BijouBlog

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

By Josh Eliot

“All Kinds of Action for All Kinds of Men”

A slogan Catalina used in advertising for many years may not have been the initial business plan when Catalina Video was developed and named by founder William Higgins, but it quickly moved in that direction once Higgins stepped back from the company. As early as my first couple of shoots for Catalina back in 1987, we were filming Black Magic with Joe Simmons and Gene LaMar. I barely remember much about Joe Simmons other than the fact that he was a stunning presence on the set and so sweet and professional. We shot Black Force in 1988, which starred Randy Cochran. The movie used the same nighttime woods set we constructed for Mike Henson and Doug Niles in My Best Buddy and also shared the interior shower sets from The Young Cadets, with slight modifications changing them from a military base to a prison farm. Unfortunately, the movie Black Force was pulled shortly after release. There was nothing out of the ordinary in it, other than the fact that it was interracial. It was pulled because a movie called Taxi from In Hand Video was involved in a Georgia lawsuit to determine if it was obscene, due to a gang bang. Things eventually worked out, and I’m happy to say that I see Black Force back for sale on DVD again! Catalina’s Black Gold Series actually started under Higgins with Black Attack and Black Attack II, but really came into fruition in the 1990’s and continued being successful through the 2000’s. A major reason for its success was the fantastic pool of models in the L.A. area elevating the productions. Hot stars like Bobby Blake, Rick Pantera, Jack Simmons, Flex Gamble, Andre Bolla and Bo Stallion. The Black Gold Series was still in production all the way up until we stopped shooting movies altogether in 2006.

Joe Simmons returned to our set for Black Alley: South of the Border in 1991 for director Chet Thomas. This time, we cast Black actors with Latino actors and made some really hot releases! It wasn’t until years later, in 1995 when I heard about his passing, that I discovered Simmons' notoriety. Joe Simmons was featured in Robert Mapplethorpe’s controversial Black Book series. From that point on, we started our Baja Bay Series, with movies focused on showcasing hot, uncut Latino studs. In the mid 90’s, Catalina was looking to diversify even further when we started our Leather Series with A Taste of Leather (1996) and our Furry Features Series with Big BEAR Lake (1997). My follow-up blog will focus more on our Latino and Leather series and movies from Furry Features.

Diversity kept expanding in 1997 when we developed the Far East Features Series, which pretty much came about for one reason and one reason only: Brandon Lee. Chi Chi LaRue introduced us to Brandon Lee who (now age 44) was a hot, super hung Asian superstar. The beautiful thing about Brandon is that he fit seamlessly in any movie; for example, the opening group orgy in Big Guns 2, as well as Harley’s Crew and Dial S for Sex. But having Brandon grace the box covers of our Far East Features Series made them an instant success. Brandon starred in the movies Asian Persuasion (1997), Fortune Nookie (1998) and Chew Manchu (2000), and started the ball rolling for other productions like Crème of Sum Yung Gai (2004) and With Sex You Get Eggroll (1999).

Very early on after the millennium, we started Freshman Features (we were on a roll), which was basically a twink-based series with a young collegiate cast. The Rascal Series of movies was born and were made with a continuing storyline from 2001-2003. 100% clarity: the name of the Rascal movies just so happened to also be the same name as Chi Chi LaRue’s new company, Rascal Video, but it was all just a coincidence! Though she didn’t think so. The Rascal Series was going to be a school-based series like Beverly Hills 90210 meets Netflix’s Elite. The lead character was Ricky Haskell, a character based on Eddie Haskell from Leave it to Beaver, as the Rascal.

Of course, I wouldn't dream of making a school-themed movie without casting Sharon Kane in a non-sexual role as the dean, Ms. Narkwurst! She was a hot, if not somewhat crazy, head of the academy with a strong European accent. Her character was based on The Ilsa series from the 1970’s, played by Dyanne Thorne. (Ilsa Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks - 1976, Ilsa The Tigress of Siberia - 1977, Ilsa The Wicked Warden - 1977). Needless to say, Sharon’s accent and performance had us all in stitches. We shot her scenes for the first three movies all in one day, following one of the sex scenes. My spouse Tony Fontana played Coach Collins, who was instrumental in the Rascal’s growth while at the academy.

The Rascal was played by Brandon Weber from El Paso, Texas. We wanted a newcomer or an underexposed performer to take on the role. Brandon had a few scenes under his belt, but for a low profile company, so the fact that we offered him a six picture deal after completing the initial Rascal movie was kind of unheard of. He had this little bratty edge to him that was perfect for the role, but it also got on my nerves a bit. The series was an instant hit and had five follow-up features: The Rascal Joins the Wrestling Team, The Rascal Stows Away, The Rascal vs The Spoiled Brat, The Rascal Goes to Bootcamp and The Rascal’s Graduation Gang Bang. After directing The Rascal vs The Spoiled Brat, I was, as they say, out of there! I'd had quite enough of “The Rascal.” I finished off Ms. Narkwurst’s character by making her go blind after she moved during a Lasik surgery because she had an itch. I handed off the last two features to Brad Austin and Peter Romero to write and direct. Looking back on things, I wish I would have finished the series myself, but I was way over it. For the record, The Spoiled Brat was going to be a spin off, but that fell flat. The Rascal was now past tense and I came up with “Junior,” continuing for Freshman Features with Junior’s Nude Cleaning Service (2003). It happened that while in post-production for Junior in 2003, I stumbled onto an idea for a new series. In Junior’s Nude Cleaning Service, it just coincidentally happened that the young twink cleaners at Junior’s company were servicing older men like Ray Harley and Maxime Cannon. It didn’t really hit me until I was editing the movie that the combination of older and younger was something we could fine tune, casting and story-wise, to create a new series. I brought it up to the GM, and the Generation Gap Series was born. This new series was to pair older guys with young twinks. We had a good stable of hot guys from our Leather Series and this gave us an opportunity to give them more work opposite the young'uns. Now, I know these types of matchings had occurred in the past successfully, like Chad Douglas and Kevin Wiles in Big Guns, but this series would really focus on pairing those couples with storylines to match the idea. Daddy’s Teen-Age Turn On (2003) was the first, and this new, deliberate “hungry daddy eats the innocent” idea was really working out. Features like Daddy’s Reform School Playmate (2004), Junior Meets the BEAR Patrol (2004) and Daddy’s Bubble Butt Boys (2005) were in full swing with more on the way up until Catalina stopped shooting new productions in 2006.

The Generation Gap theme seems to be going extra strong these days with companies like Mormon Boyz, Bang Me Daddy, Say Uncle, Family Dick, Dad Perv, Creep Dad, Dad Creepy, Family Cest and Family Values all putting out new content to a very receptive audience...

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

For years, we were housing models at the Holloway Motel on Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood. Not the most ideal of housing choices since it was located right on the outskirts of “Boys Town,'' but after visiting with the manager and explaining that we would be bringing in models every week, they came up with a $75 per night rate for us. It was awesome, and I might just mention that it never went up all the way until we stopped shooting in 2006. It was maybe a 2-star but definitely not a 1-star. We were always strapped for cash with our measly 12K budgets, so this was a big help. Yes, it was in WeHo near all the bars and night life, but I figured if the model was going to “fuck around” the night before the scene, they would do it anyway. I had no problem never booking that model again if they did and the scene suffered because of it. All I needed to do was reserve the room, and the models would just take a cab from LAX straight to the motel and the manager would check them in then leave a message on my home answering machine letting me know they’ve arrived. I would then call the model to touch base and reconfirm with them to save their receipts from meals, cab fare, etc. for reimbursement after the shoot. It was such a load off my plate to not have to meet the models at the airport and get them checked in at the motel - that was too time consuming!

There were special VIP arrivals that I would make the extra effort to pick up at the airport and get settled in personally - for example, the day porn legend Jon King returned to make a come-back in These Bases Are Loaded 2. The original These Bases Are Loaded was released in 1982 and directed by William Higgins. This was now 1994, and though we had all heard of the legend Jon King, none of the crew or Catalina staff had met or worked with him. Somehow, some way (I think through John Rutherford, who was shooting Wild Country for Falcon) Chi Chi LaRue got in contact with Jon King and brought it to the attention of our GM. It wasn’t going to be cheap, but we all agreed that we could not pass up the opportunity to bring the “old-school” performer back in front of our cameras. Since Chi Chi made the connection, naturally she would direct the movie, which we all agreed should be the sequel to “Bases.” I worked with Chi Chi to develop the script and secure the locations. We also rented baseball uniforms, because it was cheaper than buying them! Jon King was cast to perform in two of the five scenes and to model for the box cover and a glamor photo layout. One scene would be a one-on-one with Dave Logan and the second scene, in homage to the original, was a group orgy. The cast was large with a total body count of twelve including Zak Spears, Donnie Russo, Ryan Block, Andrew Montano and Grant Larsen, among others. Two models shy of the original 1982 movie, which had a cast list of fourteen models including JW King, Giorgio Canali, Chris Burns, Steve West and Derrick Stanton. The stage was set and all the actors were in place for this very exciting moment in Catalina Video history!

According to information on AEBN: Legendary performer Jon King (John Nelson Gaines) was born on January 12, 1963 in Jacksonville, Florida. After being discovered by a Catalina Video representative at a Los Angeles car wash, he attained overnight stardom at 19 years of age in his first movie, Brothers Should Do It, opposite J.W. King, to whom he bore quite a resemblance. The two were not related in any way. In 1982, as his career was on the fast track, Jon stole a Corvette while on a test drive in Gainesville, Florida. He then robbed a Burger King and ended up crashing the stolen car. He was arrested and sentenced to eleven months in prison. Upon his release, Jon made a comeback in the porn world, working on numerous movies including Giants 2 (1983), The Biggest One I Ever Saw (1984, bottoming for Rick Donovan in a standout scene), Wild Oats (1984), Screenplay (1984), and Getting It (1985). In 1989, Jon retired from the porn world and moved to Atlanta, Georgia where he enrolled in a two-year culinary school course to satisfy his lifelong interest in gourmet cooking.

I found myself alongside my partner Mark Rutter at LAX, waiting for the passengers to exit the plane. It felt a little surreal to be meeting Jon King for the first time after years of watching his movies while in my 20s. When he came out of the plane, he was instantly recognizable, albeit a little shorter than I expected him to be. I guess J.W. was the taller of the two “brothers.” Please don’t tell me that J.W. King was 5’9”, as well - that will just destroy everything I ever imagined about him!

The meeting was surprisingly quite nice; he had a big smile and a great personality, and was very excited to be working for Catalina again. His presence felt very down to earth, and we all had great conversations on the drive to the hotel in West Hollywood. The hotel was definitely not the Holloway Motel, as Jon was very specific about where he wanted to stay when we had talked on the phone previously during contract negotiations. Jon chose the Le Parc on West Knoll Drive in West Hollywood. It wasn’t $75 a night, I can tell you that, but West Knoll, near Melrose Ave., is a nice quiet tree-lined street, so I was very comfortable housing him there. We checked him in and walked him up to his room, carrying his bags for him, and stayed with him until he got settled in. We sat for a bit, discussing the shoot and specifics, then out of the blue he asked if Mark and I wanted to come back later in the evening because there was a great jacuzzi on the roof. Before I got a chance to answer, Mark spoke up and declined the invitation, in a nice way, making up some excuse. There was no way in hell we were going to end up in a jacuzzi with Jon King, as we both kind of knew what the invitation meant. He insisted on showing it to us anyway, so we all went up to the roof to look at it. It was nice, but nothing out of the ordinary. We were ready to split, so I made sure to ask him to get a good night’s rest, as the shoot was very important to us and we really wanted to make this comeback special for him with lots of promotion, yadda-yadda. We said our goodbyes, and now it was up to him to behave and be there in the morning when Chi Chi picked him up to take him to the set.

Because this was an important shoot, I felt the responsibility to be there on the set. Even though I was no longer videographer for Chi Chi’s movies, I just wanted to make sure everything went off without a hitch. We didn’t have cell phones back then, or at least I didn’t, so I had no warning before walking into the locker room set at the local studio what the situation might be. As soon as I walked in, I saw Chi Chi get up from her chair and make a beeline towards me. Not a good omen. There were models walking around in jockstraps (their costumes) and the crew was all looking at me to see my reaction, but strangely enough I didn’t see Jon King. It turns out Jon was in make-up, because he needed an extra application of base on one of his eyes. Yes, that’s right, Jon King, Headliner, Box Cover Model and man behind this huge promotion had a big ole fucking “shiner!” A black eye that was so swollen his eyeball was barely visible. Not sure how it happened and not really sure I gave a shit at that point. All I could think about was that this whole project was just falling to pieces right in front of my eyes. There were no luxuries of postponing things or rescheduling. The shoot had to go on no matter what - that was always the case with Catalina. Improvise. The “fix” for the movie was simple, as we just added some storyline about him getting hit in the eye with a baseball, done. He didn’t look that great, especially the close-ups, but what could we do except try to shoot “angles” around it. For the box cover and photo layouts, we just did the best we could with make-up and called it a day. I’m sure the new DVD box looks better than the original VHS box, because we didn’t really have Photoshop then. Now you can just cut out the left eye and copy it over the right eye. I know, I did that for one of my partner’s family photos where his sister had her eyes closed and they wanted that group photo blown up for an anniversary gift. I took one of his sister’s eyes and copied it onto the other sister with her eyes closed and nobody noticed, even though I gave her two left eyes!

It was such a bummer, and in my mind the whole project’s hopes just went right down the drain. I found myself wondering if that rooftop jacuzzi at the hotel was where he got the black eye, but the reason for it really wasn’t that important in the scheme of things. The movie finished production and I knew deep down I would never rehire Jon again. Other than that, it was actually wonderful meeting Jon King, whom we’ve all come to know from his 1980s films. I might also say that Jon was on his very best behavior for the remainder of the shoot. I really do think he felt bad about what happened. After we wrapped, Mark and I drove him to the airport, which, trust me, never normally happened. Once I paid the models, I would give them cab fare to get themselves back to the airport the following day. With Jon King, I felt a special obligation, so we picked him up in the morning and drove him to LAX and said our goodbyes. Looking back on things, black eye aside, it was an absolute pleasure meeting and spending time with this very special icon of gay adult cinema.

Jon King unfortunately died from complications of AIDS in Santa Fe, New Mexico on March 8, 1995. He was cremated and his ashes mixed and scattered with those of his beloved dog, who had died some years earlier.

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

I’ve been told my blogs tend to run long so I have to leave some fun stuff out of them. Below are a few previous blogs where I had to leave some “pertinent information” on the cutting room floor. What can I say, I’ve got “more than a mouthful” of things to say that don’t always fit on the page!

In no particular order, I’ll start with the blog that is the most fresh on my mind, since I found a photograph to back up the story I told. It was my 48th blog called: “The GOLD COAST Gold Rush Boys.” In that story, I wrote about the Gold Coast Bar in West Hollywood and the Bijou hit, Steve Scott’s Gold Rush Boys. I told the story about an evening when porn star Anthony Gallo and my spouse Tony Fontana (who were dating at the time) were working front door security at the Gold Coast and were attacked by an unruly patron when they tried to escort him out. I mentioned how the patron hit Anthony Gallo on the head with an object, requiring a lot of stitches, and that the scar was visible in movies shot after that date in 1995. Well, Tony just happened to find the photo of Anthony Gallo right after the incident where you can see just how awful that attack was.

Anthony Gallo fully recovered from that injury and, as far as we both know, is living in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Now on to lucky blog #13: “Is That AL PARKER in Your Photograph?” In this one, I went rummaging through my partner’s photos and found one of him with Al Parker and another of him with Estelle Getty. Another photograph I didn’t include because the blog was running long was a photo plainly displayed in our office. A picture if discovered in a pile of photos might cause me to ask, “Is That Charo in Your Photograph?” In the photo, you’ll see Tony was lucky enough to draw Charo’s attention at one of her performances he attended with his friend Art. I must say, she looks the same now from what I see on her Instagram page! Anyway, when Tony and Art got together they were kind of out of control. That evening, they sat at a table with a couple of other “fun” girls who attended the show. Complete strangers, but they all shared lots of laughs with each other. The girls had a camera with them to use when Charo hit the stage. Unfortunately, the two practical jokers, Tony and Art, ruined that moment for them. When the girls excused themselves to the bathroom, Tony and Art thought it would be “cute” to take pictures of each other making silly faces and gestures. They put the camera back on the table just in time so no one knew the better before the girls returned. At the point when Charo came into the audience and right up to their table, the girls went for their camera and started to shoot the pictures but, to their dismay, there was only 1 shot left. The girl freaked out and started screaming to her friend that she thought she had more photos left on the roll. She ran to the gift shop in the lobby to buy more film. Tony and Art played dumb and unfortunately the girls missed it when Charo literally walked up to Tony, put her breast on his head, and Art shot this picture with his Nikon 35mm camera.

I would imagine those girls were really pissed when they got home and developed the film. Blog #6 was called “A Salty Fuck in Saugatuck,” where I talked about making Thrill Me! with Ray Harley, Steve Rambo and Donnie Russo. Donnie and Rambo got into an argument over something as ridiculous as a bumble bee entering the rental unit at The Douglas Dunes Resort in Michigan. Those two stressed me out so much that when it came time for Brad Austin to shoot them together in a sex scene for his movie Deep Woods Inn, I begged Brad to let me off of doing his videography for that day. I just could not be around them; the tension between them was physically making me sick. There was always so much stress on my shoulders because, at any place or anytime someone, could get pissed and refuse to do a scene and we would be fucked. Especially out in the middle of nowhere. That would mean thousands of dollars down the drain if we didn’t return to L.A. with completed scenes. The tension between those two models was just too much - I couldn’t be on that set. Bless Brad Austin for taking it on! Brad of course said, “You don’t have to be on my set. I’ll shoot camera, it’s not a problem.” He was an angel. I was so grateful but could never tell him what I did instead. Lake Michigan is like an ocean and they have miles and miles of sand dunes there. It just so happens those dunes are very “gay occupied,” as we noticed a couple days earlier when we shot a scene for The Men of Lake Michigan, another movie I was filming back to back. I took a ride over to those dunes, hiked a bit, laid my blanket down and it took less than a minute for a few new “friends” to show up. Of course, I had to be hospitable. When I returned to the motel where they were shooting, I was pleased to find out that both Rambo and Russo were cordial with each other on the set, and other than the fact that Russo pounded Rambo extra hard, everything went just “jiffy.” Naturally it didn’t stay that way, as they went back to being enemies later that night!

The final blog I want to add on to is #15: "We Waited 8hrs for a Cum Shot, Is That a World Record?" I certainly had a lot to say about how producer Scott Masters tortured us trying to get Vic Summer’s cum shot. Read the blog if you’re interested - I just can’t revisit that moment again! What I was unable to talk about was the day prior to shooting the scene. Scott Masters evidently had a bottomless budget for this movie, because several wooden box crates arrived at the studio containing a custom set of neon tubes and transformers. For the final scene with Matt Powers and Vic Summers, Scott wanted an all-white heavily draped set with lots of flowing material and four round columns, as elements of a four post bed. In the scene, he wanted the columns to magically come alive with color at their first kiss, and flash throughout the scene. He rambled off quickly over the phone how he wanted the color tubes attached inside the columns, but quickly cut us off when we had questions. I was lost about how to even hook up neon or handle all the wiring. Back then, you couldn’t just Google or YouTube an instruction video. It took us all night to attach wire and get the effects to work. On the shoot day when Masters arrived, he asked us to show him the neon lighting. We proudly turned on the lights, color by color, showing him how we could control each color on its own. We were happy it all worked flawlessly… until Scott Masters barked out, “No, I don’t believe this! You’ve got it all wrong!” Our hearts dropped and our blood pressure started to rise! When he barely described on the phone how he wanted the colored tubes placed, we understood each color would be side by side at the top and bottom of every pole. One red tube next to one blue tube, next to one yellow tube… if you get my drift. No, he wanted the top all red, the bottom all blue, then the next column would be all yellow on the top, orange on the bottom, next column top green... yadda, yadda, yadda. We were mortified but more pissed that he didn’t take the time to properly describe the placement initially. I don’t have to tell you that there was no changing his mind about the order of the tubes. Luckily, I had a full crew to help me unwire and re-wire these fucking tubes and get them properly placed for what turned out to be his lame-ass finale scene. Personally speaking, the way we wired the tubes initially would have looked much better than the re-wired version he demanded. Maybe if we didn’t have to take a few hours to rewire these tubes, the models wouldn’t have gotten bored, lost their boners for each other, and well, you know the (8hr) rest.

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 Will Seagers

Hi Folks, Will here. As usual, I have yet another strange title for you! The name of this multi-faceted adventure won't be significant until we get to the end of the blog. Like the house that landed in Oz, this story will go through lots of turbulence before getting there. But, with the help of of my friends, it turned out quite well.

In the summer of 1975 in The Pines on Fire Island, a seed was planted by my beau of the time, Roger. He told me that he was moving to San Francisco in the fall. I was taken aback by this as Roger was a quintessential New Yorker, never having lived anywhere else in his thirty-four years. He was born in the Bronx, lived in the West Village, and was also a teacher in the NYC school system. To me, he seemed happily entrenched in his metro lifestyle. But, San Francisco bound, he was.

After an intense but brief affair, our relationship morphed into a really solid friendship. Soon, the idea (adventure) of moving to San Francisco grew on me, as well. Ultimately, this would be a move that I would make on my own. Even though I had never been there before, I was not daunted. And, it was not the first nor last time I would made that kind of move. But first, a rather eventful year would transpire before getting there.

Denis, my brilliant and zany former roommate from San Juan (Eastern Airlines days) had won a scholarship to Arizona State University and needed a "companion." Truth be told, it was really his parents' idea, as they were scared to death of him living alone and so far from their New Jersey home. Although Denis was quite book smart (Fulbright Scholar and MENSA member), his street smarts were lacking. Not having a formal plan nor date for my move to the West Coast, I agreed to be his chaperone and roommate for this truly hysterical adventure!

His parents gave him a car. After loading it to the hilt, we left NJ on Route 80 for the trek to Tempe, AZ. I only wish that we had a video camera to record our antics en route. I don't think I have ever laughed as much in my life! Between our two unconventional outlooks on life, there was never a dull moment. I do remember nearly running the car off various interstates in fits of laughter on several occasions! We arrived in Tempe and took up lodgings at an apartment complex complete with pool!

He went to school and I went to work as a bartender... something I had never done before. I relied heavily on my appearance to keep these gigs afloat! A bartender I am not! I also had some small legit modeling jobs at a local agency. I did manage to land a cattle call and get a small part in a crowd scene in the Barbra Streisand remake of A Star is Born. I was within arm's reach of Kristopherson - not so much Ms. Streisand!

As Denis finished up his school year, I was contacted by a dear friend, Lou Thomas, of Target Studios. I had done some print work for him in NY and in Arizona. Lou asked me if I would be interested in working for John Whyte at the Boatel in Fire Island Pines. I jumped at the opportunity (as I had nothing planned for after Arizona). So, back across the country I zoomed!

My summer of 1976 at the Boatel deserves and will get its own chapter in my upcoming autobiography. Suffice it to say that it was a vivid and fabulous experience that I repeated again in the summers of 1977 and 1978! But, the most important events to happen during that first summer were meeting Chuck Holmes (of Falcon fame) and becoming "family" with my Boatel co-workers. Chuck Holmes offered me a job at his SF restaurant, Trinity Place, as well as modeling work with his studios. And, my Boatel co-workers all wanted to move to SF at the close of the season on the Island. Synchronicity, eh?

So, Denis popped up again. He requested the pleasure of my joining him on a trip to Mazatlan, Mexico as soon as I finished up with my Fire Island duties. Naturally, I joined him... but not before seeing "Irma" in Huachuga City, AZ. I told him about SF. But, he said it would only be a week at Mazatlan's beautiful beaches. After he picked me up at Tucson airport, he drove me to see "Irma," the tiny trailer where he lived in Huachuga City. BTW, this was the rather hilly and very green section of Arizona where the high speed driving scenes were filmed towards the end of A Star Is Born. More synchronicity?

We left for Mazatlan from Nogales, AZ on an ancient but beautifully preserved train - a la Orient Express! It was mid-October... and guess what? That's the height of Mexico's hurricane season. So, we had no sun for that week! This made me even more anxious to set sail for San Francisco! After getting back to the U.S. and to Tucson Airport, I finally departed for the "City by the Bay" with only the clothes on my back and a small duffel to stow overhead.

Arriving in San Francisco but not knowing the workings of the BART system, I paid the hefty cab fare to my Castro and 19th St. destination. Although I was offered only the floor of one of my co-worker's tiny flat... this was my liaison in SF! I wasn't concerned about my accommodations - I was finally here! After a few hugs and putting away my duffel bag, I ventured out.

As I eased my way down the steep slope of Castro Street towards 18th and Castro (the gay crossroads of the world), I felt like Dorothy swinging open the door to her house that had just crash landed in Oz. Gazing around at all of the men and the "gaiety" that blanketed the area, I could only think: Nope... This Sure Ain't Kansas!

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