SO BAD IT’S GOOD?

Just how awful is the 1970 box-office flop Myra Breckenridge? Based on the book by Gore Vidal about a man who wants a sex change, it ruined sales of the novel for years, sparked numerous lawsuits, and prompted Time magazine to say, “Myra Breckinridge is about as funny as a child molester.” See all the bad taste for yourself this weekend when Anthology Film Archives revives the rarely-screened movie with a new print. Originally rated X, the film was most shocking for a scene in which Myra (Raquel Welch) rapes a man with a dildo and then runs off with his girlfriend (Farrah Fawcett). Perhaps today’s audience will conclude that Myra was just ahead of her time. Rex Reed, Tom Selleck, John Huston, and Mae West also star.

March 7-9, 2008