Raquel Welch on MYRA BRECKINRIDGE
March 8th, 2008 by Andre Soares
In Time Out New York, Melissa Anderson chats with Raquel Welch about the making of the epic 1970 disaster Myra Breckinridge, based on a Gore Vidal novel, starring Welch, Rex Reed, John Huston, and Mae West, and directed by former pop singer and film critic Michael Sarne.
A brief excerpt, in which Welch discusses West (right), who at the time of filming was 77 years old:
"I found her surreal. Here was this star from the ’30s who had this unbelievably different way of doing things. Now she’s doing this movie in 1969/70, and she’s never made a color movie before in her life.
"I wouldn’t want to undertake that at 77. I thought, She’s got a lot of chutzpah and she’s completely bonkers. Mae was one of those people I always felt had a distinctly masculine vibration about her.
"I have often ventured the opinion that she was a man in drag. [Laughs]"
***
I recall reading that Loretta Young sued 20th Century-Fox in order to have film clips in which she appeared removed from the release print of Myra Breckinridge — which is peppered with old-movie bits — for those were interspersed with scenes of, if I remember correctly, masturbation. Who was masturbating whom, I don’t know, but in any case, if I’m not misremembering anything, Young won her suit and the clips were taken out.
Michael Sarne, by the way, is the director of Joanna (1968), a Swinging London tale starring Geneviève Waïte that was well-received in some quarters. His directorial career, however, never recovered from the Myra Breckinridge debacle. As an actor, he could be recently spotted in David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises.
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2 Responses to “Raquel Welch on MYRA BRECKINRIDGE”
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I hope that’s available on DVD. The film sounds like a hoot. And I can always fast forward through the Rex Reed bits.
“Myra Breckenridge” is available on DVD. And yes, you are allowed to fast forward through the Rex Reed scenes.