{"id":4832,"date":"2007-11-28T11:47:06","date_gmt":"2007-11-28T18:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4832"},"modified":"2021-02-02T13:58:24","modified_gmt":"2021-02-02T20:58:24","slug":"myra-breckinridge-1970","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4832","title":{"rendered":"Myra Breckinridge (1970)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;All men have a lot to learn&#8230; I&#8217;ve taken it upon myself to teach you.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Breckenridge-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Breckenridge-Poster-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-22644\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Breckenridge-Poster-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Breckenridge-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Breckenridge-Poster.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nAfter Myron Breckenridge (Rex Reed) undergoes a sex change operation and becomes Myra (Raquel Welch), she visits an acting school owned by her uncle Buck (John Huston), pretending to be the &#8220;deceased&#8221; Myron&#8217;s widow in order to receive half of his estate. Meanwhile, Myra plots &#8220;the destruction of the American male in all its particulars&#8221; by blackmailing a studly young acting student (Roger Herren) and sending him into the clutches of aging casting director Leticia Van Allen (Mae West).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Actors and Actresses<\/li>\n<li>Black Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Gender Bending<\/li>\n<li>John Carradine Films<\/li>\n<li>Mistaken or Hidden Identities<\/li>\n<li>Raquel Welch Films<\/li>\n<li>Revenge<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nA notorious turkey from the moment it went into production, this big-budget adaptation of Gore Vidal&#8217;s satirical novel is, as noted in Toxic Universe&#8217;s review, both &#8220;hypnotically awful&#8221; and &#8220;audaciously dreadful&#8221;. British writer\/director\/performer Michael Sarne &#8212; whose debut film was the quirky <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=764\"><em>Joanna<\/em> (1968)<\/a>, starring Genevieve Waite &#8212; was recruited to helm the pic, but immediately clashed with both producers and stars about how to proceed; the result is a hyper-surreal pastiche which won&#8217;t make much sense to those who haven&#8217;t first read Vidal&#8217;s novel. <\/p>\n<p>With that said &#8212; since I <em>have<\/em> read the novel, fairly recently &#8212; I must say I was pleasantly surprised by <em>Breckinridge<\/em>; it may be over-the-top, but it&#8217;s never boring, and Sarne&#8217;s post-modern insertion of vintage film clips at key moments (he was sued over several of his selections) is inspired. Welch &#8212; dressed in a series of fun 40&#8217;s-era outfits, including hats &#8212; almost seems to be channeling the spirit of Joan Crawford in her bitchily determined attitude, and John Huston at the very least seems to be having fun. Film critic Rex Reed (a non-actor) is the worst of the bunch, but doesn&#8217;t damage the proceedings too badly. <\/p>\n<p>What really elevates this flick to must-see status, however, is the presence of aging diva Mae West as a horny septuagenarian casting director with a foul mouth and a surprising amount of sexual allure &#8212; ya&#8217;d think she&#8217;d come across like simply a parody of herself, but she&#8217;s remarkably well-preserved, and so sincere in her efforts to carry the show (complete with a &#8220;show-stopping&#8221; musical number) that one can&#8217;t help enjoying her efforts. See below for just one of her hilarious quips, which had me laughing out loud again and again. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> <em>Myra Breckenridge<\/em> was voted one of the &#8220;fifty worst films of all time&#8221; by the Medved brothers in <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Fifty_Worst_Films_of_All_Time\">their 1978 book<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>73-year-old Mae West as Leticia Van Allen<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Mae-West.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Mae-West.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"848\" height=\"358\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-68089\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Mae-West.png 848w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Mae-West-300x127.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Mae-West-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Mae-West-768x324.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Mae-West-604x255.png 604w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 848px) 100vw, 848px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Raquel Welch as Myra<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Welch.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Welch.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"845\" height=\"364\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-68092\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Welch.png 845w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Welch-300x129.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Welch-128x55.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Welch-768x331.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Welch-604x260.png 604w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 845px) 100vw, 845px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>John Huston as Uncle Buck<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Huston.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Huston.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"844\" height=\"363\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-68096\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Huston.png 844w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Huston-300x129.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Huston-128x55.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Huston-768x330.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Huston-604x260.png 604w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 844px) 100vw, 844px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Leticia singing &#8220;Hard to Handle&#8221; while surrounded by a bevy of African-American male dancers<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Song.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Song.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"852\" height=\"363\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-68090\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Song.png 852w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Song-300x128.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Song-128x55.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Song-768x327.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Song-604x257.png 604w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 852px) 100vw, 852px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Theodora Van Runkle&#8217;s &#8217;40s-inspired costumes<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Costumes.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Costumes.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"846\" height=\"368\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-68093\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Costumes.png 846w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Costumes-300x130.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Costumes-128x56.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Costumes-768x334.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Costumes-604x263.png 604w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 846px) 100vw, 846px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Inspired use of vintage film clips<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Vintage.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Vintage.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"843\" height=\"354\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-68091\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Vintage.png 843w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Vintage-300x126.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Vintage-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Vintage-768x323.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Vintage-604x254.png 604w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 843px) 100vw, 843px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>A harsh skewering of gender norms<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Gender.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Gender.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"848\" height=\"361\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-68095\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Gender.png 848w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Gender-300x128.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Gender-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Gender-768x327.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Gender-604x257.png 604w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 848px) 100vw, 848px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Effectively stylized sets and visuals<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Design.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Design.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"850\" height=\"361\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-68094\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Design.png 850w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Design-300x127.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Design-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Design-768x326.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Myra-Design-604x257.png 604w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Mae West drawling countless hilarious lines:<br \/>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Leticia Van Allen:<\/strong> How tall are you without your horse?<br \/>\n<strong>Aspiring Male Star:<\/strong> Well, ma&#8217;am, I&#8217;m six feet seven inches.<br \/>\n<strong>Leticia Van Allen:<\/strong> Well, never mind about the six feet &#8212; let&#8217;s talk about the seven inches. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, for its notoriety as a camp classic. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cult Movie<\/li>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0066115\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1149myra.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tvguide.com\/movies\/myra-breckinridge\/review\/130377\">T.V. Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;All men have a lot to learn&#8230; I&#8217;ve taken it upon myself to teach you.&#8221; Synopsis: After Myron Breckenridge (Rex Reed) undergoes a sex change operation and becomes Myra (Raquel Welch), she visits an acting school owned by her uncle Buck (John Huston), pretending to be the &#8220;deceased&#8221; Myron&#8217;s widow in order to receive half of his estate. Meanwhile, Myra plots &#8220;the destruction of the American male in all its particulars&#8221; by blackmailing a studly young acting student (Roger Herren)&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4832\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4832"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68099,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4832\/revisions\/68099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}