Fleshpot on 42nd Street

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 * 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.

Moviecut—Fleshpot on 42nd Street

I sat down to watch this expecting the worst. However, I found it quite surprising. Looking at those living on the fringes of society, director and writer Andy Milligan (who had a rather tragic life) wrote decent dialogue, and utilized actors from New York's off Broadway scene, so the performances are actually not bad (including, of all people, Harry Reems). Shooting with a 16 mm camera and utilizing extreme close ups, it's obvious Milligan actually had some talent. One wonders what he might have done in the main stream.

When Dusty (Diana Lewis aka Laura Cannon) fights with the boyfriend, she steals half his stuff, and moves out. SO much time spent packing up. she steals from another friend, and bumps into drag queen hooker Cherry Lane (Neil Flanagan, who made SEVEN films with director Andy Milligan). Cherry has bad makeup, a bad wig, and a voice like Liberace. they take turns turning tricks. it runs kind of like a cheesy but fun john waters film. the picture quality is terrible, vertical lines running through for the whole film. which may have been added for effect. and some pretty rough cuts to the next scene. and sometimes bad edits within the same scene. keep an eye out for * star Harry Reems. Dusty picks him up (Bob), and off they go. Reems had just done Deep Throat and a ton of other adult films. so much nudity! cussing, simulated S&M. frequent use of the N word. it's basically soft core *, which is why Milligan gave up making the campy, soft core stuff when the hardcore stuff was readily available in the NYC theaters. he has an interesting bio here on imdb if you haven't read it. fun, goofy, campy, as long as you know what to expect. Gotta love the Simmons sisters when they sing Good Ship Lollipop. Written and directed by Andy Milligan, king of the goofy, silly sexploitation films. some great scenery of NYC from 1973. it's just silly, gritty fun. a week in the life of Dusty. can she find and keep Mister Right ?

. . . pathological liar Dusty callously dismisses her current meal ticket moments after he's been crushed by a passing vehicle while frolicking with his True Love. Dusty is a professional strumpet, and the Seven Deadly Sins are not enough for her. This jaded jezebel desperately plunges toward new depths of depravity as she seeks to wreak havoc upon America's Master Gender. No matter how many times Jimmie strikes her with his belt buckle in a thankless effort to beat some compassion and empathy into her, cold-hearted Dusty remains a degenerate damsel of doom. A wicked wench who begins this story by filching faithful Tony's TV and transistor radio, Dusty soon swipes pawnbroker Sammy's store profits. Even that's not enough to placate vile vixen Dusty, as she leaves Joe and Carl high yet dry on their poker night. "Take their money and run" seems to be this serial breach of contract mercenary mink's motto, but her wrap is pictured as cheap rabbit fur. It's easy to see that horrible harlot Dusty is headed for well-deserved destruction.

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.

I urge any of you who think all Grindhouse/Sexploitation films are crap with lousy acting, direction, cinematography, story, etc., etc., go to Amazon Prime pay with your credit card the $1.99 fee, and watch the R/NC-17 streaming version of his film that is available. You may not like or approve the subject matter of it but it will be an eye opener to the amount of quality that was achieved on a low budget. Bravo Andy Milligan. Laura Cannon who played Dusty Cole (in the film credited as Diana Lewis) can act, she is amazingly believable in her role. Make no mistake though she was a porno actress with 30 films credited on IMDb. Her co-stars were Harry Reems (famous for Deep Throat) and Neil Flanagan who I've never heard of before. They both can also act BTW.

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!

There's a lot of neat early 70's NY here to see, or there would be if the camera was held straight, in focus, steady, properly framed, etc. It's just too badly made to overcome despite a true to life look at hustlers and prostitutes. IF only they had someone who knew how to point a camera making it, it could be something worth watching.

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.