Fleshpot on 42nd Street (1972) User Reviews

Not bad at all, in a scuzzy kind of way

[frankfob · 6/10 · 6 December 2002]

Knowing Andy Milligan's reputation, and judging from the video box cover, I really wasn't expecting much from this film. To tell the truth, I wasn't expecting ANYTHING from it. I rented it because I had never seen a Milligan movie and wanted to see if he was as lousy a filmmaker as his reputation says he is. Well, judging by this film, he isn't.

That's not to say that it's any kind of masterpiece, or even particularly good, or even particularly competent. Although the IMDb technical specs for this film say it was shot in 35mm, it has the grainy, poor color quality and lousy sound of 16mm, which is what it really appears to be. The acting is nothing special but not completely incompetent. Neil Flannagan as a drag queen hooker is sort of charming in a pathetic way, and has a scene where he gets into an argument in a bar that is actually pretty funny. Diana Lewis as the young girl who's the centerpiece of this isn't particularly impressive, but she gets by. Harry Reems tries too hard to be the boy next door type and doesn't really pull it off, but he's at least watchable. Amazingly for a Milligan film there's actually a coherent story line about the kinds of people who inhabited the seamy area of Manhattan known as Times Square way back before Disney bought it up and sterilized it, and Milligan actually does a pretty good job of conveying the seediness, depravity, debauchery and general scuzziness that typified the area at that time. What really sets this movie apart from others of its type that I've seen, however, is the way it treats its characters. It's not judgmental of them at all, and doesn't romanticize them as poor pathetic victims or portray them as vicious, depraved victimizers. It just shows them as people who don't have a whole lot going for them and try to get by as best they can with what they've got, doing whatever it is they have to do to make it through to the next day. In other words, they're not much different from anyone else. It took me a while to realize what he was saying with this movie because of the film's technical and narrative shortcomings--for all the good intentions he seems to have brought to this project, Milligan is still a terrible director--but the area and the subject matter were apparently close to his heart, and if Andy Milligan can be said to have made a "personal" film, this is probably it. It's worth a look to see what Times Square was really like back in the early '70s, and the film itself is actually, on the whole, pretty interesting. Check it out.

A reality film for the sheltered audience

[Ed-Shullivan · 7/10 · 2 November 2020]

Although the film was released in 1973 it plays more like a film that was released much earlier in the 1950's and feels more like you are watching a documentary than a soft core dramatic film. The main star of the film is a prostitute named Dusty Cole (played by Laura Cannon) who we witness having sex with a variety of men from different economic classes and their varying wants. Dusty Cole comes off as a poor man's version of the much more main stream 1990 Pretty Woman starring Julia Roberts.

There certainly is no romance involved in Fleshpot on 42nd Street but a lot of grit, a platonic relationship with a transvestite named Cherry Lane (Neil Flanagan) and the lesson that money talks and bull crap walks.

I give this low budget film high marks for making the most with so little to work with and it comes off as a reality film with the hard knocks of a young prostitute's life. I give it a 7 out of 10 IMDB rating. Not so much for its cinema quality (which it lacks) but more for it's true grittiness.

Engrossing Exploitation

[meghancoker · 7/10 · 13 December 2021]

Dusty, a small time hustler, moves out of her boyfriend's apartment when he finally confronts her about not paying any of the rent and refusing to get a job. She's back on the streets where she reconnects with her transgender prostitute friend, Cherry. Cherry agrees to let her room with her and help her turn some tricks, but things get complicated when Dusty starts to develop feelings for one of her clients.

Andy Milligan isn't a filmmaker known for class or his strong narratives, but Fleshpot on 42nd Street is about as strong an effort from him that I've seen. Milligan has created a group of interesting lowlifes who ran the gamut from sexist to racist, but there's a sweet loyalty between them all even as they curse each other out and insult one another.

The film dabbles in hardcore pornography as well, but it feels oddly important to the story and some of the moments between Dusty and her new lover, Bob, are surprisingly sweet and touching. Not all of the acting is great and, in typical Milligan fashion, it won't be winning any cinematography awards, but it sets out to tell a memorable story and succeeds.

My first Andy Milligan movie.

[madsagittarian · 30 September 2002]

(Potential spoiler in the second-to-last paragraph)

I know, to say that you've seen your first Andy Milligan movie is a little like saying you've had your first root canal. However, I suppose once in every true blue cineaste's life, they have to see at least one Milligan film just to keep themselves in check. In recent years it has become fashionable to re-appraise a lot of GradeZ auteurs as geniuses. Hey, they're even saying that about Al Adamson. 12 years ago, one would never fathom that anyone would say that about Andy Milligan.

Still, I can say with all honesty that this film wasn't bad at all. This impressionistic study of life in The Deuce (AKA- Times Square), when it was still full of debauchery and danger before Walt Disney took it over, is surprisingly well-acted. Diana Lewis has a nice screen presence as the wide-eyed girl who falls in with the colourful oddballs that infiltrate the sidewalks of The Square. She even makes an attempt at a normal life, by shacking up with none other than Harry Reems, just on the verge of (in)famy with DEEP THROAT. The other major character is "Lynn" Flanagan as the transvestite prostitute who befriends the lead damsel. For some reason (s)he reminds me of "Helen Brown" in Altman's masterpiece, CALIFORNIA SPLIT. Despite the ill reputation of its creator, FLESHPOT is a surprisingly sympathetic portrait of desperate lives. The milieu reminds me a lot of John Rechy's novel, "City of Night".

To add to the enigma of Milligan (many of his films are now lost, or at least no longer exist in complete form), the only print I saw was the Something Weird video, which clocked in at about 75 minutes. The real discernable cuts seem to be at a curious moment when "Lynn" has a bad experience with a John in a junkyard. How much more there is to this film, who can say?

But still, for those who decry Milligan's deficiencies, there are bizarre bits like the opening sequence shot out of a car which shakily explores the Square (often out of focus), or Milligan's tendency to cant the frame for no particular reason. If he's trying to convey some sense of dementia, it doesn't really work because these odd moments all occur in long shot, and he doesn't take advantage of cinematic space. Plus, I like the hilarious way he films a car crash. In a long shot, Harry steps out into the street and the camera just lurches like crazy so we don't notice the car proably not getting anywhere near the actor. But as much of a non-exploitive picture this purports to be, Milligan is still being classically pessimistic, as his characters' sole gleams of hope are once again extinguished.

So for now anyway, Andy Milligan remains a subject for further research. However, once upon a time "Cahiers du Cinema" said that about Herschell Gordon Lewis, and he replied, "So is cancer."

Life Of A Hustler

[atlasmb · 6/10 · 23 March 2021]

Gritty in substance and style, "Fleshpot" looks at the seedy side of urban existence, specifically in New York City. Dusty (Laura Cannon/Diana Lewis) is disgusted with her life as a hustler and a criminal. She feels trapped in a cycle of survival that does not allow her to look beyond the current day.

This adult film is cinema verite and it does a fair job of capturing life in and around the streets. The acting is credible. Sometimes the framing is poor. Surprisingly, there are humorous moments, and some philosophizing by the characters.

"I never saw him before in my life . . . "

[tadpole-596-918256 · 5/10 · 31 October 2020]

. . . pathological liar Dusty callously dismisses her current meal ticket moments after he's been crushed by a passing vehicle while frolicking with his True Love. Dusty is a professional strumpet, and the Seven Deadly Sins are not enough for her. This jaded jezebel desperately plunges toward new depths of depravity as she seeks to wreak havoc upon America's Master Gender. No matter how many times Jimmie strikes her with his belt buckle in a thankless effort to beat some compassion and empathy into her, cold-hearted Dusty remains a degenerate damsel of doom. A wicked wench who begins this story by filching faithful Tony's TV and transistor radio, Dusty soon swipes pawnbroker Sammy's store profits. Even that's not enough to placate vile vixen Dusty, as she leaves Joe and Carl high yet dry on their poker night. "Take their money and run" seems to be this serial breach of contract mercenary mink's motto, but her wrap is pictured as cheap rabbit fur. It's easy to see that horrible harlot Dusty is headed for well-deserved destruction.

Interesting Oddity From the Grindhouse Era

[siskokid888-923-973294 · 6/10 · 22 March 2021]

I sat down to watch this expecting the worst. However, I found it quite surprising. Looking at those living on the fringes of society, director and writer Andy Milligan (who had a rather tragic life) wrote decent dialogue, and utilized actors from New York's off Broadway scene, so the performances are actually not bad (including, of all people, Harry Reems). Shooting with a 16 mm camera and utilizing extreme close ups, it's obvious Milligan actually had some talent. One wonders what he might have done in the main stream.

Better than it looks

[jellopuke · 2/10 · 24 November 2020]

There's a lot of neat early 70's NY here to see, or there would be if the camera was held straight, in focus, steady, properly framed, etc. It's just too badly made to overcome despite a true to life look at hustlers and prostitutes. IF only they had someone who knew how to point a camera making it, it could be something worth watching.

along with VAPORS, this is Andy Milligan's most worthwhile film

[django-1 · 9/10 · 1 March 2005]

There's no question that Andy Milligan's film work was influenced by Andy Warhol. That doesn't downgrade the late Mr. Milligan at all-- no doubt when he was putting together plays in the 1950s, much of the aesthetic seen in VAPORS and FLESHPOT ON 42nd STREET was already intact. It's as if Warhol influenced the film-making, yet Tennessee Williams influenced the content. I thought Milligan's VAPORS (see my review) was a masterpiece, treating loneliness, desperation, and sexual confusion in a bold and honest way. You don't have to be bisexual or gay to find the humanity and universality in such a film. For me, FLESHPOT is equally fine. If VAPORS was reminiscent of early Warhol, when Andy himself was at the camera, FLESHPOT is reminiscent of the Paul Morrissey era. There's no Joe Dallesandro here, but Milligan was never about "stars" the way Warhol was. This is the story of two people who are sexually confused and sexually frustrated, and find that they have to "hustle" on every level of their existence. They may be in the gutter, but they both have somewhere inside them a spark of romance and dreams of a better life...somehow, somewhere. Neil Flanagan (aka "Lynn" Flanagan) brings a lot of depth to the role of queen Cherry Lane--sweet one moment, bitchy another moment; kind and considerate, but then thoughtless. Flanagan is, of course, familiar to any Milligan fan because of playing GURU in GURU THE MAD MONK. Diana Lewis's other credits seem to be mostly porn, but she makes the role of Dusty uncomfortably real. Everyone has known a few Dustys--the person who moves in with someone and basically provides sexual favors in return for room and board and some occasional pocket money. A number of people have BEEN Dustys at some low period in their lives. She is hard-bitten, cynical, knows how to manipulate the gullible, but she too has a dream of a better life that even the sleazy New York underbelly has not snuffed out. Some people manage to find a way out, or move somewhere else and reinvent themselves successfully, but many do not, and this is their story. The jumpy 16mm photography of Milligan's legendary Auricon camera almost becomes a participant in the film, and makes everything alive and moving, the way it does in real life. There's a lot of attention to dialogue in Milligan's 60s and early 70s work--the man may have been essentially a playwright. When it works well, Milligan's dialogue works as well as some of the later, less symbolic, more explicit Tennessee Williams plays. This being an Andy Milligan film, there are no happy endings, but this film would be phony and insincere if it offered one. FLESHPOT ON 42nd STREET is an honest look at characters living in an urban jungle, a place where if you don't take advantage of the next person you meet, that person will take advantage of you. Milligan does not judge these characters; he finds the humanity within them. This is equal to the best of the Warhol-Morrissey films, and in its own right is an impressive piece of work that seems more accurate and more rich the older I get and the more I've lived. Don't wait three decades for someone to proclaim this a masterpiece and one of the most significant "windows" into the early 70's, and for it to be shown at some film festival alongside TAXI DRIVER--score a copy now.

A Heartfelt Determination To It All.

[dungeonstudio · 7/10 · 14 December 2021]

As low budget and crass as this movie maybe, I was highly impressed by it's realism and efforts made by all. A cross between early Paul Morrisey and John Water films, for better or for worse. But I'd say Andy Milligan and the actors knew the New York and the times they were in. Laura Cannon, Neil Flanagan, and even comical Harry Reems all exude a hope and optimism that there is aspirations to live for, and life can improve. Yet doesn't pull any punches that a hard life on the streets can't be easily shaken off for Prince Charming either. As low budget and awkward as this movie maybe, there's a dedication and determination in it all that is endearing. The seedier side of Looking for Mr. Goodbar. But an entertaining tale for only the most mature of movie goers. A valiant effort!

Andy Milligan is no director

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 19 May 2015]

Andy Milligan's films seem to be an incessant stream of incompetence and unintentional humour, but you can't fault the man for trying; modern-day makers of B-movies are blessed with the kind of budgets that Milligan could only have dreamed of back in the day, so it's almost impressive what he achieved with very little. Sadly, this doesn't make his films any the better, although it does make the man more interesting than his output.

FLESHPOT ON 42ND STREET sees Milligan taking a break from his usual horror nonsense (like GURU THE MAD MONK) to try his hand at a softcore sex film instead. The result is as poor as the rest of his output, with a script that lacks oomph and a budget that rarely convinces. It's just like somebody grabbed a camera and went out and shot a few scenes in the streets with his friends, which is probably what happened.

Still, there are worthwhile elements for the fans: a bitchy transvestite provides a memorable character for the film, and you get to see the scuzzy side of 1970s New York, something I'll never tire of. But the main actress was known for her appearances in porn movies and is as wooden as she is dull, the sex scenes are unappetising, and there's very little story to speak of.

A powerful slice of gritty NYC street life

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 29 April 2019]

Depressed, but brash and hard-bitten prostitute Dusty (a fine and heartbreaking performance by the gorgeous Laura Cannon) ekes out a meager and squalid existence hustling her wares to slimy guys in Times Square. Dusty moves into a rathole apartment with acid-tongued transvestite Cherry Lane (well played with catty aplomb by Neil Flanagan) and falls in love with nice guy lawyer Bob (a solid and likeable portrayal by 70's hardcore cinema icon Harry Reems).

Writer/director Andy Milligan's stark and unsentimental presentation of the dejected downtrodden characters not only captures a potent and poignant feeling of pure gut-wrenching despair and desperation, but also surprisingly manages to see the sad wounded humanity of these pathetic damaged people. Moreover, the frank and realistic profane dialogue, strong use of grungy urban locations, startling outbursts of sudden brutal violence, the candid treatment of folks with kinky sexual tastes, and the uncompromising downbeat ending all further enhance the overall harsh authenticity. Fred Lincoln of "The Last House on the Left" fame appears in a small role as some rough trade. Milligan's scrappy and unpolished hand-held cinematography gives this picture a bracingly raw intimacy and immediacy. One of Milligan's crowning achievements.

"Friends can be a great deal of work"

[jfgibson73 · 6/10 · 30 July 2021]

I thought this was an entertaining grindhouse relic. It was more of a drama than anything, but the characters made it watchable. The lead actress seems ruthless at first, but eventually shows she can gain our sympathy--she is generous to her friends, and just wants a better life. Her transgender friend gets all the best lines. The men are all lumps of crud (and terrible actors)--except Bob. It's not the most complicated story--it's more of a character piece, but I was never bored by it. I don't know if there are different versions out there, but the print I saw was pretty grainy. Also, some of the camera work could make you motion sick the way it shakes around. But I will recommend it for anyone who can overlook technical flaws to find a trashy gem set in 70's New York.

This is apparently someone's idea of a sick joke . . .

[cricket30 · 5/10 · 20 March 2021]

. . . in screening a chick flick that makes Harry R. look like a Ken Doll. It is akin to showing PSYCHO, CARRIE or PORKY'S without the shower scenes Viewership of FLESHPOT ON 42nd STREET should be limited to geezers who enjoy playing Scrabble without the E's, chess with no queens and stick-less shuffleboard. Trying to watch this butchered travesty is more uncomfortable than riding a bike which is missing its seat. The picture quality makes for the worst garbage available on cable television, and this eyesore has absolutely no redeeming sensual value. People who watch this on purpose are the sort of dupes happy to order sundaes at rogue ice cream stands, knowing that gluttonous servers are sure to slurp off their cherry, whipped cream, nuts, syrup and more than half the ice cream!

Great Performance from Cannon Makes Film

[Michael_Elliott · 27 March 2016]

Fleshpot on 42nd Street (1973)

*** (out of 4)

Dusty Cole (Laura Cannon) is a woman living in New York City where she finds herself broke and in a bad place. She agrees to move in wide drag queen and prostitute Cherry Lane (Neil Flanagan) but soon she too is turning tricks for cash. Before long Dusty meets Bob (Harry Reems) and the two quickly fall in love but Cherry puts pressure on Dusty to do one more trick.

I've seen a little over a dozen Andy Milligan movies and I must admit that I rarely give them more than a half a star. The majority of his movies are BOMB rated so obviously I don't think too much of him as a director. At the same time, I understand the cult following that has built around him over the past decade. With that said, I was completely shocked at how good FLESHPOT ON 42ND STREET was. The story itself isn't anything overly original but I thought the film has a certain rawness that worked in its favor and the film also benefited from a terrific performance by Cannon.

Cannon's filmography is mostly porn titles but I must say that she was excellent in the role of this woman who just wants happiness but finds one bad situation after another. I thought Cannon was extremely believable in the part and she brought a certain tenderness that made you care for the character. Flanagan, a Milligan favorite, is also quite good in the role of the drag queen. The line delivery and the way Flanagan can go from good to bad was performed very well. Reems is also good in his supporting part and look fast for Fred Lincoln of THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT fame.

Milligan does a fine job building up the story and this is certainly the best movie I've seen from him. I thought he did a very good job at making the film seem very realistic as if you were watching real people. There are some great shots of 42nd Street during its exploitation glory days that fans will enjoy. There's a lot of nudity in the film as well as some sexual violence but it just helps the drama of the story.

Sleazy Grindhouse Trash

[jamiemiller-07611 · 6/10 · 7 December 2021]

A homeless young woman hops from bed to bed and friend's apartment to friend's apartment trying to find herself and gets into all sorts of trouble with a variety of shady characters until she meets a guy she really falls for.

Sometimes funny, sometimes shocking, and always unpredictable, Fleshpot on 42nd Street goes further than just about any other low budget exploitation cheapie from the era and includes real sex. Oddly enough, the sex scenes don't deter from the film or stop the film cold and only enhance it.

Neil Flanagan & Andy Milligan make another one

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 4 January 2021]

When Dusty (Diana Lewis aka Laura Cannon) fights with the boyfriend, she steals half his stuff, and moves out. SO much time spent packing up. she steals from another friend, and bumps into drag queen hooker Cherry Lane (Neil Flanagan, who made SEVEN films with director Andy Milligan). Cherry has bad makeup, a bad wig, and a voice like Liberace. they take turns turning tricks. it runs kind of like a cheesy but fun john waters film. the picture quality is terrible, vertical lines running through for the whole film. which may have been added for effect. and some pretty rough cuts to the next scene. and sometimes bad edits within the same scene. keep an eye out for porn star Harry Reems. Dusty picks him up (Bob), and off they go. Reems had just done Deep Throat and a ton of other adult films. so much nudity! cussing, simulated S&M. frequent use of the N word. it's basically soft core porn, which is why Milligan gave up making the campy, soft core stuff when the hardcore stuff was readily available in the NYC theaters. he has an interesting bio here on imdb if you haven't read it. fun, goofy, campy, as long as you know what to expect. Gotta love the Simmons sisters when they sing Good Ship Lollipop. Written and directed by Andy Milligan, king of the goofy, silly sexploitation films. some great scenery of NYC from 1973. it's just silly, gritty fun. a week in the life of Dusty. can she find and keep Mister Right ?

A Gritty/Noir Pretty Woman

[fieldnine · 9/10 · 9 October 2019]

I urge any of you who think all Grindhouse/Sexploitation films are crap with lousy acting, direction, cinematography, story, etc., etc., go to Amazon Prime pay with your credit card the $1.99 fee, and watch the R/NC-17 streaming version of his film that is available. You may not like or approve the subject matter of it but it will be an eye opener to the amount of quality that was achieved on a low budget. Bravo Andy Milligan.

Laura Cannon who played Dusty Cole (in the film credited as Diana Lewis) can act, she is amazingly believable in her role. Make no mistake though she was a porno actress with 30 films credited on IMDb. Her co-stars were Harry Reems (famous for Deep Throat) and Neil Flanagan who I've never heard of before. They both can also act BTW.

street level energy

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 31 October 2020]

Dusty Cole gets pushed by her boyfriend Tony into prostitution. She works her way in the dirty underclass of NYC including her trans friend Cherry Lane. She's taken with suit and tie guy Bob.

It's a rough and dirty little indie in the drug and sex culture of early 70's NYC. It's a real slice of cinema from a place and time. It is strictly amateur hour. Laura Cannon does pretty good acting for a porn actress. This is basically a porn with a real story and that happened sometimes. I really like the trans group and some attempt at realism dialogue. This has the energy of street level performers scaping together material and time for a low budget film.

Oh, Dusty, why'd you have to walk Bob to the ferry?

[evening1 · 8/10 · 25 November 2020]

In one of those improbable path-crossings in life, Dusty, "a girl that's been around," meets office guy Bob, and they click.

She's a streetwalker seemingly one trick away from getting killed. He's a working stiff with too much house on his hands and a "what, me judge?" attitude. On the surface, it looks like it could work.

Laura Cannon excels in a role that's more layered than one might expect from such a low-budget production. In Dusty we meet someone who will do anything for a buck. As the film begins, she's co-habiting with a guy who rapes her every night, then nags her in the morning -- to get a job, clean the house, make him a dinner of franks and beans.

"The minute you bring some money in this house," he says, "I won't lay a hand on you unless you want it." Dusty shows her hatred down at the pawnshop, where she peddles sex to get more for the guy's old TV.

"Let's get it over with," she tells proprietor Sammy, who is also about to get robbed.

Dusty's trans friend Cherry (Neil Flanagan in a priceless performance) brings out a softness in her that we might not suspect is there, as the two cluck and dish over tea.

"Go ahead, Dusty, he's all yours!" says Cherry, as Dusty makes a move on Bob (Harry Reems), a clean-cut guy who stumbles into their hangout as if lost. Soon they're back at his Staten Island spread, and we're amazed to see Dusty begin to let down her guard.

"I don't want you to look too deep," she tells Bob.

"I'm not looking for perfection -- I have too many imperfections to go through life doing that."

"I hustle for a living."

"'So do I. Everybody in this life does."

All of this kindness leaves Cherry a tad jealous: "I'd love to have somebody loving me," she tells Dusty later. "It ain't easy being a freak."

Though it seems that Cherry cares, she prods the smitten Dusty to service a poker game because they need the $150 for rent. A little later it's confirmed that Cherry's just another user, trashing Dusty down at the bar, to cackles from the other prostitutes.

And there's a hint along the way that Bob isn't all that he appears to be, either.

"Comfortable?" he asks Dusty after their first time in bed.

"Yeah, maybe too comfortable."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing."

The scarcely noticeable exchange adds a dose of reality to the goings on, one that is confirmed cruelly on that fateful jaunt to the ferry.

We leave our heroine again walking the streets of seedy Times Square, ground zero in our transactional, predatory world.

God help me, I'm an Andy Milligan fan.

[thomas-korn · 9/10 · 7 March 2021]

Even when Andy's films were presented on the sleazy, rat infested thdaters of 42nd street, he was not that well known. A majority of his body of work is filled with anger in every one of his characters..except this gem. It's still on the cheesy angry typical andy side..but w while lot toned down. Watch it!

Flawed masterpiece'

[gaylordstjames · 10/10 · 28 January 2009]

For all its technical brilliance, not to mention its finely-crafted script, this film is rather stolen by the mesmerizing performance of Joe Powers (aka Richard Towers - known to us all, of course, as Gaylord St. James). It is difficult to pin down quite what makes him such a screen presence, but I do think he is one of the most criminally under-rated actors Hollywood has produced. He just commands the screen with a quiet but charismatic majesty. He has no Oscars - unbelievable.

The rest of the film is a slick, thoughtful meditation on the nature of identity, sexual freedom, and the radical indeterminacy of language. It poses questions about 1970s urban ennui that other films dared not whisper, and its aesthetics - that hazy, kinetic cinematography and beautifully jarring camera-work - put me in mind of a young Godard. But, in the end, Gaylord St. James trumps all this.

Romance

[BandSAboutMovies · 8/10 · 19 August 2023]

Shot with new permits or budget on the very real streets of New York City, Fleshpot on 42nd Street starts with two sex workers, Dusty Cole (Laura Cannon) and Cherry Lane (Neil Flanagan in drag), trying to make it in the world. But it all gets to be too much for Dusty, who quits the nightlife and tries to move on to the straight life with Bob (Harry Reems!). But as you know - or you should - this is an Andy Milligan movie. Things have a way of not working out.

Once Dusty and Bob hook up, this movie moves from a realistic world where two sex workers rob everyone they can to stay alive while being truly honest with one another about it to another where a man comes in and seemingly saves the day but not caring about his lover's past.

Maybe that brief respite from a tough world of fighting to stay alive every day is echoed by how Milligan felt, back from London and still making movies for nothing that hardly anyone would see on the rough streets of NYC. But even 42nd Street was about to change, going from simply dangerous in places to absolutely harrowing in the wake of crack by the end of the decade. And even in 1972, the movies playing there went from just plain old exploitation to full penetration.

If you hear some people discuss the films of Milligan, they're either dismissive or outright mean. I don't know what they're looking for, but unlike his horror work, this feels authentic and true. It's got a downer ending that 1972 Hollywood would have embraced, even if there's no way they ever could have.