No one has reviewed this gem yet? Wow! This is the fourth Warhol/Morrissey film I've seen and the only one without Joe Dallesandro. But he isn't missed too much with the amazing talent and storyline given here!
Jackie Curtis, Candy Darling, and Holly Woodlawn (the three top drag queen Superstars) are three members of PIGs (Politically Involved Girls). We see their trials, tribulations, relationships with men (and women), their feminist attacks on men, and how they all end up wasted and abandoned.
Of the three lead actresses, Jackie Curtis is my favorite. She knows how to deliver dialogue to make it zing with humor, she knows which facial contortions display which emotions, and she certainly is a natural comedienne. I had only seen her previously in "Flesh" and was not impressed (by her acting or her drag get-up), but here, Jackie gets a look that suits her and delivers the goods. Candy Darling is a gorgeous willowy blonde (the only queen with a chest resembling a woman's) and she is just as great as the socialite member of PIGs. She is a lot better than she was in "Flesh" and gives a star-making performance. Now, Holly Woodlawn was Oscar-worthy in "Trash" and was the main reason why I bought this movie. Instead, her character here is badly composed and Holly is given little to do throughout the movie! Her one good scene: her opening scene where she's yelling at/beating/having sex with her boyfriend Marty. Other than that, Holly is wasted and just plain forgettable. It's not her fault, I blame director Paul Morrissey for spending unequal screen time with all three actresses!
"Women in Revolt" has several hidden surprises for Warhol fans. Veteran Warhol actors make appearances, but don't live up to their previous performances. Jane Forth is a member of PIGs, but how could she top the rich girl in "Trash"? She has barely any lines and appears in three scenes. Geri Miller, another one of my favorites, is seen briefly in Lorraine's Bar and has no lines. Shame, her voice is cute and so is her personality. Maurice Braddell, the old artist in "Flesh", is Candy's stuck-up father. He also isn't as memorable as his previous role. Michael Sklar, the welfare worker in "Trash", plays a sleazy promoter who Candy sleeps with to get a job. He's not too good here. Jonathan Kramer, who was one of few Warhol Superstars to appear in "Midnight Cowboy" (as a transvestite), is a crummy journalist who humiliates Candy and gets into a fistfight with her! He's great! Martin Kove plays Marty, Holly's boyfriend, completely in the buff, quite a change from his appearance as a comic relief cop in "Last House on the Left"! Johnny Kemper is "Mr. America", a male gigolo who conforms Jackie to heterosexuality. I wonder if they were a real-life couple? An in-joke is evident when Candy mentions her new movie, "Blonde on a Bum Trip", an actual exploitation movie made in 1968!
Overall, "Women In Revolt" is a forgotten Morrissey film, but is a whole lot funnier than his Dallesandro films, features a better ensemble cast than any of his other films, and is itching for a new modern audience to embrace it!
