Chastity | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Alessio de Paola |
Written by | Sonny Bono |
Produced by | Sonny Bono |
Starring | Cher Barbara London Stephen Whittaker |
Cinematography | Ben Colman |
Edited by | Hugo Grimaldi |
Music by | Sonny Bono |
Production company | Progress Motion Pictures |
Distributed by | American International Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 83 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Chastity is a 1969 American romantic drama film directed by Alessio de Paola and starring American singer-actress Cher, in her first film role without her then-husband Sonny Bono. [1] [2] Written and produced by Sonny Bono, as a star vehicle for her, it flopped badly and deterred her from acting in films for more than a decade. [3] [4] [5]
Chastity (Cher) is a young hippie runaway who drifts and hitchhikes aimlessly, reflecting on life and love. She survives by her wits, engaging in occasional scams (such as pretending to be a gas station attendant and keeping customers' payments) and accepting offers of rides, food, and lodging from men she meets, but firmly and coldly rejecting any sexual advances that come with these offers. Sometimes she is childlike, other times she is angry or destructive for seemingly no reason. She chose the name "Chastity" for herself from the dictionary because it meant "abstinence, purity, freedom from ornamentation, simplicity."
Chastity meets a law student named Eddie (Stephen Whittaker) who is kind to her, and briefly stays with him at his house. Next she crosses the border into Mexico and ends up in a brothel run by lesbian madam Diana Midnight (Barbara London). After Chastity rips off an inexperienced young male customer, Diana takes a personal interest in her and the two begin a brief romantic relationship. At first, Chastity seems happy with Diana, despite Chastity's expressed hatred of being touched. But Chastity soon becomes angry with Diana, leaves, and returns to Eddie, whom she renames "Andre."
Eddie and Chastity live together for a short time and Chastity seems to finally be settled in a traditional relationship. But while Eddie is out, Chastity begins to hear in her head the voices of her parents talking about how she was sexually abused when she was younger (providing the motivation for Chastity's behavior). Crying and traumatized, Chastity overturns the dining-room table, writes "I think I love you" on Eddie's kitchen wall, and runs away again, heading for the highway. A truck driver pulls up to offer her a lift, but Chastity hesitates about getting in. The film ends without showing whether she accepts the ride.
By 1968, the duo of Sonny & Cher were losing popularity, partly because young people disagreed with the duo's anti-drug stance and associated them and their music with an older, more conservative generation. The film Chastity was planned to reconnect with the younger audience, make Cher a major movie star, and establish Sonny in the film business. Sonny stated that the film was about "the increase in frigidity and the increase in lesbianism...the lack of manhood. The independence women have acquired but don't necessarily want. So many young girls are just spinning their wheels." [3] [4]
The Bonos invested $500,000 of their own money into the film, even pawning the furniture from their Bel Air mansion to raise funds. When Chastity failed at the box office, the couple lost their investment and ended up owing the U.S. government $270,000 in taxes. Although the movie overall received poor notices, Cher did receive some positive reviews for her acting. [2] [3] [4]
A soundtrack to the film was also released, consisting almost entirely of instrumentals except for one song sung by Cher and produced by Sonny, "Chastity's Song (Band of Thieves)" which was also released as a single. The single and soundtrack LP were also commercial failures, and contributed to ATCO Records' decision that Cher work with a different producer on her next solo album, 3614 Jackson Highway . [3] [4]
Filmed in the city of Phoenix, Arizona in the latter half of 1968, locations in the city still exist over 50 years later. Early in the film, 'Chastity' is hit on by a man in a car, in front of "Macayo's," a Mexican-food establishment. Another scene has her leaving St. Mary's, a church in the downtown area. Outdoor scenes for Mexico were filmed in Phoenix's Encanto Park; in another scene she walks along 35th Avenue and in the distance is Camelback Mountain, which today cannot be seen from this locale.
Sonny and Cher conceived their child Chaz Bono during the making of the film. [4] [6]
Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono was an American singer, songwriter, actor, and politician. In partnership with his second wife, Cher, he formed the singing duo Sonny & Cher. A member of the Republican Party, Bono served as the 16th mayor of Palm Springs, California, from 1988 to 1992, and served as the U.S. representative for California's 44th district from 1995 until his death in 1998.
Chaz Salvatore Bono is an American writer, musician and actor. His parents are entertainers Sonny Bono and Cher, and he became widely known in appearances as a child on their television show, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.
Cher is an American singer, actress, and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female autonomy in a male-dominated industry. She is known for her distinctive contralto singing voice, for having worked in numerous areas of entertainment and for adopting a variety of styles and appearances. Cher rose to fame in 1965 as one half of the folk rock husband-wife duo Sonny & Cher before releasing her first solo top-ten singles "Bang Bang " and "You Better Sit Down Kids". Throughout the 1970s, she scored the US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves", "Half-Breed", and "Dark Lady", becoming the female solo artist with the most number-one singles in US history at the time.
Darling is a 1965 British romantic drama film directed by John Schlesinger from a screenplay written by Frederic Raphael. It stars Julie Christie as Diana Scott, a young successful model and actress in Swinging London, toying with the affections of two older men, played by Dirk Bogarde and Laurence Harvey. The film was shot on location in London, Paris and Rome and at Shepperton Studios by cinematographer Kenneth Higgins, with a musical score composed by Sir John Dankworth.
Sonny & Cher were an American pop and entertainment duo in the 1960s and 1970s, made up of spouses Sonny Bono and Cher. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spector.
The Fast and the Furious is a 1954 American crime drama B movie starring John Ireland and Dorothy Malone, co-directed by Ireland and Edward Sampson.
The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour is an American variety show that starred American pop singers Sonny Bono and Cher, who were married to each other at the time. The show ran on CBS in the United States, and premiered in August 1971. The show was cancelled in May 1974, due to the couple's divorce, but the duo reunited in 1976 for the similarly formatted The Sonny & Cher Show, which ran for two seasons, ending August 29, 1977.
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The Electric Horseman is a 1979 American western comedy-drama film starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda and directed by Sydney Pollack. The film is about a former rodeo champion who is hired by a cereal company to become its spokesperson and then runs away on a $12 million electric-lit horse and costume he is given to promote it in Las Vegas after he finds that the horse has been abused.
All I Really Want to Do is the debut solo studio album by American singer-actress Cher and was released on August 16, 1965, by Imperial Records. The album was produced for Cher by her then husband and singing partner, Sonny Bono, with contributions from arranger Harold Battiste. The album is by-and-large a collection of cover versions but does contain three songs written by Bono. In 1992, All I Really Want to Do and Cher's follow-up solo album, The Sonny Side of Chér, were reissued on one CD by EMI Records. Later, in 1995, EMI released a collection titled The Originals, which included All I Really Want to Do, The Sonny Side of Chér, and Cher's third solo album, Chér. The album was again reissued on one CD with The Sonny Side of Chér by BGO Records in 2005 in the UK only. The original twelve track All I Really Want to Do album has never been issued on Compact Disc on its own. Upon its release, the album was well received by critics and garnered positive reviews.
Good Times is a 1967 American Western musical comedy film directed by William Friedkin in his feature directorial debut, starring Sonny & Cher. The film also co-stars George Sanders, Norman Alden, Larry Duran, Kelly Thordsen, and Lennie Weinrib.
Throughout her acting career, Cher has mainly starred in comedy, drama, and romance films. She has appeared in eighteen films, including two as a cameo. She has also appeared in one starring theater role, one video game role, numerous television commercials and directed a piece of the motion picture If These Walls Could Talk in 1996 and some of her music videos of the Geffen-era in late 1980s and in early 1990s. Cher has starred in various international television commercials, as well as high-profile print advertising for Lori Davis (1992). Before she started her film career, she had a couple of hits in the 1960s, as a solo artist, and with her ex-husband Sonny Bono as the couple Sonny & Cher.
"Baby Don't Go" is a song written by Sonny Bono and recorded by Sonny & Cher. It was first released on Reprise Records in 1964 and was a minor regional hit. Subsequently, following the duo's big success with "I Got You Babe" in the summer of 1965, "Baby Don't Go" was re-released by Reprise later that year and became another huge hit for Sonny & Cher, reaching the top ten in the U.S. and doing well in the UK and elsewhere, going as far as reaching number one in Canada.
Chastity is the first soundtrack album featuring American singer-actress Cher, released on June 1969 by Atco. It was released to promote and accompany the 1969 motion picture, Chastity. The album, like the film from which it came, was a commercial failure.
The Sonny & Cher dolls were a collection of 12-¼ inch high celebrity doll likenesses of pop rock duo Sonny & Cher. The line was released by Mego Corporation in 1976. The release of these fashion dolls coincided with the popularity of The Sonny & Cher Show prime time variety TV show.
Wild on the Beach is a 1965 beach party film directed by Maury Dexter and starring Frankie Randall, Sherry Jackson, Gayle Caldwell, and Jackie Miller. It is notable for the musical acts showcased onscreen, being the film debut of Sonny & Cher in particular. It is one of the few films in the genre to be filmed in black and white.
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Captain Eddie is a 1945 American drama film directed by Lloyd Bacon, based on Seven Were Saved by "Eddie" Rickenbacker and Lt. James Whittaker's We Thought We Heard the Angels Sing. The film stars Fred MacMurray, Lynn Bari and Charles Bickford. Captain Eddie is a "biopic" of Rickenbacker, from his experiences as a flying ace during World War I to his later involvement as a pioneering figure in civil aviation, and his iconic status as a business leader who was often at odds with labour unions and the government.
The Killing of Sister George is a 1968 American film directed by Robert Aldrich and filmed at his Aldrich Studios in Los Angeles. It is based on the 1964 play by British playwright Frank Marcus. In the film, an ageing lesbian television actress, June "George" Buckridge, simultaneously faces the loss of her popular television role and the breakdown of her long-term relationship with a younger woman. Although Marcus's play was a black comedy, the film version was marketed as a "shocking drama"; it added explicit lesbian content that was not in the original play, and was presented as a serious treatment of lesbianism.
Chastity is a feminine given name meaning chastity, referring to the virtue of exercising self-control over one's sexual behavior, which might mean practicing celibacy for a person who is unmarried, or monogamy for a person who is married. The name comes from the Late Latin word castitas. According to some sources, it was one of many virtue names in use by Puritans in the Colonial United States. The name increased in usage in the United States in the early 1970s after it was used by Sonny Bono and Cher for their child Chaz Bono, who was originally named Chastity Bono, in 1969. Chasity is a modern variant. However, other sources state that the name was not actually in use by the Puritans. Cher portrayed a character called Chastity in the 1969 film Chastity that was released the same year Cher named her child. Other modern spelling variants and name variants in use include Chasidy, Chassidy, Chassiti, Chassity, Chastady, Chastidy, Chastitea, Chastitee, Chastitey, Chastiti, and Chastitie. Some other variations of the name in use in the United States during the 19th century were Chassie, Chasta, Chasteen, Chastin, Chastina, Chastine, and Chasty. Some sources note that a girl named Chastity might not resemble the meaning of the name.