Dolls ) from 1970, which earned him a profit of 6 million dollars on a budget of about 1 million. Meyer's other well-known films are Die Satansweiber von Tittfield ( Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! ) And In the deep valley of the super witches ( Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens ). In the USA in the 1960s, many of his films were considered pornography , but are now referred to as "softcore" to distinguish them from hardcore porn films .

He always selected his actresses according to his preference for extremely large bust sizes (in a Playboy interview he stated at least 120 cm), which he was often accused of sexism , but is described by his fans as a cult . Again and again he discovered new actresses with abnormal bust sizes and often exotic artist names, including Babette Bardot, Raven de la Croix , Uschi Digard , Erica Gavin , Haji , Tura Satana , Lorna Maitland , Kitten Natividad , Lori Williams , Susanne Weigandt and Pandora Peaks . In an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung on October 22, 1993, Meyer said: "If I hadn't been so interested in tits, I might have become a great filmmaker".

In 1972 Meyer took part in the Kassel Documenta 5 in the Film Show department with five of his films : Russ Meyer retrospective . In 1983 there was a retrospective of Russ Meyer productions at the Cinémathèque française in Paris . Three of his films were included in the collection of the New York Museum of Modern Art .

Private life

Meyer was married a total of three times. These marriages with Betty Valdovinos , Eve Turner and Edy Williams each ended in divorce. He then lived for several years with kitten Natividad and later with stripper Melissa Mounds .

Others

The titles of the Russ Meyer films inspired some rock bands to get their name. In addition to the founding fathers of Grunge Mudhoney , Vixen , Motorpsycho and Faster Pussycat were also inspired by his films when they came up with a name.

Filmography

as a director

  • 1950: The French Peep Show (short documentary film)
  • 1959: The Immoral Mr. Teas / Mr. Teas and His Hot Dreams (The Immoral Mr. Teas)
  • 1961: Eva and the man for everything / Eva and her caretaker (Eve and the Handyman)
  • 1961: The Naked Camera (short film)
  • 1961: Erotica
  • 1962: Wilde Mädchen des Nackten Westens / Wilde Weiber im Nackten Westen (Wild Gals of the Naked West)
  • 1963: Europe in the Raw (documentary)
  • 1963: Heavenly Bodies!
  • 1963: Skyscrapers and Brassieres (short film)
  • 1964: Lorna - too much for a man (Lorna)
  • 1964: Fanny Hill
  • 1965: In the Garden of Lust (Mudhoney)
  • 1965: Motorpsycho ... like wild stallions (Motorpsycho)
  • 1965: The Satanswives of Tittfield (Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!)
  • 1966: Mondo Topless (documentary)
  • 1967: The love of witches / How much love does a normal couple need (Common Law Cabin)
  • 1967: Good morning ... and goodbye / Like mothers like daughters (Good Morning ... and Goodbye!)
  • 1968: Zero Zero Sex (Finders Keepers, Lovers Weepers!)
  • 1968: Without Mercy - Honey (Vixen!)
  • 1969: Megavixens (Cherry, Harry & Raquel!)
  • 1970: Flowers without fragrance (Beyond the Valley of the Dolls)
  • 1971: The Seven Minutes
  • 1973: Black Snake (Blacksnake!)
  • 1975: Supervixens - Eruption (Supervixens)
  • 1976: Over, under and on (Up!)
  • 1978: Who Killed Bambi? (unfinished)
  • 1979: Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens
  • 2001: Pandora Peaks

as a performer

  • 1959: The Immoral Mr. Teas / Mr. Teas and His Hot Dreams (The Immoral Mr. Teas)
  • 1961: Erotica
  • 1962: Wilde Mädchen des Nackten Westens / Wilde Weiber im Nackten Westen (Wild Gals of the Naked West)
  • 1963: Heavenly Bodies!
  • 1965: In the Garden of Lust (Mudhoney)
  • 1965: Motorpsycho ... like wild stallions (Motorpsycho)
  • 1968: Zero Zero Sex (Finders Keepers, Lovers Weepers!)
  • 1968: Without Mercy - Honey (Vixen!)
  • 1970: Flowers without fragrance (Beyond the Valley of the Dolls)
  • 1975: Supervixens - Eruption (Supervixens)
  • 1976: Over, under and on (Up!)
  • 1979: Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens
  • 1987: Amazons on the moon or why the Americans have the channel full (Amazon Women on the Moon)

literature

  • Marvin Chlada : Mondo Topless. Russ Meyer's Bosomania, in: Dialektik des Dekolletés. To the critical theory of bust size . Alibri-Verlag, Aschaffenburg 2006, pp. 110–116, ISBN 3-86569-019-X
  • Rolf Thissen : Russ Meyer - the king of sex films . 2nd Edition. Heyne-Filmbibliothek, No. 236. Heyne, Munich 1996, 252 pages, ISBN 3-453-09407-7
  • Jimmy McDonough: Big Bossoms and Square Jaws - The Biography of Russ Meyer, King of the Sex Film , Crown Publishing Group New York 2005, ISBN 1-4000-5044-8

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Return of the Ultravixens! at guardian.co.uk, accessed May 4, 2012

Web links

Commons : Russ Meyer  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Meyer, Russ
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Meyer, Russell Albion
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American director, screenwriter, producer
DATE OF BIRTH March 21, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Oakland , California
DATE OF DEATH September 18, 2004
Place of death Los Angeles , California