I´m always trying to improve my posts, so it´s only fitting that my 50th post this month is to let my readers know that I have now provided download links for the movies of one of the greatest action movie directors who ever lived : Andy Sidaris.
His business plan was as effective as it was simple : make action movies with playmates who get naked very frequently. I know it sounds simple but the question is : why has no one done it before - or since ? Thanks to the only legitimate heir to Russ Meyer we could see such great babes get naked and get their freak on like Cynthia Brimhall, Roberta Vasquez, Ava Cadell, Julie Strain or Pandora Peaks.
Now I have of course put the links on the posts where they belong - like the movies with Roberta Vasquez on the post about her - but I also wanted to collect them in one post for my older readers.
DALLAS CONNECTION is also one of my favorite movies because it has two great scenes ( among others ) : Julie Strain tying a guy up and stripping to make him ultrahory
and Samantha Phillips doing it on the sofa. I don´t care if her boobs look fake - she´s so megahorny and she does that leaning backwards thing that drives me just nuts.
Of course other great bonerinducing matress pounders are leggy Wendy Hamilton and real life Power Girl Julie K. Smith who does her debut here and starred in subsequent movies.
I can´t say much to DAY OF THE WARRIOR and RETURN TO SAVAGE BEACH because I saw the first one only once and the second not at all. Yes, it seems I missed an Andy Sidaris movie.
part 1 , part 2 and part 3 of jamaican playmate Venice Kong click here for part 1 , part 2 and part 3 of Roberta Vasquez´pics and her clips ( with Ava Cadell and Cynthia Brimhall )
If there´s one thing that has always bothered me about SUPERVIXENS than it´s the fact that the hottest chick in the movie - Christy Hartburg as Super Lorna - is the only one who doesn´t get naked or at least topless.
And I can´t be the only one who thinks so since she´s on all the movie posters. Here are her scenes from the movie :
Normally I don´t like to put full movies on the blog but I´m making an exception for those that really don´t know the movie or can´t get it uncut - like here in Germany. You´ll get this for your home cinema anyway.
The film begins with Christy Hartburg, an incredible one - shot wonder with black pig - tailed hair and a bod which threatens to burst from her teeny shirt and impossibly short short - shorts. Hartburg disappeared after her brief appearance in the film and though she was the poster girl for SUPERVIXENS, was an anonymous Meyer girl until a few years ago when she introduced her own website, www.christyhartburg.net. The site mysteriously disappeared shortly thereafter, but not before letting fans see that Hartburg still looks as statuesque as she did in 1975. Wherever Hartburg is today, she left an incredible impression with her barely 5 minute role as Super Lorna.
Following his contract with 20th Century Fox ( which spawned an instant classic, BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, and a dramatic snoozer, THE SEVEN MINUTES ) and an independent film shot in the Caribbean, BLACKSNAKE!, Russ Meyer decided to return to independent filmmaking and create the ultimate Meyer film! SUPERVIXENS surely fits the bill as the pinnacle of Meyer's talents as a filmmaker, a screenwriter and a sexploitation maestro.
Poor put - upon gas station attendant Clint Ramsey has had enough of his bitchy girlfriend SuperAngel's cock - teasing ways, so ditches her ass after a domestic disturbance which leaves him with a shiner and a broken heart. Super Angel latches onto Harry Sledge, the policeman who " saved " her from Clint's violent temper, but gives him the riot act when he remains limp before they knock boots. Her nasty insults bring out the murderous rage in Harry which leaves Super Angel dead and Clint the likely suspect ! He skips town to escape his past and encounters one bountiful bosomy beauty after another before settling down with Super Vixen, the girl of his dreams. But his past will come back to haunt him one more time...with a vengeance!
Looking back at the wild career he had enjoyed so far, Russ Meyer obviously had a ball writing SUPERVIXENS ! Actors from his previous films show up ( John Lazar and Henry Rowland from BVD, Garth Pillsbury from VIXEN, Haji and Stuart Lancaster from FASTER PUSSYCAT among others ), and characters from his epics are revitalized for 1975 ( Super Lorna from LORNA, Super Eula from MUDHONEY, Super Soul, Super Cherry and Harry Sledge from CHERRY HARRY & RAQUEL, Super Angel from GOOD MORNING...AND GOODBYE !, Super Vixen from VIXEN ), and familiar pieces of dialogue and setpieces ( the poison sucking scene in MOTOR PSYCHO !, most importantly ) are recycled to make this the ultimate Russ Meyer scrapbook in celluloid form!
His rapid fire editing is all the more crazed and desperate to never stay on one shot for more than three seconds. When I showed the opening gas station sequence during a film class focusing on editing, the audience was left screaming for more after that short segment. After some of the shocking violence in his previous films, it should come as no surprise the film mixes sex and violence well. However, the one scene which stands out as the most repulsive of Meyer's filmography is Super Angel's vicious bathtub murder, which just as you think it can't get any more graphic, does ! Another amusing theme begins here and progresses through Meyer's remaining films : the 12 - inch male penis appendages which he attaches to every male cast member !
When Russ Meyer writes a film where all the women feature the word " Super " before their name, you know that he plans to satisfy the breast fetishist in us all. And all six women in SUPERVIXENS are Super indeed !
The most talented female cast member of SUPERVIXENS ( and maybe the most talented Meyer vixen EVER ) is Shari Eubank, the lady with a figure to die for who pulls off her dual role with panache and humor.
She's a nasty vicious bitch as Super Angel, and is always captivating while she either chews the men in her life to pieces, becomes teary - eyed and frantic to escape from her impending doom, then stupidly laughs and mocks the death coming through the door at her. According to the various cast and crew members, Super Angel was based on then - current Meyer paramour Edy Williams, who would actually yell exact lines from the film at Meyer during their quarrels. The axe attack on Clint's red truck and Clint threatening to punch out Super Angel if she says one more word about his mother directly mirrored actual incidents between the mismatched couple.
In fact, Williams was to play Super Vixen but pulled the starlet routine and refused to work in the primitive conditions of Meyer's independent productions. Thankfully Eubank was given the role, because it's made all that much easier to see her genuine acting talents in two such different characters.
Super Vixen is a friendly, all - smiles love interest who transforms into a screaming damsel - in - distress...but Eubank injects a welcome sense of tongue - in - cheek humor during the insane finale filled with dynamite, screaming and violence. Hailing from Farmer City, Illinois, Eubank made one other film, CHESTY ANDERSON USN, a PG - rated obscurity which doesn't use her charms too well ( it also starred a number of other cult icons, including Dyanne Thorne, Rosanne Katon,
Timothy Carey, Nancy Lee Noble, Marcie Barkin, Fred Willard, Scatman Crothers, Uschi Digard and Connie Hoffman ! ). One figures that Eubank was, like so many genuinely talented Meyer women, given the " casting couch " treatment in Hollywood simply because she was associated with the director. It was the industry's loss; Eubank should have been a regular guest star on 70s TV shows, appeared in more demanding big - studio roles, and even more importantly, Meyer should have used her talents in other films. But Eubank, whose father apparently did not approve of her frequent nudity in the film, returned to the small town she called home and never looked back. She declined or ignored Jimmy McDonough's request to be interviewed for his Russ Meyer bio, so despite the fact that she's easy to find, she is apparently NOT receptive to reminders of her two films shot in her youth. The fact that she's a substitute teacher now may have something to do with it, too. Shari, you're sorely missed from the screen today.
In her fifth Russ Meyer film, Haji returns as Super Haji, but is given precious little to do.
With flowing red hair and her body covered in gorgeous gemstones and ( including rubies, a throwback to her MOTOR PSYCHO! role as Ruby ), Haji doesn't do much except give Clint a few drinks and deny his alibi at the time of SuperAngel's murder. This would be her last appearance in a Meyer film and it's not a very good send - off to one of his earliest and best actresses.
Another red - headed beauty, Sharon Kelly, has a much bigger and funnier role as Super Cherry, driven around by her violent boyfriend Cal ( John Lazar in a big departure from " Superwoman " in BVD ). Kelly had been a drive - in staple for five years by the time she appeared in SUPERVIXENS. Noted for her bountiful bust, sexually insatiable performances, and lovable big - toothed smile, for Kelly to appear in a Russ Meyer film was the equivalent of receiving a massive mammary Oscar ! Kelly would become a regular in the films of Harry Novak, the infamous owner of Box Office International who reportedly also took advantage of sexual favors from her and loaned her out to potential business partners !
She wowed drive - in audiences and pushed the limits of softcore in Novak classics like THE DIRTY MIND OF YOUNG SALLY, TEENAGE BRIDE, SASSY SUE, and A SCREAM IN THE STREETS, and is well - remembered from her starring role in ALICE GOODBODY and cameos in ILSA HAREM KEEPER OF THE OIL SHEIKS, SHAMPOO and HUSTLE. By the end of the 70s, Kelly had disappeared from the screen, but would soon return in another incarnation: Colleen Brennan, a middle - aged redhead who would steam up hardcore films for four years.
It always caused Meyer ( and Napier ) great heartache to know one of " his girls " would stoop to porno. Perhaps if Kelly had stayed out of the X - rated industry, she would still be visible today. Instead, she is impossible to find and despite being one of the better actresses to come out of Novak's stables, will probably remain a mystery unless she is enticed out of hiding.
How does one discuss Uschi ? Busty, tan, always smiling, and an endearing on - screen personality, Uschi appeared in so many films of the 60s and 70s that she is only rivaled by Rene Bond in screen credits!
She began, oddly enough, in mainstream, with a cameo in I LOVE YOU ALICE B. TOKLAS ! with Peter Sellers. She would do other bits in Hollywood flicks like THE KILLER ELITE, FUZZ and KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE, and after supporting parts in Cresse's THE SCAVENGERS and a handful of other productions and taking the men’s magazine scene by storm, Uschi made her Meyer debut as the best thing about CHERRY, HARRY & RAQUEL!.
A silent role in footage added to pad out the picture, she is still the only really memorable aspect of that lesser Meyer movie. From 1969, Uschi didn't stop working and encountered just about every major producer and director of the sexploitation scene. She even worked in hardcore productions ( only in soft scenes )! Everyone who worked with Uschi loved her, a rarity in the sexploitation industry, and it's no surprise that she kept many of her co - workers as close friends for many years. Uschi worked with Russ behind - the - scenes more frequently than she did on - camera, acting as associate producer on Meyer's last two films, UP ! and BENEATH THE VALLEY OF THE ULTRA-VIXENS, before he worked her last nerve and she stormed out of his life for a spell ( as he forced many of his friends to do around this time ).
Before that, she had maybe her all - time best role as SuperSoul, Stuart Lancaster's Austrian mail - order bride who fucks him all over Lancaster's farm ( with loud exaggerated panting and in ludicrous positions ! ), then sets her eyes on Charles Pitts. You get to hear Uschi speak in German here ( one of the multitude of languages she speaks fluently ) and her knack for comedy is undeniable; she also plays a nude telephone operator who speaks in Dutch! Another no - show in Jimmy McDonough's Meyer tome, Uschi has apparently disappeared. Though she was a public figure on the Internet back in the late 90s, selling autographed photos from her own website, the page promptly disappeared a few years later and none of her co - stars, directors or close friends have been able to find her! Wherever Uschi is, I hope she's living well and is happy and content, because she doubtlessly deserves it.
The last of the six incredible VIXENS is Deborah McGuire, who has also done a disappearing act on her fans. McGuire actually shared a sex scene with Uschi in Novak's THE GODSON, in one of her few other film appearances. A Novak pick - up, THE DEVIL'S GARDEN, a brief cameo in BLACK STARLET and a role in the softcore - turned - hardcore - via - inserts FEMALE CHAUVINISTS are her only other screen credits. Little is known about this ebony goddess except that she was married to comedian Richard Pryor for two years, spawning a child. Perhaps Pryor knows where she is, but until someone asks him, McGuire is the most mysterious of the VIXENS.
She has only one line of dialogue, and it's a real corker, leaving her to flash a lot of beautiful smiles at Charles Pitts and go - go dance in a tiny bikini to the tunes of a transistor radio. The scene of her having a sign language argument with her father is a riot!
Charles Napier, who began with Russ as Harry in CHERRY HARRY & RAQUEL ! ( the only surviving film featuring square - jawed Napier in a nude scene ! ) and had a bit part in BVD, was called upon again to reprise his role of Harry Sledge. Not only does he give the performance of his career, he also associate produced the film ! Napier is introduced as a fist - swinging policeman who has a way with the ladies, but once he is revealed as being impotent, he turns on a dime and becomes a psychopathic villain ! He is the real male lead of the film; Charles Pitts, while obviously not shy about the nudity required for the part, is never likable or interesting enough for the audience to care for. Pitts and Meyer did not get along during shooting, and it shows the way his character is so terribly written. Like Tura Satana's " Varla " in FASTER PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL!, Charles Napier's " Harry Sledge " is a villain you root for, even after the grisly demise of SuperAngel !
Napier credits SUPERVIXENS as the film which really kickstarted his stalled career, leading him to audition for Alfred Hitchcock and also the money from the film helped get him back on his feet. He recently appeared on " Dr. Phil " depressed that his career was once again stalled. I don't think Stuart Lancaster has ever given a lackluster performance in any film, and this is one of his funniest. The good-hearted farmer emerges to be a sexually active horndog, and has no shame, screwing Uschi right in front of Pitts! Be sure to watch for Meyer himself cameoing as the manager of the Green Gables Motel!
Because there are no surviving or easy - to - find cast members from SUPERVIXENS ( I would have given anything to hear Shari Eubank discuss this film, or an Uschi career retrospective ), the only major extra is the laserdisc commentary by Russ Meyer which is thankfully preserved for his fans to enjoy ! Meyer reveals his fascination with Henry Rowland ( who played ' Martin Bormann ' ), his difficulties with Edy Williams, Shari Eubank's background and hard work ethic, admires Charles Napier's look and performance, discusses Napier's career taking off after the film's release, Charles Pitts causing problems on the set with his perpetual horniness ( ! ), shooting the hyperviolent SuperAngel death scene in the home of a friend, working with John Lazar again, memories of the incredible Uschi
( he also says she lived close to his home and worked as a jewelry dealer for the Rockefellers at the time of the commentary ! ), shooting Stuart Lancaster's nude sex scenes, and the success of the film's release, among other tantalizing tales of the production. There are of course moments of on-screen narration and dead space, but a lot of these stories are really fantastic and it's worth having the thoughts of the late great Meyer on record ! He does neglect to discuss Christy Hartburg, Haji, Sharon Kelly, or Deborah McGuire.
in 2 parts 1 / 2 / in 3 parts 1 / 2 / 3 or 1 / 2 / 3
in 5 parts 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / in 8 parts 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8
This is my first post about a dead cult siren - at least I think - which is typical because I wanted to do a post about Russ Meyer, one of the men who most influenced my life, long ago.
His best known movie - meaning if you never heard of Russ Meyer you still know this movie - is without a doubt FASTER PUSSYCAT ! KILL ! KILL !
And of course Tura Satana plays the lead role of Varla, boss of the three - go - go - dancers gang of rough riding, hard drinking and hard f - wording amazons. As there is very little nudity but a lot of violence in the movie I could see it when I finally discovered Russ Meyer. And I have to say, Tura´s deep plunging cleavage did quite an impression on me.
She´s one of the iconic cult sirens of the world and as other people are quite more eloquent in this case it may be forgiven that I quote from them. We will miss you, Tura.
Now for those who never heard of the movie, what´s it about ? I think FOR THE DISHWASHER says it best :
Bisexual Go - Go dancing vixens with extremely large ( and real ) breasts who drive really, really fast cars, beat men up, and at times thrill kill. That's pretty much all I can say about Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
FASTER PUSSYCAT ! KILL ! KILL ! ( or DIE SATANSWEIBER VON TITTFIELD how it is called in german ) has inspired tons of movies and some scenes from the movie even appeared in Jean Park´s music video SOUL TWISTER - the only music video which was directed by Russ Meyer. Or so I read online. I could only find a small video clip, sorry for that. But thanks to the wonderful people at SITIOFAN who provided the link :
Normally I don´t like to put download links on this blog, but I´m making an exception for all those readers who still don´t have the movie at home ( what are you waiting for ? ) or can´t get an uncut version - like here in Germany.
Here are two articles about Tura ( more would be too depressing but there are some links further down ) :
Tura Satana obituary - Actor best known for her role as a go - go dancer in Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
The actor Tura Satana, who has died aged 72, lived a life as eventful as the plots of the lurid B-movies that made her a star. Almost 6ft tall and trained in martial arts, she specialised in a kind of tough charisma that has rarely been matched on screen.
She was best known for her role in the Russ Meyer sexploitation movie Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! ( 1965, tagline: " Superwomen ! Belted, buckled and booted ! " ). As Varla, the leather - clad leader of a gang of thrill - seeking go - go dancers, Satana was given an opportunity by Meyer to perform her own stunts and choreograph fight scenes, as well as to adlib dialogue. She responded by channelling a kind of controlled rage, stating in an interview: " I took a lot of my anger that had been stored inside for many years and let it loose. " Made for $45,000, the film became a cult classic, inspiring directors including John Waters and Quentin Tarantino.
Satana was born Tura Yamaguchi in Hokkaido, Japan, where her part - Filipino father acted in silent films and her mother was a circus performer of mixed Native American and Scottish heritage. The family moved to the US in 1942, but Tura and her father were interned for two and half years in the Manzanar relocation centre for Japanese-Americans in California.
The family were eventually reunited and settled in Chicago. At a time when anti-Japanese feeling was still prevalent, the young Tura suffered constant bullying at school. One evening, just before her 10th birthday, she was sent out by her mother to buy some bread. On the way home she was raped by a gang of teenagers. The five youths were never prosecuted, although in interviews she claimed that over the course of the next 15 years, she tracked down each of her assailants and exacted an unspecified revenge.
Her father responded to the attack by teaching her the martial arts akido and karate. Tura was soon afterwards sent to reform school as a result of her frequent delinquency. When she was 13, her parents arranged for her to marry a 17 - year - old family friend, John Satana. The marriage lasted nine months, by which time Tura was appearing in Illinois nightclubs as a burlesque dancer and a nude model – her act combined martial - arts displays with the usual tassle - twirling.
Moving to Los Angeles, Satana dated Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra before being spotted performing at the Follies theatre and offered a role in the television series Hawaiian Eye. Her martial arts skills led to bit parts in shows such as The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and she appeared in Billy Wilder's Irma La Douce ( 1963 ) and alongside Dean Martin in Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? ( 1963 ). In the former she played a prostitute and the latter, a stripper.
It took the softcore king Meyer to fully recognise Satana's potential, even if he did not exactly cast her against type. After Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, she appeared in two more films, The Astro-Zombies ( 1968 ) and The Doll Squad ( 1973 ), before she was hospitalised after being shot in the stomach by an ex-boyfriend. She had abandoned her burlesque career when changes in California licensing laws led many club owners to require dancers to perform topless. Satana gave up acting to become a nurse and, later, a police radio operator. In 1981 she married a former policeman, Endel Jurman. Soon afterwards, she was injured in a serious car accident.
For much of her later life, she worked in hotel security in Reno, Nevada. She was a canny businesswoman, trademarking her image, which appeared as an action figure, a Halloween mask and on T - shirts. She was also a good - natured regular at cult film conventions and, despite having a pacemaker fitted in 2003, seemed as tough as ever. Indeed, in one interview she recounted what had happened when an over - enthusiastic fan hid in her hotel room after a signing: " He went flying across the room and wound up with a broken arm, busted nose and badly twisted leg. The house detective carried him out. "
Jurman died in 2000. Satana is survived by her daughters, Kalani and Jade, and her sisters, Pamela and Kim.
Tura Satana, dancer and actor, born 10 July 1938; died 4 February 2011.
Tura Satana, the actress whose authoritative presence, exotic looks and buxom frame commanded the attention of viewers of Russ Meyer’s 1965 cult movie “ Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! ”, died on Friday evening in Reno, Nev.
The death was announced by her longtime manager, Siouxzan Perry, who said the cause of death was believed to be heart failure. Ms. Perry said Ms. Satana was 72 when she died, though other sources listed her birth year as 1935.
Born Tura Luna Pascual Yamaguchi in Hokkaido, Japan, to a father of Japanese and Filipino descent and a mother who was Cheyenne Indian and Scots - Irish, Ms. Satana spent part of her childhood in the Manzanar internment camp near Independence, Calif., before her family settled in Chicago.
Her Asian background and looks and the fact that she developed early led to frequent harassment and assaults, and she led an itinerant lifestyle, working as an exotic dancer and nude model. She even posed for erotic photographs taken by Harold Lloyd, the former silent comedian, who suggested she pursue an acting career.
Her breakthrough role came in “ Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! ”, a Meyer exploitation film that, in stark opposition to the director’s later works, featured no nudity. In that film, Ms. Satana played Varla, the leader of a gang of go - go dancers who kidnap a couple, murder the boyfriend and force the girlfriend to follow them on further lawless adventures.
Ms. Satana’s portrayal of Varla as a brazenly violent but unapologetically feminine woman who frequently upbraids the men who dare to ogle her — when a gas - station attendant tells her he believes in “ seeing America first, ” Varla replies, “ You won’t find it down there, Columbus ! ” — earned her a cult following that endured long after the drive - in era. In later decades, the influence of Ms. Satana’s no - nonsense attitude could be seen in pop - cultural artifacts ranging from “ Xena, Warrior Princess ” to Quentin Tarantino’s “ Kill Bill ” movies.
Ms. Satana is survived by two daughters, Kalani and Jade, and two sisters, Pamela and Kim, according to Ms. Perry. Ms. Perry said a memorial service was being planned for around July 10, Ms. Satana’s birthday.
Now let us not forget to celebrate Tura´s life so here is her entry at CINEMA CULT SIRENS which I quoted - something I do whenever I´m not the expert in movie babes :
Still today, Tura Satana's influence can be glimpsed in popular culture, even if the people inspired have no clue as who she really is. An unique figure in American entertainment, I can find no other celebrity that could compare.
Her main contention to glory is of course Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, classic cult-movie directed by Russ Meyer. But why not start at the very beginning ? Fasten your seat belts, though, because this could be a memorable rollercoaster ride.
Tura Yamaguchi was born in July 10, 1935 ( or is it 1938 ? ). Sometimes after the end of WWII, after moving to Chicago, she was raped by five thugs. This prompted her to learn martial arts, mainly karate. She soon became main honcho of a gang of teenage girls. Tura admits to having been a rebellious juvenile delinquent, as many teased her about her oriental heritage ( the war was still fresh in many memories ). In fact, the father was from Japan and the Philippines and the mother was American Indian and Scots-Irish. She kicked everyone's ass in reform school ( but also learned how to knit ! ). At 13 years of age, she got married ( a fixed union by the two families involved ) with a guy of 17! This relationship would of course not work out.
Tura became soon after an exotic dancer in Los Angeles. The single thought of enjoying the sight of a very young and big-breasted Oriental hoochie-cooching on stage seemed to dissipate the patriotic elan of many American males: she turned out to be a real success. In that time, dancers traveled from city to city, to propose a more elaborate production than the ones seen in these more sordid times ( no lap dances or Champagne Room nonsense ). It's a complete tragedy that no existing film footage of Tura performing her craft with real passion exists. Here are some famous names that Tura worked with in those years: Rose Le Rose, Maxine Martin The Skyscraper Girl, Tempest Storm, Candy Barr and Stunning Smith the Purple Lady.
Hummm...
At 19, Tura became pregnant, but she would still dance for the upcoming eight months! In general, a typical week of work earned her around $15,000. She still thinks that this experience was the best school she could ever learn in, even if she sometimes found guys hiding in closets in her hotel rooms. Fearless, she disposed of them in her own personal fashion. Of course, like many starlets of the era, Tura began a relationship with Elvis, for a few months, as the King lived his life to the fullest. Oddly, his future spouse, Priscilla Presley would begin later to display a Tura look ( hair, makeup, etc. ) !
We now arrive at the start of the sixties; this is when Tura finally exposed her fabulous figure on film. There were some television appearances on Hawaiian Eye, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., The Greatest Show On Earth with Jack Palance, Valentine's Day, Burke's Law, etc. For the movies, she played a dancer ( what else? ) in Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? ( 1963 ) with Dean Martin and Elizabeth Montgomery. The same year, she could be seen briefly as a Paris prostitute in the musical Irma La Douce with Jack Lemmon and Shirley Maclaine. She came back in 1965 as a dancer in Our Man Flint, a riotous James Bond spoof starring James Coburn.
It's very soon after that the role of a lifetime came her way: Varla in Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! Seeing this as an opportunity to play a real character instead of being mere decoration, Tura accepted the challenge. Results: an aggressive female character ( for the time ), very sexual in a different way, enjoying some very quotable dialogue. Let's note that Tura executed all her stunts and fights herself. With great relish. The movie's success was not instant: a cult would form in the years to come from word of mouth. There even was a rock band in the nineties named Tura Satana. Some lines from Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! were heard in White Zombie tunes. Even the Cramps were inspired by the movie ( and particularly by Tura ).
Astro - Zombies in 1969 was her first horror film. Sadly, it's pretty shoddy. Director Ted V. Mikels ( who still lives to this day in a castle with ten women ! ) saw Tura on stage and enjoyed the fact that she beat up a female patron who just threw her an ashtray by jealousy. So she played a spy named Satana, sharing the screen with veteran John Carradine, who took a shine to her during shooting. But the film remains juvenile and disappointing ( but can be enjoyed for a few laughs ), even with super - sexy Tura wearing a slit skirt and smoking languidly.
Her last film for a while was from the same Mikels, The Doll Squad ( 1973 ), famous for supposedly inspiring the creation of TV sensation Charlie's Angels. The Doll Squad, in fact, presents the right - doers of a group of female adventurers battling it out with a megalomanical intend of ruling the world ( and why not ? ). Soon after this shoot, tragedy struck as Tura was shot down by a former possessive lover with a gun. Needless to say, there was a forced period of convalescence. Tura became employed in an hospital, then found work as a dispatcher for the LAPD!
In 1981, she broke her back in a car crash, which resulted in two years in and out of hospitals and many operations. She was married to a retired L.A. cop and has two daughters. She has her own website and fan club. In 2002, Tura made a comeback to movies in Mark of the Astro - Zombies, alongside Brinke Stevens, Liz Renay and John Carradine's disembodied head ( ? ).
Her humor and honesty in interviews are pure delight. If only she could have shot more films. If many still think of Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! as a Ed Wood kind of filmaking ( which it isn't ), how can we not admit that it was ahead of its time, still today ? Can you find me a similar production with three female characters with so much presence? I can only think of The Heroic Trio, but still at another end of the spectrum.
In my brain, there are many classic cinematic images : Greta Garbo's closeup in Queen Christina, Charlton Heston parting the Red Sea in The Ten Commandments, King Kong at the top of the Empire State Building, Toshiro Mifune in any scene in Seven Samurai... and Tura Satana in Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! whupping the butt of that stupid guy in bermudas. I demand her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Now.
