Sal Mineo plays tortured soul Lawrence Sherman in Joseph Cates' walk on the weird side of sexual frustration and damage. I'd known of this film for some time but only got 'round to watching it the other night. Lo-fi sound suggests a minimal budget but Cates makes up for that with a combination of street feel and some trippy scenes, creating a suitably odd cross between indie underground 'art' and psycho exploitation B-movie. It seems that Norah Dain (Juliet Prowse) can't trust anyone, even the detective who befriends her whilst allowing his 10-yr-old daughter to hear tapes of his research into sexual deviancy.
Here's Lawrence walking streets...
Mmm...a book shop...
Look what's in the window...
Yes, Naked Lunch makes another cinematic appearance, the same year as it did in John Boorman's Catch Us If You Can (stills of that here). So I'm starting to think it could be a hobby, searching 60s films for sightings of Burroughs' book. Perhaps not, although it wouldn't surprise me if someone's done it and compiled a comprehensive list online. Nice paring here, though, with Hubert Selby's classic, Last Exit To Brooklyn. Although the film doesn't strike a moral stance (there's even an attempt to gain some sympathy for sexual psycho, Lawrence) it points to a nation's worst fears about deviant behaviour in the sexually liberated decade. Lawrence, despite having been damaged by abuse, might also represent the frustrations of many youths who were supposed to be having so much fun with the opposite sex. Good film.
Available on YouTube
that Frank Harris book was also almost completely written by Alex Trocchi btw
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