Good Morning... and Goodbye!

I saw this movie at the tender age of ten. My best friend's parents wanted to go to the drive-in but they couldn't get a sitter, so Lonnie and I went along. I told my mom that I was going to the movies with the Hughes family and she say "Okay". She asked me what movie I was going to see and I said that I didn't know. That was the end of the conversation. Needless to say, at breakfast the next morning, when mom asked me what I saw, I made up the most elaborate lie that I could. Thank God for the Hughes family and all other COOL adult that let kids do what they aren't suppose to. I have seen all of Mr. Meyers' film since then and I am a fan. Sitting in the backseat with Lonnie, sipping pop and eating popcorn while I watched a parade of voluptuous woman and geeky, hillbilly males go at it tag-team style over a background of bad 70's waa-waa guitar solos prepared me for likes of Andy Warhol, John Waters and David Lynch later on in life. I recommend this film for anyone who likes unapologetic. artsy trash.

Russ Meyer obviously doesn't think much of "save the best for last", because the best scene of the movie is the opening segment, which has the only true nudity in all of GMAG, and the best-looking woman - and the best pair of breasts (of the highest russmeyerian quality). I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's downhill from there, but the fact that Capri's ample bosom is never truly revealed to the lusting male viewers is a disappointment. "Less is more" doesn't quite work when it comes to (very) soft porn, now does it... The movie is saved by that great late 60s feel, and over-the-top mugging by some of the cast. Capri speaks exactly like the short-haired brunette bimbo that gets killed off early on in the MST-spoofed "Horror At Party Beach". Those two must have gone to the same charlatanic acting coach; they probably dreamed of stardom, poodles with their own trailers, 100-mill villas... the poor, deluded trollops... As I saw Capri I was instantly reminded of two women (talking about the face here): 1) Raquel Welch; Capri's face is how Welch would have looked if she had done yet another nose-correction, and 2) Amy Winehouse; now, before you call me a blind moron, I have to add that Winehouse would look like Capri if she had around 10,000 facial surgeries. In fact, Amy is so "gorgeous" that she'd probably need dozens of surgeries just to be considered homely. Ciral, playing the blond, is quite sexy, too, whereas the Indian woman is nothing to shout about; a great chest, I'm sure, but 1967 must have been too early even for Meyer to show them to us. All in all not bad, but without the fast-forward button a bit too long...

Like "Common Law Cabin" and "Finders Keepers Lovers Weepers" this flick a somewhat typically Meyer sex/drama morality play spiced with wicked dialogue and busty chicks. Burl (Meyer regular Stuart Lancaster) is a rich impotent farmer who's sexy nympho wife (Alaina Capri of "Common..") fool around a lot because, eh, she's a nympho! Burl then takes a trip to the woods to sulk and meets a "sex witch" (the exotic Haji from "Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill!") who revitalizes him to satisfy his young wife..and happy times are back again! The dialogue, editing, photography are topnotch as usual with Meyer-flicks but the plot (except for Hajis role) are a bit routine. It's no "Faster Pussycat..", "Mudhoney" or "Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls" but still one Russ' better ones (I've seen 17 of Meyers films and I like'em all, so it's hard to be objective). A must for fans!

When you read about Russ Meyer, people usually write about Erica Gavin, Edie Williams, Tura Satana, but I never hear anyone mention how wonderful Alaina Capri is as Angel in Good Morning and Goodbye. Before Vixen, Alaina Capri was the super-bitch with an unquenchable thirst for sins of the flesh. Smoldering bitch glare, perfect dark brown mountain of hair that is always set perfectly, arched eyebrows, she really is the perfect RM archetype. This is a sexploitation film but it is very unique in it's frank depiction of human sexuality. Most films of this era have men that are in control love machines, this one deals with the crippling affects male impotence can have on connubial bliss. The women in 'Good Morning..' demand their sexual needs. Unconventional for its time. I love the scene when Angel gets so horny that she drives to the construction sight and lays on the horn alerting her stud of her presence. This film is also a great showcase for Haji. I love that she is dressed like Eve, Mother of the Earth, her silver fig leafs covering her bronze body, she teaches Burt( the impotent husband) how to make love again with her sexual witchcraft. Haji's role is mysterious, sometimes it is depicting her as a invisible nymph watching and manipulating the other players like Puck in A Midsummer's Nights Dream... other times she is seen interacting with the characters... Is she good? Is she evil? Indeed does she exist at all? This movie is campy and silly but one gets the feeling that the director is in on the joke. The opening narration is some of the funniest dialogue of all time ("They're like a beef stew..."). Although Roger Ebert basically dismissed this film and 'Common Law Cabin' in his retrospective of RM's work as being his lesser films, I think 'Beyond the Valley of the Dolls' pays many homages in its screenplay to 'Good Morning...' The photography is beautiful, Russ Meyer was a master of blending art and sexploitation.

I like GOOD MORNING...AND GOODBYE! Yes, the whole thing is silly. The soapy elements are annoying but visually this movie rocks. Just look at the beginning of the movie, with the credits on the mailboxes. Fun and original. Even though I didn't care much about plight of the old man (impotence), I thought the whole visual juxtaposition of the horny construction worker (who sleeps with every women in town) against the rich old man who can't satisfy his own wife worked in a wicked way, certainly when this culminates in a bloody fist fight between the old man and the beefy construction worker at the end of the movie. Yep, sex and violence. And then there's Haji, who plays the earthy sorceress who helps the old man regain his mojo. She's the film's most beautiful woman, imo. It's obvious Haji had a lot of fun doing this picture.

The film is dated on several levels. But the almost minimalist approach to the filmmaking (and the sometimes stunning photography) gives the movie a sorta timeless feel to it, which counters the really dated aspects. All in all, a pretty good Russ Meyer flick.