8/15/06: RightWingTrashWoman—Tiffany BollingIt was a big deal when
the Subversive label released 1973’s
The Candy Snatchers on DVD. This kidnapping classic—pretty much the definitive “nihilistic wallow”—had never been released on any commercial home media. No VHS, no laserdisc, and no reported TV screenings. We were still relying on our faded memory of seeing the film during an all-night 1982 marathon at a Birmingham, Alabama drive-in.
That was the same night we fell for Tiffany Bolling.
The bill included a screening of
Wicked, Wicked, a split-screen psycho saga that Bolling had, in fact, filmed at the same time as
The Candy Snatchers. It was love at first, second, and third sight.
Wicked is weird, but Bolling’s turn as a kidnapper in
The Candy Snatchers is sheer brilliance. She combines the dykey dazzle of
Switchblade Sisters with a cocaine-corrupted hint of a folkie-gone-bad—all fueled by the rage of a possessed Pom-Pom Girl.
Little did we know, however, that our trashy love was RightWingTrash.
We pieced together
Bolling’s career, including placing her as William Shatner’s co-star in 1977’s
Kingdom of the Spiders. She frequently showed up in viewings of ’70s television reruns. We also sought out a copy of her LP, where Bolling bared her bod in a star-spangled shirt. The music, however, was strictly Leftist la-de-da. (Walter Cronkite reportedly used her “Thank God The War Is Over” during a CBS newscast.)
We weren’t expecting anything political when Bolling showed up on the DVD bonus feature, “The Women of
Candy Snatchers.” It was just nice to see her looking great. Maybe she’s a little reconstructed, but not so much that the blonde beauty doesn’t proudly look her age. The interview covers a lot of her fascinating career, including her bid for pop stardom. Throughout, Bolling remains charming and articulate and self-effacing.
Actually, she’s less articulate while discussing if she’d make another movie similar to
The Candy Snatchers. But we sure like how Bolling goes off-topic:
We’re becoming sort of nullified by the violence we see in the media, and all the stuff—so much negative—on the Iraqi war, and not enough good stuff on what has come down…that people are free. I’m not going to believe all this liberal media. I’m way right of Bush.
Bolling would, incidentally, be willing to make another movie similar to
The Candy Snatchers, despite that one pretty much derailing her career.
Obviously, we’re enjoying Tiffany Bolling even more nowadays. She needs to work more, though. Too bad that she pretty much retired after getting married. Speaking of which—will she now fall victim to the
Curse of RightWingTrash? You can only hope, guys.
Make her your own: It’s just a start, but…
The Candy Snatchers is essential, and we’ll claim the theme song—“money is the root of all happiness”—for the conservative cause.
Bonnie’s Kids is on VHS, and rates as Bolling’s third drive-in classic of 1973. She’s majorly MILFish in
The Vals, which is the most baffling "Valley Girl" film of the ’80s.
Kingdom of the Spiders can be found cheap on DVD. You should also be willing to spend a lot of money for a bootleg of Bolling as the Spider Lady in an episode of
Electra Woman and Dyna Girl.
