Customer Reviews

Women in Revolt [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Paul Morrissey is known for directing for Andy Warhol a trilogy of films starring male sex icon Joe Dallesandro ("Flesh", "Trash", "Heat"). Morrissey took a break in-between "Trash" and "Heat" and directed "Women in Revolt", a showcase for the three drag queen Superstars of Warhol's Factory: Candy Darling, Jackie Curtis, and Holly Woodlawn. Darling is a willowy blonde with a breathless voice; Curtis is a sassy brunette straight from the Bronx; and Woodlawn is an outrageous raven-haired vixen almost nominated for an Oscar the year before for "Trash". Of the three, Woodlawn unfortunately gets the least screen time, a shame given the heavy amount of talent she displayed in "Trash". But Darling and Curtis get a chance to steal the show after pairing up together in "Flesh" three years earlier. The storyline stems from the feminist movement of the 1970's: Candy, Jackie, and Holly are PIGs (Politically Involved Girls) who demand equality from their men and turn to lesbianism when they don't receive it. We witness their trials, tribulations, and eventual downfall by the time the movie has finished. Some viewers will see the end results of the feminist movement as pessimistic (women can't get along without men) or optimistic (women will continue to struggle on). Morrissey's trade-mark in-and-out focus camera stylings work well with the unbelievable plotline and performances by the leads. Warhol veterans such as Jane Forth, Geri Miller, Maurice Braddell, Betty Blue, and Penny Arcade unfortunately do not match their previous Morrissey appearances and add little or nothing to the proceedings. But Jackie, Candy, and Holly are the stars of the show and are great. Jackie Curtis is my favorite of all three characters, even though her previous appearance in "Flesh" left a lot to be desired. She delivers the funniest lines and is a quite believable actress. Unfortunately, both Jackie Curtis and Candy Darling passed away at an early age (from a drug overdose and leukemia, respectively). I really shouldn't pick a favorite because all three actresses have their own highlighted scenes and provide a break from Joe Dallesandro. Recommended to those new to Paul Morrissey and anyone interested in other (often better) drag queens than Divine and RuPaul.

Paul Morrisey's Women in Revolt, while a satire of Women's Liberation in the early 1970s, is really an homage to classic movie cinema of the 1930s, 40s, and 60s. In it, Morrisey alludes to the popular "woman's picture" or, "weepies" of those eras by presenting us with the story of three career girls -- a set up that is most reminiscent of How to Marry a Millionare.
Candy, the beautiful and more aloof one of the trio, has her head in the clouds and aspires to become an actress. It is Candy who makes allusions to old time movies and stars by quoting such campy lines such as "I want to live" from Susan Hayward's movie, and the above. Her scene when she auditions for the movie agent is so reminscent of Lana Turner's audition with the agent in Imitation of Life (the set is so similar, right down to the swinging door!)
In real life, Candy Darling was obsessed with old movies and old movie stars. Her mother was a big fan of them and Candy used to entertain her by impersonating Joan Crawford or Garbo and dressing in drag. Candy is also the more convincing woman when compares to Jackie Curtis.
Curtis, a school teacher and a repressed lesbian, is also fighting for women's rights. But she, too, is a character grouneded in cinema. A "working woman" or "career girl," she is single, beautiful, and a survivor. But Jackie's character is annoying: she gets upset at her houseboy for no apparent reasons and is very cruel to him, at one time throwing matches at his naked body. Still, Curtis is a fantastic performer to watch. He is so alive and funny, having starred and written many off broadway plays. It is ineresting to note that the only reason Curtis started dressing in drag was because he wanted to become a star and knew that Andy Warhol was intrigues by transvestites. Holly Woodlawn, however, just knew how to lie.
When he was preparing to shoot Trash, Morrisey says that he cast Holly without even meeting her. Having read a story in a magazine in which Woodlwan described herself as a Warhol Superstar (without officially being one), he was curious and cast the talented Woodlawn. Unlike her perfomance in Trash, which was brilliant and funny, Woodlwan is reduced to a supporting role that leaves her with less screen time. In her memoir, Woodlawn wrote that she felt intimidated by Darling and Curtis who just dominated every scene and thus she handed the movie over to them. This is a shame because I was really impressed by Holly's acting in Trash and in this movie, she plays a kept women who simply screams and has sex with many men.
Overall, Paul Morrisey's Women in Revolt is a gem. If you like old movies and obscure cult films, you might be able to recognize the allusions to old Hollywood in the film. If not, that is okay too because this is really a good movie. It is funny, interesting, and good.
My only regret is that Image Video does not issue a commentary for this film. There are so many stories on the making of and background of this movie. I would love to have insight into the actress' private life. Someone at Image should hurry up and get Holly Woodlawn (the only surving actress of the trio) and Paul Morrisey's commentary on this important film! The same should be done with Trash because all three of the main characters are still alive.
Still, a good movie to add to your cult collection.

It amazes me how a 30 year old movie can still shock you. Drag Queens making out with "straight" guys? way ahead of its time.
the movie is hilarious and dark at the same time. Candy Darling looks flawless, Holly Woodlawn looks scary and Jackie Curtis is just a mess.DP work is a bit mediocre ( thanks to the mastermind of this project: Warhol himself) and editing could be better. Seeing Holly Woodlawn molesting beautiful Jane Forth is priceless though!
Overall a movie about an era and a scene long gone but very much missed....

This was surprisingly good. I had heard about this film for many years, but finally decided to get it now that I own a DVD player.Any film that can keep my interest for more than five minutes (unlike "Star Wars") is a decent film, and this movie got more and more interesting as it went. The print on this DVD is good, Marty Kove is another reason to get this (full frontal nudity), and the final scene in the movie is classic. Get it.

In addition to his own paintings and prints, Warhol's "factory" ground out musical and cinematic dabblings. On rare occasions these were successful, with The Velvet Underground a case in point; on most other occasions, however, the results were uninspired. The 1971 WOMEN IN REVOLT has a interesting idea, but unfortunately both style and substance fall flat face down long before its 97 minute run time comes to an end.

Warhol attracted extreme personalities, and the interesting idea behind WOMEN IN REVOLT was to take three of the most extreme--Jackie Curtis, Candy Darling, and Holly Woodlawn--and feature them in a movie about the emerging women's liberation movement. The upshot, of course, is a movie about the women's movement that doesn't star any women, for Curtis, Darling, and Woodlawn were cutting edge drag queens of their day.

Although it is difficult to say that the film was "directed" in any actual way, the director's credit goes to Paul Morrissey, who would do quite a few similar films for Warhol, movies in which the actors generally improvised lines from a plot they or others had developed. If you think that means that WOMEN IN REVOLT doesn't have a director, script, or story--well, you'd be absolutely right. Jackie Curtis is the "pushy broad" of the three, and she thinks she may be a lesbian; Candy Darling is the rich pretty girl who wants a crack at fame and fortune on the silver screen and who doesn't want to become involved in this whole feminist thing; and Holly Woodlawn is the nympho from hell who keeps saying that she's lesbian but who also keeps a space between her legs for the various men that come her way. Of the three, Curtis is perhaps the most memorable, but only because she is the most overbearing; Darling and Woodlawn aren't quite as dire, but then they aren't quite as obnoxious, either.

It is difficult to evaluate a film like WOMEN IN REVEOLT for the simple reason that nobody had done anything like it before it came out--and few have done anything like it since. I personally found it interesting for about ten minutes; it thereafter became very repetitive, unfunny, ungrounded, unshocking, and tiresome. Warhol might turn over in his grave when I say it, but the simple truth is that the unintentionally bad--and three years earlier--film VALLEY OF THE DOLLS does much the same plot... and quite a bit better and with considerable panache.

Sorry, girls.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

The world has gone around to many times to keep this one on the shelf.The movie is so funny and a feminist classic about the low life getting together to make it rich life.The movie makes me sick it is so funny.Jane Forth... makes a part as a foot rubber.Jackie,Candy and Holly start a womens liberation group against men....

This is such a miserable mess. And I really wanted to like it since I regularly watch the other Paul Morrisey flicks like "Trash," "Heat" and "Flesh." About the only fascinating angle to this jumbled work is to see it as a snapshot of a vanished era when Candy Darling and Jackie Curtis and all the others are frozen on film at their peaks. If John Waters had taken control of this movie, it would have become a genuine underground classic that you could enjoy even today--like Water's "Mondo Trasho" and of course, "Pink Flamingos." But no one appears to know anything about camera angles, or editing, or script writing. I know, I know, some find this the charm of Morrisey's work with Warhol's gang--their ad libbing and their natural qualities. In some scenes, you see the elbows of others on the set but the camera never shows them. Towards the end, you see Holly Woodlawn stumbling along the Bowery as an alcoholic. In last week's, NY Post, Page Six noted that Woodlawn was in an alcoholic coma, a tragic turn-of-event for one of the Warhol gang's most likeable personalities.

Come down off my trapeze and get into the sawdust? That's just Circus talk!!"

- Candy Darling

Movies like this are why retailers NEED tight return policies on videos. _Women in Revolt_ is a complete waste of time and money. I would put the copy I purchased up for sale, but I don't need any bad karma comin' round to bite me in the a** for pawning off this junk on some poor, unsuspecting soul.

Maybe this is some kind of an "artsy" trademark of Warhol/Morrissey films, but it seems to me that all of the actors (and probably the director & cameraman, too) had gotten high and were ad-libbing the entire "script." I generally enjoy underground cinema, but seriously, the dialog in this movie reminded me of a bunch of pre-school aged children acting out some naughty little play. (However, I've gotta admit it was refreshing to see most all of the gratuitous full frontal nudity being displayed by men for a change. So if you're into pre-op transsexuals and nekkid men, I guess this movie wouldn't be such a bad deal for ya.)

As a big fan of Paul Morrissey's great movies "Flesh for Frankenstein" and "Blood for Dracula", I couldn't believe how worse "Trash" is compared to them. "Women in revolt" is even more terrible than "Trash". The bad plot and the poor acting are giving me stomach cramps. this movie is a complete waste of precious time! So avoid it immediately!