1964

Grantville, California

Samuel Fuller

Hard-Boiled Musical Melodrama

What’s it all about:  Big-city call girl Constance Towers beats up her pimp, hops on a Greyhound, and brings her wild, earnest eyes to small-town America, where she envisions herself as a door-to-door hooker selling champagne at $10 a pop. But local sheriff Anthony Eisley is waiting at the bus stop, where he likes to get first dibs on any new girls and nip such plans in the bud.

First Encounter: first viewing

Prostitute Index: high

Death By: landline

Relics: household globe, reel to reel tape

Hoops: no one believes a prostitute; leaving town to have a baby  

Heartthrobs: Constance Towers, Virginia Grey

Pass/Fails the Test of Time: putting the playground next to the jailhouse

LoFi Magic: a pimp’s-eye view of getting beat by a prostitute

Words to live by: “Nobody shoves dirty money in my mouth” / “I don’t make change”

Makes me want to: cross the state line for cocktails at Candy’s cathouse

Candotti Take: “What a twist, a prostitute movie and then suddenly kids singing in it. It’s not even the sons of prostitutes, it’s just random kids.”

Worth a watch/rewatch: Yes

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