Misplaced Pages

#38961

24-476: The book awards "Golden Turkey Awards" to films judged by the authors as poor in quality, and to directors and actors judged to have created a chronically inept body of work. The book features many low-budget obscurities and exploitation films such as Rat Pfink a Boo Boo , Attack of the 50 Foot Woman , and the apparently lost Him . Other categories include expensive, big studio failures like The Swarm and popular films such as Jesus Christ Superstar . In

48-530: A Boo Boo is a raving pile of crap, or it is some kind of genius filmmaking. I'm inclined to give Steckler the benefit of the doubt." A printed media review is located in Robert Freese's Psychoholics Unanimous . Him (1974 film) Him is a 1974 American gay pornographic feature film produced for gay audiences. It was directed by Ed D. Louie (found to be the multidisciplinary artist Ed Lui) and featured gay mural artist Gustav "Tava" Von Will in

72-410: A parade held to honor the heroes. The film makes a sudden switch in tone and plot after roughly 40 minutes. As originally planned, the film was a straight crime drama titled The Depraved , inspired by Steckler's ex-wife Carolyn, who had been the victim of a series of obscene phone calls. However, during shooting, Steckler decided to make a parody of the campy Batman television series instead. As

96-409: A result, in the middle of a crime drama, the star of the film steps into the closet with a previously minor character, and they emerge in homemade costumes as "Rat Pfink" and "Boo Boo", who are parodies of Batman and Robin . Why the title is Rat Pfink a Boo Boo and not the more logical Rat Pfink and Boo Boo is the subject of speculation. According to legend, Rat Pfink and Boo Boo was indeed

120-472: A sequel to The Golden Turkey Awards , Son of Golden Turkey Awards, in 1986. They declared that Son of Golden Turkey Awards "is our last word...we hereby solemnly pledge that the years ahead will produce no further Golden Turkey publications by the Medved Brothers...we now pass the torch to whichever brave souls feel ready to take up the challenge." Son of Golden Turkey Awards also listed a "Who's Who in

144-529: Is mostly known as a purported origin for the gay Jesus film hoax , although Snopes concluded in their investigation that this is not the case. Reviews of Him from Screw magazine, Variety , and The Village Voice   have also been uncovered; along with a number of newspaper advertisements for its New York theatrical run. The film also received a passing mention in Time magazine. More information on "Ed D. Louie" has been uncovered, finding that he

168-531: Is sometimes brilliant, the authors claim Burton's "occasional triumphs only serve to highlight the pathetic waste in most of his films; for every Equus in which he appears there are at least a half-dozen Cleopatra s or Boom! s. The authors state that "when he is bad ... well, he's just the pits" and list several "bad" films in which he has appeared: The Sandpiper , Hammersmith Is Out , The Voyage , The Medusa Touch and The Assassination of Trotsky . Another Burton film, Exorcist II: The Heretic ,

192-522: Is the book's first runner up in the Worst Film of All Time award based on reader response. In addition, the Golden Turkey Awards had a reader's choice category for Worst Film of All Time, voted upon by readers of The Fifty Worst Films of All Time . One of the films nominated in the book was in fact an invention of the authors, and the book's readers were challenged by them to figure out which film

216-1081: The Nob Hill Theatre in San Francisco, the Sansom Cinema in Philadelphia, Gay Paree Theatre in Atlanta, Wood Six Theatre in Highland Park , the David Theatre in New York City, and the Penthouse Theatre in Pittsburgh. In 1980 Harry and Michael Medved cited it in their book The Golden Turkey Awards as the "Most Unerotic Concept in Pornography". As of 2024 , no extant copies of Him have been located. The online magazine Film Threat cited it among

240-462: The World of Bad Movies" at the end of its awards presentations. The Golden Turkey Awards formed the basis of a 1983 television series The Worst of Hollywood hosted by Michael Medved. In the book The Fifty Worst Films of All Time the authors invited readers to write in nominating their favorite "worst films". More than 3,000 ballots were received. Based on these votes, the Worst Film of All Time award

264-413: The best bad movies are akin to masterpieces." Rat Pfink a Boo Boo Rat Pfink a Boo Boo is a 1966 American film directed by Ray Dennis Steckler and starring Ron Haydock and Carolyn Brandt . The first 40 minutes of the film are a straight crime drama, but it jarringly segues into a superhero parody after this. The title is alternately explained as a typo that was too expensive to fix (versus

SECTION 10

#1733106899039

288-597: The book's style; Kenneth Tucker wrote, "The line between the witty and the arrogant is indeed hard to draw. At times to me, however, the commentary degenerates into smugness or becomes unnecessarily waspish." In Film Comment , J. Hoberman was quite hostile, describing The Fifty Worst Films of All Time and The Golden Turkey Awards as "a pair of humorous non-books researched by teenaged Harry Medved and written by his older brother Michael. The Medved position — if we discount its patina of Mad Magazine masochism and resolve to stomach their facetious tone — also suggests that

312-509: The duo eventually manages to track down the Chain Gang. After a long chase and the resulting confrontation with the gang, Rat Pfink and Boo Boo rescue Beaumont. However, Beaumont is abducted again, this time by "Kogar the Ape", a gorilla that has escaped from a local zoo. Kogar easily knocks out Rat Pfink, but his keeper soon comes and collects the ape. At the end of the film, Lord performs for everyone at

336-406: The hoax film was provided by the subsequent release, The Hollywood Hall of Shame . That book again features the same dog pictured with the authors (as did the subsequent Son of Golden Turkey Awards ). In The Hollywood Hall of Shame , in reference to the dish barbecued dog, the authors explain that it was "a snack which produced a mixed reaction among the representatives of an industry that had given

360-439: The intended title, but when the artist creating the titles made an error and rendered the "and" as "a", Steckler's budget would not stretch to the $ 50 needed to fix the mistake. According to Steckler, however, the choice of title was deliberate: "The real story is that my little girl, when we were shooting this one fight scene, kept chanting, 'Rat pfink a boo boo, rat pfink a boo boo...' And that sounded great! But when I tell people

384-420: The introduction the authors admit that "we know our choices will not please everyone—least of all the actors, producers, writers and directors who are honored in the pages that follow. We further recognize that the number of bad films is so enormous and the competition for the very worst is so intense, that all decisions reached here are subject to considerable second-guessing. Nevertheless, we have researched

408-498: The more logical Rat Pfink and Boo Boo ) or a stylistic choice. After murdering an unnamed woman, the villainous "Chain Gang" targets Cee Bee Beaumont, the girlfriend of rock-and-roll star Lonnie Lord. The Chain Gang harasses, stalks, and eventually abducts Beaumont. In order to save his girlfriend, Lord takes on the identity of "Rat Pfink", and his friend, Titus Twimbly, assumes the role of Rat Pfink's sidekick, "Boo Boo". On their Ratcycle,

432-516: The most sought-after lost films . Some online commentary attempted to debunk Him as a hoax, owing to the Medveds' admission in The Golden Turkey Awards that their book included a non-existent film which they challenged readers to identify. However, the hoax entry was Dog of Norway , a fictitious film illustrated with a photograph of the Medveds' pet dog. In the 21st century, the film

456-417: The real story, they don't wanna hear it, so you better print the legend." Ron Haydock performs four songs for the film: "I Stand Alone", "Rat Fink", "Runnin' Wild", and "Go Go Party". TV Guide rated Rat Pfink a Boo Boo 2/4 stars and called it an amateurish film whose "goofy, improvisational good humor makes a lot of it fun to watch". Jackson Griffith of News & Review wrote, "Either Rat Pfink

480-618: The role of Jesus. The film focuses on a young gay man who develops an erotic fixation with the life of Jesus Christ . The film initially premiered on 27 March 1974 at the 55th Street Playhouse at 154 West 55th Street in New York City . This run lasted until 23 May 1974. It returned to the Playhouse on 6 December 1974, and January 1976. The film also played at the Bijou Theater in Chicago,

504-547: The subject thoroughly—sitting through more than 2,000 wretched films in the last few years—and we believe that our nominees and award winners can stand the test of time." The Medveds had previously celebrated bad cinema in the 1978 The Fifty Worst Films of All Time , many of which were also featured in the various Golden Turkey Awards categories. Subsequently, they turned their attention to box office bombs in The Hollywood Hall of Shame . They also published

SECTION 20

#1733106899039

528-695: The world Lassie , Rin Tin Tin , Benji , Phyllis Diller , and Muki the Wonder Hound." The "Acknowledgements" page of The Fifty Worst Films of All Time ends with: Betsa Marsh wrote for the Gannett News Service , "In their breezy, irreverent style, bristling with puns and sarcasm, the Medveds take us from one debacle to another... It's a great book to keep with your TV Guide , in your bathroom or even on your coffee table, to impress your friends with your impeccably bad taste." Some critics took exception to

552-417: Was actually fake. The fake film was Dog of Norway featuring "Muki the Wonder Hound". This film was illustrated using a photo of a co-author's pet dog. The giveaway was that the same dog was in the photo of the authors in the back of the book. Another film in the book, the now-lost 1974 porn film Him , has also been cited as the hoax, though it is definitely known to have existed. No formal clarification of

576-512: Was given to Plan 9 from Outer Space by Ed Wood . Wood is also awarded the title of Worst Director of All Time, judged by the authors. Raquel Welch is judged the Worst Actress of All Time over nominees including Candice Bergen and Mamie van Doren . Richard Burton is judged as the Worst Actor of All Time over nominees John Agar , Tony Curtis and Victor Mature . While conceding he

#38961