Myra Breckinridge (1970)

After a sex change operation, Myron (Rex Reed) becomes Myra (Raquel Welch) and goes to Los Angeles where claiming to be Myron's widow, she intends to get money from her Uncle Buck (John Huston) as part of an inheritance. Based on the novel by Gore Vidal and directed by Michael Sarne. One of the most notorious films of its era. It was one of the few films from a major studio to get an X rating, the making of the film was rife with personality clashes, the film went wildly over budget, the director would disappear for hours at a time, Vidal hated the final product as well as the director, etc. Vidal's novel was a clever satire written as a diary but director Sarne rewrote the David Giler screenplay (which Vidal liked) and the film became an unfocused mess, meandering all over the place with no clear structure. The stunt casting of Mae West as the sexually voracious talent agent (totally unlike the character of the novel) screwed up the film's chances of ever being taken seriously and as for the atrocity of Rex Reed's "acting", the less said the better. The film's saving grace is Welch who seems to be the only one taking the project seriously and "gets" it. An unholy mess it may be but it's still one of the most entertaining messes ever filmed. The large cast includes Farrah Fawcett, Tom Selleck, Andy Devine, Kathleen Freeman, Calvin Lockhart, Jim Backus, William Hopper, George Furth and Genevieve Waite.