BijouBlog

By Josh Eliot

[Originally published 02/28/25]

The first time I remember seeing both Lee Ryder and Rod Phillips was in one of my favorite movies, The Biggest One I Ever Saw. You may or may not know that the two of them actually dated. I personally never worked with Lee Ryder, but I was videographer for a couple of Rod Phillips scenes in what turned out to be the last movie John Travis directed for Catalina Video before moving on with Scott Masters to start Studio 2000. The movie was called Hard Steal, and Rod was cast in the lead as a sexy cat burglar. Director John Travis had worked with Rod Phillips in the past and was developing his comeback. Around the same time, Chi Chi LaRue was on the set of Sharon & Karen when one of its stars, Tony Davis (Hard To Be Good), brought his friend Nick to the set and introduced him to Chi Chi. Nick's amazing looks took Chi Chi’s breath away and he immediately became obsessed with making this stunning new boy a star - a star named Joey Stefano.

Chi Chi’s first order of business was to show Joey off to all the major studios, including Catalina. Producer Scott Masters vowed to never let Chi Chi direct movies for Catalina, so Chi Chi left the company and started working for In Hand Video, building up his directorial resume. When Chi Chi introduced Joey to the Catalina GM, he got an instant green light to direct a movie for Catalina Video starring Joey Stefano, much to the horror and anguish of Scott Masters. Billboard was on the schedule to shoot as the Joey Stefano blockbuster for Catalina, but at the very same time John Travis was prepping for his movie Hard Steal. Part of the agreement for Chi Chi to direct Billboard depended upon him allowing Joey to also take a supporting role in Hard Steal. It was an easy yes for Chi Chi to agree to, but Scott Masters, as always, had the last laugh by refusing to let Chi Chi use his name as director; instead, he demanded Chi Chi come up with a more masculine name for the credits. This is where Taylor Hudson was born. Any Catalina movies with Taylor Hudson as director were all really Chi Chi LaRue. In addition, Scott Masters made me swear that I would never show Chi Chi how we lit and shot our underneath penetration and oral shots, fearing that he would use that technique in other companies' movies. Of course, I did not oblige his order and showed Chi Chi in great detail how we got perfect lighting on underneath shots. Masters was pissed when he saw the final cut for review, but I didn’t care because those camera angles made the movie and Catalina, as a company, look better.

I’ll get into the scenes that Rod Phillips shot in Hard Steal for his comeback, but before that we need to go back and explain how Rod Phillips started in the adult film industry in the first place. A young man named Darris Robert Pyron from Norco, California, when not traveling the world, worked mostly as a florist, with his highest profile job supplying special arrangements to the Beverly Hills Hotel. Darris always dreamed of owning his own flower shop, so he started modeling to save up the money for it. Darris took on the name Lee Ryder and burst onto the scene in 1982 with a solo j/o in Biker’s Liberty, later shooting a full scene in Huge, a music-enhanced movie directed by Matt Sterling. In 1983, he became a “gay-household” name, working in A Few Good Men, Huge II, All American Boys and the mega-hit Spokes for Falcon.

One day in Laguna Beach, California, Lee Ryder locked eyes with Gregory Leslie Patton in the Boom Boom Room gay bar. If you were gay and passing through Laguna Beach, you always made time to stop by the Boom Boom Room. The bar had a hotel attached, which made it very easy for the sex worker boys to connect with their clients. It was midday when Gregory popped in there to kill some time while his car was in the shop. Lee was 24 years old and Gregory was 21. As the story goes from the Rod Phillips (Gregory) interview in Men & Films (Bijou, 1987 - a recent Bijou re-release!), it was lust at first site. Lee Ryder worked his power of persuasion to get Gregory into the adult gay film business with their first role together in a Falcon Studios loop called High Voltage, in a threeway with Mark Hunter. Gregory took on the name Rod Phillips, "Rod" for his big dick and "Phillips" referring to a type of screwdriver. 1984 became a very busy year for the hot, new, in-demand couple, with Lee Ryder starring in Steve Scott’s Screenplay, plus The Biggest One I Ever Saw alongside his beau. Additionally, Rod Phillips made the films Boys Town: Going West Hollywood (Nova Studios) and Windows (Vivid Man). They were both in demand as sex workers and night club performers, but arguments over money, other sexual partners and jealousies resulted in them separating from their relationship and eventually leaving the business. Lee continued making a few movies like 2 X 10 and Sticky Business in 1985 and 1986, then retired. Rod left the business, then made his first comeback in the movies with Too Big For His Britches and Bare Tales in 1988. Dropping out of site after making those movies, he returned in 1990 to star in Plunge (Falcon Studios) and Hard Steal for John Travis and Catalina Video.

In Hard Steal, Rod was paired with Joey Stefano for one of the scenes, and while I’ve read that the two were dating at the time, my memory tells me that they met on our set and started dating afterwards. It makes the most sense to me, but Chi Chi LaRue, if anyone, would know the exact details for sure. I remember the chemistry with these two; Joey was acting very shy around Rod as he recognized him from his movies in the 1980s. One of Joey’s requests to Chi Chi was to work with actors like Jack Wrangler, Cole Carpenter, Eric Manchester and Chad Douglas, but Chi Chi had to explain that those movies were shot years ago and those guys are no longer in the business. I think the fact that Joey recognized Rod from that era really drew him towards him. For Rod’s part, you could just see in his eyes how he was instantly drawn to Joey, not taking his eyes off him even when they weren’t interacting. That’s what I remember and why I really think that was the day they met. They dated, as well, but for an even shorter time than Rod and Lee. Rod, at the end of the day, was really down to earth and not all about the “porn scene,” whereas Joey was up and coming and had lived and continued to embrace the party life. Little known fact: Sometime in 1991, Joey Stefano auditioned with Aaron Spelling's people, at their request, for the role of Matt Fielding, the gay character in the TV show Melrose Place. Doug Savant won the role and did a great job, even with all the limitations on gay characters at that time. Could you imagine Joey in that role?!

After breaking up with Joey Stefano, Rod Phillips left the porn scene only to return three years later for a small role in Chi Chi LaRue’s Hologram (1993). That was his last movie. On May 24th, 1993, Rod Phillips passed away at the age of 32. Rumors that he committed suicide are questioned in Live Journal, stating that he was diagnosed with HIV-related lymphatic prostate cancer, which escalated quickly during the last weeks of his life. Two years prior, on July 10th, 1991, Lee Ryder passed away, also at the age of 32, from complications of AIDS. On November 26th, 1994, Joey Stefano passed away at the age of only 26. It is documented that Stefano had a rough childhood that led him to drug use, including heroin, starting at the very early age of 15. When he did not show up to set one day, producers went to his hotel room and found his non-responsive body. It was later determined by the medical examiner that he died of an accidental overdose of cocaine, morphine, heroin and ketamine. A very sad ending for three very beloved stars of the 1980’s and 1990’s. Two decades in gay porn history that wouldn’t have been remotely the same without them.

Bio of Josh Eliot:

At the age of 25 in 1987, Josh Eliot was hired by Catalina Video by John Travis (Brentwood Video) and Scott Masters (Nova Video). Travis trained Eliot on his style of videography and mentored him on the art of directing. Josh directed his first movie, Runaways, in 1987. By 2009 when Josh parted ways with Catalina Video, he'd produced and directed hundreds of features and won numerous awards for Best Screenplay, Videography, Editing, and Directing. He was entered into the GayVN Hall of fame in 2002.

By Josh Eliot

[Originally published 02/14/25]

The year was 1970. I was nine years old and my parents were getting ready to leave for the cinema with my Uncle Normand and Aunt Irene to see Russ Meyer’s Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. I actually remember spotting the advertisement for the movie in the entertainment section of the newspaper, which I was known to scale up and down. Looking at the movie ads always got my imagination going, thinking about what they were about. When they told me the movie they were going to see, I recall yelling out to my parents, “Are you going to see an X-rated movie?!” My mother, looking for a good cover story, said the movie was rated X because of the language. With that, they rushed out the door, obviously not wanting to talk about it. Even at nine years old, I knew what an X-rated movie was - well, sort of. They did take me to see The Graduate when I was seven, after all. This would be one of only two X-rated movies my parents have seen, as far as I know, the other being A Clockwork Orange. Oh and one XXX movie, Deep Throat, but that wasn’t really their thing, so I think the list ended there. The next day, my mother couldn’t say enough bad things about “Beyond,” and I think they actually might have walked out. I guess, thinking about it now, if that generation was expecting a real sequel to Valley of the Dolls and got “Beyond,” it would have been a bit of a turn off. I had no idea at the time that this was my first real introduction, in conversation with my parents at least, to the world of Russ Meyer.

The very first Russ Meyer movie I ever saw was Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill! (1965), when our make-up man, Buddy, brought a VHS of it to the Catalina Studio set in 1988. He was surprised that I hadn’t seen the movie, even though it always played once or twice a year at the Castro Theater and also at the Strand on Market Street. When my roommates and I watched it, I was sold the moment Tura Satana appeared on the screen. Russ Meyer's cult favorite follows sadistic go-go dancers Varla (Tura Satana), Rosie (Haji) and Billie (Lori Williams), who escape the nightclub where they perform and head out to the desert to start random acts of violence. Varla, a karate expert, kills an innocent man, and then along with her two friends takes his girlfriend hostage. They run into an old man and his brain-damaged son and problems erupt when they try to rob them blind. The movie is shot in glorious black-and-white, even though the movie poster says it’s shot in “Black-and-Blue.” Blue movie, get it? Russ Meyer’s trademark nudity is nonexistent, but the movie is filled with campy performances, sexually-charged bad-ass vixens and a ton of brilliant one liners! I think the incredible dialogue was what pulled me head-first into the world of Russ Meyer more than anything. I’d be totally lying if I didn’t admit to lifting and rewording a bunch of Mr. Meyer’s “one-liners” at least a dozen times over the years, especially in my bisexual movies. With a budget of only $43,000, Meyer’s stylish camerawork and flair made Pussycat look much more like a big budget movie. Japanese born actress Tura Satana’s original movie debut was a cameo as Suzette Wong in Irma la Douce with Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. In Pussycat, she did her own stunts and received critical acclaim for her aggressive character portrayal of “Varla.” She also designed her own costumes, make-up and martial arts sequences. For me, I found the strong sexual female character on screen a role model for the type of female lead I would like to create for my first bisexual movie, which I knew one day my producer would approve for me to make.

Over the years, I literally watched every Russ Meyer movie ever made. I fell in love with Lorna, Up!, Mudhoney, and Blacksnake, but I would say the two standouts were Vixen! and Beneath the Valley of the Ultra Vixens. They were the most influential to me when developing my bisexual movies. Vixen! (1968) is a softcore sexploitation film starring Erica Gavin. Gavin plays the nympho wife of a pilot who flies tourists around on wilderness expeditions in Canada. While he’s away, she has a bunch of adventures with a Canadian Mountie, a married couple, and even her biker brother. In my personal favorite, Beneath The Valley of the Ultra Vixens (1979), Meyer pulls out all the stops with a cast headed by starlets Kitten Natividad, Uschi Digard and Anne Marie and a cameo by Candy Samples. Candy Samples, during the 1970s, was a mostly R-rated starlet with roles in Prison Girls 3D (directed by Tom DeSimone), Super Chick (1973) and Flesh Gordon (1974). Candy Samples went on to make hardcore adult films from 1980 to 1989, most notably John Homes and the All Star Sex Queens (1980) and Inside Candy Samples (1984). I would say I watched this movie more times than any of the others because of the downright campiness of its female leads. Little did Sharon Kane know that I would be taking elements from all of these ladies and sprinkling them into the characters she would play in future roles for Cracked, Switchcraft, The Rascal and especially for the three different characters she played in Night of the Living Bi Dolls.

I had very mixed feelings when I first viewed Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) many years after its release, but I can say that it grew on me over the years. I bought a VCD copy (from Japan, on two discs that also play in DVD players) of the movie and still to this day I’ll pop it into the DVD player to play in the background because of the incredible musical soundtrack! Especially the song “Look On Up” I would let it play while doing my “spring cleaning” or some other projects, stopping every now and then to watch the scenes. The music by The Sandpipers, Strawberry Alarm Clock and Stu Phillips is the best, and quite addicting to listen to. In fact, I found most of those songs on Spotify and now have my “Beyond Playlist” for when I am really feeling nostalgic. The Vixen, herself, Erica Gavin joins lead Dolly Read, Cynthia Meyers and Edy Williams in this “Psychedelic Sexual Shocker” that couldn’t be any further removed from Neely O’Hara, Jennifer North or that big screen bore Anne Welles.

A decade or so ago, there was a full set of DVDs from Japan that I purchased on eBay, which contained all of the Russ Meyer movies. The packaging was Japanese-designed, but the movies were great beautiful prints with and without Japanese subtitles. It was a bargain for around $50, but now I see that fantastic offering is no longer available anywhere and the individual movies are selling substantially higher, which is great for the Meyer legacy. Back in the day, we would see Russ Meyer in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show personally selling the VHS, then DVD versions of his movies at a premium cost of around $79. I remember stopping to talk to him once with co-worker Chet Thomas (Sal). He was incredibly nice and was very open with all of our questions. He personally signed each copy he sold during the convention and was on the same floor as the adult companies. I’m pretty sure that’s where Chet purchased his Beneath the Valley of the Ultra Vixens movie poster that he had hanging in his editing room at the Catalina offices. Bosomania was the company name Russ Meyer used for the VHS / DVD / Laser Disc packaging of his library of movies.

A true one-of-a-kind filmmaker whose work has undoubtedly influenced and molded not only myself, but also both the mainstream and adult industries. Passing away in his home on September 18, 2004 at the age of 82, Russ Meyer became one of the first moviemakers in his particular genre to move to mainline cinema without altering his style. Credited with inventing the "skin flick," he also drew praise for the artistic vision and raw energy he brought to his films, many of which are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.

Bio of Josh Eliot:

At the age of 25 in 1987, Josh Eliot was hired by Catalina Video by John Travis (Brentwood Video) and Scott Masters (Nova Video). Travis trained Eliot on his style of videography and mentored him on the art of directing. Josh directed his first movie, Runaways, in 1987. By 2009 when Josh parted ways with Catalina Video, he'd produced and directed hundreds of features and won numerous awards for Best Screenplay, Videography, Editing, and Directing. He was entered into the GayVN Hall of fame in 2002.

[Originally published 02/21/25]

Hi folks! Will here. With some major reflection and a lot of admiration, I wish to give kudos to the people and studios that made the 70s and 80s such a rich era for gay porn.

If ever there was a blog topic that needs to be written about in episodes, this is one!

I depend a lot upon my memory to write these blogs. But, here I actually had to use the internet and its history of the period to "flesh out" its many stars.

I need to mention that there is no rating intended in any of this. I have always looked at the porn industry as one that is very personal. It's whatever floats your boat! All the stars mentioned and the many that I have not, all contributed to the "Mass Pleasure" of this industry.

The studios and their brave creative forces also deserve accolades. There isn't a number one or top rated in this listing either. They all did a great job in bringing us pleasure and "relief!" Here are just a few that come to my mind and hopefully to yours, too.

Bijou, Brentwood, Buckshot, Catalina, Colt, Hand in Hand, HIS Video, Le Salon, Man's Image, Matt Sterling, Nova, Surge Studio, and Target come to the fore of my memory banks, with so many more that I can't bring to mind at the moment.

I guess my own anecdotes over the past few years of this blog have indicated those with whom I have had "good contact." But, there were "So Many Men and So Little Time" to have encountered all of my own fantasies of the day. So, here is the short list from my own "Fantasy Menu!" I hope you don't mind if I skip right to dessert! Yum-yum!

Fantasy co-stars Johnny Harden, Johnny Davenport, Mike Henson, Steve York,
Tico Patterson, Ken Ryker, Gordon Grant, Ken Ryker & Matt Ramsey

Remember, I said the SHORT LIST!

I hope this platter of memories has gotten you as worked up as I am! I know I will need second and third helpings. So, stay tuned to this pastry cart for more! (Wink!)

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, present day

You can read Will Seagers' previous blogs for Bijou here:

Welcome Matt/Will | What's For Dessert? | On and Off the Set of L.A. Tool & Die | Wanted, Weekend Lockup and Weekends in Hermosa Beach | Honeymoon in the Palms | Birds of a Feather | The Stereo Maven of Castro Street | The Pass Around Boy | The Ecstasy and the Agony | Fitness and Fantasy | Chasing the Boys and Chasing the Sun | Becoming Invisible | The Reverse Story of Dorian Gray | Pin Money | One Organ Leads to Another! | The Wheels of Steel | Feast and Famine | An Alphabet Soup of Powders and Pills | Merry Christmas (and Getting Re-Organized) | Now and Then | DEEP INSIDE THE CASTRO: The Badlands | DEEP INSIDE THE CASTRO: Moby Dick Bar | DEEP INSIDE THE CASTRO: "Just Another Stroll Down the Castro!" | Diving Into SoMa/Folsom: Hamburger Mary's | Diving Into SoMa/Folsom: Long Live the Stud! | Diving Into SoMa/Folsom: Club Life..."Hit me with your Rhythm Stick!” | A "Split Ticket": SoMa/Folsom and The Haight! | Staying Vanilla in a Flavorful Culture | A Little Secret | Recollections of the 1977 S.F. Gay Pride Parade | Life's a Beach | Flora & Fauna | Once Is Just Not Enough! | A Love of Cultures – A Knack for Languages! | For the Birds | It's About Time! | The Perfect Storm | Hello Chicago/Adieu Fire Island Pines! | Sex in the Woods! | My Life at the Gym | The Last Picture Show | Cumming Attractions! | The Peter Pan Syndrome | Valentine's Day Reflections | The “Idus Martias” and a Peacock! | Taxing I.M.H.O. | Nope...This Sure Ain't Kansas! | The French Connection | Water Baby | Pride: You Wear It Well! | Life Goes On... | The Dance Floor and the Booth, Part 1 | The Dance Floor and the Booth, Part 2 | The Dance Floor and the Booth, Part 3 | A Christmas Haiku | It's My Party & I'll BLOG If I Want To! | "Werk!" | Heart Throbs from the Past! | Traveling the Arc | Music Is My Way of Life, Part 1 | Music Is My Way of Life, Part 2 | Music Is My Way of Life, Part 3 | Music Is My Way of Life, Part 4 | "Brick Wall" | A Gap! | Life in South Beach | Club Memories of South Beach

By Josh Eliot

In 1982, after living in San Francisco and studying filmmaking at the Art Institute, I found myself at a crossroads. I moved to Hollywood and started attending a film school on La Brea Avenue, but within a few days I had dropped out and returned to Rhode Island. I could not handle the drastic change of environment and loss of my friend group, so I took a time out and moved back east. I found myself working back at the Bostitch Staple Factory in East Greenwich, where literally all of my siblings, cousins and extended family worked. I was depressed and smoking a lot of weed: a joint on the way to work, another during my first ten minute break, a third at lunch, a fourth to wake up at my second ten minute break and one when we drove home after punching out for the day. Bostitch, now Stanley/Bostitch, had a mega warehouse with many departments. My mom and sister put the staplers together, my dad was a drill press operator, my brother worked in the nail department and I drove a fork lift. That is, until I wasn’t paying attention and bent a shelf, causing a skid with thousands of metal pieces to fall to the ground. My supervisor ripped up my forklift license right in front of all the onlookers, and I got written up for not wearing my safety glasses. I felt like I had taken ten steps backwards and thought that my dream of being a filmmaker would never happen. I found myself stuck in: “The Worst Big Warehouse in Rhode Island.”

After getting my shit together, I moved back to San Francisco, reconnected with my friend group and took a job as a medical claims examiner. At some point, I attended The Baillie School for video production, and then made an indie movie called Fright Night of the Living Dead (1986). Somehow the movie was chosen by The San Francisco International Video Festival, which helped me land a new job with Catalina Video in 1987. In 1990, Catalina moved me from San Francisco to West Hollywood and I now worked out of another kind of warehouse. Unlike working at Bostitch, which made me depressed, developing my career in the Catalina warehouse helped me to flourish. A couple years later with new management in charge, we moved the warehouse from North Hollywood to a smaller one in Reseda, CA. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the fact that there were so many great people working behind the scenes at the Catalina offices. Names you’ve never heard of or knew about, because even though they were part of the process for each and every movie, their names were not in the film credits. This is a good opportunity to acknowledge their contributions.

All of us bonded like family and fought like family, but mostly bonded. My biggest nemesis was Steven, who was in charge of the money! We always paid the talent in cash; I needed to get large sums several times a month and dealing with him was like pulling teeth. When money wasn’t an issue, we bonded by hanging out and going to parties and clubs, but when I would pop in for a cool $10K, he became a raving bitch - but I’m sure he had a lot of pressure on him. It’s not like he could say no, though - we had to shoot movies, and weren’t we making money for his ledgers, anyway?! In the sales department was Lance, a wiz at getting companies to pick up a lot more pieces of a new release by being super aggressive and utilizing smart sales techniques. He was non-stop sales 24/7, but ended up leaving after about a year for medical reasons. He was replaced with Jeff, who had a true hidden talent: how to get free food from fast food restaurants by calling the managers and complaining, even if he hadn’t ordered anything in the first place! I can’t tell you how much contraband we ate thanks to him! He also had an artist’s touch when he took on building the mirror frame which Scott Bond walked through in my movie Object of Desire. Not only that, he hand-painted my jeans that I wore, with a military jacket, to receive my very first award for videography. He bedazzled them and painted in script: “What the hell is a Josh Eliot anyway?” I’m still trying to figure that one out.

TJ Renzi ran the art department, and was always up for taking my unconventional box cover ideas to the next level. We had an ongoing banter between us because of his constant denial that he was not wearing colored contact lenses, when he obviously was! I still, to this day, have no idea if his eyes are brown or blue. He swore his baby blues were real, but I definitely saw some brown around the edges of those lenses. Clint Yeager eventually took over for TJ and started running the art department. In addition to designing the boxes and promotional material, Clint was an amazing guitarist and vocalist. He performed two songs in my movie The Hills Have Bi’s: “White Trash” and “Desires of the Heart,” which was a duet with Sharon Kane. Over a thirty-year period, he worked with bands Daisy Face, Sour, Speed Queen, Super Fiends, BC and the most recent being GAYC /DC. Unfortunately, he passed away of a respiratory infection on August 15th, 2023. His best friend, and some would say brother, Tom Walker (@djtommyrocker), worked in our marketing department after Chi Chi LaRue moved on to greener pastures. Tom arranged some amazing promotional parties at the Saint New York and other larger than life venues, and is a very renowned DJ at the Eagle LA and other venues. Tom was my absolute favorite at the company, once Chet Thomas passed away, and I’m so thrilled to see him achieve his goals and dream of being a mega DJ phenom! Last but not least was Javier in the warehouse. If you ever ordered a movie from Catalina, chances are Javier, who worked there before and after me, packed it personally. A special high-five to him for always packing and mailing the Christmas gifts I brought in to send back east! These guys all helped keep the engine running and the movies flowing out the door! I fondly remember the Catalina facility as: “The Best Little Warehouse in Reseda!”

All of that brings me to: The Best Little Warehouse in L.A. (1982), a William Higgins classic which featured Michael Christopher, Giorgio Canali, Kurt Williams, Rick Kennedy, Cliff Austin, Terry Craig, Mike Dean, Frank Johns, Ed Michaels, Dusty Sands, Lance Whitman and Morgan. This movie was actually shot in West Hollywood, at the original warehouse of Laguna Pacific. 1984 XRCO winner for best actor Michael Christopher with his 10” thick piece leads the cast of Warehouse and is best known as a strong top. However, he did bottom in this movie for Giorgio Canali and in the movies Shore Leave (Nova) and Tony’s Initiation (Rollo Productions). I recently discovered an interview with him from the 1984 film Trick Time with Joey Yale and Fred Halsted. I am linking the YouTube video from Boy Culture at the end of this blog, which shows a very interesting side of this icon. Interestingly, the majority of the actors in Warehouse were one-offs, performing in only this or maybe one other movie.

In addition to “household names” Christopher and Canali, there is another lesser known mainstream actor featured in this movie, who actually did quite a bit of work for Higgins. Lance Whitman’s debut in Warehouse was followed with a solo in Strictly For Ladies Only (1983) and full scenes in Cousins (1983), Class Reunion (1983) and Young Olympians (1985). Later, in 1985, he appeared in Hard Action for Junior Studios before leaving the industry. The Best Little Warehouse in L.A. has a lot going for it as a film, but these days is mostly talked about because of one star, a model named Morgan. Morgan had a minuscule career, but became one of the biggest phenoms in our industry. Gracing the box cover of Warehouse was his biggest role, and many in the chat rooms think it was his only role, but he actually worked in some other projects during his brief career from 1979-1984. He played a newspaper delivery boy in Newspaper Boy (1979) and a homeowner who gets seduced by a city official in Meter Man 2 (1979), both for Magnum Griffin. After a brief reprieve he showed up on the cover of Best Little Warehouse in L.A. (1982) , then performed a solo in Catalina's Strictly For Ladies Only (1983) and finished out his career with YMAC's Peep Show 1 (1984) and Morgan and Friends (1985). In 1985 things get a little weird, when Morgan is suddenly nowhere to be found, and conspiracy theories started brewing. Some say that his quick disappearance from the industry was because his father found out that he was making films and moved him out of LA. It’s even written that Morgan met two guys for sex, who abducted him and held him captive for a week, after which the men threw him off a cliff. Others say he was part of a hiking group that fell off a cliff in 1985, as noted in the newspaper. William Higgins stated in a podcast that Morgan was going to Big Bear Lake with his dad, stopped to take a leak and fell off the side of the mountain. It’s got my mind racing, and usually I can dig up something, but I have to admit failure. For fans of Morgan, and there are plenty, you can access his paperboy scene in Magnum Griffin 14, where he is credited as Nick, but it’s Morgan, 100%.

I might have found “my” best little warehouse in Reseda, but you might find the newest version of William Higgins The Best Little Warehouse in L.A. to be your favorite. The current Anniversary Edition is packed with extras, three J/O extras to be exact. Seamlessly intercut into the movie, it features the individual solos of Michael Christopher, Mike Dean and Lance Whitman, which were originally shot for Strictly For Ladies Only, which I doubt is still in print. Let’s end this with some hope: one believable follow-up was posted to a forum in 2010 by a longstanding employee of William Higgin’s Drakes Bookstore on Melrose Avenue. He confidently believes the version told to him by a co-worker, “Lawrence.” The story is that Morgan’s dad did in fact find out about the films and convinced him to come home to the Torrance area, with the idea to further his education. The story of his death was made up and spread to prevent anyone from looking for him. He looked very young for his age and their were inquiries back in the day. I hope Morgan is out there somewhere, in his mid 60’s, happy that he split the scene back in 1985, and started a productive life for himself. If anyone has proof of Morgan being alive and well, I’m sure the chat rooms would love to hear that there was a happy ending after all.

Video Links:
Michael Christopher Interview
Josh Eliot's Fright Night of the Living Dead - full movie!
Teaser Trailer: The Best Little Warehouse in L.A.
Clint Yeager sings "White Trash" | Clint & Sharon Kane perform "Desires of the Heart"

Bio of Josh Eliot:

At the age of 25 in 1987, Josh Eliot was hired by Catalina Video by John Travis (Brentwood Video) and Scott Masters (Nova Video). Travis trained Eliot on his style of videography and mentored him on the art of directing. Josh directed his first movie, Runaways, in 1987. By 2009 when Josh parted ways with Catalina Video, he'd produced and directed hundreds of features and won numerous awards for Best Screenplay, Videography, Editing, and Directing. He was entered into the GayVN Hall of fame in 2002.

This week, we're reprinting an interview by Mitch Lawrence with Randy Cochran - an important early Black gay porn star - from the May 2003 issue of Black Inches Magazine. In it, Cochran candidly discusses his career during the '80s/'90s and shares about a production he had just directed/produced at the time of the interview.

Black Inches talks with the first African-American nominated for an Adult Video Award for Best Actor. Randy Cochran's career in the adult industry spans sixteen years. During that time, he has worked with some of the industry greats and earned himself a place in porn history as one of the first gay Black porn stars. These days, he operates his own escort service and recently stepped behind the cameras to produce and direct Mr. Cochran's Neighborhood.

Mitch Lawrence: Let's start with the basics. When is your birthday and where were you born?

Randy Cochran: I'm a Virgo, born August 28, 1962 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.

ML: Where do you live now?

RC: I moved back to the East Coast two years ago, after fulfilling a twenty-year life plan to life in California. These days, I split my week between Manhattan and a home in Maryland that's two doors down from the house where I grew up. Manhattan has beautiful men, but the air can be harsh. I love Maryland's four seasons, but the city is plagued with street drugs.

ML: What's your educational background?

RC: Being a U.S. Navy veteran and having the free time my profession allows, I've had a chance to study a number of different things. I went to a medically-oriented high school and became a surgical tech in the navy. I've since studied business, cinematography, photography, televison, and botany, just to name a few.

ML: Are those your major interests?

RC: Yes, plus fucking, of course!

ML: How did you get started in the adult industry?

RC: Back in the early eighties, I was living in Hollywood and working three jobs. I stayed so busy that I didn't have the time to spend all the money I was making. I didn't even have a car, very unusual for someone in Southern California. Anyway, I was on the bus one day and read an article that said, "You can't make any money working for someone else." About the same time, some guy told me that I fucked well enough to escort, so I popped an ad in the local gay rag and I was off and running.

Also, about the same time, I answered an ad in Drama Log that was seeking dancers. It was supposedly for a music dance video and I was sure it was legitimate, because there were lots of SAG and AFTRA members in it. As it turned out, a few weeks into rehearsals the producers announced it was actually an adult production. There were some big cast changes, but I stayed on and ended up starring in my first adult video.

ML: What was the title?

RC: It was a Black Forest Productions flick called Making It Big, which took nearly a year to make. I was in other films that were released earlier, but that was my first and also the one that earned me a nomination for Best Actor at the 1986 Adult Video Awards.

RC: I was the first Black performer to go up for that category. Believe it or not, back then, Black actors still had white voiceovers.

ML: Why?

RC: The need for voiceovers came from a combination of difficulties. Even though Black videos are big moneymakers, they're usually low-budget productions. The earlier ones used inferior equipment for the most part, or the production just didn't have the bucks to have the actors lay down a proper soundtrack. White guys were hired to fix that.

ML: Have you encountered any sort of prejudice from within the porn industry?

RC: Absolutely! The worst was probably my fiftieth film, called In the Black. The producer wanted to make a Black flick, but he didn't want his neighbors to see Black guys going in and out of his neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley, so he cramped seven performers and a crew of seven more in a little two-bedroom unit elsewhere. The uncomfortable vibes definitely came across in the finished product.

I've worked on all-Black productions, interracial productions, and on all-white productions in a technical capacity, and unfortunately, there's a pretty big difference between each level. That includes everything from pay scales, dressing rooms, sets, catering, and makeup to technical support. It's just not equal.

ML: What's the climate like in the business today?

RC: A big part of my being in the industry was to get better conditions for Black performers. I've been successful on some levels and believe things have improved in my sixteen-plus years in front of the cameras, but I've recently heard rumors of backsliding.

ML: Do you enjoy making interracial videos?

RC: It's great! I love working with my brothas, but as far as production values, the level is always higher in an interracial flick versus an all-Black production. An exception would be Catalina, which has the most polished of the all-Black productions.

ML: What do you consider to be your best work in video?

RC: Heatwaves - a Catalina production, by the way. It's one of my favorites because of the treatment I recieved. A limo picked me up and took me to a yacht that had belonged to Elizabeth Taylor for a four-day cruise to Catalina Island. The cast was beautiful, the weather was wonderful, and there was great food, hot sex, the works for two days on and two days off!

My second favorite was another Black Forest production, In Thrust We Trust. Believe it or not, my co-stars were hung larger than me, and we had a scene where everyone cums three times. That was fucking hot!

ML: Speaking of dick size, care to enlighten us?

RC: 10" x 7".

ML: Did you have a favorite director?

RC: There are several, actually. First was Robert of Adam and Co., because he was terrific to work for and he taught me a great deal about the industry. Bill Higgins was responsible for those terrific Catalina productions. Gino Colbert is always a joy to work with, and Chi Chi LaRue is wonderfully professional.

ML: What about your less rewarding experiences?

RC: I suppose Lazlo gets my vote for least favorite producer, although I liked him personally. He's the one who killed off Cory Monroe and me in an auto accident. Cory and I delivered a great performance sex-wise, but Lazlo had scheduled too many scenes for one day and needed us to return for dialogue pickups, which give a cleaner soundtrack, eliminate director's instructions, still camera clicks, air and road noise, and so forth. Instead of paying for the extra day, he killed us off in the credits to save bucks.

ML: Tell us about your favorite co-stars.

RC: I like Steve Love, David Ashfield, and Gene Lamar. Brad Leatherwood was great, too.

ML: And your least favorite?

RC: Fortunately, his name escapes me. All I can remember is that he was a really boring sex performer and terribly unprofessional.

ML: How was handsome Ty Jones to work with?

RC: Absolutely great. He should also be included on my list of favorite performers. What a fantastic dick! He was a great friend and we got to play around a lot off-camera. His other half, Ron, used to screw me silly up against the wall.

ML: You worked with some of the early legends in the business. Do you still see any of the old gang?

RC: Absolutely! I spent a weekend with Steve Love in Chicago just a few weeks ago and I got together with Gene Lamar and Paul Hanson for my birthday the year before last. We try to keep in touch.

ML: What's your funniest experience in the porn business?

RC: Something that happened at the end of filming Mr. Cochran's Neighborhood, which was inclued as a blooper. Andre Bolla was sucking dick and getting worked over by a large dildo when he let loose with a huge belch right into the camera. Oops!

ML: You directed and produced your last video, Mr. Cochran's Neighborhood. Can we expect any more videos?

RC: There's talk about doing a trilogy with the old gang. I'm mostly focusing on my escort business. As I said, it predates my film career. I found the video work to be a great mode of advertisement.

ML: How long have you been escorting?

RC: Over twenty years now.

ML: What do most clients prefer?

RC: Bottoming.

ML: And what do you prefer?

RC: Topping.

ML: So that works out really well.

RC: Absolutely!

ML: What are your personal preferences?

RC: I also prefer to top in my private life, unless the dick is larger than mine. I'm a firm believer that one has to know what feels good to make it feel good. I enjoy a good dicking every now and then, and I'm lucky to have had some of the largest pieces in the industry.

ML: Are you in a relationship or single?

RC: I'm a bachelor all the way.

ML: If you were looking, what would be your criteria?

RC: A big-dicked, versatile man who's very butch yet kind and generous. Someone who can accept my lifestyle.

Check out Bijou's 2024 remastered reissue of Randy Cochran's porn debut in Dwight Antoine's Making It Big (Black Forest Productions, 1986) on DVD and Streaming! Plus, catch several other of Randy Cochran's classics through Bijou.