BijouBlog

By Josh Eliot

In my very first blog for Bijou, “Coming Out of My Wet Shorts,” I wrote briefly about the Rustic Drive-In in North Smithfield Rhode Island, where I saw Sharon Kane for the first time in Alex DeRenzy’s Pretty Peaches. The drive-in, by the way, is now the Rustic Tri View Drive-In, which features three screens, all very family friendly, becoming successful again during the Covid-19 outbreak. The original and largest of the screens had its back to the main street, with two side wings so passers-by could not see what was projected on the screen. It was one of the only or very few drive-ins exclusively showing XXX movies back in the 1970’s.

Over the many visits my friends and I would make to the drive-in, we saw such classics as Eruption with John Holmes and The Opening of Misty Beethoven. Constance Money was the lead, working alongside porn staples Jamie Gillis, Georgina Spelvin and, surprisingly, Casey Donovan (who would have thought?!). But aside from those big name cast members, Gloria Leonard was also prominently featured in the movie. Any baby boomer connoisseur of adult films knows of her or has seen her in movies. She also had an amazing run as the publisher of High Society Magazine starting in 1977, holding that position for fourteen years. Gloria was a board member of the Adult Video Association and its successor, the Free Speech Coalition. She was an outspoken advocate for the adult film industry and free speech rights.

In the 1960’s Gloria, was a Wall Street commodities trader and later worked in public relations for Elektra records. She began her hardcore pornography career in 1974 and worked in roughly 40 film projects including Maraschino Cherry (1977), MisBehavin (1978) and Roommates (1982) before retiring from performing in 1984. She remained close to the industry in the role of director for VCA Pictures, Adam & Eve and Vivid Entertainment. While working in her role as publisher of High Society, Gloria is credited with being one of the first people to use “976 numbers” for promotional purposes, and as a revenue stream. She convinced the magazine owner to purchase more “976 numbers,” which helped to start the boom of the phone sex industry. Calvin Klein, at the Video Review Magazine Awards where Gloria was a presenter, was quoted as saying, “For fifteen years, I walked to school with this woman and I saw more of her in three minutes of Misty Beethoven than I saw in all of those fifteen years.” In 1984, she had a role in the mainstream television show Simon & Simon, playing a salesperson. During that period, she also made guest appearances on the Oprah, Geraldo, Maury Povich, Larry King and Morton Downey Jr. shows. Gloria won the Best Actress Award for Taboo: American Style from the Adult Film Association of America.

In 1993, Gloria Leonard won another award for Best Actress in a Non-Sexual Role at the Gay Erotic Video Awards. The award was for her outstanding role as Lana Dawson in Valley of the Bi-Dolls. It was literally a miracle that Sharon Kane, who was cast as the lead in Dolls, was able to persuade Gloria Leonard to step in front of the camera again. She was going to be in town for a short period of time, so I made the schedule to accommodate her. Nearly a decade after retiring from adult films, she agreed to take part in my little movie. Believe me, the movie instantly felt much bigger and more important for me to get right once she agreed to sign on. The fact that it was a bisexual movie in a time when the straight industry didn’t necessarily approve with open arms was a testament to her courage. A big name like that taking on this role was not really heard of. Gloria played the Helen Lawson role for this parody of Valley of the Dolls, based on Susan Hayward’s character Helen Lawson. All the juicy scenes from the original were included in the script, like the famous scene where Ceily pulls off Lana’s wig in the nightclub bathroom. I was never one who wanted to be in front of the camera, but this was my one shot to document myself working with this industry icon. I added a scene where I played a paparazzi photographer who Leonard’s character hires to follow her boyfriend. Of course, I shot some photos of him in another man’s arms and brought them straight back to her. She improvised beautifully, which was so impressive to me, especially when she was dismissing me from her presence by hitting me in the chest with the file, then ordering me to get them published in the local rag. We shot a shit load of dialogue all in one day and I was nervous the whole time that she would say “enough is enough” and try to rush me along. But no way, she was so gracious and into the project, as well as giving tips along the way, which I took gratefully.

The movie was a big hit and, in addition to Gloria’s award, it won Best Screenplay, Best Video and Best Director. I was thrilled, because it was my “baby” and the sequel was “green-lit” almost instantly by the Catalina GM. In 1994, we shot Revenge of the Bi-Dolls, which starts literally right where Jacqueline Susann’s Valley of the Dolls ends. I had Gloria’s number, because I lifted it off the acting application after shooting Valley. When I called her, she absolutely agreed to reprise her role of Lana. She told me a time period when she would be traveling to L.A. from her residence in Hawaii and we scheduled the shoot the day that she was free during her trip. This time, instead of her character being the mean terrorizer, she was the one who got tormented by her nemesis, Ceily Fontana (Sharon Kane). Everything from the original script, to all the standout performances, made Revenge my best reviewed movie ever, getting a rare five stars in AVN magazine. It went on to win Best Picture, Director, Non-Sexual for Chi Chi LaRue and Best Music for Sharon Kane. I was going to end it there, because all the main characters died in the finale, but the Catalina GM wanted a third installment. What do you do when you kill off all the main characters and need to shoot another installment? See for yourself! I cut all three movies together for the PG version on my YouTube channel and called it: Far Beyond The Valley.

Gloria Leonard did not come back for the third installment, as the storyline took a drastic left turn and her character was not part of the progress. But hands down, just being able to spend some time with this icon was something I will never forget and always cherish! It was such an honor to have met this amazing woman, who has so much rich and genuine history in the adult film industry. It’s hard to believe one person had such a broad and expansive career, bringing a lot of good and fun along the way.

On January 31st, 2014 at her home in Waimea, Hawaii, Gloria suffered a massive stroke. As a result of the stroke, she suffered from brain damage and passed away on February 3rd, 2014, at the age of 73. Her history in this industry and beyond speaks for itself. It’s hard to imagine anyone accomplishing as much in life as Gloria Leonard did.

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. And, here I go again starting off with another obscure blog title. The I.M.H.O is of course "In my humble opinion." I have always liked that phrase because it allows the delivery of a potentially heavy message but buffers it by categorizing it as an opinion and not necessarily a fact. The real meat of this blog is what's sexy and what is not. And, of course what floats one boat does not necessarily float another's!

To be blunt, I have always been a devotee of porn. No... not just because I participated in it. But, from an early age (somewhere in my early adolescence), I have always enjoyed some good dick pics. And, the ones that I have found most stimulating are basic ones. With my age at 73 and the fact that I started to seek out these cheap magazine thrills, we are talking about stuff that was from 60 years ago and then some!

I remember seeing the very first nude body pic even before that. My uncle had a stash of softcore porn under his bed. My first exposure was the famous first Playboy issue with the spread of Marilyn Monroe. I found it both shocking and intriguing in that I had never seen a nude before - male nor female - and I didn't really get the physical reaction that I expected. That was when I became aware that I might be a little different.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I loved hanging out with the boys for a circle jerk throughout my teens. Most of them considered it a "phase" and simply outgrew it. But, that wasn't the case for me! During this time I found it very difficult to come by any naked male porn. And, what did come my way was very primitive. Let me explain. Most pics were B&W cut outs from porn mags. And, some of the pics were actual photos taken by various people. This was where I got my taste for straight-forward porn - no acting, fancy sets, or enhanced facial expressions – unadulterated.

From this, I tried to develop a "practice what you preach" concept when in front of a camera. I tried a minimalist approach to participating in these films and print works in terms of "fluffing up" the sexuality in these adventures. Some good examples of this were the first shots taken and published by Man's Image on the Christopher Street pier back in the mid 70s. Nothing was put on... I just stood there being myself. I will have to admit, I was coaxed - or should I say directed - into creating a rather ridiculous, so called "sexy looking" face for the centerfold of a the first Playguy Magazine. I still blush every time I see it! To me it was too contrived.

Anyway, back to "Matters at Hand." My current tastes haven't changed that much over the years. I love the simple straight-forward approach of straight looking guys being filmed or photographed in a J/O scene - no frills. Consider this: the studios that collected these successful gay models over the years did so because their sexuality was naturally projected - nothing was put on. And please, no plucked eyebrows, totally shaved bodies and heads rolling back with mouths agape expressing gratuitous (and obviously not real) sexual ecstasy. I will go as far to admit that still two of my favorite studios are Old Reliable - talk about raw and unedited - and my home base, Bijou World.

Well, I did name this article "Taxing I.M.H.O." You've read my opinions. The Taxing part of it is the work I go through to find the quintessentially simple sex in the smorgasbord of gay sex porn that is out there. For those like me that don't need a plot, stage setting or anything else theatrical to glom up the fantasy of that hunky guy, who is really is the centre du monde, keep the faith there are plenty of goodies out there to ogle. Oh and BTW, I am plenty good at creating the fantasy part, myself.

Bio of Will Seagers:

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

Will Seagers, recent photo

By Josh Eliot

A “tight” asshole? Lips wrapped tightly around a hard cock? Or a hand with a tight grip jacking you off to climax? The word tight in the title of this blog has nothing to do with any of those statements. Having said that, I do remember yelling out: “Your ass is so tight” or “Tighten your ass cheeks on my cock” about a million times to the models for them to repeat on camera. I guess the same went for lips. When directing, the moment things got quiet on the set I always felt the need to yell out a line or two for the models to repeat back. It’s not like the majority of actors would do it on their own, so in order to keep things energetic, I had my staple list of one liners to feed them. I also had a staple list of actions, too. For example, the “underneath” sucking shot was simply that. It’s not the most sexy angle of a cock getting sucked, so we always needed something to spice up the look so it wasn’t just a dick going in and out of a mouth, which got boring to watch after a few moments. I’d tell the model to do the “swing thing.” The swing thing would basically be having the model on his knees sucking the dick while the guy getting sucked would pull his dick out of the sucker’s mouth, using only his hips. He would then swing his dick from side to side, every once and a while clipping the bottom guy on his chin. For the most part, the bottom guy would try to catch it with his mouth or I would tell him to get his hand up there and “snap the dick,” which basically meant he would push it down towards the lens and it would bounce back up and down. We’d have him do it a few times to get a good bounce. It always looked great shot from underneath, and overhead too. I was always sure to repeat the swing thing and the snap thing in every other angle I shot: wide shot side, side close-up, side closeup with pan up body to face, etc., etc. It was a formula, for sure, when shooting a scene.

It was 1990 and I was in my second year of directing for Catalina and still getting the formula down, when our new GM decided to put my skills as a videographer to the test. He was always smoking weed and coming up with out of the ordinary ideas for me to execute. This was the first time, but not the last. Cat Men Do! was one of those later movies that came from his sativa filled brain and I hated every last minute I spent making that movie! He had a very specific idea for this one, and I guess because I was smoking a lot of weed at the time too, I absolutely loved it! The name came first – Sex In Tight Places – and his idea was that the actors would be in small, hard to shoot spaces while having sex. This project would basically throw “the formula” I was still learning out the window and force me to come up with solutions on how to shoot in tiny, cramped spaces. Since this idea stemmed from the GM, he threw in a little extra money for me to spend on the sets. I was off to Warner Brothers Studio in the valley, because they had the best set props anywhere. It was there that I rented two of my sets for shooting: the bus bathroom set, complete with hinges so you could open up one of the walls for shooting, and the graffiti covered phone booth, which had a pop off top for overhead shots. Those folding doors that phone booths had were not removable, making it a real pain in the ass to shoot. The other two sets I built myself were an air conditioning duct and an elevator interior.

We were able to load the phone booth in our van and take it to the set where we built a brick alleyway, which we filled with a bunch of litter. Danny Sommers is a city worker painting over the graffiti on the brick wall, while pedestrian Steve Kennedy drops a dime in the pay phone, hoping it will dial him up some action. The two stars were very helpful in coming up with positions in that tight ass booth – one with Danny holding the top of the booth doing pull ups while Steve Kennedy fucked him all the while using his foot to keep the accordion doors open. Aside from that position, the poor still photographer, Jeff Burton, was fucked and I felt really bad for him. For the bus bathroom scene, we brought the large unit over on a flatbed truck, then set it up in the Catalina warehouse where we shipped all the VHS tapes from. Doug Niles and Dean Pike really were troopers for that shoot, because the temperature in that warehouse got very hot, making things ten times harder. For the finished movie, we stole some stock shots from My Best Buddy, where we had interior and exterior shots of a real bus.

The air duct shoot was a breeze, as we had a studio with visible air ducts for the lead in storyline. Cole Phillips and Damien looked pretty damn good in their hard hats, and once inside the air duct, set the intimacy of the small space helped them connect more sexually. Yes, in case you are wondering, I ripped off the idea from Warner Brothers' set rental department by adding hinges to the wall panels of my air conditioning duct, making it super easy to get shots from every angle.

The final setting, the elevator, was a breeze. We made an elevator before for The Big One, Chet Thomas’ earthquake themed movie, when we were in San Francisco. You basically build a three walled set out of wood paneling, throw some carpet on the floor, and frame some lighting panels on the “removable” ceiling… done. What was the most satisfying about shooting that elevator scene was the surprise Steve Regis brought with him to the set. At the last minute, Steve’s co-star, “what’s his name,” dropped out. We thought we had to cancel the shoot, but Steve said he had a friend who would do the scene with him and assured me I would love this guy. I agreed, sight unseen, so as not to cancel the shoot. When the studio doors opened and Steve walked in with his big, studly, raunchy redhead friend, everyone on the crew felt their heart skip a beat. This guy was handsome, but not overly so in the traditional sense. It was just his overall look and the way he carried himself which was very sexy to us 20-somethings!

Steve played a businessman stuck in an elevator with a hot blue collar delivery guy, whose coke-can, rock hard cock gave us all goosebumps when he opened his fly and pulled it out for the first time. I remember making eye contact with our still photographer, Jeff Burton, and we made a silly face at each other, acknowledging our approval of this hot new model to the set. Since Jeff had such a hard time getting good shots in the phone booth scene, we let him take his time with the new stud to get lots of great hard-shots. The crew and I just sat back and enjoyed the show. We really were like a bunch of oversexed kids in a candy store on that shoot, which never happens! It felt like the fastest scene we ever shot. His dick came out hard, stayed hard even during re-lighting and camera angle changes, and he even came on cue! Now remember, this was years before Viagra; we were not used to this on the set. You only get one chance to make a first impression, and damn! We didn’t name him until after the shoot, and struggled to find a really hot, masculine name to match his looks and the vibe he gave off. On the drive home after the shoot, Steve and his friend/co-star, who cabbed it to the set, rode with us in the van. We were determined to come up with the perfect stage name for him. We wanted something macho and I remembered Tom Brock from the 1988 Catalina movie, They Grow ‘Em Big. He was an ultra-masculine stud who worked for Falcon, Matt Sterling and Catalina from 1985 - 1988. Tom Brock was in some of the most popular movies of the time, including Inch By Inch (1985), Bigger Than Life (1986), Bulge: Mass Appeal (1988) and In Your Wildest Dreams (1988). We decided Brock would be a great first name, then suddenly a Maxon brand truck pulled in front of us on the freeway and I said, “That’s it: Brock Maxon.”

Literally the very next day, I reached out to Brock Maxon and started offering him EVERYTHING. We set up and shot a couple hard photo layouts of him, which graced the cover of Honcho Magazine. We quickly cast him in Chet Thomas’ Cruise Control, starring Derek Cruise, and The Taste of Leather, starring Joe Magnum, the winner of the 1988 International Mr. Leather contest. Brock, Joe Magnum and Donnie Russo worked together in the stand-out scene. Then, just like that… boop. The hottest new stud on the scene got hitched, “married,” to some lucky fucker and removed from the porn star pool, never making another movie again. Now this was a real, “What the fuck!” moment, even though it had nothing to do with my producer, Scott Masters!

Making Sex In Tight Places was good for me as a director and even more so as a videographer, teaching me tricks to use on future projects. Even though Doug Niles was ready to kill me, because we had two crew members shaking the bathroom set constantly to emulate a bus driving, the great group of guys in the cast were all on board for the challenge. But best of all, it's one of only three movies where Brock Maxon ripped the screen apart with his presence. Can you imagine if “what’s his name” didn’t cancel and we never got to meet Brock Maxon in the first place? That would have been as much of a “bummer” as it was having to make Cat Men Do!

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.

It was not super simple for me to pick one Jack Wrangler movie to watch for my “I Just Watched” series. He had an iconic career with many great movies to his credit, but they are so well known that I searched for one that was a bit more obscure.

I remember Jack being a household name ever since I was a young teenager. Of course, I didn’t exactly realize that he started in gay porn at that time; I always associated him with straight porn, as that was my only resource. I remember seeing him on the big screen at the Rustic Drive-in back when I was sixteen and seventeen, when my friends and I would hide in the trunk of my Maverick to watch the triple XXX triple feature weekend nights in the late 1970’s. MisBehavin (1978) with Lesllie Bovee and Jack and Jill (1979) with Samantha Fox (Best Actress Winner, 1980) were a couple of films that I recall seeing during that time period.

I quickly learned, when I moved to San Francisco in 1980, that Jack Wrangler starred in many more all-male gay films than straight ones. Jack was introduced in his first hardcore movie Eyes of a Gay Stranger in 1970, followed by High Rider (1974), but his career took a fast-pass forward in 1976 with his appearance in Joe Gage’s Kansas City Trucking Co. On the heels of that classic, he was front and center with a hot-'n'-hairy, sexy co-star named Roger in both Hot House and Sex Magic in 1977 for filmmaker Jack Deveau at Hand in Hand Films. The years of 1978 – 1979, he really exploded on the scene with movies like Arch Brown's Dynamite (1978), Deveau's A Night at the Adonis and The Boys from Riverside Drive (1978), the William Higgins-produced Jocks (1979) and Steve Scott's Wanted (1979) and Gemini (1979).

If I were to compare the movie Killing Me Softly (originally released as Killing Me Gently) to any of those films, it’s a completely different animal. According to internet records, the official release date was 1979, but could it be that in light of the title change it was actually shot earlier and then re-titled and released as Killing Me Softly in 1979? That ole twat Anita Bryant was smacked in the face with a cream pie in 1977 for being a homophobe and a shot in the movie shows a man holding up a “Anita Sucks” sign. In addition, I did see some photos online from the 1977 protests in Atlanta and Louisiana with pictures of people with “Fuck Anita Bryant” and “Anita Sucks” t-shirts. (You know, simply typing those phrases feels really good to me, for some reason!) In any event, no matter when it was shot, what Killing Me Softly does have is a very realistic, and a bit frightening, portrayal of the cruising scene in New York City in the late 70’s.

I was attracted to watching this movie when I saw Bijou’s Instagram story announcing it as their new, freshly restored release. Having worked on all my movies in the Southern California adult film atmosphere I was intrigued by the fact that this 70’s sexual shocker would bring the grit missing from the California Boys theme I was accustomed to. The movie is shot on film and features live audio and music-enhanced sequences, along with interesting narration familiar with that time period of filmmaking. It also features some great locations, including the Brooklyn Bridge, an abandoned pier and the Christopher Street Fair, with Wrangler and co-star Stanley Richards smack dab in the middle of it. The cast, while not immediately noticeable, features Giuseppe Welch of Centurians of Rome fame, along with John Kovacs and David King from NYC Inferno (aka From Paris to New York). Jack Wrangler’s name above the title is significant, because even though he doesn’t have the most screen time, what scenes he does have he “eats up.” Born in Beverly Hills and the son of a Hollywood producer, Jack was in front of the cameras for a TV Series called The Faith of Our Children in 1953 at age seven, and played a medical student on the TV series Medical Center in 1969 at age 23. It's no wonder he took the porn world by storm with his natural acting ability and very well-endowed package.

I personally had never heard of the director Francis Ellie, and there’s a twist I discovered about him. Francis Ellie's directorial work also includes Death of Scorpio (1979), Kiss Today Goodbye (1976), Michael Angelo and David (1976), Men Come First (1979) and Navy Blue (1975), the latter of which also starred Jack Wrangler alongside George Payne (also of Centurians and much more). Francis Ellie was a chosen stage name for “gay themed pornos” for John Amero, a well-known producer and director of straight porn, with both Amero and fellow straight porn/sexploitation director Michael Findlay together credited as “Francis Ellie” for their earlier collaborative releases under the pseudonym. Amero is credited with such straight classics as Every Inch a Lady (1975) and Blonde Ambition (1981) and is the focus of the book American Exxxstasy: My 30-Year Search for a Happy Ending, in which he also discusses Jack Wrangler.

Early in his career, Amero worked for CBS and ABC as an editor, which is evident in the final cut of Killing Me Softly, especially the jarring murder-by-strangulation scenes. While disturbing, one in particular is almost brilliant: as Giuseppe Welch dies from strangulation, his head falls to the side as a huge load of cum drips out of his mouth. One might call that “over the top,” but I, as a director, call that “pure cinema magic”. Not to put out the wrong vibe – yes, there is violence in this movie, a la Cruising with Al Pacino, but there is also a lot of sexuality and sexual tension. Amero (Ellie) was in this business at the very beginning, and his desire for having his work emulate mainstream Hollywood movies is evident in all of his films. The camerawork also deserves a shout out as being very advanced for its time, with angles that have been emulated by others in movies even to this day, particularly the underneath fucking shots on the Brooklyn Bridge.

Wrangler plays Phillip Jordan, an accomplished actor, while Stanley Richards plays Charles Mandrel (are you sure it’s not Manson?). The couple meet on the Brooklyn Bridge in NYC and immediately head to Jordan’s home for a high energy fuck, with Wrangler taking it up the ass, and start a whirlwind relationship. When Phillips is sent out of town on an acting gig, Mandrel is in his own head and in need of a release. Mandrel pounds the pavement of New York, looking for horny guys on the streets searching for immediate pleasure. Unfortunately for his tricks, Mandrel gets a little bit too crazy at the point of their climax and let's just say they won’t be shooting any more loads in the future. One scene in particular with David King playing a construction worker is a standout, featuring great rimming, fucking and creative camerawork. The movie also includes an incredible location for sex: the Brooklyn Bridge. They must have been there at the crack of dawn to shoot the shots at the bridge for the sex scene between Richards and John Kovacs, because its nearly empty of bystanders. However, the bridge in the backdrop and the cars racing beneath the pair while they fuck is pretty incredible to see on screen. Without giving away the ending, Jack Wrangler returns home, discovers the truth about his lover and opens up about it. Opens his hole, that is. Jack takes Stanley Richards' rock hard dick like a champion, with a raging boner the whole time he gets plowed in missionary position.

There’s a lot to unpack in this movie on and off the screen and I am happy to have been able to explore it, especially since it is celebrating its 45th Anniversary. It inspired me so much, I decided to cut a special “PG” version special anniversary trailer to honor it. Watch it now on my YouTube Channel.

And find Bijou's new release of Killing Me Softly on DVD and Streaming.

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.

Skimming through our physical files on performers, I recently spent a few minutes poring over some archived magazine pages containing quotes and interviews with a popular '80s star I'd always enjoyed on screen but had known little about – Michael Cummings, a stage and video performer with a magnetic, playful presence and a specialty for unusual and memorable scenes.

Starting with 1984's Hot Off the Press, Cummings' first scene was with Matt Ramsey - a sometimes performer in the gay porn world, better known as the ultra-prolific straight porn star Peter North. Continuing to work in videos until at least 1989, Cummings produced a large filmography full of collaboration with many other major studios, directors, and performers. As he discusses below, Cummings (who could transform himself into a variety of characters) was often selected to perform in some of the more inventive and eye-catching sequences in his productions, including: a colorful, food-filled ice cream parlor threeway in Al Parker's Hard Disk Drive (1985); a karate-turned-sex session with Scott O'Hara and David Ashfield in Philip St. John's Below the Belt (1985); serving meals and more in the buff in Roger Earl's Sex Lunch (1985); getting down to work at countless offerings from construction site gloryholes in Steve Scott's 2 X 10 (1986); playing with balloons and jacking off with an animate blow-up doll, then sucking off himself and a gorilla mask-clad beefcake in Michael Zen's Mansize (1986).
 

In interviews, Cummings comes across as confident and clear in his ideas about his career and the value of his work. A charming and insightful speaker, he has many memorably clever quotes. From one of these late-'80s mags, pictured here:

“The critics and finger-pointers imagine all porn stars are dum-dums. Why? Simple: they want to believe that someone out there is so groggy and lust-driven, he'd even have sex with them, the jeering critics. On the other hand, I've never yet heard a well-rested, self-confident man – or woman – mock the people who work in the sex industry.”
 

In a compelling, extensive Stallion Magazine interview (entitled, “Michael Cummings: Porn Imp”), Cummings is described as: “[sitting] on a big bed in a little room... surrounded by a jungle of teddy-bears and other stuffed animals, sipping a tiny bottle of ginseng through a miniature straw... The naive visual is deceptive; as we speak, a strong, determined personality emerges...”
 

Conducted during what Cummings calls a period of “over-saturation” when he was on all the porno box covers in the video stores, he details in this interview his thoughts about the nature of performing on stage and screen, his plans for the future of his career, and more. At that time, he was in the midst of setting up his own production company (“Cumming Rays”), which had just made its first video, a solo tape called Teddy's Bare.


Some excerpts...


After discussing the allure of his youthful look -

Cummings: I know, its not going to last long.

Stallion: One day soon, people will start calling you “Sir.”

Cummings: Or “Madame.”


On his persona -

Cummings: A camera can't see things like attitude and it ignores certain flaws, but it can see an aura, it can smell a sense of ease. I come on a set and warm the whole place up. Like a daisy!

Stallion: Like a daisy?

Cummings: Yes, I just warm up the whole room. I do what's asked of me to the best of my abilities, and no arguments. Producers tell me Michael Cummings is a joy to work with, so I get work, over and over again.

Stallion: My original point when we started this interview was that you were very different from the other boys doing porn – that what you project is more playful, more impish.

Cummings: That's Michael Cummings, though, that's not me.

Stallion: You're quite subdued.

Cummings: I'm very shy – very shy.

Stallion: Am I giving you a hard time?

Cummings: No, no – actually, I'm having fun. I'm always nervous. Michael Cummings is the cover-up.

Stallion: How close is the real you to that sweet naughty little character you've created for film?

Cummings: I don't want to blow anyone's image of me, but I can be somewhat of a bitch. I'm very spoiled, and I did it to myself. No one spoiled me but me.

Stallion: How would you describe your lifestyle?

Cummings: Quiet, a homebody. You won't see me out flaunting my public persona. People don't recognize me in person because there's such a clearly defined difference in my look and composure. I'm not at all what I appear to be in photographs.

Stallion: Do you think people are charmed by the lightness and brightness of the character you present onscreen?

Cummings: Yes. He's refreshing. So many of the men in porno are alike.


On making movies -

Stallion: Do you enjoy the process of filmmaking?

Cummings: Actually, I do. It's therapy for me. Not the in-front-of-the-camera stuff but – well, I did the only smart thing a porn-puppy can do. I kept my eyes open and learned. Now that I'm making a transition to the other side of the lens, I can do camera work, sound work, and editing. I can and have put my own production together.

Stallion: That's Teddy's Bear?

Cummings: Teddy's Bare – as in naked, as in buck-ass naked. It's pretty good, I'm happy with it.

Stallion: It's a collection of solos?

Cummings: Three different solos, about forty-five minutes long. It stars Brett Simms, Dane Ford, and me. The guys in it are all under contract. They get a percentage as royalties, so they have the feeling, “Hey, I've got something to show for this, this Michael Cummings isn't all that bad, he cares about my welfare!” I don't want to leave any of these guys... when their careers are over... I mean, where are they going to get a job?

Stallion: When their porn careers are over.

Cummings: Yeah, some of them just sit there and let this business chew them up. I'm sorry to say that a lot of these guys, not necessarily Brett or Dane, but a lot of them just don't have the mentality to prepare for their futures. They think this is going to last forever. It doesn't.

Stallion: Do a lot of boys fear that doing pornography will affect their futures?

Cummings: Yes, but I don't think it's anything to worry about. Society's views are changing. People are becoming more aware of what it takes to expose yourself to this extreme. They're beginning to realize that, indeed, we're providing a service... We're providing an important service and we don't get enough credit for it. We deserve more credit.


On performing -

Stallion: Auto-fellatio. You use it almost as a symbol. The ritualistic way you use your tongue.

Cummings: That symbolizes something to everybody. People will come to me after a show and say, “How do you do that?” or, “I have always wanted to do that!” It's something everyone shares a fantasy about: What would it be like to be on both ends at the same time? It's all facade. My whole stage show is built on illusion.

Stallion: But is it an illusion? Don't you like sucking your own dick?

Cummings: Not really. It's a pain in the ass. I mean literally, it really hurts. I've been doing it every show and it hurts!

Stallion: What audience response pleases you most?

Cummings: When I'm onstage, there's a tremendous amount of energy running through me – so much energy that there's nothing they can think or feel that I'm not in on. I'm right there, right at the nerve-center. I can put anything I want into their minds at that point. I'm actually right up there bending people's minds. I strip them of all their wiles.

Stallion: Do you see the same qualities in yourself on film?

Cummings: Yes, I do. That's why I'm in demand. I have some of the strangest things asked of me when I work, because people are aware of the broad range of my energy level. They know now that they can ask me to call up a certain character, and there he is – they've got it!

Stallion: Were those qualities right there from the start – in your first film?

Cummings: When I first went to see myself on screen, I expected to see something very dull, very flat. And it was very flat and dull, but I looked and I studied, and I asked myself what that character could do to sharpen his edges. What would make him more “Michael Cummings?” Slowly but surely, I began to develop a certain rhythm, my own style. I'm working on a new character now – he's more of a porn-boy, he's real quiet and forceful, and he does less to get the same message across than Michael Cummings does.

***

Cummings' consideration of all angles of his career, including setting up his production company to actually pay royalties to performers (a rare move) and help sustain their well-being, is notable. I've so far been able to turn up very little information about Cumming Rays, though Teddy's Bare pops up with the potential release date of 1987. It seems like Cummings' studio may not have taken off dramatically, but he continued performing beyond this interview and gracing the screen with his much more of his charisma and intrigue.

You can find a number of his classic gay porn appearances on DVD and Streaming through Bijou!