BijouBlog

By Will Seagers

Hello Folks. Will Here! The title of this piece refers to a philosophical retrospective on my life and what I thought were catastrophic events, but turned out to be the flow of good fortunes that followed... "Life Goes On."

I am an emotional and caring individual who, over the years, has developed an actual talent of hiding my feelings lest they be taken advantage of or manipulated. Suffering from an almost "Pollyanna" belief in the goodness of humanity, I have had some rude awakenings.

As a child, I endured painful events both physical and social. The physical was having two congenital inguinal hernias. At the age of seven, I had my first hernia repair. Back in those days, the procedure left me with what I called a Frankenstein scar and a lack of mobility for several weeks. But, my scar healed I and moved along my path of life with few, if any, people noticing this scar even with the close up lenses of cameras to come.

On this path of life, personality traits started to surface that were sort of androgynous... the "gay thing" was starting to happen. One memory early in my childhood was having my father enroll me in little league. I liked the t-shirt and cap I wore and that's where it ended. I was terrified of throwing, running and all of the activities that would have given away my little secret. My parents saw my anxiety and let me off the hook... Life strangely move me onto another sports arena... track and field. I could run, leap and bound my way into acceptance.

In middle school, my appreciation and participation in the arts brought me further into expressing myself. And, it was at this point - a point of no return - that I said to myself: "to hell with what other people think of me!" If I appeared to be gay... so be it.

With the flurry of hormones one experiences in adolescence, it was a good thing that I had made friends with myself and enjoyed the encounters of boys discovering themselves and other boys. No longer willing to be stifled, there were some heavy encounters with my parents. Without saying it, I let them know that this is who I am. Mind you, it did not come from a place of defiance. I knew that it was a more difficult path to walk. And, one that felt right to me.

The first romantic encounter that I can remember happened in my early twenties. Although sex had been plentiful, it was just sex. Then, a most beautiful fellow entered into the picture who stopped me dead in my tracks. At that time, I was a steward in the airlines. We met in a local Jersey Shore gay club. I was thrilled when saw that our attraction was mutual. The sex was crazy - and like I had never had before. I fell head over heels in love. Tall, very well built and with a full flaxen head of hair, I thought I had met my soulmate. This was my "Pollyanna" talking. The depth of my feelings were countered by the superficiality of his. The relationship lasted only long enough for him to take notes. In short order after we parted ways, he became a steward and I was not surprised when I saw him gracing the pages of several Colt magazines. Only now do I feel the pleasure of having been a role model.

After we split up, I had a bit of a breakdown and actually got sick. This emotional and physical malady eventually faded away. I learned a lot about him, but even more about myself. It was years before I was romantically involved again. I really needed to let life go on without any entanglements.

It was about five years later when I moved to San Francisco and had my first true love affair. Tommy and I met almost immediately after I arrived in the city by the bay. It was the first time that I felt a mutual love. We moved in together after a few short weeks of courting. We remained together until his passing fourteen years later in 1989. Here is when I thought for the first time that life wasn't moving on. Losing a true partner is devastating. It took almost five years before I felt comfortable enough to experience that special feeling again. But, life moved on, after all.

Seven years later, in 1995, my spouse and I met at the Roxy Dance Hall in the Chelsea section of New York. That night, we had a lot of fun dancing up a storm and flirting like crazy. At sunrise, when we left the club, I told him that I really wanted to see him again. As overly dramatic as it seemed, I could feel that this was the person that I really wanted to be with. Life did go on for us. We became the couple of my dreams, living in NYC and then moving to the Southwest, where we bought a home together and ultimately got married in 2022.

In my mid seventies, I do a lot of recollecting and reminiscing. I am grateful for my life, my dear friends and especially my spouse. I guess I am forever that "Pollyanna," still looking forwards to the future as life goes on!

Bio of Will Seagers:

Will Seagers (also credited as Matt Harper), within his multifaceted careers and participation in numerous gay communities across the country in the '70s and '80s and beyond, worked as a print model, film performer, and DJ, just to name a few. He made iconic appearances in releases from Falcon, Hand in Hand, Joe Gage, Target (Bullet), J. Brian, Steve Scott, and more, including in lead roles in major classics like Gage's L.A. Tool & Die (1979) and Scott's Wanted (1980). He brought strong screen presence and exceptional acting to his roles and was scene partners with many fellow legends of classic porn.

Will Seagers, recent photo

By Will Seagers

Hi Folks - Will here! This week's endeavor deals with one of the seven deadly sins - Pride. I hope to convey some of my personal thoughts about pride, whether it be personal pride or collective pride - AKA Gay Pride.

Regarding personal pride, I looked to my family in my early years for role models. My mother and father were a stunning couple and took a great deal of pride in the genetic hand they were dealt. On my father's side was a mixture of Scots and Irish. Our family clan - my real birth surname was one of the largest in Scotland. I studied that in my 30s and attended gatherings while living in California. On my mother's side, her mother was second generation Irish and her father was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Graced with good looks, they showed their appreciation by a lifetime of self preservation and preening!

I noticed a different level of hereditary pride in the generation of my great-uncle (and godfather). He was Irish and was proud enough to burst! LOL. I will never forget when JFK was elected... he was ecstatic! I spent a great deal of time with him and my aunt (my godmother) during my youth. As a child at family gatherings, I was obliged to sing Irish folk songs and dance the jigs! It was fun and challenging, looking back now.

By my teens, I started to notice my hereditary traits were showing up. Like my folks from generations past, I took pride in them and made the most of them in later years (wink!). It was not an easy journey in high school, however. I was gay and knew it. I didn't flaunt it. Nor did I try to mask it by "fitting in" and hiding anything. That was my form of pride that never wavered throughout the rest of my life. Being myself.

I was never a fan of forcing my beliefs on anyone. I felt it set up two battlefields: 1) making someone else uncomfortable and 2) not taking into consideration whether the other person(s) had the intellectual capacity for that kind of difference. As a result, I made a broad spectrum of friends throughout my life. With my straight friends and in various work situations, I always liked to inject self deprecating humor to keep things light. It never bothered me to place myself as the butt of a joke... I knew better!

Enter living in gay communities. I was always drawn to NYC because of my close proximity in northern NJ. And, NYC was a great testing ground for living in a gay community. Mine was the West Village and the Upper West Side. It wasn't so much acceptance as it was a feeling of no one caring about me being "different." Living in NYC was a great lesson. You could observe all sorts of people together without conflict. People thrived on and were proud of their differences.

Then onto living in a gay ghetto. When I moved to San Francisco in 1976, I quickly learned that there were distinct neighborhoods. My first was The Castro followed by South of Market. It was a double dose of concentrated gaiety, to say the least. What had seemed eccentric and outlandish were quite the norm in these neighborhoods. I really liked how much I was learning about the "culture" in my first few years. And, it fit like a glove! However, I did bring along my own form of pride, as mentioned earlier. I figured the best way for the whole town to get along was not to force a lifestyle down anyone's throat. Be accepted by not being obnoxious. It worked for me, and once again in work situations, too.

I am proud of who I am and what I have accomplished over the decades. I have done everything from bringing home boyfriends for my parents to meet (regardless of their reactions) to getting legally married to my current spouse. I also have pride in the work I've done in adult media. It was a colorful and wonderful decade, where once again I didn't want to force any ideas. My point was to be as “sex-succesful” as possible. As you can see, I have had nothing to hide and plenty to share. So, whether it's a Giorgio Armani suit or chaps... I have tried to wear it well!

Double-breasted suit or birthday suit?

Bio of Will Seagers:

Will Seagers (also credited as Matt Harper), within his multifaceted careers and participation in numerous gay communities across the country in the '70s and '80s and beyond, worked as a print model, film performer, and DJ, just to name a few. He made iconic appearances in releases from Falcon, Hand in Hand, Joe Gage, Target (Bullet), J. Brian, Steve Scott, and more, including in lead roles in major classics like Gage's L.A. Tool & Die (1979) and Scott's Wanted (1980). He brought strong screen presence and exceptional acting to his roles and was scene partners with many fellow legends of classic porn.

Will Seagers, recent photo

By M. Webster

Today, we're flashing back to the late '70s/early '80s for a peek at a much earlier time for Bijou. This was within the era when porn features were still at their cinematic height, playing in theaters in major cities across the U.S. In Chicago, the Bijou Theater & Sex Club (which later expanded into Bijou Video), projected many of the great gay porn classics of the time on its screen. The Bijou Theater was in operation from the earliest days of the hardcore film industry, opening in 1970, until its closing in September of 2015, making it the longest-running gay adult theater in the country. It screened countless movies, keeping the classics in frequent rotation up through its final day in operation.

At Bijou, we have an archive of vintage gay newspapers, including larger publications and smaller regional papers, particularly with a large stash of gay papers local to our home base, Chicago. A number of years ago, we scanned in a stack of vintage issues of Chicago gay newspaper GayLife, where the Bijou Theater frequently ran advertisements for the movies playing, improvements to the theater, live performances by big stars (including Peter Berlin, Richard Locke, Casey Donovan [more on his stage appearances here!], and Lee Ryder), video sales (by the later point of the VHS/Beta home video era), and more.

An August 31, 1979 GayLife interview with Steven Toushin, owner of Bijou Video and the Bijou Theater, gives some insight into the business at the time. Here, journalist Dennis Kouba asks Steven a few questions about the Bijou (before reviewing Tom DeSimone's The Idol, a 1979 Hand in Hand Films classic, which had recently opened at the theater, recommended to the writer as being one of “the best [films] in the genre,” a reputation which it still deservedly holds.)

Following are some excerpts from the interview.

"Mr. Toushin proved to be a relaxed and informative gentleman. Originally from New York, he has been active in Chicago's gay business community for several years, owning and managing several establishments... Mr. Toushin is an admitted film buff, seeing at least two films a week. He is well-versed in the film business and appears to be using his knowledge to provide quality entertainment for the gay community.”

GayLife: Why do you play films for only one week?

Toushin: We cannot afford to play a film for more than one week. We die if we play a film two weeks in a row. Frequently, if a film is popular, we will bring it back for a return engagement. Quite a few of our regular customers actually come to the theater weekly to see the films, and they complain if we play the same film more than one week.

GayLife: Where do you advertise?

Toushin: The Chicago Tribune, Gay Chicago, and GayLife. Actually, we have found that the Chicago Tribune attracts the biggest audience. We discovered that advertising in the Chicago Sun-Times did not bring in more patrons.

GayLife: Do you have have difficulty obtaining new films to exhibit at the Bijou?

Toushin: It is difficult to book good new films every week since the gay film market is limited and supply is scarce. We find it easier to book films from New York, especially from Hand in Hand. [Bijou now owns and distributes the Hand in Hand catalog on DVD/Streaming.] It is much more difficult to book films from California since the suppliers do not understand our situation in Chicago and present us with stiff, unrealistic terms. We simply can't afford to book films for several weeks and certainly not at the terms they constantly demand.

GayLife: What is the average cost of a gay film?

Toushin: Twelve to fifteen thousand dollars. The most expensive film to date was Dune Buddies [a Hand in Hand film directed by studio co-founder Jack Deveau, released in 1978], which ran $30,000. That's too much, since the market is limited.

GayLife: Do you have any future plans for the theater?

Toushin: Yes, next spring we plan to elaborate on the Bijou garden, giving it more of a legitimate garden atmosphere. Beyond that, I'm considering bringing in a video viewer so patrons have a choice of two films.

GayLife: Have you ever considered exhibiting any major commercial film?

Toushin: Yes. Immediately after viewing La Cage Aux Folles (Birds of a Feather) [a 1978 French film from director Édouard Molinaro, adapted into the 1996 Robin Williams/Nathan Lane movie The Birdcage], I contacted the studio – United Artists. I asked about the possibility of running it as a midnight show on weekends. At this point, I have received no answer. Other theater exhibitors in Chicago are considering the same.

GayLife: How seriously do you take the interests and demands of your clientele?

Toushin: I feel there is a legitimate need for a theater of this kind. I have a responsibility to our public to keep the theater clean, comfortable, and attractive. I take my responsibility to the gay community seriously.

The Bijou Theater did indeed wind up playing La Cage Aux Folles, a popular mainstream film of the era with a story focused on gay men, for an extended run the following year (1980). Numerous full-spread ads Bijou placed in issues of GayLife that year feature the French film in the mix with its typical fare of gay porn features. Particularly since the work of Hand in Hand was markedly highlighted during the late '70s/early '80s era at the Bijou, the cinematic, artistic, and narrative quality of gay porn films in rotation at the theater was of a high caliber and would have blended well with this addition of a piece of non-pornographic cinema.

In our scans, we have a couple of GayLife articles and letters to the editor praising the Bijou's decision to feature La Cage Aux Folles on the theater's screen.

GayLife, August 22, 1980 letter to the editor:

“I wish to compliment Steven Toushin, the owner of the Bijou Theater, for making an evening at his establishment enjoyable. Usually, a trip to the Bijou is serious business: serious porno viewing and serious cruising. But last weekend, at midnight, Steve scheduled a screening of La Cage Aux Folles, the Italian/French comedy that has been such a hit the last year or so. For the first time in my memory, the theater was jammed with people having a good time. People were actually watching the movie and enjoying it. People were laughing, smiling, and talking to each other at the end of the film. And best of all, there were all types of people, including people who would never have been seen at the Bijou before. I am told that the Bijou will lose money with each midnight show of La Cage, but I'm sure they'll more than make up for it in good will.”

As mentioned in the 1979 interview with Steven Toushin, Bijou's garden did see improvements by the following year, which is also spotlit in Bijou Theater advertisements of 1980.

Bijou maintained this mixing of various types of movies and materials of gay interest in the late '80s and 1990s through its mail order catalog, the most comprehensive gay porn print catalog of the time. In addition to an extensive listing of available gay porn films on VHS/Beta, the catalog expanded to feature an array of other types of video tapes, including LGBTQ documentaries, documentation of LGBTQ events and competitions (such as Mr. Drummer, International Mr. Leather, the Gay Games), sex educational videos, lesbian porn (particularly a large selection from important early lesbian porn studio Fatale Films), and a number of non-pornographic films of interest to an LGBTQ audience, from those popular in gay culture (George Cukor's 1939 film The Women) to LGBTQ underground, arthouse, and independent films (Donna Deitch's 1985 lesbian classic Desert Hearts, John Waters' 1972 Pink Flamingos, and more).

This spotlight on the Bijou Theater's original publishing date coincided with our 2024 re-release of the classic 1994 Bijou Video production Fulton Street from director Mike Donner, unavailable for decades, and now newly restored and re-released on DVD and Streaming! This narrative gay porn feature was set and shot in Chicago. Its complex storyline thoughtfully incorporates weighty thematic material, romance, and character development - and, of particular interest here, its Chicago locales include an extended cruising/sex sequence filmed in the Bijou Theater, itself!

This Fulton Street scene shows action in a couple of spots in the theater that those who have visited are likely to recognize: the lobby where VHS/Beta sales and, later, DVD sales took place (catch glimpses of tons of box covers of Bijou classics, many of which we still carry) and in the maze of interconnected gloryhole booths on the second floor. (Only fellow Bijou Video production A Winter's Tail, an intense 1984 S/M video from Dave Nesor, also illustrates the Bijou Theater's interior.)

Catch Bijou's Fulton Street, plus peek at the mini-documentary on the Bijou Theater page of our website and these tales of events at the Bijou Theater over the decades for more flashbacks!

By Will Seagers

Hi Folks, Will Here! In the spirit of "The Good Old Summertime," today's blog is about my life's encounters with the great and not so great bodies of water around the globe.

Born right at the edge of two signs, Capricorn (the sea goat) and Aquarius (the water bearer), I have had a life-long affinity to water. Until recently, I have had the privilege of living near an ocean, bay, lake or pond. There has always been a feeling of connection with these various bodies of water. From childhood till about twenty-five years ago, I was always within a short walk or drive to these "spiritual retreats." For the last twenty-five years, I have been surrounded by an inland ocean, so to speak - the Great American Southwest Desert!

Recounting the early years, my father was kind enough to take my brothers, sisters and myself to the "Shore" or to various man-made lakes in the northern part of my home state, New Jersey. The shore visits were always memorable because lots of our extended family lived along the coast. They were like mini family reunions. With that, a host of my aunts and uncles had us under their close watch and "policed" our activities in the water. Good thing, too, as riptides and turbulence were common occurrences. Although the beaches were always staffed with lifeguards, you could never have too many eyes on the kids in the water.

Next stop, the lakes. Another set of memories came from my father taking us kids up to "the lakes." These were in the northern counties of N.J. and usually fed by a nearby natural spring. I loved the lakes because the water was fresh and potable, unlike the brine of the ocean. But, here is where I had my first brush with mortality. I was about seven or eight and still didn't know how to swim. Normally, this would not be a problem, as I seldom ventured beyond the water's edge. But, this one outing we brought an old inner tube with us for some floating fun. Being the oldest of my siblings, I laid claim to it and promptly started floating out to the middle of the lake. I was okay until a rather nasty looking horse fly landed on my arm. Terrified, I swatted at my arm and went ass over tea kettle out of the inner tube and into about twenty feet of water. In a panic, I sunk below the water's surface. Luckily, the lifeguard snagged me by the back of the neck and hauled me to shore... safe but shaken. Swimming lessons soon followed. In the interim between my inner tube feat and learning to swim, my father was kind enough to erect an above ground pool in the backyard. It was quite sizeable and a big hit in the neighborhood... to say the least.

Learning to swim at the YMCA. Yet another fine gesture of my father was weekly visits to the local "Y." To say that I was stimulated by the size of the pool and the fact that all the men in the pool were naked was an understatement. After the initial shock of it all wore off, I was ready, willing and able to learn how to swim. My only regret was the horrific chlorine levels of this pool. My eyes burned and stayed red for hours.

Move the calendar forward fifteen years... San Juan and a few oceanic escapades. While stationed in San Juan with Eastern Airlines, I lucked out. I shared a beach side casita just minutes from the famous Condado resort beaches and their hotels. Before flights, particularly in the winter, I would grab my beach chair and head down for an hour or so of sun to flaunt aboard the airplanes. One morning while taking a dip in front of the Carribe Hilton, I saw the commotion of two locals swimming furiously into the water with bowie knives in their mouths. An unusual sight, indeed. But the swimmers around me stayed put. Moments later, all of us were shocked as the two men returned back to shore with two hammerhead sharks they retrieved from the very area we all were in! The local hotels paid men like these a bounty for catching these sharks. The other pre-flight swim that vividly comes to mind was me coming up out of the water underneath a Portuguese Man-O-War! What a horror. It seemed like forever before I had removed all of the stinging tentacles from my face. I was assisted by a hotel lifeguard who knew to spray my face with benzocaine. I guess I wasn't his first. I was thankful. In just a few short minutes, the red and swelling vanished and I was home and showering for my flight. Man-O-War, indeed!

Half a decade later I was living in San Francisco and enjoying both the frigid Pacific waters at San Gregorio beach (just north of San Francisco), and the lovely, almost tepid waters of the Russian River near Guerneville. The beach was great. And, as long as the day was hot enough the Pacific could be tolerated - albeit for brief dips! And, the little enclaves along the base of the mountains were perfect places to take full advantage of the clothing optional status!

Of course, clothing optional was the way of life along the Russian River banks, as well. Lots of romping in the nearby woods was standard bill of fare. (You just had to be careful of poison ivy and ticks!) I was privy to seeing the whole Russian River resort phenomenon explode. No more bushes and ticks. Resorts like The Woods and Fifes were a more civilized approach. And happily, the clothing optional thing followed along, too!

Oh, and did I mention that I was bi-coastal at this point? I spent half my year in S.F. and the other half on Fire Island working in The Pines as (you got it) a lifeguard at the Boatel. After getting my Red Cross certification at the downtown S.F. YMCA, I matriculated from Pines waiter to Pines lifeguard! It was a small pool with a bar and restaurant attached. So, some slinging of drinks and food came along with the title.

In the 1990s, I return to the East Coast. I was soon acquainted with Sandy Hook State Park Beach. Although from N.J. originally, I never knew about nor had I ever visited this beach. At the very tip of Monmouth County with a view of Manhattan, its white sandy beaches beckoned another clothing optional crowd. I liked the beach and the crowd and made some buddies straight up. The water's temps were comfortable and the water was quite clean... All the better to see bouncing genitals in the surf! LOL. You did have to be aware of the local park police who seemed to delight in hauling off beach patrons for anything they deemed as lude or lascivious. It was hard to stay behaved with so much flesh in your face! But behaved you were or off you went in a paddy wagon!

South Beach followed. What more can I say. It was 1994 and the gay invasion had begun down there. I had never seen anything like it. Stuff went on right on the beach with no cops to be found! I know firsthand... it happened to me. I didn't really like the water too much. It was like a bathtub and not particularly clean. Oh. And, did I mention the frequent sightings of Portuguese Men-O-War? Reason enough to stay on the beach and ogle all of the cuties! Just when I thought I saw the most handsome man in the world, the next contender blew him right off the map! But, it was a very - let me repeat, VERY - fast-paced town. It was very hard to make friends because people were here one day and gone the next! (Quel problème!)

Now in my seventies, I revel in all of my memories of the beaches, rivers, ponds and lakes. Of late, I have traded the vast oceanic vistas for those of the Southwest desert. They are quite beautiful, too. But, I will have to admit It is hard to splash around and frolic in the desert sand!

Bio of Will Seagers:

Will Seagers (also credited as Matt Harper), within his multifaceted careers and participation in numerous gay communities across the country in the '70s and '80s and beyond, worked as a print model, film performer, and DJ, just to name a few. He made iconic appearances in releases from Falcon, Hand in Hand, Joe Gage, Target (Bullet), J. Brian, Steve Scott, and more, including in lead roles in major classics like Gage's L.A. Tool & Die (1979) and Scott's Wanted (1980). He brought strong screen presence and exceptional acting to his roles and was scene partners with many fellow legends of classic porn.

Will Seagers, recent photo

By M. Webster

During a recent session of scanning and touching up behind the scenes photos from Jack Deveau's Hot House (1977) from our archive of materials from the great Hand in Hand Films, I felt a lot of enthusiasm to share them with an interested audience. In that spirit, here is a primarily photo-based blog featuring a selection of those images, interspersed with interview excerpts from Hand in Hand crew members pulled from the 2019 book Good Hot Stuff: The Life and Times of Gay Film Pioneer Jack Deveau, a historically valuable peek into the inner workings of one of the foundational studios of '70s/'80s gay porn!

On Hot House:
Classic porn icons Roger and Jack Wrangler star in this comical tale of frustration as two horny men trying to find privacy to have fun in a NYC apartment that is invaded by obnoxious painters, crabby janitors, and neighbors who have lost their keys.

Also starring Jayson MacBride (Catching Up, A Night at the Adonis), David Hunter, Eric Streiff, and Garry Hunt (Ballet Down the Highway, Dune Buddies, Fire Island Fever), and featuring the voice of Tray Christopher (aka legendary fetish video artist Christopher Rage).

Director: Jack Deveau
Writer: Moose 100
Camera: Kees Chapman & Jack Deveau
Sound: Rolf Pardula
Key Grip: Ken Schnetzer
Make-Up: Gene Kelton
Make-Up Assistant: Jim Delegatti
Production Coordinator: Sydney Soons
Editor: Robert Alvarez
Mixer: Kees Chapman
Music Consultant: Bobby
Producer: Jack Deveau

“The big-ticket draw of Hot House was to have been the sex scene between Wrangler and Roger, and the pay-off is there. Back in 1977, these two porn titans knew that the audience expected to be transported nearly to Valhalla when settling in for this section, and both go all out to create what comes off as a genuine physical desire.” - Manifest Reader

“There's a sense of humor and a sense of innocence that resonates from an earlier time.” - Mr. Magazine
 

Frequent Hand in Hand sound mixer Rolf Pardula started with the company with 1975's Ballet Down the Highway and continued to work with them throughout the rest of their productions. He went on to serve as the sound mixer for many independent films including George Romero's Day of the Dead, Larry Cohen's The Stuff, and several Spike Lee productions (School Daze, Malcolm X, Crooklyn, Summer of Sam, and Bamboozled). In Marcus Siedelmann's Good Hot Stuff interview with Pardula, he credits Hand in Hand with helping him to come out.

“When I started working with Bob [Alvarez] and Jack [Deveau] – that was back in the 70s – this was my first introduction into another world, the homosexual world. I had never been exposed to that. I was having relations with women at the time. Bob and Jack, they liked me... They treated me as a part of the family, which was very kind. They had love and care, and they didn't want anything to happen to me. In fact, they protected me, and at the same time allowed me to be on the set, and see these beautiful men having sex with other men. After a few years, I realized I'd been hiding my sexual feelings, and that I really wanted the company of other men. So thanks to Jack and Bob, I was allowed to formulate my personality, who I really was... I didn't have to suppress my feelings or to hide them. Why should I hide my homosexuality if Jack and Bob didn't do that?”

On Jack's style on set: “[Jack] managed it in a very casual style; never something like the set of a Hollywood film. It was always like having a party. He was always comfortable. He never screamed, and he was always a gentleman on the set. He said he wants this and that done, but it was always graciously, and with great respect... That's one of the things Jack Deveau was very well known for.”

Hot House screenwriter Moose 100 had begun as a playwright and was introduced to Jack Deveau and Bob Alvarez through his friend David Earnest, who wrote original scores to many of the studio's early films. Moose 100's writing brought Hand in Hand into its later era, which largely focused on lighter, more comedic works cleverly and affectionately capturing and spoofing NYC gay life.

“Most of the films I've written opened at the Adonis Theater. People went there to cruise. The most unusual thing was that somebody would sit down and watch the movie from the beginning to the end. So the audience saw the films in fragments. Jack and I felt that it was giving us the opportunity to write the movies just like we wanted to, because no one paid that much attention. They were just looking at the sex scenes. They were fantasizing. They were picking up men. That freed us. We felt we were able to experiment. In fact, I used to borrow a print of a new movie, throw a big party, and asked the audience consisting of my straight female friends. They loved them! And they had plenty of hot men to look at.”

Moose 100: "We had a style of working where I would present a first draft. Then we would meet and talk about it, discussing some changes. I used to go home and write [these revisions]... Once we got a shooting script – and this is what I really liked about the process – I was on set all the time in case I was needed. The minute a sex scene starts, you're shooting a documentary. It's what happens in reality, and sometimes, people who act in porn movies got problems, because suddenly there are all these people around, those big hot lights, and they're expected to get erections. Sometimes it doesn't work that way, and things have to change. So having the writer right there can be a helpful thing, or – depending on the people in the cast – sometimes you see one of the actors and you want to sort of customize the role for them. There was one incident during Hot House. They were shooting a sex scene, and right when they'd come to the cumshot, the film suddenly went out of the camera. And they lost it. Immediately, Jack fixed the camera and put in new film, and by that time they were ready to re-shoot the scene – Jack Wrangler also was sexually ready again. I think he was amazingly good at what he was doing. I used to call him The Sexual Professional. You could tell him: 'Jump out of an airplane, jerk off, and come as you land!' (laughing) And he could have done it, because he was totally a pro. In a way that nobody I ever worked with was. He could control his sexuality in a way most people couldn't.”

Robert Alvarez was Jack Deveau's partner in life and in Hand in Hand. They co-founded the studio with Jaap Penraat in 1972 and later co-ran it with Kees Chapman. Bob was the studio's editor, with past experience in experimental and documentary film, and his creativity and skill brought polish and excitement to Hand in Hand's productions.

“[Kees Chapman] came to us actually as the partner of Sydney Soons [aka Mark Woodward]. Sydney came to our office and worked as a production assistant. He also was in Drive, of course, but he was way more interested in the jobs behind the camera, and so he ended up working for us in production. Kees then was working as a waiter downtown. He came in, hung out, and next thing you know, he also was doing work for us [behind the scenes]. At a later point in the game, Kees and Sydney split up... Kees became another partner [in Hand in Hand] because he was very valuable to us. He was a huge help in the later years of Hand in Hand Films' existence. He organized a lot and he also got into camera work. He actually shot some of the stuff in the later films with Jack. He had no specific artistic background; I guess it just came out while working with us. He was very ambitious to learn the different aspects of filmmaking. He was able to work with actors very well, especially after Jack died. More or less, he took over the directing of the actors. We always worked well together.”

Jim Delegatti worked in many different behind-the-scenes roles for Hand in Hand over the years. He initially came to them after seeing their debut film, Left-Handed (1972), with the fantasy of being a performer. They didn't need any at the time, but were looking for crew members. He began as assistant to their make-up artist, Gene Kelton, and served as primary make-up artist on some of their final films. He additionally did set decorating, still photography, acting cameos, and more (“I was still doing this and that. I was learning a lot during the films.”). In his interview with Siedelmann, Delegatti says of Hand in Hand, “We really were a family in many ways” and that, as a small company, everyone helped with everything.

“It was a wonderful time of my life... I always wanted to do it, and I did it. And it was good. I helped a lot to create these films, because in these kind of films you need a certain atmosphere on set; a special mood. And I helped a lot on that too. The actors got their buffet. (laughing)”

“Jack became sick and after he passed I was... he was a big influence in my life. He meant a lot to me. At the time, I needed someone like him to be around. He was there, and so this was a big family loss.”

“I really don't think there was such a thing after Hand in Hand. Jack tried to make something out of it, something different than just a porno film. He was a great cinematographer, and he learned to do all these different things by himself... [Jack] did a lot to improve pornography, and gay cinema. There was a story behind all his films, and there is so much knowledge about the gay community.”

Read more interviews and catch more behind the scenes photos from Hand in Hand Films in Good Hot Stuff: The Life and Times of Gay Film Pioneer Jack Deveau!

In addition to Hot House, Bijou carries the Hand in Hand Films catalog of movies on DVD and Streaming.

For more Bijou Blogs on Hand in Hand Films:
-Interview with Robert Alvarez
-Blog on Jack Deveau & Hand in Hand
-Interview with Tom DeSimone Part 1 & Part 2
-The Backstory of Peter de Rome's The Destroying Angel