casablancalover Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 h4. Makes me wonder I have girlfriends who claim Pretty Woman as a Favorite, yet cannot not explain why, other than Gere and Roberts are beautiful people and have great chemistry. What movies of the World's Oldest Profession are your favorites? I want to see better reasons.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolesroor Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Well, the first movie that comes into mind for me is "Klute." Jane Fonda gives the most realistic, three-dimensional portrayal of a prostitute I've ever seen. The movie forces you to accept her as a REAL human being first and a prostitute second. This is very rare for Hollywood which usually sorts pros into two categories: - Hooker With A Heart Of Gold This is the prostitute who's not really a prostitute- she's just a good girl caught up in the wrong industry and looking for the chance to reform/redeem herself with an act of morality or the appearance of her prince. "Pretty Woman" kinda fits into this category... really good movie. - Bad Girl This is the prostitute as Evil Woman- unreedemable, ruined, etc. In more modern movies she might be a junkie... or corpse. "Klute" strikes that almost-impossble balance to show you that prostitutes- like everybody else- might be a little of both types... and more. If you haven't seen it I would highly suggest it. Also Jodie Foster in "Taxi Driver" is wonderful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SansFin Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 The world's oldest profession is apple-picking. The oldest movie I can find with a reference to it is: *Thieves' Highway* (1949). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 I would add Shirley Jones in Elmer Gentry. As for Pretty Women being a "really good movie" I have to disagree with that. It is a corny and silly movie in my view. Yea, it is romantic but only if one forgets that the gal is a prostitute. Of course maybe that does make it a great movie; i.e. a movie that gives viewers a specific vibe (romantic), while the core of the plot is anything but. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tapit Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 I loved "Pandora's Box". One of the strongest films I've seen. Certainly doesn't glamorize the trade! Edited by: tapit on Jan 4, 2012 2:39 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swithin Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 So many great possibilities for this thread. I've always liked Irma La Douce and Sophia Loren as "Mara of Rome" in Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. And Marked Woman -- all those "clip-joint hostesses!" And I love Lila Kedrova as the aging prostitute Madame Hortense in Zorba the Greek. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsrFTjM8DEU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casablancalover Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Klute is very good, I agree. h4. Bad girl- First one that comes to mind is Bette Davis in Of Human Bondage. I know; Mildred is a waitress and not a hooker, but by the way she behaves, I believe her job title is merely a formality. h4. Misfit Toys- Vivian Leigh in Waterloo Bridge, who starts out as a Ballerina and takes one major drop down the social ladder.. Claire Trevor has had a few turns on the street (at least suggested) with her characters in Dead End and Stagecoach. h5. Heart of Gold- Ona Munson as Belle Watling in GWTW. None better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Bette Davis in OF HUMAN BONDAGE....oops, it's already been mentioned. Edited by: finance on Jan 4, 2012 2:36 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VP19 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 A few other films that come to mind: * "Virtue" (1932), where Carole Lombard plays a streetwalker who tries to reform...but her past catches up to her. Probably her best performance before "Twentieth Century," though it's a drama, not a comedy. Made at Columbia with a feel similar to Warners pre-Codes. * "Bed Of Roses" (1933), starring Constance Bennett and wisecracking pal Pert Kelton as riverboat hookers on the Mississippi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casablancalover Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Yes! Elmer Gantry's good girl led astray Shirley Jones! Then watch The Music Man and you will laugh out loud with the song, "The Sadder But Wiser Girl for Me" lol... Then there's Rain.. Edited by: casablancalover on Jan 4, 2012 2:45 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clore Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 In CALL HER SAVAGE, the one time that we see Clara Bow take to the streets and score, the night has disastrous consequences for her. Even in pre-code cinema, the wages of sin come with a price tag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casablancalover Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 >jamesjazzguitar wrote: >As for Pretty Women being a "really good movie" I have to disagree with that. It is a corny and silly movie in my view. Yea, it is romantic but only if one forgets that the gal is a prostitute. Of course maybe that does make it a great movie; i.e. a movie that gives viewers a specific vibe (romantic), while the core of the plot is anything but. I am with you there. Let's not get banned discussing the paradox.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Nobody has mentioned Liz Taylor in BUTTERFIELD 8, which won her the Oscar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriegerg69 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 I like Mae Clarke in the original Waterloo Bridge, directed by James Whale. She's a knockout in that...much better than she was in Frankenstein or Public Enemy. Also don't forget The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, which is sheer fun and makes prostitution seem like fun. :^0 "It's just a little bitty pissant country place, nothing much to see No drinking allowed, we get a nice quiet crowd, plain as it can be It's just a piddly squatin no time country place, nothing to hide at all Just lots of good will, and maybe one small thrill, but there's nothing dirty going on" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marysara Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 What about the Dean Martain movie which one became a governor's wfe. Primrose Path or Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Are you referring to ADA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriegerg69 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Also La Vie En Rose (2007, aka La Mome ), in which future singing legend Edith Piaf, as a child abandoned by her mother, is raised by a prositute in a brothel. One I enjoy is Nancy Allen in Dressed To Kill (1980), as a high-class hooker with a heart of gold, who witnesses a violent murder: "Let's cut the crap, Miss Blake...you're a ****. You're a Park Avenue ****, but you're still a ****." :8} ...and the terrific Kathleen Turner in Crimes of Passion (1984). Johns (1996)... male ho's. Twisted (1996)... male ho's variation on Oliver Twist. Good movie. Twist (2003) ... similar concept. Oliver Twist done with male ho's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Shirley MacLaine in IRMA LA DOUCE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriegerg69 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Hey....no mention yet of Richard Gere in American Gigolo (1980). Classy male ho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casablancalover Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 I have lead a sheltered life... I forgot about Primrose Path ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprocket_Man Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 > What movies of the World's Oldest Profession are your favorites? Spielberg's War Whores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriegerg69 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Lynn Redgrave as Xaviera Hollander in The Happy Hooker. Lynn on the right, Xaviera on the left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicalnovelty Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 SENSATION HUNTERS (1933) - Monogram Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicalnovelty Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 > {quote:title=SansFin wrote: > }{quote}The world's oldest profession is apple-picking. > > The oldest movie I can find with a reference to it is: *Thieves' Highway* (1949). One that's older than that: SONG OF THE OPEN ROAD (1944) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriegerg69 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Rob Schneider in Deuce Bigalow, Male Gigolo and Deuce Bigalow, European Gigolo. Male ho for laughs. :^0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts