| Fly Me | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Cirio H. Santiago |
| Produced by | Roger Corman |
| Starring |
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| Distributed by | New World Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 72.25 minutes |
Fly Me is a 1973 exploitation film directed by Cirio H. Santiago and produced by Roger Corman. The story concerns flight attendants, international drug smuggling, kung fu, and nudity. It was poorly received by critics.
Toby, Andrea, and Sherry are stewardesses working a flight from Los Angeles to Hong Kong. [1]
Toby was surprised on the flight by her "typically overbearing Italian mother", and is trying to ditch her in Hong Kong to instead spend time with David (a young doctor). Unknown to Andrea, her lover—Donald—leads a white slavery and drug trafficking ring in Hong Kong; Sherry was one of his smugglers, but he has kidnapped her for withholding some of the product, as well as Toby and her mother. [1]
Andrea and a local narcotics agent (Len) confront Donald in his nightclub, while David works to free the other three women. [1] In short: three stewardesses fight against kung fu killers. [2]
Fly Me starred:
Fly Me was written by Miller Drake [6] and directed by Cirio H. Santiago. The film's kung fu sequences were choreographed by David Chow, [2] and filmed by Jonathan Demme. [1]
Producer Roger Corman described the film as having "a somewhat pro-women's-lib viewpoint", something that was actually a bait-and-switch on the audience: while it was marketed on the merits of action, humor, and sexual content, Corman said that Fly Me instead promoted women and was "a better film" for it. He said that women's organizations and magazines were surprised at the film's quality and pro-women message. [2]
The film was shot in the Philippines. Corman wanted to credibly set the film in Los Angeles, so he hired Curtis Hanson to film the opening scene in that city, stipulating the inclusion of nudity. With only one day to shoot, Hanson staged a scene where Anderson's character is late leaving for Los Angeles International Airport: she runs from her apartment into a taxi (driven by Dick Miller) and changes into her uniform in the back seat of the car, almost causing the distracted driver to crash. [4]
Fly Me was the first of four New World Pictures films released in summer 1973; [1] it runs 72.25 minutes long. [5] In the United Kingdom, Fly Me was released on December 22, 1985 by Media Perpetuity Investments; it ran 74 minutes long. [7]
Christopher Koetting wrote in 2009 that Santiago eschewed all of the thematic qualities that New World had previously put into their nurses-themed films— left-wing political subplots and "attempts at style"—instead cramming in as much sex and violence as the Motion Picture Association of America's R rating would allow. He called it "one of New World's all-time worst." [1]
In 2012, critic Rich Rosell wrote at DVD Talk that although the film "is fairly awful it is still fun in its own high camp kind of way," that it is "loaded with unintentionally funny chop-socky fight scenes balanced out by obligatory attractive female nekkidness," and that "it has a silly, low-rent charm despite the abundant imperfections." [5]
Writing for Slant in 2012, critic Budd Wilkins described the exploitation film as "rife with wooden acting, knowingly awful dialogue, and plenty of kung-fu action," that the editing was "lousy [...] as though the film had been cut with a blunt machete and some Super Glue, which the editor was doubtless huffing," and "the fights look to have been choreographed like a game of Blind Man’s Bluff." [3]
David Carradine was an American actor, director, and musician, whose career included over 200 major and minor roles in film, television and on stage, spanning more than six decades. He was widely known to television audiences as the star of the 1970s television series Kung Fu, playing Kwai Chang Caine, a peace-loving Shaolin monk traveling through the American Old West.
Death Race 2000 is a 1975 American science fiction action film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Paul Bartel, and starring David Carradine. The film takes place in a dystopian American society in the year 2000, where the murderous Transcontinental Road Race has become a form of national entertainment. The screenplay is based on the short story The Racer by Ib Melchior.
Gervacio Santos is a Filipino film editor. During his career, he was considered one of the most demanded in his field. Gervacio has worked under numerous pseudonyms including: George Santos, Gerry Santos, Herb Bas, Bas Santos, and Bass Santos. He has earned numerous awards, including three Famas Awards for Kalibre 45 (1957), Cavalry Command (1963) and Scout Rangers (1964). He won Best Film Editing Awards in both the Metro Manila Film Festival for "Remembrance" and in the Quezon City Film Festival for "Alyas Bagsik".
Caged Heat, also known as Renegade Girls, is a 1974 women in prison film. It was written and directed by Jonathan Demme for New World Pictures, headed by Roger Corman. The film stars Juanita Brown, Roberta Collins, Erica Gavin, Ella Reid, Rainbeaux Smith, and Barbara Steele.
Cirio Hermoso Santiago was a Filipino film producer, director and writer. He used the screen names Cirio Santiago, Cirio H. Santiago, Leonardo Hermoso, and Leonard Hermes.
The Stewardesses is a 1969 American 3D softcore comedy film written and directed by Allan Silliphant and starring Christina Hart, Monica Gayle, Paula Erickson and Donna Stanley.
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Hollywood Boulevard is a 1976 American satirical exploitation film directed by Allan Arkush and Joe Dante, and starring Candice Rialson, Paul Bartel, and Mary Woronov. It follows an aspiring actress who has just arrived in Los Angeles, only to be hired by a reckless B movie film studio where she bears witness to a series of gruesome and fatal on-set accidents. The film blends elements of the comedy, thriller, and slasher film genres.
Deathsport is a 1978 science fiction B-film produced by Roger Corman and directed by Allan Arkush and Nicholas Niciphor. The film stars David Carradine and Playboy Playmate Claudia Jennings. It would be one of Jennings' last films before her death.
Sweet Kill is a 1973 B-movie written and directed by future Academy Award winner Curtis Hanson. The film was Hanson's directorial debut and was executive-produced by Roger Corman. It stars 1950s heartthrob Tab Hunter and was the last film of actress Isabel Jewell.
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The Velvet Vampire, also known as Cemetery Girls, is a 1971 American vampire film directed by Stephanie Rothman. It stars Celeste Yarnall, Michael Blodgett, Sherry Miles, Gene Shane, Jerry Daniels, Sandy Ward, and Paul Prokop. It has been cited as a cult film.
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Private Duty Nurses is a 1971 American film written and directed by George Armitage. It is a sequel to The Student Nurses (1970) for New World Pictures. Roger Corman says they got the idea for the title after being sent a letter of complaint about the first film from the Private Duty Nurses Association.
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The Hot Box is a 1972 women in prison film from Joe Viola and Jonathan Demme, who had previously made Angels Hard as They Come (1971) for New World Pictures. It was shot in the Philippines and was originally known as The Prescription Revolution.
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Those with an eye for exploitation will want to take a closer look at the second Lethal Ladies Collection.