Brand of Shame

I saw this movie several times back in 1968-9. Luckily <unbeknownst to me at the time> I saw it in a theater that did not edit and cut it all up. Many (many, many) years later I purchased a video tape from one of the relatively reputable dealers. I was aghast to find the scene pretty much as Troy describes. I complained to the dealer since I had seen the original and knew what it was like. They actually put me in email contact with David Friedman. He explained that back then each theater would actually edit the film based on what they felt their local police dept would tolerate. He said back then he had no idea it would become a cult classic and they did not even keep a master copy of the film!! So basically he says unless someone comes up with an original 35MM in the closet of some theater, that scene is gone from moviedom. Believe me when I tell you that the scene was really superb in its uncut version. Even in the original there was some cutting back and forth to the lame, brain-dead hero. But it was so hot that it was probably a good thing it was not continuous. By the way, the scene definitely did NOT stop with her blouse! Only her boots remained -- Now THAT is a Western! And Marsha Jordan was pretty hot.

I saw this truly unique movie with a bigger crowd in a movie theater. To be honest, the movie itself seems to be a boring softsex parody to the western genre. But if you are German or have knowledge of the german language it turns into a delirious and mindblowing fun of german dubbing work, to be consumed best with a large number of people.

I really don't know if some or all of the dubbing people had some drugs before recording the track. But if there were any drugs involved, it must have been good stuff. Otherwise it is hard to explain why some dialog lines are totally out of synch, you hear people saying something but see no mouth movement and (translated) lines like:

"Beware Django! Behind you! A cactus!"

"So Django, did you get them all?" "No, they were masked. I didn't know where to shoot."

When I saw this film in the theater, I couldn't believe how long the whipping scene was - 40 lashes with a bullwhip. A few male customers in the theater shouted out "enough" as the beating of this woman went on and on.

The scene has a good prelude as the three men string her up to a tree branch and let her hang by her wrists. After they take off her hat, they open up her blouse and then lay it on her breasts and stomach. The guy with the whip seemed to know what he was doing. The scene looked authentic as red welts started to appear on her body.

The good guys show up late but do rescue her. It was amazing she was able to walk away with them after receiving such a beating.

This is one of those movies where you're not sure if it's supposed to be a drama, or if it is supposed to be a satire on Westerns. Either way, it stinks. The best reason to see this movie is the whipping scene (if you're into that sort of thing), which unfortunately suffers from a poor job of editing. A scene that could've had some real drama to it is ruined as the story flips between the female school teacher strung from a tree and the hero back in town swapping dialogue with another female character.

The evil cowboys have kidnapped an innocent schoolteacher who comes into town on a stagecoach because they think she can lead them to gold, money, whatever. They grab her and take her out onto the prairie, where they throw a rope over a tree limb and tie her hands over her head. They rip open her blouse and ... the scene cuts over to the hero reciting lines back in town... then the schoolteacher is squirming under the tree as one of the evil cowboys takes a bullwhip and swings it towards the schoolteacher. We see the tail of whip cross her bare chest and...the hero recites some more dialogue back in town. This goes on for a while. Eventually the schoolteacher gets completely topless, but that's the end of the scene and the evil cowboys ride off. Too bad.

If I had made this film, I would've had a longer prelude to the blouse-ripping and whip-swinging, to build up more drama for the scene. A little titillation goes a long way in this film. It sure doesn't have much else going for it. And I sure wouldn't have interrupted the climax of the plot with boring dialogue from a boring hero. I guess that's why the producer never really made it big in any film, he just made a lot of them (quantity over quality, I suppose).

If you can get it cheap, the film would make interesting late-night viewing where you don't have to think too hard. Other than that, it has no socially redeeming value.