Rating: 
Summary: Spoiler Alert
Review: Other than the different commentary track the only difference in the special edition is that after Myron wakes up the footage is in Black and White , as in " I do believe we are back from OZ" as the director intended.
Apparrently the studio insisted all the new footage be in color for the theatrical release
Rating:
Summary: Spoiler Alert
Review: Other than the different commentary track the only difference in the special edition is that after Myron wakes up the footage is in Black and White , as in " I do believe we are back from OZ" as the director intended.
Apparrently the studio insisted all the new footage be in color for the theatrical release
Rating: 
Summary: A Cinematic Debacle of Legendary Proportions
Review: Seldom seen since theatrical release in 1970, MYRA BRECKINRIDGE has become a byword for cinematic debacles of legendary proportions. Now at last on DVD in an unexpectedly handsome package, it will be of interest to film historians, movie buffs, and cult film fans--but it is as unlikely to win wide audiences today as it was when first released.
Gore Vidal's 1968 bestseller was a darkly satirical statement on American hypocrisy, Hollywood fantasies, and changing sexual mores. Most filmmakers felt that the novel's story, structure, and overall tone would not translate to film, and industry insiders were surprised when 20th Century Fox not only acquired the rights but also hired Vidal to adapt his novel to the screen. But studio executives soon had cold feet: Vidal's adaptations were repeatedly rejected and novice writer-director Michael Sarne was brought in to bring the film to the screen.
Studio executives hoped that Sarne would tap into the youth market they saw as a target for the film, but Sarne proved even more out of synch with the material than the executives themselves. Rewrite upon rewrite followed. The cast, sensing disaster, became increasingly combative. In her commentary, star Raquel Welch says that she seldom had any idea of what Myra's motives were from scene to scene or even within any single scene itself, and that each person involved seemed to be making an entirely different film. In the accompanying "Back Story" documentary, Rex Reed says that MYRA BRECKINRIDGE was a film made by a bunch of people who hid in their dressing rooms while waiting for their lawyers to return their calls.
The accuracy of these comments are demonstrated by the film itself, which contains a host of good ideas that work individually but never consolidate into anything that approaches a cohesive film. The basics of Vidal's story are there, but not only has the story been shorn of all broader implications, it seems to have no point in and of itself. Everything runs off in multiple directions, nothing connects, and numerous scenes undercut whatever logic previous scenes might have had. And while director Sarne repeatedly states in his commentary that he wanted to make the film as pure farce, the only laughs generated are accidental.
Chief among these accidents is Mae West. It is clear from Sarne's commentary that he idolized West; in her own commentary Welch flatly states that West had carte blanche to do what she wished, be it write her own lines or demand the inclusion of two musical numbers or not work before five in the afternoon. It is true that West is unexpectedly well preserved in appearance and that she had lost none of her way with a one-liner--but there is no getting around the fact that she is in her seventies, and her conviction that she is the still the sexiest trick in shoe leather is extremely unsettling, to say the least. But worse, really, is the fact that West is outside her era. Her efforts to translate herself into a hip and happening persona results in one of the most embarrassing self-characatures ever seen on film.
The remaining cast is largely wasted. Raquel Welch, a significantly underestimated actress, plays the title role of Myra very much like a Barbie doll on steroids; non-actor Rex Reed is unexpectedly effective in the role of Myron, but the entire role is essentially without point. Only John Huston and cameo players John Carradine, Jim Backus, William Hopper, and Andy Devine emerge relatively unscathed. Yes, it really is the debacle everyone involved in the film feared it would be: fast when it should be slow, slow when it should be fast, relentlessly unfunny from start to finish. It is true that director Sarne does have the occasional inspired idea--as in his use of film clips of everyone from Shirley Temple to Judy Garland to create counterpoint to the action--but by and large, whenever Sarne was presented with a choice of how to do something he seems to have made the wrong choice.
The how and why of that is made clear in Sarne's audio commentary. Sarne did not like the novel or, for that matter, the subject matter in general. He did not want to write the screenplay, but he needed the money; he emphatically did not want to direct the film, but he need the money. He makes it very clear that he disliked author Gore Vidal and Rex Reed (at one point he flatly states that Reed "is not a nice person"), and to this day he considers that Vidal and Reed worked in tandem to sabotage the film because he refused to play into their 'homosexual agenda'--which, when you come right down to it, seems to have been their desire that Sarne actually film Vidal's novel rather than his own weirdly imagined take-off on it.
Although he spends a fair amount of commentary time stating that the film is widely liked by the gay community, Sarne never quite seems to understand that the appeal of the film for a gay audience arises from his ridiculously inaccurate depiction of homosexual people. When taken in tandem with the film itself, Sarne emerges as more than a little homophobic--and quite frankly the single worst choice of writers and directors that could have been made for this project.
In addition to the Sarne and Welch commentaries and the making-of documentary, the DVD includes several trailers and two versions of the film: a "theatrical release" version and a "restored" version. The only difference between the two is that the final scene in the "restored" version has been printed to black and white. The edits made before the film went into general release have not been restored, but the documentary details what they were. The widescreen transfers of both are remarkably good and the sound is quite fine. But to end where I began, this is indeed a film that will most interest film historians, movie buffs, and cult movie fans. I give it three out of five stars for their sake alone, but everyone else should pass it by.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Rating: 
Summary: A Film So Bad It's Good!
Review: This 1970 movie, based (?) on the novel of the same name by Gore Vidal defies description. First, this film appears to have little in common with Vidal's novel, as I remember it. I notice on the DVD case that Mr. Vidal "denounced" the film. Why wouldn't he? The movie is basically plotless. It would have needed a stellar cast to pull this off, but it stars the aging Mae West, Raquel Welch, the film critic Rex Reed and the director John Huston, along with Tom Selleck and Farrah Fawcett, not exactly great actors. Michael Sarne gets credit or the blame for directing and being 1/2 of the writing team responsible for happens here.
There are certainly some funny moments here and indeed the movie may become a cult classic. Mae West plays herself, as do most of the other actors. And she can be mildly funny in a crude Mae West way. If this movie is about sexual identity-- and I haven't the vaguest notion if it is or not, although Rex Reed/Myron may have a sex-change or, according to the director's commentary, dreams he has one-- then surely the irony is not lost on anyone that Ms. West, by the time she made this movie, was the least real "woman" of any of the various and sundry bisexuals, post-op transexuals, whatever, and must be as artificial as any other "woman" in this travesty. Surely nobody believes she looked like that at the end of her work day.
Twentieth Century Fox posts a disclaimer at the beginning of this DVD about the opinions expressed in the commentary that go along with this movie. Both the director and Ms. Welch give their comments although I only watched Mr. Sarne's. He liked Ms. West and Mr. Huston but has most unkind things to say about Ms. Welch, Mr. Reed and particularly Mr. Vidal 30 years after he dropped this bomb on us. Mr. Sarne rambles on and on about what the movie is all about and what we are to glean from it, what he is trying to do, etc., etc. I must admit that most of his lessons sailed right over my head. Example: he says he only photographs Ms. West wearing white and black-- not exactly a true statement but who cares? -- because she heretofore had only made black and white movies. Okay! Then he enlightens us on the difference between the British use of "camp" and the U. S. version of "campy." I suspect this director is homophobic-- check out the mincing, lisping African American student--although Mr. Sarne is so ineffectual that it's difficult to care much.
Vidal's novel is quite funny and certainly worth reading. I'm not sure a successful movie could ever be made from it. The late John Schlesinger had both the talent and sensivity to have brought this novel to the screen if anyone could have. But he didn't so we are left with this. So pop in this DVD, grab your chocolates, skip the director's commentary, and laugh loudly for all the wrong reasons.
Rating:
Summary: Bad Taste was never so good.
Review: WHAT?! The uncut version?! And in widescreen?! With Raquel's commentary and that fantastic AMC documentary?!The DVD gods have truly delivered. The only thing left to hope for is the lost reels of "The Magnificent Ambersons." So many "bad movies" fail to really live up to their reputations. This movie delivers. Originally rated "X", it is in excruciatingly poor taste (two words: Mae West), and would be offensive if it weren't oh so very, very terrible. Twentieth Century Fox actually made and distributed this film, which has since been very difficult to find. Watch the documentary first, to fully appreciate what you are witnessing. I have only seen the cut version on the Fox Movie Channel, and even that version has the scene with Raquel strapping on the...well, I'll let you found out that detail for yourself. Gather your friends around, and enjoy one of the great cinema bombs. (then hold a candlelight vigil that Fox will release that OTHER X-rated studio classic in their vaults: "Beyond The Valley of The Dolls").
Rating:
Summary: mire breckinridge
Review: With the exception of sharp widescreen color transfer and the nifty AMC Backstory featurette, this "Special Edition" DVD is as big a botch as "Myra Breckinridge" itself. Neither commentary is particularly enlightening--director Michael Sarne primarily seems intent on settling old scores with Gore Vidal Rex Reed, and the studio, while Raquel Welch's arch (and largely meaningless) asides seem to suggest she's revisiting the film over a bottle of wine. The only differences between the theatrical and "special" versions are a black-and-white ending in the latter, and the odd substitution of a Oliver Hardy film clip (he's seen opening an exploding champagne bottle) for the cannon fire clip that followed Rex Reed's auto/erotic climax in the release version. Even stranger, both clips are preceded a snippet of bubbly music not present when the film was originally released or broadcast on TV. (My guess is that this is a musical cue left over from the notorious excised clip of Shirley Temple shooting herself in the face while milking a goat.) Still, to anyone who's even vaguely interested this weird curio is worth a look.
|
