Myra Breckinridge (1970)

Director:

Michael Sarne

Writers:

David Giler (writer)
Michael Sarne (writer)

Release Date:

24 June 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Everything you heard about Myra Breckinridge is true.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Non Statutory Female On Male Anal Rape | Cult Favorite | Castration | Film Making | Homosexual

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

Also Known As:

Gore Vidal's Myra Breckinridge

Runtime:

94 min | Spain:91 min (alternate version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Chateau Marmont - 8221 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Trailers include many alternate takes, and one additional snippet of dialogue; In the hospital at the end, Myron asks the doctor if he's a boy or a girl, and the doctor says that he can't tell from where he's standing.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: The sign at the entrance identifying Buck Loner's Academy is placed to be read from inside the campus, not from the street outside as would be necessary in real life to help people find the establishment.

Quotes:

[Myra and Mary Ann are in bed together]
Mary Ann Pringle: If only there was some man like you. I'd really fall, I would. But not like this. If only you were a man...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Mau Mau Sex Sex (2001)

Soundtrack:

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

See how Rex Reed becomes Raquel Welch

I have to say I was very curious on viewing this film, and it was considered a notorious disaster when released by 20th Century Fox in 1970. It has also popped up on several critics lists of bad films, and this only deepened an interest, as I just had to see what made this movie so bad.Upon seeing it, I think I have my answers. Although I will say it does make for curious viewing, the acting, direction, and script are so laughingly bad, that the supposed satire is completely missing. Racquel Welch seems to try to carry the film, but after the opening sequence of the sex-change operation, the film goes so far down hill that she cannot handle this task alone. John Huston as Uncle Buck Loner is certainly no help, as he licks and leers at the screen, he sometimes looks like he wonders himself what he's doing there. Rex Reed bounces around as Myron, Myra's alter ego, and even has his own celebrated masturbation scene. Bravo for debut performances! Farrah Fawcett plays a dumb blonde; she certainly seemed convincing in this role. But , of course, arguably the most notorious role went to Mae west. The sight of a 75 year old woman with a plastic face making sexual innuendos seemed more suitable for a horror film. I don't mean to put this cast down personally; but in this film, no one comes out looking good. The direction seems so unassured and non-existent, that the film is not only bad, but boring as well. Throw in some old film footage of old stars, and the movie becomes even more disconnected. To each his own to anyone that enjoyed this, and I was glad I at least saw it, but Myra Breckenridge seems to be the disaster that it was always reputed to be from the beginning.