> some time ago we all talked about boxing and new
orleans and The Night and The
> City of Jules Dassin...well, here¹s this review
today in NYT of this movies
> about female wrestling...check it out...has anybody
seen this...is there
> anything in books about this (novels, bios, crime
stories, noir romans...)
>
> merci in advance for any info...
>
> Montois in Detroit
>
>
> March 25, 2005
> MOVIE REVIEW | 'LIPSTICK AND DYNAMITE'
>
>
> Salty Anecdotes and War Stories From the Early Days
of a Sport
> By STEPHEN HOLDEN
>
>
> Revisiting the early days of professional women's
wrestling, Ruth Leitman's
> documentary "Lipstick and Dynamite" rummages through
a corner of sports
> history that ought to reveal a great deal about
athletics, gender and sexual
> attitudes in the United States. But this visually
stylish work, with its
> vintage glamour photos, film and television clips,
and snippets from a 1951
> B-movie, "Racket Girls," is more of a scrapbook than
a coherent history of the
> sport during its rough-and-tumble infancy. Salty
anecdotes abound, but they
> add up to little beyond reminding us that the female
pioneers of any sport
> have been a determined, thick-skinned
lot.
>
> "Lipstick and Dynamite" traces women's wrestling
back to 1939, when Gladys
> (Killem) Gillem first grappled with an opponent in a
circus sideshow. Her act
> was a big enough hit to establish the sport as a
popular novelty attraction.
>
> Most of the athletes interviewed, now in their 70's
and 80's, came to
> wrestling to escape backgrounds of domestic abuse
and poverty. Their stories,
> told with the zest of proud, battle-hardened
survivors, describe not only the
> thrill of combat, but also their backstage rivalries
and exploitation by
> sleazy promoters.
>
> The most notorious, Billy Wolfe, slept with many of
them, while pocketing 50
> percent of their earnings. Any notions that these
women thought of themselves
> as a feminist vanguard (then or now) are quickly
demolished.
>
> "Lipstick and Dynamite" doesn't bother to examine
women's wrestling as a
> sport with a history and an evolving set of rules
and standards. How it
> developed (and then deteriorated) into the televised
circus it is today is a
> subject left for others to document.
>
> The most prominent and formidable wrestler
interviewed, the Fabulous Moolah
> (Lillian Ellison), is still active in her 80's as a
hard-boiled promoter and
> manager. She lives with Johnnie Mae Young (formerly
the Great Mae Young), who
> was famous for fighting dirty, and their surrogate
daughter, Diamond Lil, a
> former midget wrestler. A scary creature, the
Fabulous Moolah is colorful
> enough to deserve her own movie.
>
> Among the film's more vivid characters are Ella
Waldek, a gravellyvoiced
> wrestler who went on to open her own detective
agency, and Penny Banner, who
> trained to be a wrestler after nearly being
date-raped at 16 and was later
> marketed as the sport's blond bombshell. The movie
ends with the Gulf Coast
> Wrestlers Reunion, in which many of these
hard-bitten pioneers gather to share
> their war stories.
>
> 'Lipstick and Dynamite'
>
> Opens today in the New York metropolitan
area
>
> Directed by Ruth Leitman; directors of photography,
Ms. Leitman and Nancy
> Segler; edited by Ms. Leitman and Connie Diletti;
produced by Ms. Leitman and
> Debbie Nightingale; released by Koch Lorber Films.
In Manhattan at the
> Angelika Film Center, Mercer and Houston Streets,
Greenwich Village. Running
> time: 83 minutes. This film is not rated.
>
> WITH: Gladys (Killem) Gillem, the Fabulous Moolah,
the Great Mae Young, Ida
> May Martinez, Penny Banner and Ella
Waldek.
>
> Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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