In our weekly series Anatomy of a Scene's Anatomy, we're going to be taking a look at (in)famous sex scenes and nude scenes throughout cinema history and examining their construction, their relationship to the film around them, and their legacy.This week's gonna be a fun one because we've got the tale of one of the great American masterpieces of the late 80s, Road House, and how Bill Murray and his "idiot brothers" have made Kelly Lynch's life a living hell because of her sex scene in the film with the late, great Patrick Swayze.
Kelly Lynch was "discovered" in an elevator, beginning her career as a model and actress for the John Casablancas Agency. She studied acting under Sanford Meisner and kickstarted her acting career playing the title role in a cheap sci-fi movie titled Osa, before breaking out with a featured role in the Tom Cruise vehicle Cocktail. From there, Kelly's star was on the rise, and after making Drugstore Cowboy with Gus Van Sant, she got the offer to co-star in the new Patrick Swayze action flick Road House. Being under contract with United Artists, she didn't really have a choice in the matter, but when Annette Bening was fired from the female lead role of Doc, producer Joel Silver coaxed Lynch into taking the role and fulfilling her contract.
If, for whatever unforgivable reason, you've managed to avoid seeing Road House, stop reading this and go watch Road House. It's on Netflix, this article will be here when you come back. As you've now seen, the film is the rootinest, tootinest, shit-kicking good time of a movie possibly ever made. To crib from an old TBS tagline, Road House is the ultimate movie for guys who like movies. Like Robocop and Top Gun before it, the film works equally well for both the smartest person and the dumbest person in the room. Everyone walks away having had a good time at the movies.
The film also has one of the most curious sex scenes in history. Just past the one hour mark, Swayze's bouncer with a heart of gold Dalton has finally convinced Lynch's Doc—a learned doctor with a thing for bouncers, apparently—to come back to his place, in a loft above the barn of a local farmer. Dalton sets the mood with some music and then proceeds to bang Doc up against a rock wall...
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Also of note here is the curious use of Otis Redding's "These Arms of Mine." This was clearly Patrick Swayze's own personal gettin' down song because he used it just two years earlier to bed Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing. If you've got a thing that works, it pays to stick with it. It really says something about just how insane Road House is that Kelly Lynch having sex while being held by Patrick Swayze up against a stone wall is only the seventh or eighth most outrageous thing that happens in the film.
It's moments like this one, and the "be nice, until it's time to not be nice" speech, and the "I used to fuck guys like you in prison" insult, or the way Swayze proceeds to rip that dude's throat out that make Road House the masterpiece that it is. The supporting cast, including Sam Elliott, Ben Gazzara, Kevin Tighe, and the late musician Jeff Healey, are all top notch, adding to the film's appeal across a broad spectrum.
On a 2010 episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Bill Murray made his love of the film known, praising its "complex plot" and hinting at the respect the film has within the industry. Just two years later, in an interview with the AV Club, Kelly Lynch verified that Murray is among the film's fans, known to call and harass her husband—and longtime Murray collaborator—Mitch Glazer whenever the film is airing on television...
By the way, speaking of Bill Murray, every time Road House is on and he or one of his idiot brothers are watching TV—and they’re always watching TV—one of them calls my husband and says [In a reasonable approximation of Carl Spackler], “Kelly’s having sex with Patrick Swayze right now. They’re doing it. He’s throwing her against the rocks.” [Away from the receiver.] What? Oh, my God. Mitch was just walking out the door to the set, and he said that Bill once called him from Russia.
That's not the really outrageous part, however, as all of Murray's brothers participate in this same activity as well...
AVC: Sorry, not to dwell on this, but you said that Bill Murray “or one of his idiot brothers” will call. Which brothers are we talking about?
KL:All of them! Joel has called; Brian Doyle has called. They will all call! Any and all of them!
AVC: This was already an awesome story, but now it’s even better.
KL:I know, right? I dread it. If I know it’s coming on—and I can tell when it’s coming on, because it blows up on Twitter when it is—I’m just like, “Oh, my God…” And God help me when AMC’s doing their Road House marathon, because I know the phone is just going to keep ringing. It doesn’t matter if it’s 2 or 3 in morning. “Hi, Kelly’s having sex with Patrick Swayze right now…”
For my money, this makes Bill Murray, and all his idiot brothers for that matter, good friends. They're looking out for their buddy Mitch, and want him to know that thirty years ago, she had sex with one of the sexiest men alive against a rock wall. If that's not what good friends are for, then I just don't know what you expect from friends.
Catch up with our other editions of Anatomy of a Scene's Anatomy...
—The "Real Sex" ofDon't Look Now
—Scarlett Johansson's Nude Debut inUnder the Skin
—The 2 Very Different Sex ScenesofBasic Instinct
—How Halle Berry's Nude Debut Led Her toMonster's Ball
—HowMulholland Dr.'s Legendary Lesbian Scenes Deepen the Film's Mystery
—Showgirlsand the Dangers of High Camp
—Rosario Dawson Laid Bare for Danny Boyle'sTrance
—Katie Holmes MakesThe GiftWorth Remembering
—Jennifer Connelly Comes of Age inThe Hot Spot
—Lisa Bonet's Bloody Nude Debut inAngel Heart
—Monica Bellucci Gets Brutalized in Gaspar Noé'sIrréversible
—Stanley Kubrick, The William Tell Overture, and A Clockwork Orange
—Wild ThingsPresents Every Man with His Dream Threesome
—Chloë Sevigny Goes Down in History forThe Brown Bunny
—Helen Hunt Does Her Best Nudity at 48 in The Sessions
—Anne Hathaway Wreaks Havoc on Her Disney Image
—Body HeatBrings Noir Into the 80s, Sexes Up the Genre
—The Master Gives Serious Drama its Horniest Protagonist Ever
—Analyzing the Dream Logic of Eyes Wide Shut
—Isabella Rossellini's Intentionally Unsexy Nude Debut in Blue Velvet
—Margot Robbie MakesThe Wolf of Wall Streeta Skinstant Classic
—Angie Dickinson Steams Up the Opening Credits ofDressed to Kill
—The Strange Sexual Dynamics of Dogtooth
—How the Remake of Oldboy Stacks Up Against the Original
—Bob Fosse's Dancers Take It Off inAll That Jazz
—Lindsay Lohan Finally Goes Topless inThe Canyons
—Noir Takes a Trip to the Isle of Lesbos in Bound
—Brian De Palma Gets Cheeky with the Opening Scene of Blow Out
