{"id":70232,"date":"2020-09-12T17:30:25","date_gmt":"2020-09-13T00:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=70232"},"modified":"2021-03-07T18:13:01","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T01:13:01","slug":"russ-meyers-vixen-vixen-1968","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=70232","title":{"rendered":"Russ Meyer&#8217;s Vixen \/ Vixen (1968)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;The bush pilot had to know a little about everything in order to survive.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Vixen-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Vixen-Poster-196x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-70233\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Vixen-Poster-196x300.png 196w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Vixen-Poster-671x1024.png 671w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Vixen-Poster-84x128.png 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Vixen-Poster-177x270.png 177w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Vixen-Poster.png 725w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA deeply racist woman (Erica Gavin) whose bush-pilot husband (Garth Pillsbury) is clueless about her infidelity has sex with a Canadian mountie (Peter Carpenter) and both members of a couple (Vincene Wallace and Robert Aiken) who have chartered a ride with Pillsbury. Next, Vixen (Gavin) dares her own brother (Jon Evans) to have sex with her, and mercilessly hassles Evans&#8217; African-American, draft-evading friend (Harrison Page) &#8212; but when an Irish Communist (Michael Donovan O&#8217;Donnell) hires Pillsbury for a special trip and Page comes along, Gavin finds the tables turned.\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>Infidelity<\/li>\n<li>Racism and Race Relations<\/li>\n<li>Russ Meyer Films<\/li>\n<li>Strong Females<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary provides significant historical context for this &#8220;landmark soft-core sex film from &#8216;King of the Nudies&#8217; Russ Meyer&#8221;, which &#8220;bypassed [the] stag-movie circuit for long runs in major theaters&#8221; and &#8220;made what was probably [the] biggest rate of profit on investment in independent-film history until <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=38015\"><em>Halloween<\/em><\/a> &#8212; playing in some theaters for over a year, and making history at one drive-in where it sold several times more tickets than the town&#8217;s population&#8221; (!!!). He writes that &#8220;in its own way, it had [the] impact of and paved the way for <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=51407\"><em>Deep Throat<\/em><\/a>,&#8221; becoming &#8220;the subject of many articles&#8221; and with &#8220;star Erica Gavin [doing] the talk-show circuit, taking on the likes of Betty Friedan, who insisted Meyer had exploited Gavin.&#8221; (Apparently &#8220;years later Gavin agreed.&#8221;) He asserts that &#8220;Gavin&#8217;s erotically charged performance surely is on the verge of being obscene&#8221;, and that this &#8220;is the perfect film for swingers&#8221;, though the &#8220;bizarre finale&#8221; temporarily diverts it from its &#8220;stag-movie plot&#8221;.  <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Vixen-Finale.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Vixen-Finale-1024x728.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"455\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-70237\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Vixen-Finale-1024x728.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Vixen-Finale-300x213.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Vixen-Finale-128x91.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Vixen-Finale-768x546.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Vixen-Finale-380x270.png 380w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Vixen-Finale.png 1439w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, while Peary concedes that Gavin&#8217;s Vixen is a &#8220;foul-mouthed, racist&#8221; woman, he nonetheless describes her as &#8220;Meyer&#8217;s best heroine&#8221;, and the reason this picture hasn&#8217;t &#8220;faded away by now&#8221;. He writes that &#8220;as the most aggressive female of them all, she does the best job of expressing a woman in sexual heat&#8221;, and apparently &#8220;proved to be a heroine even women viewers liked,&#8221; given that many &#8220;weren&#8217;t used to seeing cinema heroines be so confident, so aggressive, so free of sexual inhibitions.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Vixen-Gavin4.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Vixen-Gavin4-1024x773.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"483\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-70240\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Vixen-Gavin4-1024x773.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Vixen-Gavin4-300x226.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Vixen-Gavin4-128x97.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Vixen-Gavin4-768x580.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Vixen-Gavin4-358x270.png 358w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Vixen-Gavin4.png 1361w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s sad to think that so many women in the late 1960s were willing to overlook Vixen&#8217;s abusively racist rhetoric towards Page (who gives the best &#8220;straightforward&#8221; performance in the film). While I understand that Vixen is meant to be over-the-top and uninhibited in every way &#8212; including, just for instance, seducing her grown brother &#8212; seeing so much toxic vitriol heaped upon the film&#8217;s one Black character is simply intolerable. I had a hard time getting through this one, and am frankly flabbergasted that it has maintained such a following. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Harrison Page as Niles<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Vixen-Page.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Vixen-Page-1024x760.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"475\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-70234\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Vixen-Page-1024x760.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Vixen-Page-300x223.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Vixen-Page-128x95.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Vixen-Page-768x570.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Vixen-Page-364x270.png 364w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Vixen-Page.png 1371w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNope; steer clear unless you&#8217;re a diehard Russ Meyer fan. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0063787\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/vixen-1969\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=1417\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;The bush pilot had to know a little about everything in order to survive.&#8221; Synopsis: A deeply racist woman (Erica Gavin) whose bush-pilot husband (Garth Pillsbury) is clueless about her infidelity has sex with a Canadian mountie (Peter Carpenter) and both members of a couple (Vincene Wallace and Robert Aiken) who have chartered a ride with Pillsbury. Next, Vixen (Gavin) dares her own brother (Jon Evans) to have sex with her, and mercilessly hassles Evans&#8217; African-American, draft-evading friend (Harrison Page)&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=70232\"> 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":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70232","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=70232"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70247,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70232\/revisions\/70247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=70232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=70232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=70232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}