How Long Is “Fanny Hill”?

Russ Meyer's sex films of the 1960s invariably promised more than they delivered. To be sure, there were bosoms and bottoms aplenty, but seldom if ever any full nudity or orgasmic activity (simulated or otherwise). Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, based on a dull, overwritten 18th century "bawdy" novel, was filmed in West Germany by exploitation producer Albert Zugsmith. Miriam Hopkins, old enough to know better, is the one "name" star of this messy romp, playing the mentor of the titular (in every sense of the word) Fanny Hill (Laetitia Roman), who after being cast aside by the world at large is given shelter in a brothel. His acute self-promotional skills aside, Russ Meyer never really learned how to direct; his "style" consisted of seconds-lasting closeups wedged into badly composed long shots, substituting speed and energy for skill. But he certainly knew his audience, as proven by the enormous worldwide box office take for Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure.