The Iconic Cast of William Higgins' BIG GUNS on Its 40th Anniversary

By Josh Eliot

The movie Big Guns, shot in 1986, is synonymous with the name William Higgins and the Catalina Video brand. I remember renting Big Guns at our local video store on 18th and Castro street in San Francisco when it first came out, months before I started working for Catalina Video. I was very well aware of Mike Henson and John Davenport, so when they showed up at our San Francisco studio to work on some movies I was definitely star-struck, as I wrote in my previous blog, "Bringing In the Big Guns." I worked as videographer with John Davenport in two movies for John Travis: My Best Buddy (1988) and Powerline (1989). Mike Henson worked in My Best Buddy as well and, as fate would have it, eleven years later he performed in the opening scene of Powertool 2, which I directed alongside Chi Chi LaRue. It felt like a full circle moment to have Mike in front of the Catalina cameras again after a decade had passed. Same awesome personality, but the only difference was that he was a bit more manly. Another actor from Big Guns who I worked with in My Best Buddy, Powerline and The Young Cadets (1988) was Mike Ryan. Mike Ryan‘s debut in A Matter of Size (1984) connected him with John Travis, who in turn brought him to Catalina where he also worked in the bisexual films Innocence Lost (1987) and In Hot Pursuit (1987). In addition to the three castmates from Big Guns that I actually worked with there are many more that became “gay-household” names.

Chad Douglas and Kevin Wiles are two of them, and their scene together almost instantly hit iconic status. The set up was that of a young newspaper delivery boy and his customer signing a personal check while wearing only a house robe, where he let it all hang out. Remember that classic scene?! Chad Douglas first appeared in the movie Below The Belt by Philip St. John, followed by Tyger Tales and Too Big For His Britches for Tyger Films. After his astonishing scene in Big Guns, Falcon Studios snatched him up for Giant Splash Shots 2 (1987), Spokes 2 (1988), Spring Break (1988) and Man-Rammer: A Battle of Size (1989), which turned out to be his final movie. Even though he was under contract with Falcon, Matt Sterling was not about to miss out, so Falcon loaned Douglas to Huge Video for a role in Larger Than Life (1988). Chad Douglas was born on Feb 4th, 1957 and it is written that he passed away on October 11th, 1999 at age 42.

Chad’s co-star from Big Guns, Kevin Wiles, actually has the most movies released out of any of the cast members in this film. His first movie, Big and Thick (1984) for H.I.S. Video, undoubtedly set him on the path to be an insatiable bottom. Stiff Sentence (1985), Two Handfuls (Bijou Video, 1986) and Motel California (Catalina, 1986) were shot prior to the performance in Big Guns that really put him on the map. After Big Guns, Kevin Wiles went on to work for most of the studios of the time including Sierra Pacific, Avalon (YMAC), Falcon, First Class Male, Pleasure Productions, Metro, Le Salon, In Hand and others before leaving the industry.

Some of the biggest actors of the film only have a handful of titles to their names, like top-billed stars Jeff Quinn, John Rocklin and Jeff Boote. Jeff Quinn appeared in the December 1985 issue of Playgirl Magazine and did a total of six movies between 1985 and 1987, including a scene with Chad Douglas and Lance in Giants Splash Shots II: More Memories of Summer, where Douglas pounds his hole like there’s no tomorrow! Other credits include Inch By Inch (1985) and Bigger Than Life (1986) for Matt Sterling and Huge Video, followed by Big Guns (1986), Hot Rods: The Young and The Hung 2 (1986) and Paul Norman’s bisexual hit Innocence Lost for Catalina Video. He dropped off the map with no explanation that I could find throughout all of my research. His co-star in the movie, John Rocklin, had a similarly short career, as well, after his debut in Try To Take It (1986) for Falcon. He, like the others, worked in Giants Splash Shots II, then performed in Hard Men: No Strings Attached (1987) and William Higgins' Screentest (1988). Another Big Guns cast member with so much potential who had a short career was Jeff Boote. Appropriately named, because his booty was all that and more and his bottoming scenes in Big Guns and In Hot Pursuit were standouts. His very first performance, again, was for Matt Sterling in Big and Thick and his only other performance was in a J/O for Video 10 in the movie Backstrokes. He and Rocklin for sure could have parlayed their careers for a much longer time, as they were solid in their screen performances.

One star who was super young-looking but worked his career into longevity is a name that “everybody” knows: Kevin Williams. Even though he only made a little over a dozen movies, his name is synonymous with the industry. His early work in Screentest, Big Guns, The Switch is On and Stryker Force (1986) led to roles in Tyger Film’s Bare Tales (1987) and Bad Boys Club for Catalina (1988). He then made the move to Falcon for the movies Out of Bounds (1988) and In Your Wildest Dreams (1988). He retired from his career in the 1980s, only to pop up again with a Falcon Studios contract in the late 1990s and early 2000s. His return to the screen included movies Hot Wired 1, FULLfilled, Deliverance: Code of Conduct 2 and Betrayed.

Rocky Armano, whose sex scene was not in the original VHS cut of Big Guns but has since been restored in the 20th Anniversary Director’s Cut, was in the industry a year at the most. Simultaneous shoots for Big Guns and Hard Men No Strings Attached in 1986 introduced Rocky Armano to the world. Bulge: Mass Appeal, the very first movie I worked on (but not his scene, damn-it!) was held for some time, then released in 1987. There was a release called Hand Tools in 1990 with Rocky Armano, but it was just an old J/O that was shot for Hard Men: No Strings Attached. In Hard Men, the models would dance and strip down to a raging hard on, then the viewer could order their exclusive J/O separately for what was a low price back then of $29.95 + shipping. Those J/Os all made it into Hand Tools many years later.

By comparison, Chris Gray, from the ultra-iconic shooting range scene with John Davenport, had a super quick but impressive two-year stint in the industry. His Bigger Than Life (1986) role for Sterling led to Mansize (1986) for director Michael Zen and Bijou Classics, The Bigger They Come for Catalina, Paul Norman’s Passion Bi Fire (1986) and finally In Hot Pursuit (1987) before leaving the industry. His co-star John Davenport, as I wrote about at the beginning, had a similar career path that lasted three years, 1986-1988, and had roles in some very popular productions including Powertool, Full Grown/Full Blown, Perfect Summer, Sunstroke, Bad Boys Club and Hot Rods.

The movie Big Guns won the 1987 XRCO Award for Best Picture, which was no surprise as everyone knew Big Guns was something special from the moment it was released. Max Southern, a writer for Man Net Magazine, wrote:

Mike Henson, the star of Big Guns, also received an XRCO Award for Best Actor that same year. Born October 4th, 1963, Mike Henson became one of the most popular gay adult performers of the 1980s. He graduated from UCLA in 1994, having studied computer science. His return to the screen for Powertool 2 and Score 10 for Matt Sterling did not cause the sensation industry insiders had hoped for and his comeback was short-lived. On September 6, 2002, Mike Henson passed away from an accidental overdose of heroin at the age of 38. His mark on the industry will certainly live on. The remainder of the cast could all very well be living their best lives getting ready to collect social security, as little is known of their whereabouts. Their performances and contributions to Big Guns are as timeless as the movie itself.

Watch Josh Eliot's 40th Anniversary Trailer for Big Guns!
Plus his trailers for My Best Buddy, Young Cadets and Powertool 2

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.