The amazing Barbara Baxley was not a household name. A veteran actor of stage, movies and television, she covered everything from soap operas to musical comedy. Her leading roles on screen were rare, and in this, you only get fleeting glimpses of her. But that voice, like lemon candy and ginger snap cookies, is unforgettable. She's taking her guardian angel (Gary Merrill) through her world following a divorce, and when you do catch glimpses of her, she is obviously one extremely unhappy lady. Happy to be alone, that's only surface happiness, she is obviously in deep pain over her ex- husband's infidelities, both hating and loving him still at the same time. When she goes to the mailbox and gets her alimony payment, she is distraught that there's barely a note attached.
Seemingly mostly stock footage filmed all over the Los Angeles area, this shows equally miserable people living shallow lives and pretending to be happy, or are they really just getting rid of aggressions? People gardening, eating in restaurants, playing cards, yelling obvious obscenities at the fights. It's a sad, sad, sad world for the human beast, and Baxley is just the latest pod in the bed of misery that is real life. No stone of the world is ignored from a Pentecostal church service where old women suddenly begin talking in tongues to an outrageous drag show featuring some of the most bizarre drag queens ever to be seen on screen.
This reminded me of docu-dramas of the 1950's such as "The Little Fugitive", "Lovers and Lollipops" and "Weddings and Babies", all unique in their way, but this is the darkest of them all. The musical score reminds me of the background score of "West Side Story", jazzy and tough and sad and profound. This is a definite change from the mainstream movies of the times, an adult movie for sure, and one that holds no bars in its vision of human bitterness, lust and loneliness. But even when it becomes very depressing and melancholy, you can't turn your head away. It is truly addicting.
Seemingly mostly stock footage filmed all over the Los Angeles area, this shows equally miserable people living shallow lives and pretending to be happy, or are they really just getting rid of aggressions? People gardening, eating in restaurants, playing cards, yelling obvious obscenities at the fights. It's a sad, sad, sad world for the human beast, and Baxley is just the latest pod in the bed of misery that is real life. No stone of the world is ignored from a Pentecostal church service where old women suddenly begin talking in tongues to an outrageous drag show featuring some of the most bizarre drag queens ever to be seen on screen.
This reminded me of docu-dramas of the 1950's such as "The Little Fugitive", "Lovers and Lollipops" and "Weddings and Babies", all unique in their way, but this is the darkest of them all. The musical score reminds me of the background score of "West Side Story", jazzy and tough and sad and profound. This is a definite change from the mainstream movies of the times, an adult movie for sure, and one that holds no bars in its vision of human bitterness, lust and loneliness. But even when it becomes very depressing and melancholy, you can't turn your head away. It is truly addicting.
