Film #44: Rambling Rose (1991)
Directed by Martha Coolidge
Prop Construction by William Stout
As much as I have urged you not to see Theodore Rex, I urge you to track down and watch Rambling Rose. It’s a great motion picture. It stars Laura Dern, Robert Duvall and Diane Ladd.
I became friends with director Martha Coolidge through Ron Cobb. Martha had previously leaned on me for some of my vast musical knowledge.
This gig was something different.
She called me one afternoon.
“Bill…I am working on this film called Rambling Rose. In the script, there is a reference to something called a ‘Tijuana Bible’. Do you know what that is?”
“I sure do! Tijuana Bibles were a precursor to underground comix. They were small, digest-sized comics that featured famous cartoon characters or cartoons of movie stars having sex. These small comics could be held in one hand. You could use your other hand to do whatever pleased you. They were called ‘Tijuana’ Bibles because Tijuana is where you bought them.”
“Where could I get one?”
“I honestly don’t know. These comics were made in the 50s. I haven’t seen any in decades. How ’bout if I made you one?”
“That would be great!”
In the film, the Laura Dern character (Rose) finds a Tijuana Bible in a hayloft. That’s my hand-drawn Tijuana Bible that she discovers.
Unfortunately, I didn’t make copies of it.
I just checked, and actually, the Tijuana Bible is discovered not by Rose in a hayloft, but on a desk by the boy (Buddy), who promptly takes it to bed with him.