Crimes of Passion

Plot synopsis:
Bobby Grady (John Laughlin) is an ordinary middle-class electronics store owner who occasionally moonlights doing surveillance work. He attends a group therapy session because his wife, Amy (Annie Potts), has lost interest in sex and he fears their marriage is in trouble.
Grady is soon approached by the owner of a fashion design house to spy on an employee, Joanna Crane (Kathleen Turner), who is suspected of selling clothing patterns to his competitors. Grady discovers the accusations are unfounded, but also finds out that Joanna is moonlighting as a prostitute using the name China Blue, and shedding her business attire for provocative clothing and a platinum wig.
Grady keeps quiet about Joanna's double life. After having an erotic encounter with her in her China Blue persona, Grady begins seeing her on a regular basis, first professionally, then romantically. However, their involvement is complicated by his guilt and her intimacy issues — not to mention her clientele of regular patrons and their bizarre sexual fetishes.
Among them is the "Reverend" Peter Shayne (Anthony Perkins), who alternately spends his time delivering soapbox sermons on the street, visiting peep shows while sniffing amyl nitrite, and patronizing prostitutes. Shayne has been seeing China Blue as a customer and declares a misguided need to "save" her. (When he says, "Save your soul, whore!", she replies, "Save your money, shithead.") Underscoring Shayne's contradictory nature is the cache of sex toys he carries in a small doctor's bag with his Bible.
Grady admits he may leave his wife and children, but Joanna feels put-upon and depressed. She seeks solace in turning tricks because the encounters are not fraught with emotional entanglements. She dominates a young policeman in an S&M session, penetrating him with his nightstick, and endures a botched three-way in a limousine. A session with a dying man whose wife wants China Blue to give him sexual gratification one last time inspires Joanna to reveal her real first name, suggesting for the first time that she is the proverbial "hooker with a heart of gold."
Shayne grows increasingly psychotic: he carries a sharpened metallic vibrator he nicknames "Superman" and starts stalking Joanna. He moves into a seedy motel next door to her nighttime place of business and watches her activities through a peephole. He also sets up a shrine with candles and numerous photos of her. Sensing that he is mentally unhinged, Joanna no longer wishes to see him, but Shayne follows her home to her actual apartment. Once there, he begs her to kill him.
Grady comes there to tell Joanna that he has left home. He hears shouting from her apartment, breaks down her door and finds someone he assumes is Joanna, cowering in terror, not realizing it is actually Shayne in her China Blue disguise. Joanna, now wearing Shayne's clothing, leaps from the shadows and stabs Shayne with the "Superman" vibrator before he can attack Grady with a large pair of scissors. Shayne dies, convinced that his sacrifice has "saved" them both.
The film ends with Grady addressing his group therapist about his new relationship with a woman named Joanna.

Tags: pornographic, cult, romantic

Review:
For example, the explicit dialogue in the bedroom confessional scene between Bobby & Amy Grady (equally fine performances from John Laughlin and Annie Potts) effectively captures the real disconnect present within so many relationships.
In stark contrast to the dynamic between Bobby & Amy Grady, is the character of China Blue/Joanna Crane -- played with absolute gusto by Kathleen Turner (giving one of the finest performances of her career).
To complicate things further, there's the character of Rev. Peter Shayne (an Oscar worthy performance from Anthony Perkins); a man so distraught and shamed by his own inner demons that he seeks his own redemption through the course of offering to redeem China Blue.
In the bravest and best performance of her career, Kathleen Turner plays the mystery woman who is Joanna, prim fashion designer by day and China Blue, the fantasy hooker to end all fantasy hookers, by night.
Bobby accepts the job to make money and please Amy with a bathtub and follows Joanna after hours.He discovers that she has a double life, working as a fifty-dollar hooker called China Blue in the red light district and practicing kinky sex with her clients to satisfy their fantasies.
Meanwhile the insane preacher Rev. Peter Shayne (Anthony Perkins) decides to save Joanna's soul and stalks her everywhere."Crimes of Passion" is one of the best and classiest "pre-AIDS" erotic-thriller of the 80's and among my favorite cult-movies ever.
Words would fail to describe actress Kathleen Turner's impeccable performances as 'China Blue'- an expensive hooker who is also leading a double life.
He later meets her as China Blue and is shown a good time...but soon the preacher starts to get out of control.This might not be particularly intelligent stuff, but Crimes of Passion appealed to me because it's not quite like any other thriller I've seen, and director Ken Russell seems more interested in making the film as bizarre as possible than telling a story - and that is no bad thing as it ensures that Crimes of Passion is original, and that's the sort of thing that gives a film a cult following!
Crimes of Passion has an interesting cast, which is lead by Kathleen Turner, who is just great in her double role.
"Crimes of Passion", an incredibly bizarre, sexually charged drama, provides interesting material with which inimitable filmmaker Ken Russell can work.
Kathleen Turner is striking in the role of "China Blue", a lady with a double life: by day she's a fashion designer (real name Joanna Crane), by night she's a hooker.
Working from a screenplay by producer Barry Sandler, Russell injects the film with plenty of humour; just the idea of Perkins carrying erotic paraphernalia around with him is a hoot.
Kathleen Turner plays a smoking sex-bomb of an NYC street hooker who goes by the name of China Blue ("the total package", as one john remarks).
But try not to think too much about it, otherwise you run the risk of taking it a bit too seriously and you'll miss out on the real fun - all the "I can't believe he/she just said/did that!" bits (comprising a good half the movie), Kathleen Turner's passionate and, um, rousing performance (who could possibly deliver lines like that if they weren't having fun on the set!?), and the lurid, swanky atmosphere that is the magic of Ken Russell's creation.*** I also watched the scenes that were cut from the film - I had assumed they were cut because they were too racy or explicit, but the opposite is in fact true.
Kathy Turner vamps up Madonna, while Tony Perkins parodies his Psycho role while Russell tells us of a hooker whose heart is cold and made of gold at the same time--because her customers love it.
Not that Laughlin does a bad job, but in retrospect this seems like an odd choice -- the movie would have had a more lasting impact with one of the other two.Although Kathleen Turner takes up most of the screen time, and really puts herself out there in these sexual situations, Perkins is the highlight of the film.
As it is Kathleen Turner gives the bravest, boldest and most bravura performance as the part time prostitute with a passion for the unusual and Anthony Perkins gives, surely the scariest performance of his career.
Anthony Perkins plays a drugged out street preacher whose personal mission is to save prostitutes, especially China Blue, played with gusto by Kathleen Turner.
Kathleen Turner is admirable playing a prim fashion designer by day and a kinky hooker named China Blue by night.
The subplots, one involving family man John Laughlin with sexless wife Annie Potts and the other, sillier one concerning Anthony Perkins as a sidewalk preacher, only take time away from Turner's intriguing impersonation.
Kathleen Turner struts around in a blond wig, getting her kicks from "pretending" to be a two-bit hooker (she really has a good solid job in the clothing industry and has been hurt so badly by men that this is the only way she can connect), and Tony Perkins plays a hysterical "priest" who is out to maybe murderer her (yet another movie that ends with Tony Perkins in drag).
From director Ken Russell, who never met an excess he didn't like, Crimes of Passion is the story of Joanna Crane - a fashion designer by day, a kinky prostitute named China Blue by night.
China finds herself being stalked by a maniacal street preacher (Anthony Perkins) who wants to save her soul; she has also caught the eye of a private investigator (John Laughlin) whose marriage is on the rocks.Crimes of Passion has its share of problems.
If you viewed the movie circa 1984-1986 you saw the story of a vivacious woman played by Kathleen Turner who works in design by day and goes into drag to turns tricks downtown by night.
What one took away from the original version of the film was, chiefly, Ms. Turner's brave, fantastic performance (and how uninhibited she was mentally as well as physically), the berserk scenes with Anthony Perkins, the pinks and blues in the set design, the strange surprise ending and the sardonic tone--the plot almost seemed like an afterthought.Like all of Russel's films "C of P" is impossible to understand or completely enjoy after only one viewing (for a more obvious example, try his "Gothic").
When I first saw the film on cable many years ago, like many a teen in the mid-to-late 80s, I was transfixed by the sex, violence, lurid color palette and over-the-top synth score; I was intrigued by the themes of obsession, religion and duality, mystified by the range of acting choices and choice of performers and utterly confused trying to figure out what it was all about.Now here's the thing--that's how it played when the movie first came out.
Probably "Crimes" played, as it did on cable, so campy and over-wrought it became dark comedy...certainly you couldn't take the scenes with Ms. Turner and Perkins too seriously; as one reviewer suggested, those moments play out like bizarre numbers in an MGM musical film or something.
The "unrated version" ploy worked like a charm; the movie sold like hotcakes and the practice of releasing a re-edited version of a film with footage you "haven't seen" is still common today (is anyone really that interested in a Director's Cut of "Girls Trip?").
Most of us were probably a bit surprised to find the extended cut scenes of "Crimes" consisted mainly of a raw, nasty bit of over-kill business involving Kathleen Turner in a leather S+M outfit abusing a corrupt cop with his own night stick, but to bear witness to the scene was to admit that, yeah, it was a bit further than R-rated movies went at the time...and also probably wasn't all that necessary to the plot.
The inclusion of this scene and some inserts of classic, erotic (and explicit) artwork changed the tone of the movie somehow, at least for me--the inclusion of this new material made it more a film about a woman who goes through a kind of sexual hell but is saved by a dopey guy as she runs from a crazy priest.
Of the commentary I remember little other than Mr. Russell going on about the loveliness of Ms. Turner in her China Blue drag and leaving before the film was over, which was cute, and Mr. Sandler coming off as an articulate, intelligent and kind person.
The film already has a number of melodramatic, wooden-acted moments, some that seem straight out of a sad, low-budget TV movie; the deleted scenes presented on the laser disc, including a couples' backyard BBQ and a confrontation between a wife and the woman her husband is seeing behind her back seemed like something you'd find on theLifetime channel.
Taken as a body, if you include all the deleted scenes available (which were surely in the green-lit script?) it would seem that originally the story of the film might have been meant to be played straight, and that the plot was about an average Joe in a crumbling marriage who gets involved with a woman who tricks at night and is pursued by a crazy person.
Certainly it's hard to believe anyone but Ms. Turner, directed by Mr. Russell, could have gotten away with the (deliciously) ridiculous action in the "China Blue" scenes.
It's more realistic, there's a lot more compassion; John Laughlin's trajectory makes more sense, we find that Annie Potts' best work, and many keys to the "point" of the movie, were left on the cutting room floor to make room for more sex-with-nuns-and-dildos Russell-stuff (but that's not really a complaint).
It seems possible that by editing the film into the shorter cut we saw in the mid-80s we were gifted with another berserk Russellian moving painting whereas if someone else had directed the movie we might have instead gotten an interesting but less-than-noteworthy melodrama.Again, the film is flawed in any form--even in the first edit it seemed that (much like this review) it was a bit too long, it's unfocused and varies greatly in tone from scene to scene in any form, much like "Rocky Horror" it suffers from not having a clear protagonist (though again, the most recent edit makes Laughin the winner there with Turner relegated to supporting character), it hasn't aged well visually or thematically and the music, fun as it is, never actually worked (whether the use of Dvorak makes a "statement" or not I'll leave to others to discuss).
But the power of the film can't be ignored--the visuals, the editing, the music, Ms. Turner and Mr. Perkins' performances, the themes and the unflinching discussion of sexual topics many people even today would run screaming from--all of these things combine to create a piece of film art that shouldn't be left out when discussing the works of Ken Russell specifically and the place of art films in film history in general..
Crimes of Passion (1984) ** 1/2 (out of 4) China Blue (Kathleen Turner) is a prostitute who works the streets at night turning tricks for $50.
Pretty soon the three of them are going to be introduced to one another as their stories play out.Ken Russell's CRIMES OF PASSION is a rather interesting failure.
There's no question that the China Blue character is the more memorable one and I really thought Turner brought some flare to the part and especially with the various sex scenes that she had to perform.
If you're a fan of Ken Russell, Kathleen Turner, or Anthony Perkins this is a must see.
Crimes of Passion is easily Ken Russell's best film.
Crimes of Passion centres around Joanne (Kathleen Turner) who is a fashion designer by day and a kinky hooker by night who speciality is role play!
This movie sails close to the wind and is a cocktail of elegant sex and brilliant character study of 4 very different persons: China Blue the whore (Kathleen Turner), the crazy priest (Anthony Perkins) who wants to "rescue" her, family-lowing Bobby Grady (John Laughlin), wo is China Blue's suitor, because he and his wife don't have sex any more and Amy (Annie Potts), Bobby's frigid wife.
Kathleen Turner and Anthony Perkins are brilliant, but it is John Laughlin who steals the show as Bobby Grady.
She soon becomes involved with Bobby Grady (John Laughlin) an unhappily married man and the "Preacher" (Anthony Perkins) who wants to save her.
John Laughlin is utterly terrible in his role as "well-intentioned-husband-of-a-frozen-wife" Bobby, Annie Pots is unconvincing as "frozen-wife" Amy, and it is only Kathleen Turner (above average), and Antony Perkins (excellent) which get passable acting marks.
If you are an Anthony Perkins fan, you will enjoy the great acting talents that he performed in this picture along with Kathleen Turner( China Doll Blue)  It took a great deal of talent for Perkins to play (Rev. Peter Shayne).
Opening with Kathleen Turner's 'China Blue' facing the camera spreadeagled while a man performs cunnilingus on her, Ken Russell's barking mad Crimes of Passion starts as provocatively as it means to go on.
Years later, it's still a somewhat baffling oddity with some terrible dialogue, but its certainly an interesting, one-off experience.Fashion designer Joanna Crane (Turner) is a successful, emotionally cold businesswoman by day, but by night, she is China Blue, the most sought-after and beautiful prostitute to walk the streets.
There are so many implausible events, baffling motives and unanswered questions that in the end you just have to accept that some things are never going to be explained - and go with the flow.I enjoyed Kathleen Turner's performance as Joanna Crane and China Blue - though I never quite worked out why she found it so essential to have this mysterious alter ego, nor why an apparently well-balanced, sane individual so readily placed herself in danger.
They're sexy, but vulnerable.Bobby's final words in Crimes Of Passion are among the best I've ever heard spoken in a movie, and it was a perfect way to end the film.I truly don't understand why John Laughlin didn't become a huge star after this movie, but he should have.
(SPOILERS!!!)Its a great movie, its a hell of a good satire to the nowadays couples relationships, the film is surrealistic, and prime example of Ken Russell's proclivity for examining bizarre sexual underworlds, Crimes of Passion fails to generate resonance from its sensationalist subject matter, more concerned with taboo than insight.
Its Kathleen Turner best role ever, she does a great job as China Blue, and the guy, i never saw a movie with him, but he do a good role too, the most impressive role its form Anthony Perkins as a fanatic perverted priest...the guy is sick of it all!
Throw in the talents of Kathleen Turner, Anthony Perkins, John Laughlin and Annie Potts and you have a winner.A fashion designer by day and a prostitute by night, Joanna Crane, who goes by the name of China Blue when she is turning tricks, is suspected of stealing designs is being followed by an unhappily married Bobby Grady.China Blue aka Joanna is also being stalked by a street preacher, the Reverend Peter Shayne who develops an unhealthy obsession with being able to 'save' her.As a relationship starts to bud between Bobby and Joanna, Peter Shayne becomes more and more frenzied in his attempts to convert Joanna.Crimes Of Passion is a striking movie.
The music which is perfect, adds to the sexually charged atmosphere as does the setting and lighting.A thriller that does not fear to cross any boundary and is still able to include genuinely touching scenes, such as one where China Blue is hired to have sex with a man who is terminally ill.The scenes between Bobby and his wife Amy are also tinged with sadness as you can see how very unhappy they both are together.Despite the fine performances from the cast, this is definitely Anthony Perkin's movie.
His portrayal of Peter Shayne is both comical and terrifying as the menacing and deranged preacher who is desperate to find salvation in saving China Blue, no matter what the cost.Kathleen Turner also puts in a great performance as the tormented woman who leads two lives.
Kathleen Turner plays a fashion designer by day, hooker by night, who gives various explanations for her behavior to different men throughout the movie.
Watching it this time around I appreciated and enjoyed it far more than that first viewing.Kathleen Turner, fresh from her success with ROMANCING THE STONE, stars as China Blue aka Joanna Crane.
Crane is a well-established fashion designer by day but when night rolls around she takes to the seedier part of town and becomes China Blue, a prostitute with a kinky clientele and a peeping tom neighbor named Peter (Anthony Hopkins), a self-proclaimed preacher who finds himself drawn to her while condemning her at the same time.Into both worlds is thrown Bobby Grady (John Laughlin).
Kathleen Turner is incredible here, she is gorgeous, very sexy, and totally unpredictable throughout, and you will feel for her character, she's somewhat strong, but still vulnerable and all talk(a lot of the time) playing China Blue, but as herself(Joanna), she's vulnerable, lonely and just ordinary, she was just awesome as both, she deserves more credit for her performance here!
This triple X, Bobby China Blue & Rev. Shayne, relationship comes to a shocking conclusion when the three end up in the same place, China/Joanna's apartment, for the films utterly shocking and totally unexpected climax!***SPOILERS***Dispite the very good performances by both John Laughlin and Kathleen Turner I have to say that it was the neurotic and constantly sweating Anthony Perkins who ended up stealing the show.
played lay partly in their ability to stand by their man (even when he wasn't worth it).I thought of this essay after watching 'Crimes of Passion'.Kathleen Turner exudes the same strength and style as Russell in her portrayal of prostitute China Blue.