Diagonaldi Very well executed

Raetsonwe Redundant and unnecessary.

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

jimm-8 British film distributors in the 50s and 60s would often acquire a film banned by the British Board of Film Censors and then tout it round regional authorities to get it passed for exhibition locally. The most famous example was The Wild One (1953) where Columbia managed to flout the censor's ban by getting permission to open the film in Cambridge for three weeks, then Glasgow for five weeks, and at a number of other places. Even more successful were Eros Films who persuaded 181 local authorities to pass Garden of Eden (1955). The cost of arranging so many previews for councillors was far outweighed by the box office returns, with so many people eager to see a banned film.Grand National Film Distributors thought they had a money-maker with Russ Meyer's Lorna (1964), rejected by the BBFC on 2 February 1965. Featuring Meyer's latest top-heavy discovery Lorna Maitland, the film is actually quite well made, by no means indecent and with an odd religious message. However, most councillors thought the story of a dissatisfied housewife who finds fulfilment with an escaped rapist unsuitable even for local adults, and the film was rejected nearly everywhere – until it reached Blackburn Borough Council. For whatever reason, their watch committee considered it perfectly OK for Blackburn folk to see Lorna do her stuff. And so, on 16 January 1966 at the Essoldo circuit's Royal Cinema in Ainsworth Street, Lorna was finally unveiled in public, probably the only time the Lancashire textile town had hosted a premiere. Disappointingly, the film ran only one week, and people were not coming from all over England to see Lorna perform. Undaunted, the distributors carried on touring local authorities and, in June 1966, tried to get the film passed in Southend-on-Sea. Essex County Council said nothing doing. Like Miss Maitland in the film, Grand National probably lost their shirts.LATER SHOWINGS: After being banned in Southend-on-Sea, Lorna was later permitted a week on the Lincolnshire coast. Lindsey district council granted Lorna a local "X" and the film ran at the ABC cinema, Cleethorpes, from Sunday, 1 December 1968.

jlomax28 Lust..Longing...Love.. Life... LORNA! I bought this Lusty Gothic Years set, having seen MUDHONEY but without ever having seen Lorna before. I was not disappointed. I am a big Russ Meyer fan and I hardly ever hear anyone talk about Lorna or Mudhoney. These are two of his best films. I was really impressed with the beautiful contrast of the black and white photography in both movies. I could see how much RM self parodies in his later work of his older movies. Fans of BENEATH THE VALLEY OF THE ULTRA- VIXENS will notice the parallels of the opening of LORNA. The dumb husband who studies while his wife is moaning in the bedroom next to him, sexually unsatisfied. Another impressive scene from the beginning of the film is the montage that accompanies Lorn'a inner monologue about her sad disillusionment of sex and love in marriage. The 'Man of God' as the Greek chorus throughout the film is very original and strange. Russ Meyer early films were so much better than the over baked self parodies Roger Ebert wrote in the 70's... I love those films too like UP! and BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS but I think his films were even better when he wasn't so in on the joke.

morrison-dylan-fan After finding co- Writer/director/cinematography/editor/co-producer auteur Russ Meyer's fake "Mondo" doc Europe In The Raw to be a painfully slow movie to watch,I started to have serious regrets about having picked up a boxset of Meyer's films in the Christmas sales.Thankfully,a few days ago two fellow IMDb'ers started to tell me that I had something very special to look forward to in Meyer's next movie,which lead to me,initially half-heartedly,decide to take a special visit and meet Russ Meyer's Lorna.The plot:Trying to create a romantic mood on the night before their first wedding anniversary,Lorna asks her husband Jim if he can put his study books down,and instead get into bed with her.Putting the book down,Jim gets into bed and starts to tell Lorna about what he is expecting tomorrow to be like,when he goes back to work in the salt mines.Feeling that Jim is completely missing her hints,Lorna pushes him for some romance,which ends up making her feel more depressed then ever,due to the "action" only lasting 5 minutes!!.Waving goodbye to Jim as he sets off to work with two friends,Lorna decides to go for a calming walk in the woods,where she is suddenly grabbed by a stranger who slams her on the ground,and starts to pull her clothes off.Initially shocked with what is taking place,Lorna soon finds herself getting very excited due to the stranger showing her more passion than Jim has done all year.Feeling extremely lustful,Lorna takes the stranger to her house so that they can continue their passions there,whilst,after getting endlessly teased over how he is not having any "sleepless nights" from his two work buddies,Jim decides to finish work early,so that he can give the wife who he deeply loves an anniversary that she will never forget.View on the film:Shooting the film in crisp black & white,Russ Meyer unveils an astonishing new confidence and sense of pace which had only been previously hinted at,in his earlier silent films.Soaking the movie in a deep Film Noir atmosphere,Meyer uses Jim's salt mine workplace to create a feeling that the entire town is based in the middle of an isolated desert,whilst also using a number of well handled,long pov tracking shots to put the viewer right into the quick sand that all of the characters find themselves unwittingly trapped.Teaming up with another writer for the first time since his debut film,co-writer James Griffth (who also composed the movie's great rumbling score and plays the spooky "Man of God") creates a winning partnership with Meyer in striking an excellent balance between sharp Comedy moments,and murky Film Noir.Banned from being seen in the UK from 1965 until 1998,Meyer and James delightfully make almost every single character be entirely unlikeable,from Jim's two workmates attempting to get a girl agree to a "fun time",to Lorna being an icy dame who loves the feel of being near something dangerous and deadly.Whilst Meyer and James do treat,what is initially an assault on Lorna on a non-comedic way,the writers smartly use the ribbing that Jim gets from his work mates to give the movie some fine Comedy moments,whilst also unexpectedly using the comedic scenes as a way to really hit their brilliantly down beat ending at full force.Backed by a rugged performance from Mark Bradley as the stranger and a real "aw shucks" performance from James Rucker,the vivacious and sultry voiced Lorna Maitland gives a splendid performance as Femme Fatale Lorna.Looking beautiful naked against Meyer's B&W cinematography,Maitland shows herself to be far more than just a pretty face,by giving the character a reckless Film Noir edge,that goes from Lorna's eyes being lit up over doing something dangerous,to screaming in shock,as Lorna discovers that living on the wild side of Film Noir does not come without a deep cost.

dragonslayor Lorna Maitland was one of Meyer's rare "finds." Physically stunning but as easily engaged as was the earlier Monroe, one easily fantasizes a personal encounter with her. The river bathing scene, partially obscured by tree branches, makes you her willing voyeur; her eventual passionate response to the convict escapee who rapes her, tells you that you might also have your way with her should you ever somehow meet.I found the violence in the film to be gratuitous albeit realistic and disturbing; as in Cherry, Harry, and Raquel, a later Meyer (color) film, the viewer is torn from (his) fantasy of passion and plunged into anger and terror. Why Meyer felt he had to mix the two escapes me, but therefore, his films are doubly memorable; along with the river scene, the shotgun blast from under the hood of the old car is equally etched.Lorna Maitland, like Roberta Pedon of another genre, had a short stay in the limelight; with their early passing, they share a unique, cult-like icon status.