Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Good Morning and...Goodbye! by Russ Meyer


Mr Pinky has long been a fan of Russ Meyer's work. Happily, I recently received a DVD double feature of Good Morning and...Goodbye!, coupled with Motor Psycho.Good Morning was released in 1967, with the script co-written by Mr Meyer and Jack Moran. Meyer fans will recall that Jack Moran also wrote the script to Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! The film features actor Suart Lancaster, who also featured in Pussycat.

The film you could perhaps call a meditation on sex and relationships, with a philosophical style voice over that gives commentary to Meyer's frequently eye popping imagery. (Alaina Capri, who stars in the film, tells a young kid that he can 'screw his eyeballs back in' after seeing her in a bikini.)

Ahhh, Alaina Capri. She really steals this show, and seems to get the humour in the script. Indeed, she delivers the jokes and gets the laughs. I guess she's what you'd call one of Meyer's classic stars: sexy, ballsy and funny. The screen lights up whenever she arrives on the scene, and you hate to see her go.

If Russ Meyer had a gift, it was for finding these incredible women. Where on earth did he get them?

What's the take away from this movie? I wouldn't have a clue. It's just another one of Meyer's mad riffs on sex and violence. Everything is thrown in the pot: nymphomaniacs, perverts, dominant, ball breaking women, dumbo muscle men, and curiously, there always seem to be plenty of impotent men.

There's one thing you can't dispute about Meyer's films though, he's a complete original, and so are his women. You'll never see female leads like this anywhere else.

Bravo, Mr Meyer.

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