Editing Lust in the Dust

{{Short description|1984 film}}
{{For|the 1946 film nicknamed "Lust in the Dust"|Duel in the Sun (film)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Lust in the Dust
| image          = Lust in the dust.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Paul Bartel]]
| producer       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Allan Glaser]]
* [[Tab Hunter]]
}}
| writer         = Philip John Taylor
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* Tab Hunter
* [[Divine (actor)|Divine]]
* [[Lainie Kazan]]
}}
| music          = {{Plainlist|
* [[Peter Matz]]
* Karen Hart
}}
| cinematography = [[Paul Lohmann]]
| editing        = Alan Toomayan
| studio         = Fox Run Productions
| distributor    = [[New World Pictures]]
| released       = {{Film date|1985|3|1}}
| runtime        = 84 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $2.5 million<ref name="lust">OUTTAKES
Taylor, Clarke. Los Angeles Times December 23, 1984: o41.</ref>
}}
'''''Lust in the Dust''''' is a 1985 American [[Western (genre)|Western]] [[comedy film]] directed by [[Paul Bartel]], written by Philip John Taylor, and starring: [[Tab Hunter]], [[Divine (actor)|Divine]], [[Lainie Kazan]] and [[Cesar Romero]].

==Plot==
Dance-hall girl Rosie Velez, lost in the desert, is helped to safety by gunman Abel Wood. In the town of Chili Verde, at the saloon of Marguerita Ventura, word of a treasure in gold brings Abel into conflict with outlaw Hard Case Williams and his gang.

==Cast==
* [[Tab Hunter]] as Abel Wood
* [[Divine (actor)|Divine]] as Rosie Velez
* [[Lainie Kazan]] as Marguerita Ventura
* [[Cesar Romero]] as Father Garcia
* [[Geoffrey Lewis (actor)|Geoffrey Lewis]] as Hard Case Williams
* [[Henry Silva]] as Bernardo
* [[Courtney Gains]] as Richard "Red Dick" Barker
* [[Gina Gallego]] as Ninfa
* [[Nedra Volz]] as Ed "Big Ed"  
* [[Woody Strode]] as Blackman, Hard Case Gang
* [[Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez]] as Mexican, Hard Case Gang

==Production==
The title was taken from the nickname given to [[King Vidor]]'s 1946 film ''[[Duel in the Sun (film)|Duel in the Sun]]''.<ref>The Western will never bite the dust
Scott, Jay. The Globe and Mail; Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]July 7, 1979: P.29.</ref>

[[John Waters]] was asked to direct, but refused because he did not write the script.<ref name="swampflix" />

[[Edith Massey (actress)|Edith Massey]] was cast as Big Ed, but died shortly after her [[screen test]].<ref name="swampflix">[https://swampflix.com/2018/02/13/lust-in-the-dust-1985/ ''Lust in the Dust (1985)''], swampflix.com, February 13, 2018</ref> Bartel was uneasy about casting her because he thought it would look too much like a John Waters film without John Waters.

The role of Marguerita was originally set for [[Chita Rivera]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m0jQr2HfvsoC&dq=lust+in+the+dust++++Chita+Rivera&pg=PA155|isbn = 9780671884673|title = Not Simply Divine|date = August 10, 1994|publisher = Simon and Schuster}}</ref>
[[Principal photography]] took place in [[Santa Fe, New Mexico]].<ref>Latin from Manhattan danced to Hollywood
Thomas, Bob. The Globe and Mail June 22, 1984: E.4.</ref>

In the original script, Rosie was supposed to die but the filmmakers changed their mind during filming.<ref name="lust"/>

==Critical reception==
''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' described the film as "a saucy, irreverent, quite funny send-up of the Western" and said that it "takes some of the old-time conventions – the silent stranger, the saloon singer with a past, the motley crew of crazed gunslingers, the missing stash of gold – and stands them on their head with outrageous comedy and imaginative casting."<ref name="V">{{cite web |author=Variety Staff |date=December 31, 1983 |title=Lust in the Dust |url=http://variety.com/1983/film/reviews/lust-in-the-dust-1200426056/ |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref> [[Kenneth Turan]] of ''[[California (magazine, defunct 1991)|California Magazine]]'' called it "raunchy but irresistible,"<ref>{{Cite news |last=Turan |first=Kenneth |date=March 10, 1985 |title=Lust in the Dust |pages=317 |work=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/390647535/?terms=%22Lust%20in%20the%20Dust%22%20%22raunchy%20but%20irresistible%22&match=1}}</ref> while Stephen Schaefer of ''[[US Magazine]]'' said "''Lust in the Dust'' is a wicked must" and described it as "a happy hoot", concluding that it "knows how to mine the gold quickly and leave 'em laughing."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schaefer |first=Stephen |date=March 25, 1985 |title=Lust in the Dust is a wicked must |pages=76 |work=[[US Magazine]]}}</ref> George Williams of ''[[The Sacramento Bee]]'' described the film as "an irresistibly funny spoof on those [[Clint Eastwood]]-[[Sergio Leone]] movies called [[Spaghetti Western]]s" and stated that the actors "all give us the feeling they're having a lot of fun — and we can't help but join in." Most of the mirth comes from the situations and the characterizations."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Williams |first=George |date=February 8, 1985 |title=Wild, lust peek into the dusty old west |pages=108 |work=[[The Sacramento Bee]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/622574482/?terms=%22Lust%20in%20the%20Dust%22%20%22irresistibly%20funny%20spoof%22&match=1}}</ref> Peter Stack of the ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' called the film "a gun totin' rootin-tootin' New Mexico-style cowboy yarn loaded with surprisingly good performances" and praised Kazan's acting in particular.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stack |first=Peter |date=March 17, 1985 |title=Lust in the Dust is a wicked must |pages=299 |work=[[The Chicago Tribune]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/388402729/?terms=%22Lust%20in%20the%20Dust%22%20%22a%20gun%20totin%27%20rootin-tootin%27%22&match=1}}</ref>
 
[[Sheila Benson]] of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' Times said that the film's satire was "limp", and that it resorted to "dumb, sniggering sexual innuendo,"<ref name="LAT">{{cite web |author=Benson, Sheila |authorlink=Sheila Benson |date=March 8, 1985 |title='LUST' GETS LOST IN ITS OWN DUST |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-03-08-ca-32548-story.html |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> while [[Vincent Canby]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' described the film's jokes as "witless and private".<ref name="TNYT">{{cite web |author=Canby, Vincent |authorlink=Vincent Canby |date=March 1, 1985 |title=SCREEN: BARREL'S 'LUST IN THE DUST' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/03/01/movies/screen-barrel-s-lust-in-the-dust.html |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Critic [[Rex Reed]] opined that the film "produces the kind of green reaction you get from eating a rancid burrito." Addressing Canby and Reed's reviews, [[Peter Travers]] of ''[[People (magazine)|People Magazine]]'' said: "Well, what did they expect from a whacked-out Western parody starring has-been '50s hunk Tab Hunter and 300-pound <ref>136 kg</ref> female impersonator Divine—''[[High Noon]]''?" and that the film delivers "tacky, hit-and-miss hilarity" with moments that offer "more laughs than a barrel full of teenage sex comedies." He praised the performances and concluded that "those in search of a smattering of cheap laughs will find ''Lust in the Dust'' the perfect oasis."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Travers |first=Peter |date=March 18, 1985 |title=Screen: Lust in the Dust |pages=12 |work=[[People (magazine)|People]]}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0089523}} 
* {{Mojo title|lustinthedust}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|lust_in_the_dust}}

{{Paul Bartel}}

[[Category:1985 films]]
[[Category:1985 comedy films]]
[[Category:1985 independent films]]
[[Category:1980s American films]]
[[Category:1980s English-language films]]
[[Category:1980s Western (genre) comedy films]]
[[Category:1980s parody films]]
[[Category:American Western (genre) comedy films]]
[[Category:American independent films]]
[[Category:American parody films]]
[[Category:English-language independent films]]
[[Category:English-language Western (genre) comedy films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Paul Bartel]]
[[Category:New World Pictures films]]