RUSS MEYER’S LIFE
Meyer was born in 1922, in California. His love of film came at the age of 14, when his mother pawned her wedding ring — given she had divorced Meyer’s father — in order to buy him a 8mm camera. In 1941, Meyer joined the army as a US army combat camera man. Meyer claims to have been taken to a Parisian brothel by Ernest Hemingway, whether true or not, the biographical detail of the brothel foreshadows the genre of his future film career. Upon his return to the US, following a failure to find work in the film industry, Meyer worked as a director of Industrialist films — films made by a sponsor — and as a freelance photographer, including some notable work for Playboy Magazine. He soon after found success in the exploitation genre, writing, directing, producing, editing, and photographing softcore films.
Fig. 1 (Supervixens)
Fig. 2 (Supervixens)
Fig. 3 (Supervixens)
GIRLS OF THE NUDIES
The first time viewer of a Russ Meyer flick would notice that, in any given film, the mode breast-size sits within the hefty-to-whopping range. It’s fair to assume that such endowment is the result of a bosom-obsession on Meyer’s part, though he denies it: “I wouldn’t say it's an obsession, but I care for them a great deal.” Regardless, in his own words Meyer claims to “put out films with big bazoos.” While sounding innocent enough in his cartoon parlance, Meyer’s film “Vixen!” was the second in cinema history to have ever received an X rating, in part due to the prominence of naked bazoos.
Regardless of the genre, rated X or not, every woman in a Meyer film sports the physic of their director’s fantasy. That’s not to say it was simply, only, a fascination with breast size, but rather with hip to chest ratio — a “wasp waist” to match “gravity defying" breasts (his own words). Think of the physics found on pin up calendars.
Meyer’s fascination with breasts earned him some criticism, even among his supporters, later in his career. The advent of breast enlargement surgery had allowed Meyer to cast women of gargantuan proportion. Many took this as evidence that Meyer saw women as a “tit transportation device” — the words of Meyer Biography Jim McDonough.
Fig. 4 (Supervixens)
Fig. 5 (Supervixens)
Fig. 6 (Supervixens)
Fig. 7 (Supervixens)
Fig. 8 (Supervixens)
NUDIE CUTIES
Meyer’s first film, a softcore exploitation movie titled “The Immoral Ms Teas,” cemented him as the King of the Nudies — “Nudies” or “Nudie Cuties” being the 50s term for softcore films. While his films varied in their explicitness, sexualization was a key element to all. Many critics argued that this sexualization was misogynist (as mentioned). Other critics, however, considered Meyer a feminist and his films empowering through sexualization. Within his filmography, women are continuously more powerful than men: out-witting and or overpowering them, then satisfying their sexual urges as a reward.
Fig. 9 (Vixen!)
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Click HERE for an earlier piece by the author on the frivolous sex comedies of the "Ass Man" Tinto Brass
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