SECRET MOVIE CLUB presents
Part of our TAKE A CHANCE CINEMA Series, Saturday, July 11, 2023
LOCATION: The Secret Movie Club Theater, 1917 Bay Street, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90021
*Please note entrance/parking is actually in the back of the 1917 Bay St building. Our entrance is NOT on Bay Street. You access our entrance from Wilson Street by turning into the street art alleyway/corridor in the back of the building. Look for our signs which are always posted on Wilson and in the corridor to guide the audience.
7:30pm FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL! (1965, dir. Russ Meyer, RM Films International, USA, 83mns, 35mm - Print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive)
9:20pm BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS (1970, dir. Russ Meyer, Fox, USA, 107mns, 35mm - Print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive)
SPECIAL NOTE: Tonight’s double header is NC-17. No one under 17 will be allowed to attend.
YES! That’s right. We're finally getting to two of Russ Meyer’s greatest movies. On 35mm!
Russ Meyer is one of those moviemakers whose work is almost impossible to adequately describe. Exploitational, sensational, pulpy, hilarious, genius edited, obsessed with well endowed women who chew up stupid men (and almost all the men in Meyer movies are morons) and spit them out like bubble gum.
Russ Meyer makes movies like a forever horny World War II vet American male with a subversive sense of humor and absolutely no time for bullsh*t or conventional storytelling. Which is what he was.
First up is Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! Which of course from its title you know to be about three adrenaline junkie go-go dancers-Billie, Rosie, and Varla-who seduce, terrorize, fight an old man and his apparently dim-witted son in the Californian desert in the hopes of finding where some money is stashed.
This movie is crazier than even that sounds. Powered by Tura Santana’s force of nature (literally she feels like either a Hindu God or the personification of a wind storm) lead performance and Russ Meyer’s absolutely gonzo no sh@ts to give where is this going style of storytelling, Faster, Pussycat will blow your mind, even if you’ve already seen it. One of the greatest exploitation movies ever made. And we screen it on 35mm!
We follow that with this programmer’s personal favorite Russ Meyer movie, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. When the studios noticed that Meyer’s movies cost very little and made tons of money, they decided to embrace the new sexual freedom and gave Meyer carte blanche to make an NC-17 musical. Written by a young Roger Ebert (!), Beyond the Valley of the Dolls follows the innocent and carefree all-women rock group The Carrie Nations as they come to Hollywood and get seduced by the late 1960’s sex, drugs, and rock and roll lifestyle, most personified by Mephistopheles like music producer Z-Man!
Ebert actually writes parts of the movie in Shakespearean verse, the music is totally singable, and there are healthy helpings of vigorous nudity and sex throughout. Meyer left it all on the field in this one. His near Eisensteinian like editing talent reaches pinnacles of brilliance that even the likes of Martin Scorsese have praised ever since.
Add to that a surprisingly progressive attitude towards gender, race, and class and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls becomes the absolute best bat-sh*t crazy movie ever made IN or OUT of the Hollywood system.
For Pete’s sake one character tries to commit suicide then becomes paraplegic then miraculously gains the ability to walk again. In less than 2 hours. And that’s one of the tamer storylines.
This movie is the gift that keeps on giving. So join us for two of Meyer’s best. On 35mm. And be born again in the church of crazy cinema.
Best always,
Craig Hammill
Secret Movie Club Founder.Programmer
*Please note that though we strive to always show titles on 35mm film if advertised, we may have to screen digitally if the print we receive is in such bad shape or if we don't receive the print in time because of a shipping delay. We will do our best to alert the audience. When this does occur, we will offer each ticket holder who chooses not to attend a complimentary ticket to a future event in exchange. (Disclaimer: Good for 90 days – Future screening must have available tickets, cannot be a fundraiser, and must be comparably priced)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
REFUNDS:
We can offer refunds up to 24 hours before showtime. Please request a refund through Eventbrite and we will process ASAP. After that, no refunds. Sorry.
However if something last minute comes up and you can’t make the screening, for whatever reason, just write to us before showtime: community@secretmovieclub.com and we’ll offer you complimentary tickets to a future screening, good for 90 days. (Disclaimer: Future screening must have available tickets, cannot be a fundraiser, and must be comparably priced)
HELPFUL SECRET MOVIE CLUB (1917 Bay Street, 2nd Floor, LA, CA 90021) THEATER PARKING TIPS:
We recommend that you park just outside our theater. Remember our theater is actually in a beautiful street art alleyway in the back of the 1917 Bay Street building. You get to our entrance by taking a right on Wilson, then a right behind the building. We are the first set of black steps on the right after the big gate.
There is also a parking lot at the corner of Mateo and Violet Street, just 2 blocks from our theater, which costs $7 per car.
HOW CAN WE STAY ON TOP OF NEWLY ANNOUNCED 35MM SCREENINGS, EVENTS, ETC?
You can follow us on Instagram/Twitter: @secretmovieclub or Facebook: @secretmovieclub35mm
You can also subscribe to our weekly email newsletter at secretmovieclub.com or by writing to us at community@secretmovieclub.com and using the header “SUBSCRIBE ME TO NEWSLETTER”.
HOW CAN I CONTACT YOU IF I HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS:
You can always email us at community@secretmovieclub.com with any other questions, concerns, thoughts, recommendations.