AllMovie

Playwright, underground filmmaker, and performance artist Jack Smith frequently appeared in avant-garde films by such New York artists as Andy Warhol and Scott and Beth B. He made short films in the early '60s, most notably his notorious Flaming Creatures, which featured an all-transvestite cast. An offbeat, informal, and campy homage to B-movie actress Maria Montez, Smith made the film on a 300-dollar budget using old black-and-white film stock. Considered obscene at the time of its release, the film was confiscated by the New York police and was not publicly released until the '70s by the film's most ardent admirer, Jonas Mekas.