User reviews

Similar to Russ Meyer's debut feature The Immoral Mr. Teas, this barely 60-minute film follows a geeky and awkward man as he gawks at all the large-breasted beauties on show. Our protagonist is, as the title suggests, a handyman, and moves from job to job where he is teased by women played by the same woman (Eve Meyer - the then-wife of Russ). He moves from coffee-shop to office block to art-house where he just can't seem to escape those sexual temptations. All the while he is pursued by Eve (again, played by Eve Meyer), a woman who seems to be fascinated with him and his 'masculine' behaviour, making notes and seeing him as some kind of wild beast.

There are two kinds of Russ Meyer films. Firstly, there are those with a budget which allow Meyer to show off his genuinely massive talent and produce thoroughly enjoyable and incredibly stylish films such as Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, Vixen! and his best Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls. What are on the surface are softcore porn flicks, but are really inventive and laugh-out-loud funny, while often being just bizarre. His second range of films are made quickly and cheaply, and amplify his love for buxom women with huge breasts that would always make a huge profit. Eve And The Handyman is sadly one of these. Although we often get a glimpse of Meyer's sense of humour, the film is ultimately a bore. Clocking in at 65 minutes, it really did feel a hell of a lot longer. This was however only his second feature, and you have to admire a director who was the first person to bring an actual storyline to the soft-porn genre.

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This is one of Russ Meyer's early nudie cuties and it's about a handyman who is followed around by a sexy private detective. Along the way he has a series of encounters with busty blonde women. Eve Meyer plays the detective as well as all of the other women. I guess you could call this film charming. It hardly has any nudity at all and unfortunately none whatsoever from Eve Meyer. I would say that Eve is still the only reason to watch this though. She is a great looking woman and this film is all about her really. Like Meyer's other nudie cuties, this one has no synchronized dialogue, so it plays almost like a silent movie, and as such the humour is broad; mostly lame to tell you the truth but occasionally amusing. Generally speaking things waver when Eve is not on screen, which admittedly is not too often.

I personally think that RM only got into gear as a film-maker once he directed Lorna. These early movies are nice enough but they lack any real bite and they do not reflect Meyer's personality very well. Admittedly there is some nice photography on display here and Eve Meyer is definitely a typical RM woman, i.e. buxom and ballsy. Definitely worth watching for devotees of RM but far from essential.

The handyman is played by William Burroughs, the writer, right? It certainly looks like him.

Is this the first movie which featured a completely nude (from behind) shot of a woman walking (in the laundromat scene)? Considering that Eve was Russ Meyer's wife, why does she not bear her breasts? Is it because the film would have been banned at the time? Is the reason why bare breasts are only shown in the artist's model scene (and for one minute if that) also due to censorship laws? Did he get away with it only because it could be justified by the censors as a depiction of artists at work?

Does anyone else find the repetitive music really annoying and think it completely ruins the movie?

Tragic that Eve Meyer died in the world's worst ever plane disaster when two planes crashed head-on on the runway in Tenerife in 1977. Does anyone know why she divorced from Russ Meyer? Surely he wasn't unfaithful. She looks like quite a well-constructed lady and seemed smart too.

...but it is funny. Eve, the unnamed narrator (played by Russ Meyer's then-wife Eve), is following a handyman, private detective-style, around town as he does his odd jobs, taking copious notes on his behavior for reasons that are not immediately explained. Of course, each of these jobs seems to take place in a setting that includes a busty blonde, each of whom are also played by Eve Meyer. For the most part, the handyman is preoccupied with his work, and relatively oblivious to the charms of the women. At the conclusion of the film, Eve confronts the handyman and we finally find out the nature of her motives. The film really does build up to one big joke, but it's pretty funny, especially if you don't see it coming. Good early effort from Meyer. 7/10.

I gave the film a 6.

Worst aspects: The toilet scene is pretty gross and therefore hard to watch; too many long driving scenes (first time I have ever had to fast-forward through a Russ Meyer movie); overly long scenes in general, without any voice-over to relieve the boredom (like the tree doctor scene .. all in all this film actually moved *slower* than The Immoral Mr. Teas); the Handyman is *really* a dolt (I guess that's the way he's supposed to be, but it's to the point of annoyance here); the bra exchange joke (because it deflates the whole mystique of the 50's bosom); sound was bad (Eve's voice coming out of only one channel and not mastered well); some discontinuity (as was found in Mr. Teas); surprising, but still confusing ending; overly-long art school scene without significant-enough breastworks to justify it.

Best aspects: Eve Meyer's beautiful smile (I didn't know there could be anything that tops her wonderful upper-balcony, but there is!); Eve Meyer's beautiful laugh; Eve Meyer's cute trench-coat, scarf and beret; Eve Meyer's green cat-like eyes (Mr. Meyer, you should have LOCKED THAT DOWN); some great shots of San Francisco; the brunette languishing in the nude in the river bed; the joke about the handyman climbing the sign-pole to read the sign at the top (almost vaudeville!); Eve's legs in the "bathing her legs in the stream" scene; Eve's roadside striptease; a continuation of Mr. Meyer's life-long essay on the sexually- and career-frustrated, almost invisible, American lunch-pail guy.

And did I mention Eve's smile?? (-: Wow!

This movie is basically one long joke, with plenty of gags in the middle, to help keep it interesting until the punchline. This is the first Russ Meyer movie i ever saw, and while it may not be as good as some of his others (Up!, Beneath The Vally Of The Ultra-Vixens), it is still a classic in it's own right. Lots of light humor, and camp value. Recommended. I would end the review here, except IMDb won't post this unless i have written at least ten lines, so the following is just filler: I sleep on a mattress, sometimes i dress up as a mattress, and wave to cars on the sidewalk, i would like to see Chris Kentis taken out to the middle of the ocean, and left there. I think thats about ten lines, so i'll stop here.