Lust in the Dust is a 1985 gay cult favorite film starring Divine, Tab Hunter, Cesar Romero, and Lainie Kazan, directed by Paul Bartel
Dance-hall “girl” Rosie Velez (Divine), lost in the desert, is helped to safety by gunman Abel Wood (Tab Hunter). In the town of Chili Verde, at the saloon of Marguerita Ventura (Lainie Kazan), a word of a treasure in gold brings Abel into conflict with outlaw Hard Case Williams (Geoffrey Lewis) and his gang.
They don;t make em like this anymore.
And it REALLY needs to be seen to be believed
Legendary American movie star and sex symbol Marlo Manners (Mae West) is in London, England, where she has just married for the sixth time. She and her new husband, Sir Michael Barrington (Timothy Dalton), then depart for a honeymoon suite at a posh and exclusive hotel that has been reserved for them by her manager, Dan Turner (Dom DeLuise).
The hotel is also the location of an international conference, where leaders have come together to resolve tensions and problems that threaten the survival of the world. As the chairman, Mr. Chambers (Walter Pidgeon) is trying to call the meeting to order, the delegates are crowding to the windows in an effort to catch a glimpse of Marlo when she arrives
As they enter the lobby, Marlo, now Lady Barrington, and her nobleman husband are swarmed by admirers and reporters. When asked, “Do you get a lot of proposals from your male fans?” she quips, “Yeah, and what they propose is nobody’s business.”
Once inside their suite, the couple are unable to go to bed and have sex because of constant interruptions due to the demands of her career, such as interviews, dress fittings and photo sessions, as well as the various men, including some former husbands, diplomat Alexei Andreyev Karansky (Tony Curtis), director Laslo Karolny (Ringo Starr), gangster Vance Norton (George Hamilton), and an entire athletic team from the U.S., who all want to have sex with her.
Meanwhile, Turner desperately searches for an audiotape containing his client’s memoirs, in order to destroy it. Marlo has recorded extensive details about her affairs and scandals, with a lot of dirt about her husbands and lovers. Ex-husband Alexei, who is the Russian delegate at the conference, threatens to derail the intense negotiations unless he can have another sexual encounter with her. Marlo is expected to work “undercover” to ensure world peace.
Also featured in cameos are Rona Barrett, Regis Philbin and George Raft playing themselves. West made her movie debut in Raft’s Night After Night (1932).
When Rosalind’s Russell’s vocal tracks for “Gypsy” were released on CD in 2005, they were not her final versions. Here is her last attempt at this song, and it’s better (though still not usable).
Russell was completely dubbed in this number by Lisa Kirk in the released film. Roz includes exactly three paragraphs on “Gypsy” in her autobiography, “Life Is A Banquet.”
* At first I was only to act the part; Rose’s singing was dubbed by a professional with a big trained voice. When I heard it, I got sick. “It isn’t me,” I said. “I’m bad, but I can’t stand to hear that. Everybody knows I don’t sing operatically, it throws the balance off.” Warner Brothers agreed and rescored the picture, and I sang my own part. People still say that I didn’t, but that’s Roz, and nobody else, as Rose on the soundtrack of Gypsy.
*Roz, we love you, but if that’s you in the film, then who’s that singing in these clips? Ethel?
Rumor has it that Merman, rightfully angry that she was not cast in the film, got hold of these recordings and used to play them for friends at parties. Now why would she do that? =)
(Note that she sings the original lyric, “Hey, L.A., I’m comin’ your way” – apparently the story had not been rewritten at the time of filming.)*From TCM:
Though she had starred in the stage musical “Wonderful Town” ten years earlier, Russell’s voice didn’t have the power required for the score. After listening to her recording of the numbers, even Russell had to agree that she would need to be dubbed, though she would deny this, too, in her memoirs. Russell’s voice was used only for the patter portions of the numbers. For the real singing, Broadway belter Lisa Kirk, who had starred in the original stage production of “Kiss Me, Kate,” modulated her voice to a near perfect match for Russell’s
