Police Lieutenant Matt Carson and his associate, Sergeant Randy Stone, arrive at a crime scene in the local park. While viewing the body of a young woman in her underwear, they list off similarities to previous murders in the park and suspect a connection to the local "smut picture racket."
In the studio of pornographic director Jaffe, his superior Johnny Ryde brings orders from their boss, Gloria Henderson. She wants their smut inventory moved to a safer location than Jaffe's storeroom. Jaffe promises to do so after finishing that day's shoot. After Johnny leaves, the police raid his studio, arrest everyone, and seize all the films and pictures.
Back at the police station, Carson and Stone are berated by their superior, demanding quicker action in exposing the racket. Local businessman Mr. Romaine then visits the two officers, asking why taxpayers' money is being wasted on persecuting pornography, which he views as harmless compared to juvenile gangs and violent crime. Carson claims that the dirty picture racket is connected to all major crimes. He shows Romaine pictures of the murder victims and explains the connection between their work and their violent deaths. Shaken, Romaine leaves thinking of his own two daughters.
Gloria is visited by Johnny, who informs her of the recent police raid. Their conversation reveals the woman at the beginning of the film was killed by their lackey Dirk for attempting to blackmail Gloria. Johnny states that he is worried about Dirk since he clearly enjoys killing with his knife. Their talk moves to their teenage customers' demand for new bondage photos.
At Jake's Pizza Joint, teenagers enjoy themselves when one man challenges another to a fight. The fight moves outside. Dirk observes from afar. Back inside, Jake negotiates the purchase of more smut pictures from Janet, an agent of the pornography ring. He complains about the inventory of photos he already has and demands new ones. Janet assures him new ones are coming and asks him to keep the old ones at the restaurant until they can make a trade. Outside, Dirk tires of the fight and calls the police before fleeing. While responding to the call, the police find Jake's smut supply and arrest him along with the two fighting men, revealed to be rival smut peddlers fighting over the right to sell to Jake.
The scene shifts back to Gloria's house. Gloria and Johnny are watching 16 mm films and conversing. Gloria points out that the increasingly unstable Dirk is both aroused and triggered to kill by viewing pornography. Johnny claims that he can still keep the killer under control. Meanwhile, Dirk has returned to the park. He is flirting with a woman, and the two kiss, but then he strips off her clothes and stabs her to death.
In the police station, Carson and Stone talk about the type of women who get mixed up in pornography rackets. The film follows the path of a young woman named Mary Smith. Before being offered work by Johnny Ryde, the inexperienced actress was rejected by film studios and talent agents. Excited, Mary agrees to work for him. One day, she is called to "audition" for a hostile Gloria, who criticizes both Mary and Johnny for wasting money to trick Mary into agreeing to do any work to pay back the debt. Mary ends up in Jaffe's studio, where poses for cheesecake photos, though he and Johnny discuss how she'll soon be in pornography. She is murdered in the park by Dirk, who found her pictures after breaking into Gloria's house. He accidentally leaves the photos behind, and the police trace his identity through his fingerprints. With Dirk's name in the paper, Gloria's bosses in "the Syndicate" visit her to demand Dirk's murder before he gets them into more trouble.
Gloria wants to kill Dirk directly, but Johnny suggests sending Dirk on an errand in a car with faulty brakes so that it appears he had a car accident. The next day, Dirk goes back to the park to stalk another victim. The woman he chooses is actually Officer Kline, disguised as a woman on orders from Carson. While Kline successfully subdues Dirk, Johnny arrives just in time and knocks Kline out. Dirk agrees he needs to leave town and drives off in the faulty car. When the brakes fail, Dirk survives his "accident" by leaping out of the vehicle.
Out for revenge, Dirk makes it to Gloria's house. He manages to ambush an arriving Johnny, who claims it was Gloria's idea to kill him. He explains that the two men could replace Gloria as ringleaders as soon as they access her Syndicate contacts. Dirk hides outside as Gloria arrives. Johnny informs her Dirk is alive. He demands he be treated as an equal to Gloria, asking to meet her contacts in The Syndicate. Gloria seemingly agrees and goes to change clothes. Dirk then stabs Johnny in the backyard. Gloria comes back and shoots Dirk, mistaking him for Johnny because of the darkness. She calls the police with a story about how Dirk shot Johnny and then ran away, but they arrest her when they discover both bodies.
Ed Wood as rival pornography distributor in fistfight (stock footage from Wood's unfinished Hellborn)
Vic McGee as Syndicate man
Jeanne Willardson as Mary Smith
Production and analysis
In 1959, Ed Wood completed a screenplay titled The Racket Queen. Producer Roy Reid of Headliner Productions was willing to fund the project, though Wood had to revise his script in early 1960. The result was The Sinister Urge, which was filmed primarily in July 1960.[2] The film project was influenced by a box office hit of the time, Psycho (June 1960) by Alfred Hitchcock. Both films were about sexually motivated psychopaths, and Reid and Wood likely aimed to capitalize on the similarity of their concepts.[2] Dino Fantini, who played the psycho killer in the film, said Ed Wood picked him for the role at an audition he and the other students participated in at the acting school they were enrolled at (he was only 18 at the time).[3]
Rob Craig suggests that the film can be seen as an early entry in a new subgenre of exploitation films, the so-called "roughies". These were sexually oriented films which featured sexual violence towards women. This 1960s subgenre was itself derivative of Psycho.[2] The primary position of the film is that there is a connection between pornography and violence against women. The film in fact suggests one is the cause, and the other the effect. Similar positions have since appeared in sociological writings, such as Pornography: Men Possessing Women (1981) by Andrea Dworkin.[2]
The opening scene offers the sight of an attractive woman to the gaze of the, presumably male, audience. The connection between the dark vicarious thrills of a film audience and that of an actual voyeur was both suggested and further explored by Psycho andPeeping Tom (1960).[2]
Craig suggests that Officer Kline serves as a stand-in for Officer Kelton, a recurring character in Wood films. The main difference between the two characters being that Kelton served as a comic relief, while Kline seems humorless—perhaps because comic relief would seem out of place in a film about violent sexual death.[2]
The inventory of films captured in the police raid is represented by the image of a motion picture editing room, containing numerous film cans. Craig suggests that the scene may depict the actual editing room where Wood edited his films.[2]
The film includes a fight scene Wood shot for his unfinished project Hellborn, a.k.a. Rock and Roll Hell. The scene is edited to include footage of Dino Fantini's character observing the events and some additional dialogue audio to connect the scene to the film's plot. The same fight scene was also used in another of Wood's films, Night of the Ghouls.[2]
In a certain scene, Johnny Ryde reflects on the path of his career. "I look at this slush, and I try to remember, at one time, I made good movies." Craig suggests that voices the self-reflection of Wood. He started out trying to create serious science fiction films and horror films, only to be reduced to making a sexploitation film.[2] There is some irony in the fact that the film is apparently meant to decry pornography, since most of Ed Wood's later works, such as Take It Out in Trade, Necromania and The Young Marrieds, were to some degree pornographic.[2]
Craig finds that the film functions well as an "engaging and coherent" melodrama, as a work of social criticism, and as a treatise against the exploitation of women. All this was accomplished with a Skid Row budget of 20,000 dollars.[2] Wood's director's salary was $2,600.00, and the combined salaries of all the cast members was $3,020.00. Dino Fantini recalled that the film premiered in Palmdale, California where Wood had some of the actors appear in person and sign autographs for the fans who attended. He added that it played for 13 consecutive weeks at a particular theatre on 42nd Street in New York City.[4]
He notes this was the swan song for cinematographer William C. Thompson, who was losing his eyesight. For Wood himself, it was his last mainstream work as both writer and director. He would subsequently write screenplays for other exploitation films and direct pornographic films.[2]
In 1960, Wood wrote a screenplay called The Peeper, which was supposed to be a sequel to The Sinister Urge, also starring Kenne Duncan and Duke Moore, but the project never got off the ground.
Critical reception
Writing in AllMovie, critic Fred Beldin described the film as "cynical, bad-tempered [and] filled with sex killers and pornographers whom Wood condemns even as he exploits them," but added that "fans of Wood's better known films will find plenty to enjoy in The Sinister Urge. The same bizarre dialogue, flimsy production values, and sly autobiographical touches ('At one time I made good movies,' complains Johnny, a director reduced to illicit stags) that make Wood's films delirious and endearing are all here."[5] Critic Dennis Schwartz described it as an "amusing film for those who prefer bad films over good ones" that was "ineptly shot and acted, which only adds to its perverse charm."[6]
Bride of the Monster is a 1955 American independent science fiction horror film, co-written, produced and directed by Edward D. Wood Jr., and starring Bela Lugosi and Tor Johnson with a supporting cast featuring Tony McCoy and Loretta King.
Edward Davis Wood Jr. was an American filmmaker, actor, screenwriter, and pulp novel author.
Glen or Glenda is a 1953 American independent exploitation film directed, written by and starring Ed Wood, and featuring Wood's then-girlfriend Dolores Fuller and Bela Lugosi. It was produced by George Weiss who also made the exploitation film Test Tube Babies that same year.
Night of the Ghouls is a horror film written and directed by Ed Wood. The film was shot between April and May 1958. The film features some reoccurring cast members and characters from Wood's 1955 Bride of the Monster, including Tor Johnson reprising his role of Lobo and Paul Marco again playing the character of Kelton the cop, while the Amazing Criswell plays himself in the frame story of the film. Another returning character is Police Captain Robbins of Homicide, although the character was played by Harvey B. Dunn in Bride, and by Johnny Carpenter in Night.
Body Double is a 1984 American neo-noir erotic thriller film directed, co-written, and produced by Brian De Palma. It stars Craig Wasson, Gregg Henry, Melanie Griffith and Deborah Shelton. The film is a direct homage to the 1950s films of Alfred Hitchcock, specifically Rear Window, Vertigo and Dial M for Murder, taking plot lines and themes from the first two.
The Racket is a 1951 black-and-white film noir drama directed by John Cromwell with uncredited directing help from Nicholas Ray, Tay Garnett, and Mel Ferrer. The production features Robert Mitchum, Lizabeth Scott, Robert Ryan, and William Conrad. Future Perry Mason regular cast members William Talman and Ray Collins appear in key roles.
John Herrick McIntire was an American character actor who appeared in 65 theatrical films and many television series. McIntire is well known for having replaced Ward Bond, upon Bond's sudden death in November 1960, as the star of NBC's Wagon Train. He played Christopher Hale, the leader of the wagon train from early 1961 to the series' end in 1965. He also replaced Charles Bickford, upon Bickford's death in 1967, as ranch owner Clay Grainger on NBC's The Virginian for four seasons.
Jail Bait is a 1954 American film noir directed by Ed Wood, with a screenplay by Wood and Alex Gordon. The film stars Clancy Malone as the delinquent son of a famous doctor, and his involvement with a dangerous criminal. Famed bodybuilder Steve Reeves made his first major screen appearance in the film, and it was one of the few films he made using his own voice. The film belongs to the film noir genre, and contains themes typical of it such as plastic surgery and identity theft.
Kenne Duncan was a Canadian-born American B-movie character actor. Hyped professionally as "The Meanest Man in the Movies," the vast majority of his over 250 appearances on camera were Westerns, but he also did occasional forays into horror, crime drama, and science fiction. He also appeared in over a dozen serials.
Necromania is a pornographic horror film by Ed Wood, released in 1971. It was produced, written, directed and edited entirely by Wood. The screenplay was based on Wood's own novel, The Only House.
Ideal is a British dark comedy television series originally broadcast on TV channel BBC Three, created by Graham Duff and produced by BBC Comedy North and Baby Cow Productions. It stars Johnny Vegas as small-time cannabis dealer Moz.
The GayVN Awards are film awards presented annually to honor work done in the gay pornographic industry. The awards were sponsored by AVN Magazine, the parent publication of GAYVN Magazine, and continue the recognition for gay pornography which was part of the AVN Awards from 1986–1998. The awards went on a hiatus after the 2011 ceremony and returned in 2018.
Killer Tomatoes Strike Back! is a 1991 American comedy film. It is the third in the Killer Tomatoes film series, following Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978) and Return of the Killer Tomatoes (1988), and followed by Killer Tomatoes Eat France (1992). The film is notable in that it is the first time killer tomatoes are shown with faces and was the only killer tomatoes film that did not begin with the traditional Killer Tomatoes score, although remixes play during the film. The film was a direct-to-video release.
The term "Golden Age of Porn", or "porno chic", refers to a 15-year period (1969–1984) in commercial American pornography, in which sexually explicit films experienced positive attention from mainstream cinemas, movie critics, and the general public. This American period, which had subsequently spread internationally, and that began before the legalization of pornography in Denmark on July 1, 1969, started on June 12, 1969, with the theatrical release of the film Blue Movie directed by Andy Warhol, and, somewhat later, with the release of the 1970 film Mona produced by Bill Osco. These films were the first adult erotic films depicting explicit sex to receive wide theatrical release in the United States. Both influenced the making of films such as 1972's Deep Throat starring Linda Lovelace and directed by Gerard Damiano, Behind the Green Door starring Marilyn Chambers and directed by the Mitchell brothers, 1973's The Devil in Miss Jones also by Damiano, and 1976's The Opening of Misty Beethoven by Radley Metzger, the "crown jewel" of the Golden Age, according to award-winning author Toni Bentley. According to Andy Warhol, his Blue Movie film was a major influence in the making of Last Tango in Paris, an internationally controversial erotic drama film, starring Marlon Brando, and released a few years after Blue Movie was shown in theaters.
Kurt Lockwood is an American pornographic actor and director, model, and musician.
Take It Out in Trade is a 1970 softcore pornographic comedy, written, directed and edited by Ed Wood. The plot centers on a couple who hire a private investigator to locate their missing daughter. He finds her in a "house of ill-repute," full of various soft-core couplings. Ed Wood played a transvestite named Alecia in the film.
Plan 9 from Outer Space is a 1957 American independent science fiction-horror film produced, written, directed, and edited by Ed Wood. The film was shot in black-and-white in November 1956 and premiered on March 15, 1957 at the Carlton Theatre in Los Angeles. Retitled Plan 9 from Outer Space, it went into general release in April 1959 in Texas and several other Southern states before being sold to television in 1961.
Payroll is a 1961 British neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Sidney Hayers and starring Michael Craig, Françoise Prévost, and Billie Whitelaw. The screenplay, written by George Baxt was adapted from Derek Bickerton's 1959 novel of the same name. The film revolves around a group of criminals who plan and execute a wages robbery, which ultimately ends in disaster.
Anatomy of a Psycho is a 1961 American crime thriller film directed by Boris Petroff. Ed Wood reportedly contributed to Jane Mann's screenplay as Larry Lee. Ronnie Burns, adopted son of George Burns and Gracie Allen, plays the romantic lead. The film was shot at the Alexander Film Company studios in Colorado Springs in 1959 it was the only feature film produced by the company. The film had the working title of Young Scarface; by the time film the film received a distributor it was retitled to exploit Anatomy of a Murder (1959) and Psycho (1960).
The Lawless Rider is a 1954 American black-and-white western film directed by Yakima Canutt and starring Johnny Carpenter, Frankie Darro and Noel Neill, and marketed by United Artists. Ed Wood helped co-write the screenplay, which was originally to be titled The Outlaw Marshall. The film was shot in 1952 but was not released until July 1954 due to cost overruns and legal difficulties.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
