Fleshpot on 42nd Street

Gritty in substance and style, "Fleshpot" looks at the seedy side of urban existence, specifically in New York City. Dusty (Laura Cannon/Diana Lewis) is disgusted with her life as a hustler and a criminal. She feels trapped in a cycle of survival that does not allow her to look beyond the current day.

This adult film is cinema verite and it does a fair job of capturing life in and around the streets. The acting is credible. Sometimes the framing is poor. Surprisingly, there are humorous moments, and some philosophizing by the characters.

Although the film was released in 1973 it plays more like a film that was released much earlier in the 1950's and feels more like you are watching a documentary than a soft core dramatic film. The main star of the film is a prostitute named Dusty Cole (played by Laura Cannon) who we witness having sex with a variety of men from different economic classes and their varying wants. Dusty Cole comes off as a poor man's version of the much more main stream 1990 Pretty Woman starring Julia Roberts.

There certainly is no romance involved in Fleshpot on 42nd Street but a lot of grit, a platonic relationship with a transvestite named Cherry Lane (Neil Flanagan) and the lesson that money talks and bull crap walks.

I give this low budget film high marks for making the most with so little to work with and it comes off as a reality film with the hard knocks of a young prostitute's life. I give it a 7 out of 10 IMDB rating. Not so much for its cinema quality (which it lacks) but more for it's true grittiness.

Knowing Andy Milligan's reputation, and judging from the video box cover, I really wasn't expecting much from this film. To tell the truth, I wasn't expecting ANYTHING from it. I rented it because I had never seen a Milligan movie and wanted to see if he was as lousy a filmmaker as his reputation says he is. Well, judging by this film, he isn't.

That's not to say that it's any kind of masterpiece, or even particularly good, or even particularly competent. Although the IMDb technical specs for this film say it was shot in 35mm, it has the grainy, poor color quality and lousy sound of 16mm, which is what it really appears to be. The acting is nothing special but not completely incompetent. Neil Flannagan as a drag queen hooker is sort of charming in a pathetic way, and has a scene where he gets into an argument in a bar that is actually pretty funny. Diana Lewis as the young girl who's the centerpiece of this isn't particularly impressive, but she gets by. Harry Reems tries too hard to be the boy next door type and doesn't really pull it off, but he's at least watchable. Amazingly for a Milligan film there's actually a coherent story line about the kinds of people who inhabited the seamy area of Manhattan known as Times Square way back before Disney bought it up and sterilized it, and Milligan actually does a pretty good job of conveying the seediness, depravity, debauchery and general scuzziness that typified the area at that time. What really sets this movie apart from others of its type that I've seen, however, is the way it treats its characters. It's not judgmental of them at all, and doesn't romanticize them as poor pathetic victims or portray them as vicious, depraved victimizers. It just shows them as people who don't have a whole lot going for them and try to get by as best they can with what they've got, doing whatever it is they have to do to make it through to the next day. In other words, they're not much different from anyone else. It took me a while to realize what he was saying with this movie because of the film's technical and narrative shortcomings--for all the good intentions he seems to have brought to this project, Milligan is still a terrible director--but the area and the subject matter were apparently close to his heart, and if Andy Milligan can be said to have made a "personal" film, this is probably it. It's worth a look to see what Times Square was really like back in the early '70s, and the film itself is actually, on the whole, pretty interesting. Check it out.

As low budget and crass as this movie maybe, I was highly impressed by it's realism and efforts made by all. A cross between early Paul Morrisey and John Water films, for better or for worse. But I'd say Andy Milligan and the actors knew the New York and the times they were in. Laura Cannon, Neil Flanagan, and even comical Harry Reems all exude a hope and optimism that there is aspirations to live for, and life can improve. Yet doesn't pull any punches that a hard life on the streets can't be easily shaken off for Prince Charming either. As low budget and awkward as this movie maybe, there's a dedication and determination in it all that is endearing. The seedier side of Looking for Mr. Goodbar. But an entertaining tale for only the most mature of movie goers. A valiant effort!

Dusty, a small time hustler, moves out of her boyfriend's apartment when he finally confronts her about not paying any of the rent and refusing to get a job. She's back on the streets where she reconnects with her transgender prostitute friend, Cherry. Cherry agrees to let her room with her and help her turn some tricks, but things get complicated when Dusty starts to develop feelings for one of her clients.

Andy Milligan isn't a filmmaker known for class or his strong narratives, but Fleshpot on 42nd Street is about as strong an effort from him that I've seen. Milligan has created a group of interesting lowlifes who ran the gamut from sexist to racist, but there's a sweet loyalty between them all even as they curse each other out and insult one another.

The film dabbles in hardcore pornography as well, but it feels oddly important to the story and some of the moments between Dusty and her new lover, Bob, are surprisingly sweet and touching. Not all of the acting is great and, in typical Milligan fashion, it won't be winning any cinematography awards, but it sets out to tell a memorable story and succeeds.