American filmmaker Russ Meyer channelled his youthful energies into photography, winning several awards for his amateur films before he was 15. Experience under more grueling circumstances came when he worked as a newsreel cameraman in Europe during World War II. As a civilian, Meyer at first specialized in glamour photos of beautiful models, then found that the money came quicker and the work was more plentiful in the world of male-oriented "nudie" magazines; he was among the first and most prolific of the centerfold photographers for Hugh Hefner's Playboy magazine. From there, Meyer moved on to nudie films, a field in which he managed to strike a happy medium, titillating the audience while remaining within the boundaries of local censor boards. His first film, 1959's The Immoral Mr. Teas, has a plenitude of female flesh, but the story line — a man subjected to a powerful anesthetic discovers that he can see through the clothes of every woman who walks past him — precluded any physical contact between man and woman. Arguing that nudity in and of itself is not obscene so long as it is kept at arm's length, Meyer was able to circumvent the bluenoses and get his film booked into theaters. Shot silent on a budget of 24,000 dollars, The Immoral Mr. Teas made over 40 times its cost. When other producers began muscling in on his territory, Meyer decided to move beyond mere voyeurism, and with Lorna (1964) added elements of sexual contact (always stopping short of actual fornication) and violence. The director's excesses in terms of blood and carnality reached a peak with his "classics:" …  » Read more