By Armond White

I first saw Carne, a showcase for Argentinian sex symbol Isabel Sarli, at a San Sebastian Film Festival revival of that 1968 film while in the company of John Waters and his assistant Pat Moran. The duo provided expert commentary on the camp quality of Sarli’s overpowering voluptuousness. Waters took the right, knowing approach to Carne’s auteur, the late director Armando Bo. The film’s title means flesh, and Bo appreciated Sarli’s virtues and her showgirl enthusiasm similar to the way Waters celebrated his own cast of eccentrics.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes screens for one week at Film Forum, Aug. 6-12.

In “Fuego: The Films of Isabel Coca Sarli,” a brief series at the Film Society of Lincoln Center (Aug. 6-8), five films featuring the erotic icon in various modes of compulsively-realized smutty fantasy brings back a long-lost style of eccentricity. Sarli’s bosomy heft and Latinate vigor were different from blond, American sex symbols; her image recalls Liz Taylor from her sun-tanned ’60s period—when film actresses still had curves. Though Sarli was not an actress of Taylor’s gifts, she nonetheless had a power and confidence that survived the hoops that Armando Bo, her Svengali, devised for her to jump through.

Carne—like the revived features Fuego, The Virgin Goddess, Naked on the Sand and The Female—comes from a pre-Women’s Lib 1960s period of erotica for men. There aren’t many serious documentations of this sub-genre but, curiously, its sociology is addressed in Elvis Costello’s early albums—especially the post-Falklands War lyric “Holidays are dirt-cheap in the Costa del Malvinas/ She’s Miss Buenos Aires/ In a world of lacy lingerie,” where Costello deviously trumped Eva Peron by saluting Sarli (who had been Miss Argentina in the Miss Universe pageant).

Sarli’s imports appeared outside Argentina during that fascinating twilight when porn and art movies intersected on British and American screens. Lincoln Center is also showing Flesh on Flesh, a wacky documentary about Sarli and Bo, that traces their collaboration to the erotic breakthroughs of Ingmar Bergman’s films, with their sober yet arousing flashes of nudity. The Female was actually directed by Leopoldo Torre Nilsson, the Bergman-infatuated, serious South American auteur whose vision of Sarli was no less entranced than Bo’s adoration.

That adoration was similar to Russ Meyer’s celebration of the ample female form and the intimidating female presence. When Bo depicts Sarli pursued by women as well as men (in Naked on the Sand), the proposition suits the polymorphous perversity typical in erotica but is also in some ways a statement of Sarli’s power. And these decades later, also a statement of cultural loss.

Isabel Sarli’s films are revived at Film Society of Lincoln Center Aug. 6-8

What’s lost is also apparent in the happy coincidence of Film Forum reviving Howard Hawks’ 1953 Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Aug. 6-12) in which Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe play golddiggers but also broads—in the honest, companionable sense. Russell and Monroe were Sarli’s “sisters under the mink” (to use a classic 1950s movie phrase). These big dishes strutted bosoms forward, but they also had hips. And Hawks staged them in fore-and-aft, side-to-side choreography (by Jack Cole) that was blatantly, deliriously female. The production v

alues are greater than Sarli’s musical

numbers in Naked on the Sand, but what’s invaluable is Hawks’ celebratory leering: He distilled sex down to biological math. The showcase he provides Russell and Monroe created their most lasting sexual iconography (defining both women), unlike any other Hollywood musical. It’s worth noting that Madonna’s “Material Girl” music video appropriated “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” and totally misread the context—leading eventually to the bulimic nightmare of Sex and the City that the Hawks film exists to refute.

Despite all that domineering pulchritude in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (including the beefcake-in-swimtrunks number “Ain’t There Anyone Here For Love?”), it could be argued that Hawks achieved the most heterosexual movie musical ever made. Proof that cinema eroticism, if powerful and imaginative and humane enough, can work in more than one direction.

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Fuego: The Films of Isabel “Coco” Sarli
Film Society of Lincoln Center, Aug. 6-8

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Directed by Howard Hawks
At Film Forum, Aug. 6-12

One thing that Mr. Meltzer forgot to mention (“Culture Schlocks,” July 22) is how expensive movies are now—$20 bucks a pop! Expensive and no substance, oy what is a person to do, or better yet, where to go for a good movie without being fleeced. The box office gross figures are important because they report to the public how rich Hollywood producers are becoming and how stupid we as a whole are for buying into these crappy movies! I agree, we need more independent movies like The Secret in Their Eyes. That was lovely!

Edna Vera
Upper West Side

Compiled by Alice Robb and Reid Spagna

Thursday, July 22

New View of Matisse—The MoMA’s new exhibit gives a fresh perspective on the world-renowned painter. Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913-1917 displays a variety of paintings, sculptures and drawings that demonstrate the Frenchman’s growth as an artist. The exhibit also features X-ray images of his painting “Bathers by a River,” revealing how the piece developed over 18 years of work. MoMA, 11 W. 53rd St., 212-708-9400; 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., $12-$20.

Friday, July 23

Organ Concert—Bach Sommerfest 2010 presents an organ concert, Preludes on Lutheran Chorales, and an accompanying lecture by Professor Mark Bighley on the history of the Lutheran Chorale. Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 3 W. 65th St., 212-877-6815; 5:30 p.m. lecture, 7 p.m. concert, $10 suggested donation.

Muppets and Popcorn—Hudson River Park’s River Flicks for Kids presents The Great Muppet Caper. Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear travel to London to report on a string of high-profile jewelry thefts, including that of the coveted Baseball Diamond. Free popcorn is served. Hudson River Park’s Pier 46, Charles and West streets, 212-627-2121; dusk (around 8:30 p.m.), Free.

Carol Channing—Legendary Broadway star Carol Channing chats with cabaret entertainer Richard Skipper about her new gospel CD, as well as her colorful career. Barnes & Noble, 1972 Broadway, 212-595-6859; 6 p.m., Free.

Saturday, July 24

Identity Crisis—The Midtown International Theatre Festival presents Asian Belle by Michelle Glick, directed by Christine Renee Miller. The daughter of a Vietnamese war bride spends her youth aspiring to be a Southern belle. The Dorothy Streslin Theatre, 312 W. 36th St., 1st Fl., 212-279-4200; 5 p.m., $18.

Sunday, July 25

Hitchcock on the Silver Screen—Symphony Space gives this summer a thrilling twist with Hi-Def Hitch, the first-ever showing of Hitchcock films in high definition. The line-up includes classics such as Vertigo, Rear Window and The Birds, and runs throughout July and August. Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, 212-864-5400; $8-$12.

Monday, July 26

History of New York Parks—Each park in Manhattan has its distinct tale as told by Before They Were Parks. This in-depth exhibit reveals the origins of many Manhattan parks, and features over 100 photographs from the New York City Parks Photo Archive. The Arsenal Gallery, 830 5th Ave. (inside Central Park), 212-360-1311; 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Free.

Mercury Mission—The MESSENGER spacecraft, developed under NASA’s Discovery Program, is the first space probe to investigate Mercury in more than 30 years. Sean Solomon, principal investigator of the MESSENGER mission, discusses the importance of understanding Mercury’s high-density composition, geological history and magnetic field. LeFrak Theater, American Museum of Natural History, 1st Fl., Central Park West at West 79th Street, 212-769-5200; 7 p.m., Free.

Tuesday, July 27

A Summer for Swimming—With temperatures hitting triple digits in Manhattan, now is the best time to teach your child how to swim. The City Parks Foundation is teaming up with the American Red Cross to give free Learn-to-Swim classes at local parks. Registration for the program’s second session runs from 9 a.m.-11 a.m. on July 26. John Jay Pool, 77 Cherokee Place, www.nyc.gov/parks; Free.

Paging Dr. Strangelove—The Jewish Association for Services for the Aged will be holding a series of seminars presented by Alan Weisman, former producer of 60 Minutes, CBS Sunday Morning and CBS Evening News. The second of his three seminars, Red Scares in the Sunset, or How To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, will delve into the American media’s portrayal of the Communist threat during the Cold War. JASA, 130 E. 59th St., 212-273-5304; 6 p.m., $15.

Everyday Art—The Midtown Arts Common presents Susan Mastrangelo’s Slice of Life, an exhibit that aims to unearth the artistry of everyday life. The Narthex Gallery at Saint Peter’s Church, 619 Lexington Ave., 212-935-2200; 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Free.

Mostly Mozart—The 2010 Mostly Mozart Festival opens with a program including works by Chopin, Handel, Gluck and, of course, Mozart. Louis Langrée leads the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra in its acclaimed interpretation of two of Mozart’s most popular works, the overture to La clemenza di Tito and the “Haffner” Symphony. Festival favorite Emanuel Ax performs Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor; mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe makes her Mostly Mozart debut. Avery Fisher Hall, Columbus Avenue and West 65th Street, 212-875-5316; 8 p.m., $35-$90.

Wednesday, July 28

Street Theater—Marking its 40th anniversary, Lincoln Center Out of Doors calls up its street culture roots with No Snakes in This Grass, a landmark theater/performance piece from the Civil Rights Movement. Written by James Manguson, this retelling of the story of Adam and Eve is directed by Mical Whitaker. Barclays Capital Grove, southern section of Hearst Plaza, Lincoln Center Plazas between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues, 212-875-5000; 6:30 p.m., Free.

Lunch and Listen—The MTA Arts for Transit’s Music Under New York program continues its summer concert series, which brings members of New York’s diverse underground music scene to the lively oasis of Broadway and 66th Street. Music lovers are invited to bring lunch, join friends and relax at a performance featuring renowned guitarist Shogo Kubo and unconventional string quartet the Hopkins Entertainment Group. Richard Tucker Park, Broadway and 66th Street, 212-878-7250; 12 p.m., Free.

Thursday, July 29

Manhattan in 1900—Playwright Martin Zuckerman and Turtle Shell Production have taken a famous John Dos Passos novel and adapted it for the stage. Manhattan Transfer chronicles the Big Apple’s evolution during the early 20th century through the intertwined stories of several New Yorkers. The Shell Theater, 300 W. 43rd St., 212-352-3101; 7 p.m., $18.