Christa Faust's Blog, page 3

Max Does Butch

The first entry in the Butch Hunt video contest has just been submitted, by Max in Los Angeles.

Max does Butch Fatale

I'm blown away by how perfectly she nailed the feel of the character and the novel with her entry. The sense of place, the cocky, sexy attitude but also the sense of humor and fun. She tips a hat (literally) to the 50s but it still reads as modern.

I found Max through her blog, which was recommended to me by one of the butches in my own Butch Hunt video from Dyke Day LA. When I contacted her, I told her I wanted her own take on the character and that she was free to express her own personality and style. She nailed it. I couldn't have done better if I had been directing her myself.

In light of this awesomeness, I've decided to extend the deadline for the contest. Deets here. Assuming I get at least one more entry, I'll set up a poll to vote for the face of Butch Fatale right here on this blog. Stay tuned, Faustketeers...

Kickstart My Heart

Kickstarter. All the cool kids are doing it. Now, I'm doing it too.

I've backed other people's projects before, but this is the first time I'm trying it myself. Being an old fart like I am, I'm amazed at the profound changes to what it means to be working writer. A lot of other writers my age are crying apocalypse, and they're not entirely wrong. But I figure you can board up your windows and sit in your basement bitching about the changes or you can rivet some steel plates, saw-blades and rocket launchers onto your mini-van and drive off in search of adventure.

You want to ride shotgun?

So yeah, Kickstarter. It's really different than anything I've done before, but I've been blown away by the positive response so far. We've already hit nearly 60% of our goal in the first few days. Because of Kickstarter, I'm able (I hope!) to fund a project that doesn't hold much in the way of mainstream appeal and offer it directly to people who want to read it. Also, it' s allowing me to produce a special "Ace Double" style back to back paper edition that few traditional publishers would be willing to do. Because corporate bean-counters don't see the value in something so esoteric, expensive and impractical. But I do, and clearly you do too.

So keep reposting, sharing and retweeting. Keep the pledges coming. Force me to come up with stretch goals to add after we hit the initial goal. I have no idea where this armor plated minivan is headed, but it's gonna be a helluva ride.

Attracted to the Person

This post is about sex. It contains naughty words and frank discussion about, you know, “down there.” You’ve been warned.

I know a lot of bi and pansexual people who like to say that they’re all about what’s on the inside. That they are “just attracted to the person” and don’t care about the genitals and bodies that go along with each person. Which is fine for them.

I’m not like that. I look at totally different, even opposite, bodies and think “hubba hubba!” If I eventually meet the person and they’re sexy on the inside too, then it’s a home run. If the person turns out to be a creep, then it’s a pass no matter how hot they look. But for me the attraction always starts with the way someone looks and the way they carry the bodies that they have. I’m a very visual, lights-on kind of gal. I want to see what I’m working with. And I love variety.

I realize that for most people who identify as either gay or straight, this hunger for variety may be hard to understand. They are into one thing, and that’s it. Many even have a strong negative reaction to the opposite of what they are into.

Beyond basic plumbing, people also tend to favor a certain “type.” Me, I have several primary types that will always turn my head, but then I’ll find myself ferociously attracted to someone who is nothing like any of them. That’s what keeps life interesting for me.

And speaking of basic plumbing, I’m just going to come right out and say that I like it all. I like (XY)cocks, butch-cocks, and trans-cocks. I like (XX)cunts, trans-clits and neo-cunts. I don’t see any one of these as “fake” or a substitute for any other. Each one is it’s own unique thing which I find beautiful and sexy.

I like fat bodies and thin bodies. Muscular bodies and soft bodies. Hairy bodies and smooth bodies. I’m not just putting up with something that isn’t really what I want because I like what’s on the inside. I think each diverse and different body that I choose to play with is sexy exactly the way it is.

And if someone is shy about their body or uncomfortable with their particular genital configuration, I respect that. As a Domme, I like to push boundaries but I never want to take someone to a place they are not ready to go. If I can encourage someone to show off what they have and feel proud and sexy, then I will. But if they prefer to keep certain areas covered, I can live with that. As long as I can see the rest of them. As long as I can see their faces and look into their eyes.

Now let me say that there is absolutely nothing wrong with having a type or being only interested in one gender. I just want to open up people’s minds and help them understand that their way isn’t the only way. It’s one of many.

I also want to say, for the record, that I’m not confused. I’m not in denial about my true orientation and I’m not conducting my sex-life as a show for the entertainment of others. I know that I don’t fit in to the various stereotypes that exist on both sides of the gay/straight divide and I have no interest in changing what I think is hot in order to make other people feel more comfortable. The only people I’m interested in pleasing are myself and my partners.

So sound off, bi and pansexual readers. How do you feel about this inside/outside thing? Do you find yourself attracted to the way people look, or their personalities, or both? And what sorts of reactions do your partner choices elicit from gay and straight friends?

Butch Hunt 2012

Attention butches, studs, AGs and all Masculine of Center readers: Think you’ve got what it takes to play two-fisted dyke dick Butch Fatale? I’m gearing up for my next Butch Fatale novel, and I want to put together a sexy video teaser trailer. All I need is YOU!

Here’s what you need to do:

Post a video (any length) on YouTube containing each of the following components:

A) Introduce yourself and tell us why you should play Butch Fatale. (NOTE: You DO NOT have to look exactly like the cover illustration or match the written description! I welcome entries from all ages, shapes and types, including butches of color, fat butches, and anyone else who thinks they’ve got what it takes. Cocky, sexy ATTITUDE is the key here, not looks.)

B) Read the following excerpt from DOUBLE D DOUBLE CROSS:

“When the tattooed tomato walked into my shabby Echo Park office, I had no idea if she was gonna kiss me or slap me. I was hoping for the former, but betting on the latter.

Her name was Diversity. Back when we first met, she’d been this waifish hippie chick fresh out of UC Berkley. A second-generation granola dyke whose homespun, organic hemp exterior hid a multi-O dynamo that wouldn’t quit. We had three tempestuous months together before it ended badly. Can’t say I was surprised. She was the type who got all juicy over the idea of slumming with a rough and tumble blue-collar butch like me, but couldn’t stop lecturing me about how I was internalizing patriarchal oppression because I cut my hair like Tony Curtis.

In the years since we’d parted ways, I hadn’t changed all that much. I’ve been 5’10” since I was fifteen and walk around at a fit 150. Muscular arms, broad shoulders and big, solid tits that I gave up hiding years ago. Never been pretty, but I’ve grown into handsome pretty well. Still cutting my hair like Tony Curtis.”

C) Include some extra footage of yourself hamming it up for the camera. Seduce me. Sell me your sexy swagger. Stand out from the pack and charm me right out of my panties.

D) Include this URL in your YouTube post http://amzn.com/B0076OEOG4

E) Email me a link to your post at christafaust AT gmail DOT com

The rest is up to you. Get creative. Use props and costumes if you like. Be as slick and polished or raw and gritty as you like. Be unique.

I will post links to all the videos received by July 1st 2012 here on this blog and all my readers will be invited to vote for the winner. That winner will be the star of the new Butch Fatale teaser trailer.

Good luck, and may the best butch win!

Mary Ryan, Detective and Kid Glove Killer

This is it. End of the line. The very last Noir City post of 2012. The final show was a Marsha Hunt double bill, starting with Mary Ryan, Detective.



A female detective (Hunt) goes undercover to bust up a gang of thieves. Which is pretty much all you need to know about the plot.

As I said in yesterday’s post, this film is so rare, even the star had never seen it. It’s a little too light-hearted at times to be classified as Noir, but I still enjoyed it anyway, mostly because of Marsha Hunt’s performance. I can’t remember ever seeing her act tough before, (Muller’s flick The Grand Inquisitor notwithstanding,) and I have to admit it was kind of hot. I loved her hard-ass attitude towards her cellmate and her slapping the tied up guard during a fur heist just to prove she was a real crook. And I was able to forgive the thankfully brief appearance of yet another child actor, a girl this time, because she turned out to be a thief, working a jewelry counter scam with her mom and another woman.

The gorgeous Ms. Hunt was on hand to discuss the film during the intermission, and she looked as effortlessly chic and classy as always. At 93, she’s still a knock out.

On a side note, if you’re interested in vintage fashion from the 30s and 40s, check out her book The Way We Wore.

Next, Kid Glove Killer.



This one, I’d seen. It’s a sort of proto-CSI story about a pair of “police chemists” (Hunt and Heflin) who use science to solve a series of politically motivated murders. It gets a little draggy in the middle and Heflin is weirdly unlikable in this role, but Marsha Hunt looks foxy in a lab coat and the forensic angle makes it interesting. It’s cute and charming and there are some pretty funny bits, but again, not really Noir. Still worth seeing on the big screen.

So that’s it, Faustketeers. Hope you enjoyed playing along at home, and hope you’ll make an effort to check out some of these films on my say so.

See ya in Noir City.

Circumstantial Evidence and Sign of the Ram

Another year, another Noir City in the can. For the final quadruple feature, I’m splitting my write up into two halves, so that we can make it last. Here’s the first half. Starting with Circumstantial Evidence.



It wasn’t until the last day that we had the first real loser of the festival. For starters, I was already way over my kid actor threshold with Suddenly and The Window, and the kid who plays the son in this one was exceptionally screechy and repellent.

Before the film starts, we get this heavy handed warning about the growing menace that threatens the very fabric of our society: circumstantial evidence. No really.

A volatile single dad (O’Shea) gets into a scuffle with a shopkeeper who accused his kid of stealing. The shopkeeper gets killed in the fight, and several witnesses claim to have seen O’Shea whack him with a hatchet. Of course he didn’t, but he gets sent to the chair anyway, by CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE!!!

The screechy kid and the dad's inexplicably sinister best friend (Lloyd Nolan) have to work together to clear the father’s name, which involves a kids boxing tournament and a bizarre pint-sized reenactment of the original fight.

His best friend never actually does anything bad in the film, but there was something about Nolan’s performance that made him seem kind of creepy and mildly sociopathic. When he was trying to get custody of the kid I was convinced he was gonna molest him or chop him up. No such luck.

When O’Shea finds out his appeal has been denied, he busts out of prison, only to discover that his kid and pal have proved him innocent and gotten him a pardon from the governor. So he has to break back in, which was the only almost-but-not-quite-good part of the film. It had some nice suspenseful moments but would have been infinitely better, and far more noirish, if he’d been killed on the way back in. Of course, he’s fine and everyone lives happily ever after.

Muller introduced this one by saying that he’d never seen it either and that we were all going to be guinea pigs in another Noir experiment. Afterwards, someone should have called PETA to report cruelty to animals.

Next up, the also not-really-Noir, but infinitely more tolerable Sign of the Ram.



A young woman gets a job as a secretary for a reclusive family that lives in a creepy old house on a cliff in Cornwall. The young wheelchair-bound stepmother saved her husband’s children from drowning but was dashed against the rocks and paralyzed during the rescue. She uses her disability and the now grown children’s gratitude to manipulate and control the entire family.

There are a lot of really interesting things about this movie, not the least of which being the fact that Susan Peters, the lead actress, was a real life paraplegic who’d suffered a spinal injury in a hunting accident. This film was written especially for her. Sadly, she died a few years later at 31 from kidney failure and pneumonia caused by anorexia.



I was also fascinated by the lesbian undertone of the youngest daughter’s strange passionate “crush” on her paralyzed stepmother. A crush so intense that she’s willing to kill for the object of her tortured teenage love.

But ultimately, this isn’t really my kind of movie. It’s too histrionic, too melodramatic and too soap-opera-ish. All the violence is very female in nature, like poisoning and goading others into suicide and jumping off cliffs into the raging sea. There’s way too much scheming to break up chaste, innocent relationships and not nearly enough sex. I kept wishing Charles McGraw would show up and start slapping these bitches around or something.

A rough start, but there was a Marsha Hunt double bill coming up, including a film so rare that Marsha herself had never seen it.

Stay tuned for my last write up of 2012.

Three Strangers and Nobody Lives Forever

Unfortunately, I was not able to make yesterday’s matinee with Denise Hamilton, but I was there for the night’s Geraldine Fitzgerald double feature. First the wonderful Three Strangers.



I’ve seen this one several times and love it. This may be the only film where Peter Lorre gets the girl (except maybe M, but that’s a whole other thing.) Which made a lot more sense once Muller explained that the part was originally written for Bogart and remained unchanged after Lorre got the role.

A superstitious woman engineers an anonymous encounter with an alcoholic dreamer mixed up in a hold up (Lorre) and an ambitious lawyer with a serious cash flow problem (Greenstreet) in order to fulfill an ancient legend about a Chinese goddess who will grant the mutual wish of three strangers at midnight on Chinese New Year. They agree to wish for money and split a sweepstakes ticket. Their wishes are fulfilled in unexpected ways and, because it’s Noir City, things quickly get ugly.

This one isn’t hard to come by, so I recommend you seek it out.

The night’s special guest was Geraldine Fitzgerald’s son Michael Lindsay-Hogg, and he had plenty of stories to share about his glamorous mother. The one that tormented me was that Fitzgerald had been up for the role Brigid O'Shaughnessy in Maltese Falcon. She claimed she turned it down because her best friend had an affair with Huston and was treated badly, but the truth was that she was always in dutch with the studio and they wouldn’t loan her out. I really hate Mary Astor in that role, and Fitzgerald would have been perfect.

The second Fitzgerald feature was Nobody Lives Forever.



At first, I thought I hadn’t seen this one, but as soon as I heard that opening voice over where the hospitalized Garfield is longing for New York City, I realized I was wrong. I’ve been having quite a bit of New York nostalgia myself lately.

Garfield plays a con man and ex GI who got injured in the war and is ready to go straight. But when he comes home to his apartment and his girl, things have changed and not for the better. Angry and disillusioned, he takes off for L.A. where he gets invited to join a big money scam to fleece a rich widow, played by Fitzgerald. But he ends up falling for the widow and starts to get second thoughts about the con, only his fellow scammers aren’t willing to let the big fish go.

Lots of great character actors in this one too, including Walter “Ever get bit by a dead bee?” Brennan and George Tobias. It’s a little bit on the lighter, more romantic side of Noir City, but still lots of fun. Plus I love foxy Faye Emerson’s wardrobe, particularly that almost fetish-style pin striped suit with bustier detailing. Of course I can’t find a photo of that suit, but here’s another one of her hot outfits for your enjoyment:



Tonight is the last day of the festival, and we’re going out with a bang. Two back to back double features! In the afternoon it’s Circumstantial Evidence and Sign of the Ram then in the evening we cap it off with a Marsha Hunt double bill of the ultra rare Mary Ryan, Detective and Kid Glove Killer.

The Maltese Falcon (1931) and City Streets

This is the kind of write up that tortures me (and you, too I’m sure) because I absolutely loved City Streets and it’s not available on DVD. Like Crashout, this is a film that more people need to see, but probably never will. I wish I could recommend it, but I’ll have to settle for telling you all about what you missed. Meanwhile, watch the TCM schedule and see if you can catch it.

But first, The (other) Maltese Falcon.



I’ve seen this one before, and it’s a pretty bad movie. Mostly on account of Cortez’ smarmy, leering performance. I actually like Bebe Daniels as “Ruth Wonderly” and the saucy Una Merkel as Effie but every second Cortez is on screen you want to knock that big cheeseball grin right off his kisser. I don’t buy him as either tough or sexy. The few times he’s required to show anything resembling real emotion it seems almost jarring, like something out of a different movie.

It’s a real tragedy that they couldn’t have this much sex and violence in the Bogart version, because that’s this films only redeeming quality. I love Bebe in the bubble bath and the scene where she’s forced to strip to prove she didn’t palm a thousand dollar bill. They don’t make any attempt to disguise the sexual nature of Wilmer (Dwight Frye!) and Gutman’s relationship either. If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth checking out as a curiosity, even if it’s just so that you can have a giggle at Spade’s huge, luxurious apartment.

Now, a confession. I’m not a huge fan of the Bogart version either. It’s not bad, and it’s a thousand times better than this one, but I think it’s a little bit stagey and flat. I also find Mary Astor kind of sexless and unappealing as Brigid, although I loved her in Act of Violence. It’s too bad that a really dark, dead-on, true to the novel version of this story has never been made. Maybe someday…

Next up, City Streets



Muller kept talking about how handsome Gary Cooper is in this film, which is true, but I really fell for sexy Sylvia Sidney in her role as a street-wise mobster’s daughter.



This is the only Dashiell Hammett story that was written specifically for the screen, and it’s brilliant.

Nan, the aforementioned mobster’s daughter (step daughter actually,) played by Sidney, falls for a carnival sharpshooter and former bull-rider named Kid, played by Cooper. She works with her slippery stepfather’s mob running illegal beer. She encourages Kid to get in on the action so they can earn enough money to get married but he’s reluctant. Then she gets pinched trying to dispose of a murder weapon for her stepfather and goes to jail rather than rat out Pops. Pops convinces Kid that Nan needs his help and talks him into joining the mob.

Nan does the time like a pro with her mouth shut, but while she’s in the stir, she starts to have second thoughts about getting Kid involved in such a dangerous racket. Especially after her cellmate’s gangster boyfriend is murdered right outside the prison. When he comes to visit all dressed in spats and fur and tells her about how successful he’s been at climbing the criminal ladder, she’s heartbroken.

When she finally gets released, she begs Kid to give up the racket and run away with her. But he’s gotten used to the cash and the cars and big swanky house, and refuses. Until the boss starts hitting on Nan hard and won’t let up. Kid soon realizes the boss is going to rub him out so he can have Nan all to himself.

Kid leaves to take care of business with the Big Boss, but Nan makes her own arrangements to meet the boss in secret, with a gun in her purse.

This isn’t Kid’s story, it’s really Nan’s and she is a sensational character. She’s smart, tough, resourceful and independent, but also fiercely loyal and not afraid to take violent action to save her lover. According to Hammett’s granddaughter Julie, who was on hand to introduce the film, Hammett thought Sidney was perfect and exactly what he had imagined for that character. Which is interesting because the role was supposed to be played by Clara Bow, but she had to back out because of her famous nervous breakdown.

Of course the film is a little clunky at times and you can see that they were trying to figure out how to use this amazing new technology, but that doesn’t take away from the crackerjack script and the terrific performances.

Again, I wish this film were more widely available. But if you ever get a chance to see it, you won’t be sorry.

Okay America and Afraid To Talk

Before I get on to last night’s films, I need to mention something I forgot to include in yesterday’s write up. There’s a foot fetish scene in Private Hell 36! I only remembered it because there’s also a not-nearly-as-visually-appealing foot fetish scene in Okay America, which features Edward Arnold instead of Ida Lupino.

But never mind my sex life, on to the movies.

Last night was a pre-code “Proto-Noir” double bill of rare films from the 1930s. First, Okay America.



Lew Ayers is a Walter Winchell knock off who plays both sides against the middle while snooping around the sensational kidnapping of a young heiress.

The story is histrionic and over the top in that early 30s kind of way and I think the weird racist half-naked dance number (skull pasties!) immediately followed by an even weirder musical number with women in Aunt Jemima outfits gave me some kind of sexual whiplash. But the dialog is sharp and snappy and there’s plenty of sex and violence. Plus, it was directed by Tay Garnett, who would go on to direct The Postman Always Rings Twice. It’s not Noir, but you can see the roots of Noir in certain shots or certain lines. And I love Louis Calhern’s awesome schnoz.

Speaking of Calhern’s schnoz, Afraid to Talk.



A bell hop witnesses a mob hit and winds up framed for murder by a pack of corrupt politicians when the real killer reveals he’s got proof of all their dirty dealings.

Great noirish premise and once again we get plenty of pre-code sex and violence, though this time our un-PC dance number features a chain gang of sexy, scantily-clad jailbirds joined together by chains attached to heavy leather collars. (!!!) Here too, you can see the roots, the images and ideas that would some day grow up to be Noir.

Last night was fun for me, because I probably never would have chosen these movies on my own. I’m glad I saw them.

Shield For Murder and Private Hell 36

I think last night was my favorite so far. It was billed as a “crooked cop” double feature. Which it is, but I liked my friend Richard Heft’s description better: a “festival of booze-sweaty foreheads.” Which it also is.

First up, the sweaty Edmond O’Brian in Shield for Murder:

 

O’Brian stars as a dirty cop who murders a bookie for his bankroll and, as is so often the case in Noir City, covering up one crime quickly leads to others as he spirals dangerously out of control. Even his long-suffering girlfriend, played by Marla (The She Creature!!!) English and his partner John (Brain from Planet Arous!) Agar can’t save him from his inevitable self destruction. (Yeah, okay, so I’m a monster nerd.)

I loved this film, even though it was obviously shot for a nickel. O’Brian was fantastic, tortured yet believable and surprisingly sympathetic. Like Muller said, if you thought O’Brian was sweaty and unhinged in D.O.A, you need to see this movie.



The print was a bit of a mystery going in, since no one from the Film Noir Foundation was able to see it before last night’s screening. It turned out to be in pretty rough shape, but I was still thrilled to see it on the big screen and I hope that it will eventually be restored.

Speaking of restoration, if you’re enjoying these write ups and want to help the Film Noir Foundation continue to restore and preserve rare gems like Shield for Murder click here to donate. Tell 'em Faust sent ya.

Next up in the festival of booze-sweaty foreheads, Private Hell 36:



A pair of cops (Cochran and Duff) investigate a robbery, but when they uncover the missing dough, one of them starts getting ideas about how to keep his gold-digging girlfriend (Lupino) in diamonds. He pockets a chunk of the cash, much to his buddy’s dismay. They hide the money in a forgotten trailer park and seem to get away with it at first, but the pressure of covering up their crime begins to unravel their friendship. Cue the binge-drinking (which, according to Muller, wasn’t really acting) and sweaty foreheads.

Ida Lupino is my hero. She wasn’t just a pretty face, she was also a writer, director and producer. She co-wrote this film, and you can really see her deft touch with character development. There’s plenty of two-fisted action, but what makes it great is the interplay between the characters and they way they come apart at the seams.

Highly recommended.