Myra Breckinridge (1970)

Director:

Michael Sarne

Writers:

Gore Vidal (novel)
Michael Sarne (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

24 June 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Meet Myra Breckinridge. You'll Never Forget Her!

Plot:

Myron Breckinridge is waiting for her sex-change operation while a stoned surgeon stumbles into the operating room...

Plot Keywords:

Hollywood | Sex Change | Operating Room | Talent Scout | Alter Ego

Cast

Mae West	...	Leticia Van Allen
John Huston	...	Buck Loner
Raquel Welch	...	Myra Breckinridge
Rex Reed	...	Myron
Farrah Fawcett	...	Mary Ann Pringle
Roger C. Carmel	...	Dr. Randolph Spencer Montag
Roger Herren	...	Rusty Godowski
George Furth	...	Charlie Flager Jr.
Calvin Lockhart	...	Irving Amadeus
Jim Backus	...	Doctor
John Carradine	...	Surgeon
Andy Devine	...	Coyote Bill
Grady Sutton	...	Kid Barlow
Robert P. Lieb	...	Charlie Flager Sr. (as Robert Lieb)
Skip Ward	...	Chance
Kathleen Freeman	...	Bobby Dean Loner
B.S. Pully	...	Tex
Buck Kartalian	...	Jeff
Monte Landis	...	Vince
Tom Selleck	...	Stud
Peter Ireland	...	Student
Nelson Sardelli	...	Mario
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Cal Bartlett	...	Acting School Student (uncredited)
Toni Basil	...	Cigarette Girl (uncredited)
Thordis Brandt	...	Whip-Cracking Masseuse (uncredited)
Choo Choo Collins	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Dan Hedaya	...	Patient in Hospital Ward (uncredited)
William Hopper	...	Judge Frederic D. Cannon (uncredited)
Ethelreda Leopold	...	Bridge Party Guest (uncredited)
Luanne Roberts	...	Painted breasts girl at party (uncredited)
Miel Saan	...	(uncredited)
Michael Sarne	...	Acting School Student (uncredited)
Michael Stearns	...	Stud (uncredited)
Svetlana	...	Extra (uncredited)
Geneviève Waïte	...	Dental Patient (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Sarne

Writing credits
Gore Vidal		(novel)
Michael Sarne		(screenplay) and
David Giler		(screenplay)

Produced by
James Cresson	....	associate producer
Robert Fryer	....	producer
David Giler	....	producer

Original Music by
John Phillips

Cinematography by
Richard Moore		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Danford B. Greene

Art Direction by
Fred Harpman
Jack Martin Smith

Set Decoration by
Reg Allen
Walter M. Scott

Costume Design by
Theadora Van Runkle

Makeup Department
Edith Lindon	....	hair stylist
Daniel C. Striepeke	....	makeup supervisor (as Dan Striepeke)
William Tuttle	....	makeup artist

Production Management
William Eckhardt	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Richard Glassman	....	assistant director (as Dick Glassman)

Art Department
Greg C. Jensen	....	set constructor (uncredited)

Sound Department
Don J. Bassman	....	sound (as Don Bassman)
David Dockendorf	....	sound (as Dave Dockendorf)
Terrance Emerson	....	sound utility (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
L.B. Abbott	....	special photographic effects
Art Cruickshank	....	special photographic effects

Stunts
Donna Garrett	....	stunts (uncredited)
Russ McCubbin	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Thomas Del Ruth	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Casting Department
Michael McLean	....	casting supervisor

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Edith Head	....	costumes: Miss Mae West

Editorial Department
Hugh K. Cummings	....	co-film editor

Music Department
Jeff Alexander	....	orchestrator
Jack Elliott	....	orchestrator
Allyn Ferguson	....	orchestrator
Lyn Murray	....	orchestrator
Lionel Newman	....	conductor
Lionel Newman	....	music supervisor

Transportation Department
Chris Haynes	....	driver (uncredited)

Other crew
Ralph Beaumont	....	choreographer
Don Prince	....	unit publicist

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1970) (USA) (theatrical)
• Barcino Films S.A. (1976) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Magnetic Video (1980) (USA) (VHS)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• CBS/Fox (video)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2006) (Germany) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Pacific Title  titles

Also Known As:

"Gore Vidal's Myra Breckinridge" - USA (complete title)

Runtime:

94 min | Spain:91 min (alternate version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:X (original rating) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Finland:K-16 | UK:18 | USA:R (edited for re-rating) (1978) | Australia:M | Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Germany:12 (re-rating) (2006) | West Germany:18 (original rating) | New Zealand:R18

Filming Locations:

Chateau Marmont - 8221 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

According to the 1978 book "Flesh and Fantasy", Mae West had stipulated in her contract that only she would be allowed to dress in black and white in the film. Costar Raquel Welch showed up to shoot their first scene together in a black dress with an enormous white ruffle, and West threw a fit. When the film's producers sided with West, Welch had the ruffle on the dress dyed a very, very pale blue... which ultimately photographed as white.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Myra begins preparations to trace Rusty's spine, she uses a buckled strap to keep him from moving - yet strap becomes considerably longer between shot where she anchors his left wrist and shot where she tightens strap on his right wrist.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Myron:[sings to himself] A secret place known to none but me. And in my secret place, you can beg and torture me. I wouldn't tell you where to go. 'Cause in my secret place, secret place, a secret you know. Secret place, a secret you know.
[Surgeon enters to applause]
Surgeon:You realize, once we cut it off, it won't grow back. I mean, it isn't like hair, or fingernails, or toenails, you know.
Myron:What do you think I am, some kind of idiot? I know that!
Surgeon:[shrugs] Eh - how about circumcision? It'd be cheaper.
Myron:Come on, come on, come on, let's get it over with, Myra's waiting!
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Bright Eyes (1934)

Soundtrack:

American Patrol

A fascinating, unhappy mess; but see it if you love movies

The book "Myra Breckinridge" is marvelous, and so is its nutty sequel "Myron" (which takes place on the set during the making of the Maria Montez movie "Siren of Atlantis" and, in its original published version, is a diatribe against censorship and finds new ways to use the name Rehnquist). The movie, a big flop in 1970, is not marvelous, but starts intriguingly and still has an aura of the forbidden about it (it was rated X; in 1970 that wasn't a liability, it could be a marketing scheme). The Fox Movie Channel showed the film recently in widescreen and I watched it (the latest in several viewings ) and I failed to notice exactly when it begins to unravel.

In spite of its ultimately depressing and sleazy tone, the movie does have some lovely things in it: the winking girl who pops up in various scenes throughout, Raquel Welch's game, amusing performance, an intriguing visual style, the usage of old movie clips to comment on the action in a meta-cinematic manner (my favorite is the brief glimpse of Marilyn Monroe in the unfinished "Something's Got To Give," a glimpse that could have been furthered), a bizarre underused supporting cast of excellent Old Hollywood character actors (Jim Backus, Kathleen Freeman, Grady Sutton, Andy Devine, John Carradine, etc.) and a short appearance by Genevieve Waite, the star of the director's previous, and only, hit film "Joanna." Waite is also the mother of Bijou Phillips and the ex-wife of John Phillips, of The Mamas and The Papas. (John Phillips wrote the song "A Secret Place" that was used in the film.) I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when the movie was being made. Rex Reed, one of the stars in the film, WAS a fly on the wall and wrote about the fiasco in Playboy magazine. Then he went on The Mike Douglas Show and gave out his Christmas list. To everyone who saw the movie "Myra Breckinridge" he gave a case of amnesia.

I agree with another comment here that the movie has finally caught up with its audience, but only if you know a little something about Old Hollywood and really love cinema.