Heidi Fleiss in Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam (1995)
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Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam is a fairly interesting documentary made by BBC employee Nick Broomfield, who apparently set off with a load of cash in the hopes of hooking up some interviews. One must assume that when one is trying to elicit interviews from people who charge for sex, they’ll be charging for a lively discussion, after all…
Unfortunately, there’s very little of Heidi Fleiss in the film, seeing as it was made while she was on trial. Broomfield did manage to find a mess of her former associates, including Ron Jeremy, Susie Sterling, and an exceptionally strung-out-looking Victoria Sellers, as well as most of Heidi’s family. The big surprise (well, not really…) was LAPD chief Daryl Gates, who not only submitted to an interview but did so after being paid on camera!!! That, in and of itself, is worth the price of admission!
The better part of the film revolves around Fleiss’ early days in “The Business” and her relationships with Madam Alex, who used to have the Hollywood Prostitution Racket pretty much cornered, and X-Rated film producer Ivan Nagy, who initially introduced young Heidi to the good Madam. Apparently, Heidi, at the behest of Nagy, helped to bring about the end of Madam Alex’s prostitution empire, at which point Alex did her best to screw Fleiss. Unfortunately, not in the way one would hope to see…
Naturally, since the film initially aired on BBC, there’s not much titillation to be seen, although the subject matter, dare we say it, is fairly engaging. Broomfield has a way with being a complete asshole to people and still getting what he wants from them, especially in this case, where he is obviously looking down his nose at every last person involved. Unfortunately, since all the people who granted an interview are telling “their side of the story,” every last one of which is markedly different, the film ends up with nothing in the way of conclusions and instead comes off as a jumbled mess. Then again, we have to say that he did his best with the subject at hand and the dishonesty that seems to be the hallmark of all his targets. B+
Nudity Report: Fleiss appears completely nude for an exceptionally brief moment in one of Nagy’s home videos.
Critics’ Vote: Ebert gave it four out of four stars and Berardinelli scored it 2 ½ of four. You have to wonder if they saw the same movie…
IMDb Summary: 6.9/10
DVD Info: 1.33 :1 aspect ratio, less-than-stellar sound, no extras. Then again, it is a documentary…
Written by: Vance Moravian