Cast:
Jody Daniels, Leslie McRae, Tom Pace, Mark Herron
Director:
Ted V. Mikels
Genre:
Crime, Drama, Music, Romance
When
I heard the plot for the next movie on our list, I got an
overwhelming sense of déjà vu.
When
I heard the plot for the next movie on our list, I got an
overwhelming sense of déjà vu.
The
next movie in our list is about a girl who flees to LA in pursuit of
her dream to become a dancer. She manages to get a spot in a popular
LA dance show, but discovers that in LA, not everyone can be trusted
and that betrayal and danger are never far away…..
I
had to do a quick double take and re-check, because this plot sounds
suspiciously like our #49(a)
movie, Showgirls,
(see my blog here). Had we listed the same movie twice? Was there a
duplication? I got an overwhelming sense of déjà vu.
As
it turned out we hadn’t made a mistake. The next movie on our list
was Girl in Gold Boots and was actually made in 1969; a good 30 years
before Showgirls. But it can not be denied, the plots are very
similar, so the question was, is Girl in Gold Boots the 60’s
equivalent of Showgirls? Or is it actually a good movie?
Michele,
(Leslie McRae), works in a roadside café in the middle of nowhere
with her alcoholic abusive father, (Victor
Izay). When the
café is empty, (which seems like all the time), she likes nothing
more than to stick on some music and dance, (I say dance, flap her
arms and move slightly is more accurate).
Strange
little man and Simon Cowell trouser wearer, Buz, (Tom Pace), arrives
at the café with intentions of robbing the place, (judging by the
amount of customers, there must be at least $3 in the till), but when
he stumbles upon Michele’s dancing he has an idea. He tells
Michele that his sister works as a Go-Go dancer in LA and that he can
get her a job dancing.
Michele
weighs up whether to stay with her drunken father or run off with a
strange little man and decides it’s a no brainer, (like Buz), and
the 2 set off for LA.
En
route they pick up a hitchhiker called Critter, (Jody Daniels), who
carries a guitar and bursts into song at opportune moments. Tension
mounts as both Buz and Critter like Michele and they both launch into
a dick measuring contest throughout the journey.
When
they finally get to LA, they go to the Haunted House, a Go-Go club
where Buz’s sister, Joan, (Bara
Byrnes), is the
lead arm flapper. They meet up with club boss, Leo, (Mark Herron),
where Michele gets a job as a dancer, Critter gets a job as a janitor
and Buz gets a job as a drug pushing lacky.
This
is when the trouble begins as Buz spirals from petty criminal to
slightly bigger petty criminal. Joan develops a drug problem and is
promptly demoted and replaced by Michele. And in the most chilling
twist of all, Critter’s cleaning effectiveness is cast into doubt
as he realises they are working in a hard water area.
Will
Buz learn the error of his ways and go straight before it is too
late? Will Michele follow Joan’s path from Go-Go to No-No? And
will Critter’s order of urinal cakes arrive on time?
The
Girl in Gold Boots appears to have been recorded on a chewed up VHS
tape and both vision and sound are fuzzy, jerky and of a poor
quality. This off course may have been due to the version I watched,
(which was on YouTube), but I have since seen the MST3K version and
it appears this is not a one-off.
There
are some crazy edits throughout which cut scenes short and abruptly
start the next scene. One famous bad edit can be seen on the MST3K
version in which Buz ‘teleports’ into a chair next to Michele in
a bar. This is very funny to watch and gives the scene a ‘Bewitched’
moment as Buz appears out of nowhere, twitches his nose and invites
Darrin’s boss for dinner.
The
bad quality of the picture may also explain why the Gold Boot dancers
who appear throughout the movie are actually wearing silver boots.
Maybe
the tape was put through a boil wash in error and the gold has bled
into the rest of the picture?
The
bad quality of the picture would not explain McRae’s bad dancing
and why everyone seems to think she’s the next big thing. She
swings her hips and arms, bends her knees and squats
a lot and apparently
this is top quality dancing?!?! In that case during my festival
years, when needing a no.2 and the toilets were, shall we say a
little full, the
manoeuvres I had to do to successfully have a poo would have got me
into the Royal Ballet!
McRae’s
bad dancing compliments Pace’s bad acting. It’s not totally
bad, but is as cheesy as Cheddar Gorge. He tries to be this bad boy,
but I’m sorry, pouring beer onto a biker’s bike seat, when he is
not around, is not particularly James Dean is it? It’s even less
convincing when he’s trying to be mean and moody whilst his trouser
belt is around his nipples.
I
do like Leo though and whilst his portrayal of a baddie does have a
certain whiff of brie about it, it is done in a good, 60’s baddie
TV show kind of way. In actual fact it reminds me of Columbo, (a
show which I absolutely love), and in particular Jack Cassidy’s
role as guest killer(s), (he was guest killer on 3 separate
occasions). Herron
grits his teeth in the same way, has the same mannerisms and an
identical moustache. OK so Herron
is a budget Cassidy, but good nonetheless. Anyway, I’ve taken up
enough of your time talking about Cassidy, I’ll move on now.
Oh,
just one more thing ma'am,
I am aware that Cassidy only had a moustache in ‘Publish or Perish’
and ‘Now You See Him’, so there is no need to point this out in
the comments section :)
I
also like the soundtrack, which has a good 60’s garage band vibe to
it. I particularly like the title song, (Girl in Gold Boots), which
is played several times throughout and is pretty darn catchy. You
will be humming it for days after!
So,
is Girl in Gold Boots the 60’s equivalent of Showgirls? Or is it
actually a good movie? The answer to both of those questions is yes!
If
you’ve seen Showgirls then the outline of the story above must have
seemed very familiar and for that reason it is difficult not to
compare the two movies. The obvious similarities are there, the
dancing, going to LA to dance and the sleaze, dirt and disaster this
can bring. This is Showgirls, make no mistake, but a Disney version.
This may have been cutting edge in the 60’s but due to
de-sensitisation, it feels Showgirls-lite.
Make
no mistake though, I like this movie on its own merits. I like the
storyline, the soundtrack is good and the movie moves along at a nice
pace and manages to hold onto the audience. Yes there are some
unintentional funny moments, mainly caused by the bad edits, but this
just adds to the enjoyment and charm.
So
if you watched and liked Showgirls, then watch Girl in Gold Boots, I
think you’ll like it. But even if you haven’t, watch it or at
least the MST3K episode featuring this movie, (which is a very funny
episode).
This
is one of those movies that is actually quite good and does not
deserve to be so high up on
our list.
This
is one of those movies that is actually quite good and does not
deserve to be so high up on
our list.
There’s
that deja-vu again………..
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