''Mudhoney'' (sometimes ''Mud Honey'') is a 1965

Southern Gothic Southern Gothic is an artistic subgenre of Gothic fiction, fiction, Popular music, music, Gothic film, film, theatre, and television that are heavily influenced by Gothic fiction, Gothic elements and the Southern United States, American South. ...

film directed by

Russ Meyer Russell Albion Meyer (March 21, 1922 – September 18, 2004) was an American filmmaker. He was primarily known for writing and directing a successful series of sexploitation films featuring campy humor, sly satire and large-breasted women, wh ...

. It is based on the novel ''Streets Paved With Gold'' by Raymond Friday Locke. The film is a

period drama A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...

set during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. "I got in a little bit over my head," Meyer said about the film. "That's when I thought I was

Erskine Caldwell Erskine Preston Caldwell (December 17, 1903 – April 11, 1987) was an American novelist and short story writer. His writings about poverty, racism and social problems in his native Southern United States, in novels such as '' Tobacco Road'' (19 ...

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck ( ; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social percep ...

and

George Stevens George Cooper Stevens (December 18, 1904 – March 8, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''A Place in the Sun (1951 film), A Place in the Sun'' (1951) ...

all in one." The film became the inspiration for the name of pioneering

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

grunge band

Mudhoney Mudhoney is an American rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, on January 1, 1988, following the demise of Green River (band), Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner (guitari ...

, formed in 1988. American singer-songwriter

Norah Jones Norah Jones ( ; born Geethali Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She has won several awards for her music and, , has sold more than 53 million records worldwide. '' Billboard'' named her the top jazz artist of ...

' album cover for ''

Little Broken Hearts ''Little Broken Hearts'' (stylized as ''...Little Broken Hearts'') is the fifth studio album by American singer and songwriter Norah Jones, released on April 25, 2012, by Blue Note Records. The album was produced by Brian Burton, better known as ...

'' was based upon a poster for the film.

Plot

In this

Depression-era The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

tale, Calef McKinney ( John Furlong) is traveling from Michigan to California and stops in Spooner, Missouri, where Lute Wade ( Stuart Lancaster) hires him for odd jobs. McKinney gets involved with Wade's niece, Hannah Brenshaw ( Antoinette Cristiani). But she is married to Sidney (

Hal Hopper Harold Stevens Hopper (November 11, 1912 – November 2, 1970) was an American singer/songwriter, film score composer and screenwriter. Biography Hopper was a member of The Pied Pipers singing group. He composed the themes tune to several t ...

), a wife-beating drunk who hopes to inherit his uncle-in-law's money. Sidney and an

eccentric Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal" Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics * Off- center, in geometry * Eccentricity (graph theory) of a ...

preacher named Brother Hanson ( Frank Bolger) plot against McKinney, who finds it difficult to conceal his mysterious past and his growing affection for Sidney's wife. Sidney winds up burning his farm and attempting to frame McKinney. He rapes and murders the preacher's wife and is killed by the lynch mob.

Cast

*Hal Hopper as Sidney Brenshaw *Antoinette Cristiani as Hannah Brenshaw *John Furlong as Calif McKinney *Stuart Lancaster as Lute Wade *Rena Horten as Eula *Princess Livingston as Maggie Marie *

Lorna Maitland Lorna Maitland, born Barbara Ann Popejoy (November 19, 1943), is an American film actress. She appeared in three Russ Meyer films: '' Lorna'' (1964), ''Mudhoney'' (1965), and '' Mondo Topless'' (1966). Biography Lorna Maitland was born in Gl ...

as Clara Belle *Sam Hanna as Injoys *Nick Wolcuff as Sheriff Abel *Frank Bolger as Brother Hanson *Lee Ballard as Sister Hanson *Mickey Foxx as Thurmond Pate *F. Rufus Owens as Milton

Production

The film was based on a novel, ''Streets Paved with Gold'' by Friday Locke.

Reception

Box Office

The film was a financial failure. Meyer later said, "I made a gamble with Mudhoney and I failed. The only reason I made Mudhoney was I was in love with a girl named Rena. I should have not made the film."

Critical

The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' called it "the perfect dirty picture. Unspoiled by either undue sadism or outright nudity... a flawless piece of unintentional

camp Camp may refer to: Areas of confinement, imprisonment, or for execution * Concentration camp, an internment camp for political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or minority ethnic groups * Extermination ...

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

called the film "Meyer's neglected masterpiece: his most interesting, most ambitious, most complex and longest independent production. He describes it as a case of over-achievement; it was not necessary, or perhaps even wise, he believes, to expend so much energy on a movie that had so little directly exploitable elements." Ebert said "Meyer's visual invention, always dramatic and energetic, has never been better than in this one. From the

Hitchcockian Hitchcockian films are those made by various filmmakers, with the styles and themes similar to those of Alfred Hitchcock. Characteristics Elements considered Hitchcockian include: *Climactic plot twist. *The cool platinum blonde. *The presenc ...

opening (bare feet seen in a closeup on intersecting passages) to such

Grand Guignol The Théâtre du Grand-Guignol () was a theater in the Pigalle district of Paris (7, cité Chaptal). From its opening in 1897 until its closing in 1962, it specialized in horror shows. Its name is often used as a general term for graphic, amor ...

shots as a body falling into a grave from the grave's P. O. V., this is a melodrama taken to obsessed extremes."Guilty Pleasures Ebert, Roger. Film Comment; New York Vol. 14, Iss. 4, (Jul/Aug 1978): 49-51,80.

References

External links

*
''Mudhoney''
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of ...

''Mudhoney''
at Letterbox DVD {{Russ Meyer 1965 films American black-and-white films 1960s English-language films Films based on American novels

American independent films American sexploitation films 1965 drama films 1965 independent films 1960s American films Southern Gothic films English-language independent films