Welcome to my new short series called Hippie Hotties where I plan to talk about a hippie-era movie that stretched the limits of free love and sex by showing off some sexy nudes on the big screen. This era of experimentation led to some pretty far-out films, so let's take a look!
We've talked so far about a wide range of different hippie films. From sexploitation, to major studio movies, to European art films, to kooky psychedelic comedies, to classics and to forgotten films. But we haven't yet talked about Clint Eastwood's take on the hippie movement. Did you know that he had one? And did you know that he channeled that into the 1973 film Breezy? Because he certainly did! Let's unpack Clint's film, Breezy.
This is Clint Eastwood's fourth film that he directed. His directorial debut was 1971's Play Misty for Me. Then he directed the short film The Beguiled: The Storyteller and then High Plains Drifter which was released the same year as Breezy. So 70s Clint was busy. Jo Heims is the screenwriter who previously also wrote Play Misty for Me. She originally wrote the male lead for Clint, but he felt that he was too young to play the part, but he still wanted to direct the film. Far from a western or a thriller, this movie was billed as "a new romance" which doesn't at all seem like the kind of film Clint would make (and not star in), but he did!
William Holden and Kay Lenz are a pair who get mixed up together and, obviously, find love. William Holden is an older middle-aged man reeling from a bad divorce, so he goes to find some peace and quiet and mend his broken heart by staying at his beach house. It's there that he meets the free-spirited hottie Breezy who was hitch-hiking. Breezy is supposed to be a teenager and young Kay was actually only nineteen when they filmed this movie. He reluctantly takes her in and then the pair, of course, fall for one another despite their many differences. I know the movie is supposed to be focused on the whole 'she's a hippie weirdo and he's not thing' but it's much more obviously about their generational differences. Her hippiedom is an easy way to show that Breezy is younger and more naive than the lived-in life of William's character.
Since Breezy is young and free-loving, it just makes sense that she goes topless. Couple in the fact that this is purely a romantic drama and you know that there is bound to be at least one sex scene. The good news is that Breezy actually goes topless a number of times in the film and Kay shows off her great cans with big, pink areolas. She even starts the film topless as she sits up and gets out of bed.
Clint Eastwood has said that this personally remains one of his favorite films. Between 1973 up until 1988 with Bird, this was the only movie that he directed and did not also star in (although he did appear as an extra in a boardwalk scene). I like to think that's why this movie feels so different compared to his other films. It feels slightly sweeter and more nuanced. That being said, Clint had some drama on the set of the film. Clint's then-wife Maggie showed up on set one day as a surprise and Clint ran and hid while a crew member introduced Maggie to Clint's mistress Roxanne Tunis. Whoops!
The last 20 minutes of the film are kind of wonky. Holden's character suddenly gets fed up with the hippie hottie and picks a fight with her after coming home to her adorably trying to make him dinner. He is suddenly very cold to her and breaks it off, leaving the young woman totally heartbroken and leaving the audience thinking 'huh?'. At least, that's how I felt watching this movie for the first time recently. The May-September couple splits after he picks this random fight where he tells her he can't "cope" with her young hippie lifestyle. After his ex gets into a bad accident, he rethinks all of his decisions. He realizes that life is short! Love is the answer! So he goes to find Breezy at a commune and they end up together.
If I am being quite honest, this movie reminds me a little bit of Petulia with the divorced-middle-aged guy meets hot hippie chick kind of thing. That movie feels far more far-out than Breezy, though. It's the prototype for the manic pixie dreamgirl that we would see again in the early 2000s, so Clint seems to suggest hippiedom is synonymous with youth and a beautiful young woman can transform an older man's life. There's nothing new with that idea. Breezy feels like a pretty straightforward romance in that vein which is probably why the critical and box office reception of Breezy was so-so. The New York Times review said: "A cloyingly naive resolution mars 'Breezy'" which seemed to be how critics felt across the board. Breezy is fairly forgotten now, but it's a totally watchable movie. It's sweet and endearing even if the sappy ending makes the age gap romance feel a little yucky under a modern lens. Speaking of lens, you'll want a lens to check out Kay Lenz's many topless scenes in this movie. We love looking at Kay's Laurel Cans-yons!
