Movie Review: Myra Breckinridge

 

Directed by Michael Sarne

Based on a book by Gore Vidal 

Starring: Raquel Welch

Mae West

John Huston

Rex Reed

Farrah Fawcett

Roger Herren 

Filmed: 1970 

Running time: 94 minutes

 

Reviewed by Ms. Kathleen for 'Predominant', September 2005

If you are an avid movie fan like I am, it’s possible you came across a late night showing of “Myra Breckinridge” recently on the Fox Movie Channel. One night this past summer as I flipped through the channels searching for an old movie to watch, low and behold I found this one. My TV set stayed firmly planted on FMC until I could figure out exactly what it was I was watching. I must admit I was both intrigued and baffled by some of the action and that was enough to keep my interest.  

The next day, still aroused by what I had seen the night before, I immediately got on line to find out more about this movie “Myra Breckinridge”. I quickly discovered it was based on Gore Vidal’s book about a transsexual woman whose goal is to dominate the male gender. The movie was a commercial flop and some claim it to be the worst movie of all time, but now it has gained a cult following. 

 

I could easily believe this as it seems most oddball movies of this type find their place in movie history. Just consider “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”. Most movie fans are familiar with that movie however five years before “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” there was “Myra Breckinridge”. Both movies had up and coming stars, both movies had a plotline about trans-sexuality and both movies were comedies that also featured song and dance.

 

Considered three decades ahead of its time, if you had seen “Myra” in 1970 you more than likely were confused as to what exactly it was all about. I definitely consider “Myra Breckinridge” a comedy but exactly what kind of comedy I don’t know. The scenes crisscross the screen at near lightning speed and so much action happens simultaneously it’s hard to keep focus. Who is Myra Breckinridge, a man or a woman? And what was with these dream sequences and song and dance routines right in the middle of the movie? Was that Mae West? How old was she when they filmed this? Is that Rex Reed the movie critic? Is that Tom Selleck? There’s Farrah Fawcett!  

All of these thoughts were filling my mind as I watched “Myra Breckinridge” for the first time. I almost changed the channel a number of times but there was something about this movie that kept my attention. Being a dominant woman, I was intrigued by the female domination symbolism and imagery. Then when the famous Infirmary scene came on the screen, I was both shocked and delighted. I kept asking myself, “What year was this movie made?” 

 

From what I understand, filming this movie was just as complicated as watching it. Scenes changed not only daily but from hour to hour. There was chaos on the set and turmoil amongst the actors, and that chaos makes its way into the movie. Nevertheless, there is a strange sort of cohesiveness that was not apparent the first time I watched this movie. I had better success understanding and enjoying “Myra” when I went back and watched it again.  

One of my favorite parts was the film clips of old movies interspersed throughout the entire story. Definitely confusing at first but on further review Sarne did a marvelous job finding old clips that interacted with his footage and although I have seen this done in more modern day movies, I believe this was totally visionary for 1970. Some say he did this out of necessity to lengthen the film but Sarne claims it was his vision all along to include old film clips. It is little wonder the actors were confused as they assumed Sarne would be following Gore Vidal’s book. 

In 1968, Gore Vidal wrote a satirical novel in the form of a diary. Its major themes were feminism, transexuality and deviant sexual practices. Set in Hollywood in the 1960s, the novel contained candid and irreverent glimpses into the machinations within the film industry. Considered pornographic at the time of its first publication, the book immediately became a worldwide bestseller. The title of the Gore Vidal novel was "Myra Breckinridge". 

Myra Breckinridge is an attractive young woman with a mission. A film buff with a special interest in the Golden Age of Hollywood, in particular the 1940s. She comes to her uncle Buck Loner's academy for aspiring young actors and actresses and not only teaches regular classes of Posture and Empathy, but she also instructs in the hidden curriculum of FemDom ("I'm Myra Breckinridge whom no man will ever possess"). 

 

She selects as her first victim one of the "studs" at the Academy, a straight young man named Rusty Godowski.  

 

In the climactic scene of the novel (Chapter 28), Myra has Rusty come to the infirmary under the pretext of having to conduct a medical examination. Myra quickly assumes the persona of the chilliest of nurses, directing Rusty down a path of embarrassing and humiliating processes and procedures. She uses harsh commands, threats and a few well-placed slaps to get Rusty to obey. She teases his nipples with her stethoscope; she has him pee in a bottle while making humiliating remarks; she performs a hernia examination while she humiliates him verbally by asking him very personal questions about his sex life and commenting, in rather drastic tones, on the allegedly moderate size of his penis ("I'm afraid, Rusty, that you've been somewhat oversold on the campus. You possess a boy's equipment.") 

Finally, after tying Rusty face down to the examination table, she rapes the unsuspecting student anally with a strap-on dildo ("Now remember the secret is to relax entirely. Otherwise you could be seriously hurt.") Afterwards, she even makes him thank her for the trouble she has taken.

Only towards the end of the novel does the reader learn about Myra's secret: Pretending that she is Myron Breckinridge's widow, she demands from her uncle (who owns the Academy) half of what he has built up. The shocker is when Myra reveals that she is in fact Myron (who had sexual reassignment surgery).  

In 1970, Michael Sarne brought "Myra Breckinridge" to the big screen with Raquel Welch in the title role as Myra. According to Vidal, “Myra Breckinridge” is a black comedy but Sarne was not interested in directing a black comedy. His vision was completely different, thus all the confusion and chaos at the studio and on the set.  

While watching the movie I was delighted to see Myra be as dominant, demanding and pushy as she was. In my opinion Raquel Welch was one of the most beautiful of all movie stars. She has always had that star quality and a “don’t fuck with me” edge about her. I believe that is one reason she was right for this part. And although the thinking at first was to hire an actual transvestite for the part so that it wouldn’t be confusing to the audience, I think Raquel did a wonderful job. Some consider it her finest work ever.  

The film had a difficult gestation, and its birth and early life were painful for the studio, the young director and virtually everyone involved.

 

From the outset it was obvious that this was going to be a difficult project. Even in 1970 -- at the height of promiscuity in films -- how in the world could anyone successfully bring to the screen a story whose highlight is the female lead's dildo rape of a young man?  

If such a production were possible, the earliest signs were positive. A major studio -- Twentieth Century-Fox -- had taken on the project. There was, for those days, an ample budget ($3 million), and the original writers and director were established or promising talent. But all hell broke loose early on. 

Despite Welch's initial efforts to work with West, it wasn't long before they refused to appear in scenes together; Robert Fryer, the producer, quit and came back three times; Bud Yorkin, the original director, quit; Sarne was accused of alienating the cast; Author Gore Vidal, who was supposed to help write the script, fled to Italy in disgust; Sarne and David Giler finished the script; All of this trouble and more was being discussed openly in newspapers and magazines, on talk shows and in the trade press. Those talking the most included movie critic Rex Reed (Myron in the film), who penned a scathing piece for the August 1970 issue of Playboy.  

In the end, Fox simply stopped production. Many of the scenes Sarne devised were never filmed. He "finished" the film with the footage he had in the can by adding old film clips from classic Hollywood movies (everything from Marilyn Monroe to Laurel and Hardy) and splicing those clips within the action of the film.  
 

The movie premier was in New York. Mae West attended and was greeted by an adoring crowd. But the critics had a feeding frenzy:  
 

"About as funny as a child molester" -- Time 

 

"A horrifying movie ..." -- Newsweek 

 

"The bad taste is beyond belief." -- Variety  

I must admit I was taken aback to see Rex Reed with such a large part in a film and that was another thing about “Myra” that caught me by surprise. Reed plays Myron, the male counterpart of Myra who has supposedly undergone a sex change operation in Copenhagen. I later discovered it was Mr. Reeds’ movie debut.

 

 

 

Another actor/director who appeared on screen with Raquel was John Huston as the not-so-lovable Uncle Buck of Uncle Bucks’ Acting Academy. John plays an over-the-top cowboy full of piss and vinegar who marginalized Myra’s plight. That is to say he doesn’t care that she is the recent widow of his nephew (or so she claims) who was left penniless and has now come to collect on her mother-in-laws inheritance which is half of the profits from the academy. 

The entire storyline however is just a distraction from what is most appealing about the film and that is Myra’s philosophy which is “the destruction of traditional man, to realign sexes while decreasing population and increasing happiness and preparing humanity for it’s next stage”. What that next stage is I don’t rightly no but can I get an ‘AMEN’ to Female Superiority?

 

Speaking of Female Superiority, as I mentioned earlier there is a blast from the past in this film, the “tough broad” who is famous for her sexual innuendo’s and double entendres, Mae West. I found out that West was nearing 80 yrs old when filming began. Mae still called the shots here and she insisted on writing all her own scenes and even sings a couple songs. You got to give it to her. Nobody ever put one over on Mae West and she was perfect for a movie with female domination symbolism as she was the original dominant female of the silver screen. Having West in this film added to the FemDom symbolism as she is an icon in her own right. 

 

In the film Mae played the luscious Letiticia Van Allen, the man-hungry casting agent who in the end gets the leftovers of Rusty, the boy-toy that Myra sets her sites on as the last vestige of a studly man.  

It seems apart from getting her rightful inheritance from Uncle Buck, the most important thing on Myra’s mind was how to get Rusty alone so she could “educate” him. She uses her wit and will and her standing at the academy as instructor of the Empathy and Posture Class to worm her way into the lives of Rusty and his girlfriend Mary Ann (played by Farrah Fawcett).  

And I just adored the costume changes given to Raquel. They are reminiscent of a by-gone era when Hollywood Starlets dressed the part. In every scene she is dressed in yet another outfit more grandiose than the previous. In one scene you’ll find her dressed in a periwinkle blue Joan Bennett look and the next a stern Joan Crawfordesque outfit in bright red.

 

 

 

Another interesting fact I uncovered about this movie is that when polled, more women than man liked this movie and more women than men enjoyed the famous “strap-on scene”. I wonder why that is? 

I couldn’t quite believe my eyes when I saw the strap-on scene. Called by one critic "the most sensational scene in the history of the screen", Raquel Welch sets the screen on fire and shocks the 1970 audience (and I am sure most 2005 audiences who accidentally come across the movie on cable) by introducing the strap-on and FemDom sex to the American public. Although never actually shown, Raquel leaves no doubt what she is strapping around her waist after she bounds her young hunk across her examination table. 

What follows is perhaps the greatest FemDom scene in the history of Hollywood. Although ruined somewhat by the overkill of old film footage in an attempt to add humor so the censors would not ban the movie (seeing Laurel and Hardy during such an erotic scene can definitely put a damper on the mood), Raquel's acting and the verbal performance by Roger Herren allows the imagination to fill in the blanks.  

Here are some highlights of that great FemDom scene:

 

Rusty: "What are you doing?" 
 

Myra: "I'm preparing you . . . What's the matter, Rusty?" 

 

Rusty: "You're playing some kind of joke on me, I know you are. You're playing some kind of joke!" 

Myra: "This is no joke, Rusty. I'm deadly earnest. You have a lot to learn. All you men have a lot to learn . . . and I have taken it upon myself to teach you." 

Rusty: "What do you mean?" 

Myra: "This is the most important part of your education. The part your teachers failed to instruct you in...It's called Balling!"

 

 

Rusty: "I know how to do that." 

Myra: "That's what you think!"

 

 

Myra: "What nature intended is not always good for us, Rusty. You think being a man is such a simple thing." 

(Myra reaches for something off-screen and begins to strap the unseen object around her waist.)

 

 

Myra: "A man should ball chicks, you said. Well, I tried to explain it to you but you wouldn't listen. So I'm afraid you require a practical demonstration."

 

Rusty: "Oh my God! You'll kill me with that!" 

Myra: "I won't kill you, Rusty. I'll just educate you. You and the rest of America. Must I demonstrate it to you practically, that there is no such thing as manhood. It died with Burt Lancaster in Vera Cruz. Your manhood was taken by Errol Flynn and Clark Gable. I'm only going to apply you with the finishing touches!"

 

 

Raquel Welch makes cinema history as she rapes the muscular stud with the large, wicked dildo.

 

(Accompanied by a rodeo clip with the announcer saying, "Ladies and Gentlemen, he's never been ridden before!")

 

Raquel rides her "Stallion", making plenty of Cowgirl yells of "Yahoo" and "Yeehaa" and many other screams of Exhilaration and Pleasure (while Rusty screams out in pain ---all the while we are treated to a barrage of old Hollywood clips).

 

 

The wild ride concludes with Raquel experiencing intense and multiple orgasms (shown through footages of a bursting dam, a roller coaster ride, and an atomic bomb explosion) while she continues to take her stud with the strap-on.  

Myra: "I'm coming, Scarlet, I'm coming! I'm coming, Anna, I'm coming...Uncle Sam, here I COMMMMME!!!"

 

 

One has to wonder how many men discovered their submissive natures while watching this scene (and how many others will, once they see this scene). What man alive wouldn't want his manhood to be taken away by Raquel Welch wielding a strap-on?

 

 

So how does one really review this movie? It has its faults and I can certainly see how people in 1970 thought this was a terrible movie. If you read the book and were hoping to see the book come alive on the screen, you were no doubt disappointed. If you were interested in seeing a “Gay movie” that would make a societal statement, you were no doubt disappointed (which is one of the reasons Rex Reed trashed the film). If you were interested in seeing a movie with lots of nudity and sex, you were no doubt disappointed. And if you were interested in seeing a comedy that would make you laugh out loud, you were no doubt disappointed.

 

But what about in 2005? We have the benefit of 35 years to take a fresh look at this film. I was 7 years old when this movie was made and I had no knowledge of this film until a couple of months ago.  

Let me tell you what I think of this movie. I think it’s crazy, zany and completely original. It’s not a great movie. I wouldn’t even call it a good movie. But I believe this film will engage and entertain you. 

 

 

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars 

 

"There are only two characters in all of fiction that could have only come from America - Tom Sawyer and Myra Breckinridge." - a British literary critic.