If you love smut, then you know who Russ Meyer is. Or maybe you were just a kid who spent all of their time in the video store and wound up watching Beyond the Valley of the Dolls on a whim - thinking that it was actually Valley of the Dolls - and were pretty surprised by the sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll in the movie (oh, hi, my life story). That movie is a great introduction to Russ Meyer and while that movie was one of his more accessible films to the mainstream, Russ Meyer is a legendary director who blurred the line between humor and sex with strong female characters. Who doesn't love that? If you aren't familiar at all, you can get his general vibe in this trailer:
Russ Meyer was known by some as King Leer - get it??? - because made an entire empire out of sexploitation and smut. He was the king of softcore sex kittens and sleaze, but Russ rarely showed naked men. The former World War II veteran returned home from overseas and freelanced as a photographer with dreams of making it in the movie business. Because of his eye for beautiful models, he got to do some early magazine shoots for Playboy. From Faster, Pussycat...Kill! Kill! to Supervixens, his work focused on the female form which is fine for most of us who still enjoy a strong female character. That being said, it is surprising that he showed so few naked dudes...except for the few rarities that fell through the cracks.
The notable nude dudes slipped through in one of his better-known movies, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, which Meyer co-wrote with the one and only Roger Ebert. In it, we were introduced to Michael Blodgett shirtless and wearing hot leopard print panties. He even got gay with John LaZar in a rare gay moment from the super straight-leaning Meyer. John plays the villainous Z-Man and ironically says the line "This is my happening and it freaks me out!" which you might remember being quoted by the one and only Austin Powers. LaZar dresses up in drag while attempting to hit on Michael Blodgett in bed. Michael Blodgett isn't feeling it, even when asked: "why do you react so strangely in the embrace of the embodiment of carnal desire?" Honestly? Great question!
Later on, we get to check out Blodgett hog-tied in his leopard print. Z-Man is so spurned by Blodgett that he takes out his anger on him - while still dressed in drag so that's kind of iconic - and he begins a murder spree. The best dudity in the movie definitely belongs to actor Ian Sander who showed his ass when John and a groovy redhead burst into the room and catch Ian banging a babe on a round bed. His ass is a feast for our eyes!
That's what he gets for reacting so strangely! Sadly, John LaZar's career was never able to normalize after this movie. This was his first role and he put his all into giving a very intense performance as the feminine friend with a Shakespearean way of speaking. Since this movie became such a cult classic it wound up typecasting John in similar roles in similar movies despite his outrageous skillset. This guy could dance, do martial arts, and he was a gifted swordsman. What a star! This movie should have been his big break, but he found himself really typecast as a weirdo with a verbose vocabulary. LaZar returned to Meyer movies again to pimp in Supervixens. He has openly said in interviews that this does not bother him as much as it used to. Since this film, he has found a place for himself in genre horror flicks including Roger Corman's Deathstalker II.
Part of LaZar's rocky beginning to a career was because of the film's own weird lore around it which added to its now cult-status. Due to the Manson murders, the movie was not marketed as hard as it should have been. Sharon Tate starred in the original film Valley of the Dolls and this movie was initially intended to be a very straightforward sequel to the movie. However, changes in scriptwriters lead to a change in directors as well. Russ Meyer had just gained commercial success with his movie Vixen, so he was brought on to do the movie and the former script was scrapped entirely. Ebert took five weeks off from his job as a critic and worked with Russ to make a much campier, goofier movie at Russ' request. Why the change? Russ proved himself to be a maverick who could make movies rather cheaply and make them sell with sex. What studio could resist?
Russ Meyer's career was more or less set after this. He continued writing, directing, and producing work until he retired about a decade later. While Meyer didn't show that many nude men, his films stand out from other sexploitation work because his female characters are total badasses. While women are being sexualized, his characters tend to be liberated and empowered which was huge for that time in particular.
