Bell, Bare and Beautiful
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Bell, Bare and Beautiful |
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|---|---|
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| Technical | |
| Type: | Film Color
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| Country: | United States |
| Release date(s): | September 13, 1963[1] |
| Running time: | 64 minutes |
| Language: | English |
| Company: | Griffith Productions |
| Staff | |
| Directed by: | Herschell Gordon Lewis |
| Starring: | Virginia Bell |
| Produced by: | David F. Friedman |
| Written by: | Leroy C. Griffith |
| Music by: | L. W. Ellington |
| Cinematography: | Herschell Gordon Lewis |
| Editing by: | Carroll Wurkes |
| Websites and databases | |
| IMDb | |
Bell, Bare and Beautiful was a late-era "nudie-cutie" film directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis and starring Virginia Bell. Lewis' last effort in the sexploitation genre, his breakthrough film Blood Feast (1963), the first splatter-film, was being written and planned during the shooting of Bell, Bare and Beautiful. The film is also significant as the only starring feature role of Cincinnati stripper Virginia Bell.[2]
Cast
- Virginia Bell: Gina[1]
- Thomas Sweetwood: Rick
- Joy Hodges: Betty
- Sunny Dare: Elsa
- Dave Friedman: Barney
- Al Golden: Dr. Everett
- Roland Porter: Roland
- Harry Shurgin: Gangster
- Leroy C. Griffith: Theatre manager
- Ben Melton: Mickey
- Jerome Eden: Artist
- Craig Maudslay Jr.: Bellboy
- Huntington Hall: Doctor
- Cindy Craig
- Sheryl Nichols
- Barbara Taylor
- Fraiah Payne
- Joyce Lewis
- Sandra Sinclair
Background
During the 1950s, future "Godfather of Gore" Herschell Gordon Lewis had made his living by filming industrial and government public relations films, television commercials and other work-for-hire in Chicago.[3] Noticing the thriving exploitation film genres of the era, Lewis decided to make his own feature film debut in the softcore sexploitation "nudie-cutie" film genre which Russ Meyer had inaugurated with his very successful The Immoral Mr. Teas in 1959.[4][5] Lewis managed to gather the large-- by exploitation film standards-- amount of $100,000 to make The Prime Time (aka Hell Kitten, 1960).[6] This film, and his second sexploitation feature, Living Venus (1961) were box-office failures.[7] Lewis' first commercial success was The Adventures of Lucky Pierre (1961), a "nudie-cutie" made with producer David Friedman. After this first popular work, the two continued to make successful nudist and nudie-cutie sexploitation films together for the next two years, with such titles as Daughter of the Sun (1962), Nature's Playmates (1962), and Goldilocks and the Three Bares (1963).[8]
These films were shown throughout the U.S. in theaters which combined a live burlesque show with a sexploitation film. While their latest sexploitation hit, Boin-n-g! (1963), was being shown on the distribution circuit, theater owners Eli Jackson and Leroy Griffith suggested producing a film starring Jackson's wife, the well-known exotic dancer Virginia Bell.[9] Lewis recalled, "I had never heard of Virginia Bell, but other people assured me she was a big star in the burlesque circuit. Eli and Leroy wanted to shoot this film in a hurry, and the reason was that Virginia Bell was pregnant."[10]
External links
- Firsching, Robert. Bell, Bare and Beautiful: Overview (English). All Movie Guide. Retrieved on September 2, 2008.
- Briggs, Joe Bob. Bell, Bare and Beautiful (1963) (English). www.joebobbriggs.com. Retrieved on September 2, 2008. (from Joe Bob's Ultimate B Movie Guide)
Bibliography
- Curry, Christopher. A Taste Of Blood: The Films of Herschell Gordon Lewis. London: Creation Books, 1999. ISBN 1-8715-9291-7.
- Palmer, Randy. Herschell Gordon Lewis, Godfather of Gore: The Films. Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland & Company, 2000. ISBN 0-7864-0808-1. pp. 35-37.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Krafsur, Richard P. (1976). "Bell, Bare and Beautiful", The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures; Feature Films 1961-70. New York & London: R.R. Bowker Company, p. 77. ISBN 0-8352-0440-5.
- ↑ Joe Bob, Briggs. Bell, Bare and Beautiful (1963) (English). www.joebobbriggs.com. Retrieved on September 2, 2008. (from Joe Bob's Ultimate B Movie Guide)
- ↑ Palmer (2000), p. 13.
- ↑ Frasier, David K. (1998). Russ Meyer : The Life and Films : A Biography and A Comprehensive, Illustrated, and Annotated Filmography and Bibliography. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co, p. 5. ISBN 0-7864-0472-8.
- ↑ Palmer (2000), p. 14.
- ↑ Palmer (2000), p. 15-17.
- ↑ Palmer (2000), p. 21.
- ↑ Palmer (2000), p. 27-32.
- ↑ Palmer (2000), p. 35-36.
- ↑ Palmer (2000), p. 35-36.
