Pretty Good

Load of rubbish!!

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

An Exercise In Nonsense

After finding co- Writer/director/cinematography/editor/co-producer auteur Russ Meyer's fake "Mondo" doc Europe In The Raw to be a painfully slow movie to watch,I started to have serious regrets about having picked up a boxset of Meyer's films in the Christmas sales.Thankfully,a few days ago two fellow IMDb'ers started to tell me that I had something very special to look forward to in Meyer's next movie,which lead to me,initially half-heartedly,decide to take a special visit and meet Russ Meyer's Lorna.The plot:Trying to create a romantic mood on the night before their first wedding anniversary,Lorna asks her husband Jim if he can put his study books down,and instead get into bed with her.Putting the book down,Jim gets into bed and starts to tell Lorna about what he is expecting tomorrow to be like,when he goes back to work in the salt mines.Feeling that Jim is completely missing her hints,Lorna pushes him for some romance,which ends up making her feel more depressed then ever,due to the "action" only lasting 5 minutes!!.Waving goodbye to Jim as he sets off to work with two friends,Lorna decides to go for a calming walk in the woods,where she is suddenly grabbed by a stranger who slams her on the ground,and starts to pull her clothes off.Initially shocked with what is taking place,Lorna soon finds herself getting very excited due to the stranger showing her more passion than Jim has done all year.Feeling extremely lustful,Lorna takes the stranger to her house so that they can continue their passions there,whilst,after getting endlessly teased over how he is not having any "sleepless nights" from his two work buddies,Jim decides to finish work early,so that he can give the wife who he deeply loves an anniversary that she will never forget.View on the film:Shooting the film in crisp black & white,Russ Meyer unveils an astonishing new confidence and sense of pace which had only been previously hinted at,in his earlier silent films.Soaking the movie in a deep Film Noir atmosphere,Meyer uses Jim's salt mine workplace to create a feeling that the entire town is based in the middle of an isolated desert,whilst also using a number of well handled,long pov tracking shots to put the viewer right into the quick sand that all of the characters find themselves unwittingly trapped.Teaming up with another writer for the first time since his debut film,co-writer James Griffth (who also composed the movie's great rumbling score and plays the spooky "Man of God") creates a winning partnership with Meyer in striking an excellent balance between sharp Comedy moments,and murky Film Noir.Banned from being seen in the UK from 1965 until 1998,Meyer and James delightfully make almost every single character be entirely unlikeable,from Jim's two workmates attempting to get a girl agree to a "fun time",to Lorna being an icy dame who loves the feel of being near something dangerous and deadly.Whilst Meyer and James do treat,what is initially an assault on Lorna on a non-comedic way,the writers smartly use the ribbing that Jim gets from his work mates to give the movie some fine Comedy moments,whilst also unexpectedly using the comedic scenes as a way to really hit their brilliantly down beat ending at full force.Backed by a rugged performance from Mark Bradley as the stranger and a real "aw shucks" performance from James Rucker,the vivacious and sultry voiced Lorna Maitland gives a splendid performance as Femme Fatale Lorna.Looking beautiful naked against Meyer's B&W cinematography,Maitland shows herself to be far more than just a pretty face,by giving the character a reckless Film Noir edge,that goes from Lorna's eyes being lit up over doing something dangerous,to screaming in shock,as Lorna discovers that living on the wild side of Film Noir does not come without a deep cost.

After spending the first few years of his career on traditional 'nudie cuties', director Russ Meyer made his first foray into 'real' film- making with 1964's Lorna, written by and starring James Griffith. Though his colourful visuals and sense of humour were evident in the likes of The Immoral Mr. Teas (1959) and Eve and the Handyman (1961), these films were still very much confined to being nothing more than a peep show. With Lorna, Meyer resorted to black-and-white photography, but whether this was for budgetary reasons or stylistic choice, I don't know. But the decision to shoot this way gives the film more gravitas, and the attention is moved away from the big-breasts and onto the story and script, giving birth to the auteur that is now so revered.Beginning with the rape of a girl named Ruthie (Althea Currier), the two men responsible, Luther (Hal Hopper) and Jonah (Doc Scortt), travel to work and pick up Jim (James Rucker) on the way. Jim is married to the beautiful Lorna (Lorna Maitland), who is sexually unsatisfied by the nice-guy Jim. Luther proceeds to tease Jim about Lorna at work, while an escaped convict (Mark Bradley) forces himself onto Lorna. Lorna is extremely turned on, and invites the convict back to the house where she feeds and washes him. Clearly, it's not the most complex of plots, but we are in familiar Meyer territory with square-jawed men, put-upon women, and a funky jazz score.One of the most familiar traits of a Meyer film is the narrator. Commonly, the role of the narrator in his films was to play the traditional man, one that obeyed the values and traditions of the 1950's American. The idea of sexual repression was clearly something that amused Meyer, and in Lorna, he employs James Griffith to play 'the Man of God', who is littered throughout the film addressing the audience directly to camera and questioning their moral fibre. He introduces the film, and this leads to one of the best moments in the films. He stands in the middle of a wide desert road, allowing the camera to glide past him and forward into the unknown as the jazz score kicks in. It's a lovely little touch, and a clear indication that this isn't simple another nudie-cutie.This is far from his best work, with Lorna being relatively subdued in comparison to his more wilder visions such as Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965) and especially Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970), and Lorna's pandering to the violent convict may seem rather chauvinistic in comparison to the majority of Meyer's output, where the female was quite often the dominant sex. But this was only the beginning of a now widely- celebrated career, so Meyer was still very much honing his craft. His sense of humour is unmistakable however, and one of the standout scenes has the despicable Luther writing and performing a song about Lorna's adultery to Jonah. It's played out so naturally that the two start to really laugh, making the scene really quite wonderful. It's this kind of playfulness that make Meyer's output such as joy to watch.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

Lorna is an early Russ Meyer film, but features many themes that are common in his later films - sex and violence obviously, but we also have religion, morality and a surrealist element. The film is slightly similar to Russ Meyer's 1965 film Mudhoney in terms of style and plot, and the fact that both films star the buxom Lorna Maitland as well as the sleazy Hal Hopper. Russ Meyer would become famous for completely over the top sex films such as Supervixens and Up. This film is not as over the top as the aforementioned titles; but it's still firmly in Russ Meyer's style and there's plenty for sleaze fans to enjoy. As the title suggests; the film focuses on Lorna, the buxom and beautiful wife of Jim. Lorna is bored because Jim, despite being a nice guy, is not exciting enough for her. He goes to work one day and Lorna happens across an escaped convict, who proceeds to rape her. Excited by this man, Lorna takes him home and falls in love with him. Things come to a head when Jim returns home from work early...It's easy to pass a film like this off as 'trash' and it's certainly not an 'a-class' film; but there's actually a lot more going on here than meets the eye and Lorna has an advantage over later Meyer films in that it actually seems to want to make some points about love and infidelity. Aside from a bit of substance, Meyer has also given the film a good style; the clean black and white picture looks great and the film has a 'pulp fiction' feel to it throughout. The cast is very good too. Of course, the titillating Lorna Maitland is the main standout and she performs well. The film also features Hal Hopper who would also work with Russ Meyer on the later Mudhoney. It's a real shame that they weren't able to make more films together because Hal Hopper really fits Meyer's style and both of his performances for Meyer were excellent. The film flows well throughout and is constantly entertaining, which is definitely a good thing. It all boils down to a good and fitting ending and on the whole, I certainly would not hesitate to recommend Lorna to my fellow Russ Meyer fans!

Lorna Maitland was one of Meyer's rare "finds." Physically stunning but as easily engaged as was the earlier Monroe, one easily fantasizes a personal encounter with her. The river bathing scene, partially obscured by tree branches, makes you her willing voyeur; her eventual passionate response to the convict escapee who rapes her, tells you that you might also have your way with her should you ever somehow meet.I found the violence in the film to be gratuitous albeit realistic and disturbing; as in Cherry, Harry, and Raquel, a later Meyer (color) film, the viewer is torn from (his) fantasy of passion and plunged into anger and terror. Why Meyer felt he had to mix the two escapes me, but therefore, his films are doubly memorable; along with the river scene, the shotgun blast from under the hood of the old car is equally etched.Lorna Maitland, like Roberta Pedon of another genre, had a short stay in the limelight; with their early passing, they share a unique, cult-like icon status.