Review of Mondo Topless (Russ Meyer)

Introduction

Russ Meyer could well be described as the ultimate `auteur`. Generally he wrote the screenplays to his pictures, directed, produced, filmed and edited them himself - creating a singular (can that word be applied to the man?) and immediately recognisable world of his own making.

As a cinematographer he was without doubt extremely gifted. As a cameraman on the front-line during WWII he literally learnt his craft in combat conditions and he applied it magnificently to his movies from the outset.
Low angle shots taking in the beautifully blue California sunshine leave his subjects perfectly exposed too (in every sense of the word) which is no easy-trick - but this and other techniques are all mastered by this king of B-movie titillation.

Having married a `nudie cutie` at an early age, film was the medium that he chose to document his own pre-occupation with well-endowed ladies and his `Mondo Topless` (1966) is archetypal Meyer in this respect.

It`s a crazy, hoppin` documentary` tribute to a fad of the moment - topless Go-Go dancing set to the twanging beats of the day. (Yeah Baby Yeah!).

It opens with a topless taxi driver making her way through San Francisco and, apart from the quick-cut montage style editing back to the driver, it`s a fairly good tour of the city circa `66 that`s fun to watch in its own right.

The deep-voiced narration is a clear parody of real documentaries of the day and is full of hilarious double entendres. "San Francisco, situated on precipitous peaks above yawning canyons, precariously perched and poised on the tip of a peninsula. San Francisco thrusts itself into the bosom of the Pacific."

This 60-minute movie is curiously devoid of plot or narrative structure. Whilst there`s some inane voice-over from its many models (`Go Go dancing is entirely different from exotic dancing etc`), this movie is really nothing more than Meyer indulging his passion for large-breasted ladies dancing frenetically in a series of unlikely locales. (By train tracks, in the mud, on an oilrig and so on). Sequences are all linked with the use of transistor radio close-ups which do provide a strange kind of continuity which glues the varied pieces into a whole.

This was the all-colour follow up to his classic black-and-white b-movie FASTER PUSSYCAT, KILL! KILL! though there is nothing here in the way of the moralising content of that movie. This is just a straightforward reflection of the increased sexual liberation of the period that allowed topless go-go clubs to spring up across the US.

Some 15 models, many with nature-defying swellings, jiggle, wiggle, bounce and shake to crazy go-go music of the period. The narrator uses words like "buxotic" and "cantilevered" by way of excitable commentary.
"Fantastic women, fantastic dances, featuring the world`s loveliest buxotics. You`ve only dreamed there were women like these--until now! But they`re real! Unbelievably real in Mondo Topless!"

To fill out the movie and give it an international flavour, Russ Meyer took some footage from his own short, Europe in the Raw. So about halfway through the movie, apropos nothing, we suddenly get transported to the Moulin Rouge in Belgium, then the Casino du Paris in Hamburg, the Atlantic Palace in Copenhagen, and the Crazy Horse Saloon in Paris.

He also features the star of `Lorna`, and uses clips previously enjoyed in that black and white movie, but it doesn`t seem to matter. This is just one wild montage - there`s no light or shade. Meyer`s excitable editing is a blur and you`re never on a shot for long. He inter-cuts close-ups of reel-to reel recorders, VU meters, transistor radios along with close-ups of faces, breasts and on-lookers.

Video

This has that wonderful saturated-colour `filmic` look of the period (was this 16mm?), and the condition of the print used here is `fair` with one or two traces of specking and sparkles. Nothing to ruin your overall enjoyment though.

Audio

This is a little `toppy` (no pun intended) and occasionally sounds peaky too, though it does lend the movie a certain `drive-in` air. All perfectly in keeping with the spirit of the thing! The audio on the Jonathan Ross interview is fine.

Features

This includes a photo-gallery, a whole bunch of titillating Russ Meyer movie trailers (that are a lot of fun), and the Jonathan Ross interview from the late `80`s from his `Incredibly Strange Picture Show` which sees Ross make his way over to Hollywood to meet the man in person. It`s a candid and informative interview, peppered with samples from Meyer`s work.

Conclusion

`Mondo Topless` may not be Meyer`s finest hour, but it has many of the ingredients that make his work so popular (in a post-modern `knowing` kind-of-a-way). In-between the many shots of bouncing breasts and gyrating hips, there lurks his wicked sense of humour, bubbling just beneath the surface.

There`s no plot, no moral tale, no quirky characters and no surreal, larger than life soap opera style histrionics. This is just the gals. And the rock `n roll. And no less enjoyable for that!

Also included is the much sought after interview and showcase with Russ Meyer from Jonathan Ross`s eighties show `The Incredibly Strange Picture Show` that show them both thoroughly enjoying each other`s company as they trawl through clips from the entire Meyer archive.

For Meyer fans - a must.