2008-04-23

Another Day, Another Man!

Like most kids with a twisted cultural identity I am fascinated with the side-products of sub-culture. For example I was far more interested in the imagery, posters and background music of exploitation-movies than by the actual movies.

This was partly due to the lack of availability and the realization that most of the films were never living up to the promise of the flashy trailers and the lurid posters.

So I bought lots of obscure compilations in the mid-eighties. Stuff like "Jungle Exotica", "The Frolic Room", and the "Wavy Gravy Series" which were full of ultra bizarre rock n´roll and trailers for movies like "The Astro Zombies".

On one of those records there was a charming piece called "Another Day, Another Man", which turned out to be a sizzling, groovy big-band strip-jazz number with the most romantic lyrics I have ever heard. The way the blatant messages fit into this hard hitting music is just spectacular:


Another day, another man!

This is the story of women who thought they´d earn money the easy way.
Only to find that they had to pay for their sins.

"WHORE!"

See: Sex without shame!

See: Lust!

Raw naked violence!

In the boldest and most intimate scenes ever shown on any screen...

in... Another day! Another Man!

These are the women who fight for their men.
Where another man means another dollar!

They have no scruples

They´re corrupt and immoral!

As their passions run riot!

They live only for the exitement of each day.
For the pleasures of each night.
If you want to see a film that strips away all conventions...That dares to tell all...Then you must see:
Another Day! Another Man!



Of course I had never heard about the film and I was absolutely convinced that nothing could ever be captured on celluloid that would live up to the fantastic trailer-music.

But when I actually saw "Another Day, Another Man" for the first time, I was floored! Written and directed by the notorious Doris Wishman, it actually managed to one-up the sky-high expectations I never dared to have.

The style of her movies is just outrageous. Its hard to believe that these films are only 40 years old as they appear to come from a totally different reality. Altering between seedy exploitation, simulated nudity and violence (one always following the other)and social criticism, the Wishman-style has to be seen to be believed.

This deadly Doris famously shot most of her films without sound. Alledgedly to save money, she would later dub in the dialogue and occasionally even background noise. This adds an even odder touch to her bizarre screenplays, but it is her handheld camera which often pans around rooms and focusses on potted plants, ashtrays and parts (mostly feet) of the actors, which make her films so unique.

If Wishman would have been French and a man she would be name checked with Truffaut and Goddard. But since she was a woman who had the audacity to shoot sexmovies for a male audience her legacy is now held up by people like John Waters. What a lucky girl!

As for the music: It appears that it is library music by british KPM music label. Apparantly the music for "Another Day, Another Man" was also used in some of the Spiderman-cartoons from the sixties. This makes it so much better!

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