21-bosom salute

September 22, 2004 7:01 AM

Russ Meyer dead at 82. The maker of some of the most fun flicks of his day and the man who introduced us the sexpots of an era. We bid you a fond farewell.
posted by jonmc (24 comments total)

Personal anecdote: I actually rented Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill! from an adult video store (which shared a strip mall with a head shop, a liquor store and a massage parlor, talk about one stop shopping). It was in the "classics" section. The clerk told me that the last time he rented it to someone, it was returned with a hateful note, saying, "I am very angry and disappointed. This is the cleanest movie I've ever seen!"

Philistine.
posted by jonmc at 7:16 AM on September 22, 2004

. .
posted by soyjoy at 7:25 AM on September 22, 2004

Damn. Sorry, should've put break tags in there.

So long, Russ.
posted by soyjoy at 7:26 AM on September 22, 2004

( o )( o )
posted by matteo at 7:26 AM on September 22, 2004

. (.) (.) .
posted by ed at 7:32 AM on September 22, 2004

Who, now, will take his mantle?

RIP big buddy.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 7:34 AM on September 22, 2004

FPKK was the first movie that made me feel funny in my pants. RIP Russ.

John Waters take your pills, we need ya buddy.
posted by m@ at 7:43 AM on September 22, 2004

Ebert wrote "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" with him; here's his obit.
posted by lodurr at 8:01 AM on September 22, 2004

I always thought his life would make a great biopic.
posted by whatnot at 8:16 AM on September 22, 2004

So has anyone read his long awaited three volume magnum opus? (Just looking at the pictures doesn't count.)
posted by Armitage Shanks at 8:36 AM on September 22, 2004

You know Armitage, I don't think this is a text-heavy kind of book 8-)
posted by clevershark at 8:53 AM on September 22, 2004

Probably not. And I suppose it was inevitable that both pictures of the book would have a link titled "click here to enlarge".

Russ roams into antiquity for some of his metaphors, characterizing Babette Bardot (featured player in Meyer's "Mondo Topless" and "Common Law Cabin") as "a blonde-tressed voluptua with dimensions not unlike Etruscan sculpture." And then, still not flagging 1163 pages into the opus, he unfurls this description of cheesecake model Letha Weapons and her 36H bra: "Big boobs bolstered by a breast hammock based on the principle that made the Sydney Opera House feasible."
posted by Armitage Shanks at 9:19 AM on September 22, 2004

Tits up.
posted by machaus at 10:02 AM on September 22, 2004

Thanks for the mammaries.
posted by turaho at 10:07 AM on September 22, 2004

Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens (another Ebert/Meyer collaboration) is a classic...I first saw it at London's (now defunct) Scala Cinema a few hours after I'd had a pretty bad motorcycle accident. I had to be taken home with delayed shock (from the crash, no the film) before I got to see the two other RM films that they were showing that night. Fond mammaries...
posted by i_cola at 10:11 AM on September 22, 2004

I love Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! because just about every single line in the fine contains sexual innuendo. It's brilliant.

So long, Russ.
posted by Down10 at 10:30 AM on September 22, 2004

If I were Russ, I'd want "This is my gravesite, and it FREAKS ME OUT!" written on my tombstone.
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:50 AM on September 22, 2004

"You're a groovy boy. I'd like to strap you on some time."

I once phoned RM Films just to speak to Mr. Meyer. Sadly, he'd just stepped out; his secretary seemed pleasant.
posted by Monk at 11:13 AM on September 22, 2004

John Waters wrote an excellent essay about Russ Meyer in Crackpot, I think. Of course, I could be imagining it. I swear there was a great picture of Meyer with Kittin Nativad.

Strangely enough, Meyer's film seem gloriously innocent in the 21st century. I still bust a get when I see them.

.
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:21 AM on September 22, 2004

i_cola:
I think I may have been at that same showing. Was it around late '92 early '93? Nothing like emerging from a darkened theater after watching three straight Meyer films. I felt a bit, well...sleazy. R.I.P. Russ.
posted by Otis at 11:43 AM on September 22, 2004

It's a big loss. Not that his films weren't shite, or anything. One has to appreciate the genius of the naked jogging exposition, though.

For some reason I have a FPKK t-shirt, which impresses the ladies. Seriously.
posted by asok at 12:19 PM on September 22, 2004

Despite a life long love affair with breasts, I'd never seen any of his films until recently. I was expecting cheesy exploitation type stuff, and I was pleasantly surprised at how entertaining his stuff was, sight & sound.
posted by Fupped Duck at 12:29 PM on September 22, 2004

As far as I know, the only man who ever filmed a woman fucking a mountain (Vixen? Supervixen?)

RIP and thanks!
posted by magullo at 8:06 AM on September 23, 2004

He will be greatly tits, er, missed.

Jokes aside, I really enjoy every Meyer film I ever see, there is a great unique and timeless persona behind all of them. And it is true that many women love these films, and I've been to some women's home with Myer movies on the televisions during parties. Best to you, sir. I'm sure heaven for you will be, well, the envy of all of us!
posted by Peter H at 2:31 PM on September 23, 2004