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Show 10E The Salt Lake Tribune Sunday, July 24, 1983 Chicken Ranch Sissel spent three months at the a descendant of Chicken Ranch the Texas-baseChicken Ranch made famous by the book, musical and movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas gaining the confidence of the women and filming them on the job and off. We wanted," Sissel says, to go beyond societys stereotype of the prostitute, that they all slept with their fathers, that they are messed up on drugs and that theyre all dependent on their pimps. Sympathetic Portrait The result is a surprisingly sympathetic portrait of likable, rather complicated people practicing a line of work that is held in unanimous contempt but never has lacked for customers. In the beginning the girls were a little leery of having Nick and I around," Sissel says. "But after a while, a friendship was born, and things changed. They saw us living there, sleeping there, having breakfast with them, playing backgammon with them, and a confidence began to build up. There was a turning point, too, she says, recalling how the girls kept daring her to join the lineup," the ritual by which the customer makes his choice of a companion. The girls stand side by side, their wares ooz-ipfrom their gowns, as they undergo inspection. I kept resisting, Sissel says "1 couldnt think of myself being able to do something like that" A Small Wager Then one night the girls talked her into a small wager. If she lost a game of cards, she would have to join the line "Up to that time I hadn't lost a By Jeff Lyon Chicago Tribune Writer The Nevada desert is the land of endless lonesome. It is mile after mile of dry, dusty real estate, brooding black mountains and the bleaching remains of coyote cuisine. Daytime temperatures soar to 120 degrees. The horizon trembles with fever Nights are like cold storage In d this romantic atmosphere flourishes the worlds oldest and seamiest profession, next to journalism. W'e are speaking, of course, of prostitution There were, at last count, 3b licensed houses of prostitution in No vada. They pop up unexpectedly on the desert highways, dispensing the most exotic variations of Eros against an unlikely backdrop, towns with names such as Pahrump and Scottys Junction Its lewd. Yessir, its crude But its all legal and proper. Among these way stations of sin is one called the Chicken Ranch, home to a number of young ladies who earn their living catering to the d whims of grizzled cowpokes, truck diivers and rich daddies up from Vegas who use the adjoining airstrip. The girls live and work at the ranch three weeks of every four, turning up to 20 tricks a day. The house takes half the proceeds. Real Possibilities As a lifestyle it might not have vast appeal. But as theater, it has real possibilities. Or so reasoned filmmakers Nick Broomfield and Sandi Sissel when they set out to do a documentary on a Nevada brothel The movie "Chicken Ranch is the result of their labors. In the fall of 1981, Broomfield and one-hors- e slack-bellie- the worlds oldest profession A look at g single game of cards. I was positive I'd win; so I agreed. And, sure enough, right away I lost. All of a sudden 15 girls jumped on me, carrying me bodily down the hall, and in a moment they had my clothes off and put me into a slinky dress." Sissel says her heart was in her quaintly called a straight." Done In One Take It is inconceivable that someone could forget the camera so completely. Yet Sissel swears that it was done m one take. The credit must go to her and Broomfield, both of whom are veteran documentary makers. Broomfield, a native of Great Britain, is best known for Soldier Girls, a study for public television of the first woman recruits in the United States Army. Sissel, a longtime for ABC News, has done "The Wobblies" and Seeing Red and is woi king oil a documentary about Mother Teresa. If "Chicken Ranch may be said to have a protagonist, it is Connie, the animathooker who admits ed, frizzy-haire- d early on that she is bummed out by men. In the film she complains to a They say I want everything the whole works.' I say, 'You cant have the whole works for 50 Now she says, Im changing. Im going out with men on dates now, rather than just seeing them as customers. throat as she stood there with four yokels giving everyone the onceover. And then what do you think happened? All four of them picked me. I panicked and ran out of the room." Only later did she find out that the madame, Fran Kotecki, had ar- ranged things with the customers ahead of time. But after that the girls thought of her and Nick as regular guys. They began to act and talk naturally around them as the cameras whirred. Chattering Away "We just began chattering away as if they werent there," says Connie Moleterno, one of the girls. A bigger problem was getting the customers to agree to be on camera Most refused. But a surprising number said yes. There is a particularly notable scene in which a truck driver negotiates a price with Mandy, one of the girls. The trucker has only a few bucks to spend, and Mandy, venal engines going full blast, tries to persuade him to buy a more costly, uh, package. It is as if the cameras weren't there. The truck driver is utterly natural as he sits making all sorts of embarrassing admissions to the world, including that he is going to have sex that night, that he is reduced to having it with a hooker and that hes too strapped to get anything more elaborate than what is Every summer Chevy Chase takes his family on a little trip. This year he went too far. Just a Job "You turn off your feelings when you go to bed with a customer, and its hard to turn them back on. But I've never looked down on myself out why. But I was in love with him. And I liked the glamor of the job. My God, I told myself, Im getting paid for what people usually give away free.' And I liked the money, the cars." Later, her pimp began to abuse her physically. At that point she left him to go on her own. That is how she wound up at the Chicken Ranch. Interesting Characters There are other interesting characters in the film. There is Mandy, the free spirit, who loves her work. There is J.J., who quits the business because hooking is giving her a "very callous heart." Theie is Fian. the madame, stern to customers but warm to her girls. And there is Walter Plankinton, the owner, a man given to religious platitudes and sugar-coate- d advocacy of prostitution as a public service In one memorable scene, in which he and the girls are celebrating Thanksgiving, Walter says grace, declaring, This may be a brothel, but I dont think theres anybody here doesnt believe in God. To which the girls respond, Right on. But Walter reveals a darker side at the end of the film when he fires Mandy and heatedly demands that for this work, despite all the people who think its the worst thing in the world. Its just a job." Connie is 21. She says she is from a middle-clas- s family, was a secrea for year and got into prostitutary tion at 17 when she fell in love with a man who became her pimp. Dont ask me why I let him get me into it," she says. "I dont have a reason. I've never sat down to figure get a bite of the action... BROCCOLI R presents in jQfcrpPUSSY " ju MAtlS lOlliS IRISHKA AAY6Gftk JOUflCAS II AlBLB! MadM3 GfOPGt yMMuNS Screen bf S) MIT PruOu.rt JOHN HUGHfS t Erected SIMMONS :55, 4:30, 7:05, 9:40 1 FOOD Mil 1M8 K,l T. ( 1 These Selected Theatres! r 3046103 :50, 4:25, 7:00, 9:40 292 4 419 T TROLLEY CORNERS S 7th East 1 TROLLEY J NORTH I is BOUNTiMJt Cf0ts I n Qtl WoiKj 2:00.4:30 7:00, 9:30 h ' Hi ' s.) f 1:30, 4:30,7:15, 9:45 J AU Co-H- Blue Thunder" Open 8:00 it plus home computers ... the 1982 Deseret News The time is ripe Food & Hobby Show generated more public response and greater sales for exhibitors than ever before with some 100,000 visitors. 1A b?00 bo STATE 1 DESERF.T NEWS SARUD STARTS FRIDAY At 5 CHAR Mill WMf'JlfB MM . PU M i V tlx1 o MWUMPQOASMCHlO" KVl OMlGflO .MtfcBtClW MV'to'i CN0Yj And .nroduci UlWsTIt BRrfmar Onj'),(Uit!,MtB,V WOCHlSl $(W.'SI till JIM MUBALM KEIEfl the new 1983 lAWRMi tWtAhM'Mj BHUCCOH f?A3EB MMdSMft AiUMIUW F'.M WROiD PSOOUCiWR Fran got into the madame business in an unusual way. She is a prude who fought the Chicken Ranch when it came to her home community of Pahrump. Her attitude changed when there was a fire at the ranch and the girls sought shelter at her home. I decided they can't be all bad because theyd have all burned, she says. God must have wanted them saved. . ROGER MOORE FLEMING S JAMES BONO OQV IAN Kim He wasnt even man enough to fire me face to face, she says. James Bond's all time action high. ALBERT I the film crew stop shooting As cinema verite, Chicken Ranch" works very well. As porno, which some viewers may be anticipating, it doesnt work at all. There is no nudity in the film. Not even one bare whatzit. Other Brothels Since the completion of filming, much has happened. Most of the girls have left for other brothels, including Connie. Fran was fired for letting the crew shoot more film than Plankinton wanted, she says Ultimately, Plankinton sold the place. There remains some bad blood between Fran and Walter. The 1 983 Food & Hobby is new, larger, and more exciting with demonstrations, free prizes, entertainment, and this year it has been expanded to include home computers. RETURN! reserve your booth space now - HIGHEST FOUR STARS The 1983 Deseret News Food & Hobby Show, complete with the Home Computer section will be the best show of the year and a most profitable Christmas Shopping Center. Reserve your booth space now and be sure to take advantage of the Advance Payment Discount! RATING WONDERFUL! 60s't RoQ6' CHiCAGO SUN At 7b TlMbi AS GOOD AS'E.T.T VAGAiNi - YOULL FEEL GRAND! . Oa'ebN'l rJOAY$HOW NUC special 20 V BRILLIANT... A BIG HIT! i 4VlY,tA . Atii. discount booth space is paid before September 2, 1983. Phone Sheryl Schowengerdt or Bill Northrup for booth reservations if r 237-272- or 9 237-271- 6 free to the public d . with Four big days and nights and entertainers your favorite demonstrators theres something new this year for the whole family. fun-fille- MARK HAMlt I BILLY OLE HARRISON FORD Will IAMS . V-- V A RUHAHD MARGUAND PI wa ' n, , ISHE R t . fJORt.blUUb HOWARD KAAN.JIAN ' K f AN I HON Y OANIflS H GEORGE lUC AS LAWRENCE KASDAN NIUIItUMMCIUW'.ll M II II II II A M CARRIf M ' - GEORGE I 61 I I I MANN WOWOO00OA0 IVbbm 96V mann . '. 1 H M1HSOUTM b DAIUAT 10 45 I 30 4 15 7 00 45 All SEATS 2 V) TO ANY SHOW MONDAY THfl'J TMURSOAYt SORRY NORASStS DISCOUNT TtCKflS ARE ACCIRUO JOHN WILLIAN UCAS rtl nu 1:00, piii 0AIIV AT All 'OATS OHIV SOAAY 00 2 00. VOO 3V) HO LACH AA1SH' t 00 MONOAV 8 THAU T All SHOW! THUAIOAV wimf 12.00, 2:30, 5.00 3.10,5.20 600,8:10 10:20 7 45, rll5! I WM1 r ft . i ail D MIGMIANO J7M7ii- - vmm 2:15,4:35 7 00. 9:30 10-1- r394 conwuoooY 5001 Vaa. K 10.00 1:40, 3.50 I1 I KMMfj.-l- r 0193 nr 1:40 3.50,6 00 . . . its coming October in The Salt Palace 12-13-14- -15 t |
