While we've been down, Russ Meyer passed. I know that many who knew him considered him one gruff SOB. But I interviewed him on two occasions and, although not Mr. Warmth, he gave me great interviews, wonderful stories and none of the typical bull. And for that reason, I'll miss him very much.

Goodbye Russ, I hope the angels are nice and busty. Now that would really be heavenly.

When I first learned that RM had died, I wanted so badly to discuss him in the only place I knew I'd find a gang of people with any idea of what he could have meant to me. Still, I knew you guys were out there, many of you probably thinking the same thing.

Also new are the Japanese box sets of RM's films. I'm itching to know how good these sets are. If there is any censorship whatsoever in them I'm not interested, but some of those titles are wanting very badly to be on my dvd shelf. Anyone seen any of them?

-Dean

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Meyer at a CES many years ago. I came bearing greetings from a minor newspaper film critic (a colleague at the time) who was one of the few to recognize Meyer's distinctive style in the 1960/70s when most newspapers wouldn't even carry ads for his films.

When he found out I was a friend of this critic's, he made me sit down and chat for 15-20 minutes. I didn't find him gruff at all. He was warm, friendly and very accessible.

I've been on a bit of Meyer binge since his death. He's somebody I would normally take a look at once or twice a year, but I've found myself viewing three films in the time since his death; FASTER PUSSYCAT KILL, KILL (it just keeps getting better with each viewing), BENEATH THE VALLEY OF THE ULTRA VIXENS, and MONDO TOPLESS.

Is there any speculation out there about the fate of RM Films now that he's passed on?

Good night, Russ.

I was thinking the same thing as you guys. When I heard Russ had died, the first thing I did was to head for Mobius to discuss it, and I was kinda bummed to find the board was down. I couldn't even find an obit in my local paper, though there are some online mentions of his passing.

I've talked to Russ a couple times over the years. He may have been forward or outspoken, but I don't know if I'd call him a "gruff SOB." I talked to him on the phone once and asked him about his tapes. He mentioned the "six for $240" deal he had going, and that it was a good buy, and that I should go for it. (Russ was trying to sell me!) It may seem a bit odd, but not when you think about it, as he's always worked independently and done everything himself, except for his two films at Fox. He even used to run his booth by himself at the annual VSDA shows in Vegas.

The news about Russ made me think of one of my favorite quotes about him. Roger Ebert said years ago that, when this day finally came, Russ wanted his tombstone to read:

"More than anyone else in his time, Russ Meyer was responsible for the decay of values in American society."
--Charles Keating, Head of Citizens for Decent Literature
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"I was glad to do it."
--Russ

I was also very sorry to hear about Meyer's passing - as a teenager, I loved his films more for the women in them than the films themselves. As an adult, I love them more for the humour and editing!

Here in the UK, Channel 5 showed an hour long documentary/obituary about Meyer and his films a couple of weeks ago. It was surprisingly good, featuring interviews with Tura Satana (now very large all over!) and Kitten Natividad, comments from various film industry people, like the always interesting John Landis, and excerpts from his films, including a couple of brief scenes cut from UK releases. The most interesting sections concerned Meyer's early work as an army photographer and fascinating clips from/anecdotes about his abortive Sex Pistols film. My only complaint was that an interview with Uschi Digard would have been fantastic.