Richard Baxstrom

The release of Jean Renoir's "The Southerner" (1945) provoked intense negative reactions in various locations throughout Southern regions of the USA. Some people from the South viewed the movie as "Sordid depiction of life in the Southern States" & strongly objected it. The film was banned from being shown in Tennessee by Lloyd T. Binford, who served as the head of the Memphis Board of Censors for three decades & considered "The toughest censor in America". Disgusted by the movie, he condemned the film as a "slur against Southern farmers" and for its characters being portrayed as nothing more than "common, lowdown, ignorant white trash". The Ku Klux Klan also condemned the movie advocated boycotting it at theaters elsewhere in the South. the condemnation of the movie was by no means universal in the region. The United Daughters of the Confederacy was one of the movie's supporters. The organization endorsed the film and complimented how its lead characters exemplified the South's best attributes of "'courage, stout-heartedness and love of our land'" ("Banned in Memphis", Memphis Flyer, 2008. "The Southerner - Film Plot and Review", Mirella Jona Affron, Film Reference. "The Southerner", Lorraine LoBianco , TCM & Wiki)

Russ Meyer on the regret he had for not casting Tura Satana in another movie besides "Faster, Pussycat! Ki||! Ki||!" (1965): “I really made a mistake. I should’ve used her in another film. I couldn’t have done it with anybody else. She and I made the movie, We had this confrontation that was constantly, ‘Who was the strongest?’ Not physically strongest, mentally strongest. I could never put one over on her, and nor could she really with me.” Tura Satana on why the movie meant so much to her: “You know something? It makes me very humble. I get e-mail from women all over the world—Italy, Spain, Japan, Brazil, China. I’d hate to tell you how many women say, ‘Thank you for showing us we can be feminine and still be independent. We don’t have to rely on men.’ I’m happy I’ve had an influence on females this way.” Tura let out an evil little chuckle. “Can you imagine being a Susan Bernard all your life? If I get a flat, I change my own tire. You don’t have to be a namby-pamby. You can still be feminine and have balls.” P.S: Remembering Tura Satana on her 88th birthday!