BijouBlog

This week, we're reprinting Joseph W Bean's illuminating interview with legendary S/M filmmaker Roger Earl from the Oct-Nov 1997 issue of International Leatherman magazine. Earl and his collaborative partner Terry LeGrand were behind many of the most influential classic gay S/M films and videos, including Born to Raise Hell and the Dungeons of Europe and Bound for Europe series.

We're breaking this interview up into installments, so stay tuned in future weeks for its continuation!

Roger Earl: Thinking about this talk, I decided to start by telling you about a time when I was around 25 years old. I went to a party in the Hollywood Hills and, at that party, I met a great looking guy who was about 50 years old, six feet tall, with good body... and before the party was over, we were in the basement, on the cement stairs. I had his pants around his ankles, his shirt off and I was whipping his ass and his shoulders with my belt. It was his first experience ever in this sort of a scene – not mine, but his. He was a carpenter at the National Broadcasting Company and he was the one responsible for getting me a job at NBC. I say that was his first experience. It certainly wasn't his last.

After I joined NBC and was working there, George came to me and said he had been approached by a group of people who wanted to do a heavy S&M film. They wanted him to direct it. (George is the carpenter that I met at the party.) He said the only way he would do it is if I would co-direct with him and work with him on it, and I said, "Sure, why not."

Well, I went to the first meeting. George was supposed to be there. Needless to say, George never showed up at any meetings. George never participated. He dropped out and really didn't want anything to do with it. He wanted me to do it. This is where I met Terry LeGrand. The meeting was with Terry LeGrand and company, to do this heavy SM film. On the way home from the meeting that day, my mind was racing. I was thinking about all this stuff that needed to be done, thinking about the motorcycle men and the tattoos and all, and the tattoo "Born to Raise Hell" came to mind.

Right then and there, I knew, on the freeway, that was going to be the name of the film. They had no title. They had no script. All they had was, "Make us a heavy SM film. OK?" I knew that in order to do this film, I needed this dynamite top, this man that was always in everybody's mind as the Hot Top, and I had no idea where I was going to find him.

RE: Exactly! And, I even considered... there was this guy who was a Colt model, Ledermeister was his name with Colt. I forget his real name, but he hung out at the baths, and I was going to approach him. But he also was not into the scene. He really wasn't quite right. So I was haunting Larry's bar at the time in Los Angeles.

Joseph W. Bean: Larry's, the bar with the famous Full Moon Parties by invitation?

RE: Yes, and, one day when I went in there, there he was. He was the man that I knew would make this film what I wanted it to be. I knew I had to ask him to be a part of it, and can I tell you something: I was scared shitless. I figured he would knock me right through the fucking wall if l even approached him. I stood there on one foot, and my stomach turned and, finally, I said, “Hey, go for it, if he knocks you on your ass, he knocks you on your ass and we're done, we're finished.” So, I approached this guy, his name was Val Martin – of course, as we all know now, I told him what I wanted to do and he said, “Give me your number. I'll call you tomorrow.” And he did. Val turned out to be one of my dearest and closest friends, one of the sweetest men in the world, and totally made the movie, as we all know.

JWB: He went on to make Drummer and, in a sense, to make, or at least radically change, the whole scene as we now know it.

RE: Without Val there was no movie. He was the key to that whole movie. And, as I said, he became a very dear friend afterward. His was one of the first panels I made for the AIDS Memorial Quilt. I did his name in black with little silver studs, and, at the bottom, I put "A Leatherman and a Gentleman." To me, that really explained Val. He was really a gentleman and a hell of a leatherman. I admired him so much and miss him so much. I really miss Val.

RE: Anyway, that's how Born to Raise Hell all came about and, from that, Terry LeGrand became a business partner and a friend. We were never interested in each other sexually or anything, but we became very dear friends Terry will always be my friend through thick and thin, and hell and high water.

In all the films that I've done with Terry, I will say that all the real production values in these films are Terry's responsibility. I mean, he's responsible for that because he's the one that has the guts to go ask the Queen of England to let us shoot a fuck film in the palace. That's the kind of person Terry is, and that's why we got the great locations, the great people and the rest of it. I mean, had Terry been with me that night when Val was in the bar, Terry would have walked right up to him without any problem. I squirmed and carried on and went through six deaths, but Terry would have walked right up to him. So, Terry is really responsible for Marathon Films having the production values and having some of the great models. The two of us were able to work together so well because he has this wonderful chutzpah that created what I wanted, and every time I said, “Terry I need, I want," Terry would bend over backwards to make sure I got what I needed and wanted. We made a good tape – a very good tape.

There are a couple of things I would like to tell you about. This was during the making of Born To Raise Hell, when we were in the dungeon, and I had a guy tied up to the cross and all...

JWB: Where was that?

RE: That was a place in Hollywood called the House of Dominance, where all the Dominatrixes charged the guys anywhere from $200 to $500 to tie them up and beat their ass. They had lawyers, executives from film studios... everyone. And they were great gals. I really enjoyed them and they were terrific. They wanted to be there when I shot. They said they never allowed anybody to be there when they weren't present, and I said, "Bullshit! You will destroy everything I'm doing. You can't be here. These guys don't work well with women." Anyway, that was all solved, and they were very pleased with what we had done in their facility.

RE: But we were shooting this one scene with Tiger on the cross and tied up, and Val and Bob were whipping the hell out him and all this, and he was screaming bloody murder. I mean just screaming, wide open, screaming bloody murder. I finally just stopped, "Wait, wait," and I asked Tiger, "Are you OK?"

He said, "I'm fine. I was just acting."

I was so pissed off. I went back to Bob and Val and said, "Beat the shit out of that motherfucker. I don't like acting. I want to hear real fuckin' pain." I almost flipped. That's something I have never forgotten.

When we shot that last scene with the two cops out in the woods, I don't remember who I went through to get these two guys. But, anyway, I told them I needed their sizes to go to Western Costume to get the uniforms, and one of the guys said, "You don't need to get a uniform for me. I've got one." So, he showed up in his LAPD uniform, and it turned after I shot the whole thing, that he really was an LAPD – on the reserve unit.

JWB: I heard that from Val later.

RE: I told him I wished he had told me about all of this, and he said, "You wouldn't have used me if I had." I admitted he was right. Anyway, it was in the can, so I just went with it.

RE: Dale... yes, was the name of the guy we used in the opening scene, the guy that sat in the toilet and they pissed in his mouth, and they took him in and beat the shit out of him on the pool table and put the dildo up his ass. They really worked the kid over pretty roughly, and I was very pleased with all that he took, and I thought he was terrific. Then, when we finished that scene, I put my arm around him and said, "Man, you were terrific, you really were." And he asked if that was all. He asked if they weren't going to hurt him any more. "I love pain," he said, "I really was hoping there would be more." I said, "Hey, you want to do more, give me a few minutes." And that's when Val got out the alligator clips and we shot that extra scene, because the kid just hadn't had enough. As long as Val was willing... So, it's funny how these things happen in a shooting.

RE: Also, the kid whose head we shaved, the long-haired guy? What happened was, the first day we shot, I was so tired and so horny, I stopped by Larry's on the way home from the shoot and I met this guy and thought, “Well, I'll take him home, play with him a little bit and then go to bed and get a good night's sleep.” I brought him home, started playing with him, and I said something like, “I'm going to shave this long, fucking hair off." And he said that would be fine, "Go ahead." I went to get my stuff and I asked myself, "Am I fucking crazy? I want to do this on film." And I asked him if he would do it on film, and he said he would. I showed up the next morning with him and Terry said, "You told me that... You were very emphatic that we weren't allowed to bring tricks and friends to the shoot." I told him this wasn't a trick or a friend, this was a new actor. He said we didn't have the money. "Well, we'll have to find it," I said. He said the only way would be to take the money out of my money. I agreed, and that's how he came about.

JWB: Can I ask a couple questions about Born To Raise Hell while we're here? In the '70s, when you made Born, there were sex films sort of in the mainstream, and sex films were being shown in big theaters. It was all pretty different, but how different was it? Did you think, when you were making it, this is has to be a secret, this can't be thought of as part of my career, that kind of stuff?

RE: Absolutely, because it was a porn film... everything about it, I could not have been known as having done this. For years and years, it was very hush-hush that I had anything to do with it, and I actually denied having anything to do with it. Of course, Born to Raise Hell was shown on film and 16mm. It was edited on my dining room table in my apartment.

JWB: Movieola and canvas bag at the end of the table?

RE: Well, it wasn't even a Movieola, it was a reel-to-reel crank-through called the Moviescope, and I cut original. There wasn't enough money to do a work print, so I cut original.

JWB: Who cut the negative? Did you have to do that yourself?

RE: No. The original was...

JWB: Oh, you didn't have any kind of print at all?

RE: Nothing, I cut original, right out of the camera to my table. But I had enough confidence in myself that I could do it. And I said, "I'II do it. Don't worry about it. I know what I'm doing. I know the film. I shot it, I can do it." And I did. It didn't turn out all that bad. I made a couple little mistakes that I could certainly see, but most people don't see them. And it was very interesting.

Another little tidbit about Born To Raise Hell: the cameraman that we used was a cameraman for Jacques Cousteau, a straight man, of course. The action that went on never once bothered him. He never mentioned anything about what we were doing or anything. He just kept going on about, "God these guys have such dirty feet, I keep smelling those dirty feet, I smell dirty socks all the time, all these dirty feet." They're sniffing amyl one after the other. [Ed. Note: At the time, poppers were amyl nitrate in glass ampules, and spent amyl smelled powerfully of dirty socks.]

JWB: How much of a crew did it take to do Born To Raise Hell?

RE: We had a lighting director, a camera man, our still guy, myself, and I had an assistant, and Terry was there of course.

JWB: So, six or seven people?

RE: We had a gofer, too, who was running around getting food for the actors...

JWB: And how does that compare with the crew you needed to do the European shoot?

RE: About the same.

JWB: Really? So things didn't change that much in 20-plus years.

RE: When I started shooting in Europe, I switched to a two-camera shoot.

In the next installment, Roger Earl gets into his later work: the shoots in Europe with the Palm Drive Video photographers, Christian Dreesen, Marks of Pleasure, and more.

From June 15th to the 18th of 2001, the Catalina crew and I were on the East Coast to work on scenes for four of our upcoming productions. The movies were Vermont Reunion, New England Summer, Party in Provincetown, and His Terrible Twin. This was not the norm to be shooting this many movies simultaneously - in fact, we normally didn’t have a script or even an idea for an upcoming movie until a week or two before production would start. Needless to say that I had to do a lot of pre-planning for this trip to make everything work out seamlessly. I directed two of the four movies, with Peter Romero directing Vermont Reunion and Brad Austin directing Party in Provincetown. His Terrible Twin was the big budget movie for the year and was basically paying for a lot of the other movies to have “on-location” scenes in them.

We left from L.A. and flew to Boston, where we rented a large van and drove it to Rhode Island. We all stayed at my parent’s house, in Coventry, Rhode Island, where I grew up. My parents were very cool and accepting of my career with Catalina Video and were happy to host the crew for an evening. My mom made a large batch of Cacoila, delicious shredded beef we first discovered at the Portuguese Carnival held in town each summer. The next morning, we drove to Provincetown, MA and rented out a B&B on Bradford Street, about a ten minute walk from the center of town on Commercial Street. I remember being really excited to show the crew P-Town, as it was the first time for all of them. We hit all the hot spots: breakfast at The Squealing Pig, lunch at The Lobster Pot, drinks at The A-House, doughboys at The Portuguese Bakery, and your late night munchie fix at Spiritus Pizza. We were sitting on the steps of Spiritus Pizza eating our pepperoni slices when the most amazing thing happened. John Waters walked bye with a couple other guys! Brad Austin spotted him and it was everything I could do not to run up to him and “gush!” The models flying into Provincetown - Ray Harley, Brad McGuire, Aaron Tanner and Robert Black - all hated the very, very, very tiny Provincetown Airport. The flights were nail-biters because the planes were like - four-seaters! Robert Black had to sit next to the pilot and was trembling when he arrived!

The first movie we started rolling on was His Terrible Twin with Ray Harley and Brad McGuire. The pair realized that their roommate (played by Andy Hunter, who shot all his scenes in Los Angeles) was psychotic and they were determined to take him down. We blocked a day for dialogue in the rental house, as well as a local cemetery - the same cemetery Ryan Murphy used in a season of American Horror Story. I guess that will be my only six degrees of separation with Ryan Murphy, sadly. I have to say Brad McGuire is one hell of an actor, elevating His Terrible Twin with his performance, and Ray Harley benefited from working with him, as well.

The next morning, we took them both out of downtown and to the secluded sand dunes near the ocean. We hiked quite a distance into the dunes to find the perfect spot for shooting their outdoor sex scene. Everyone was carrying equipment, including the models, and we were all about to “drop” when we found a nice grassy area at the bottom of a dune. I put the make-up man on top of one sand dune and my partner, Tony, on another to look out for anyone heading our way. We got through the sucking and fucking without any interruptions, but just as I was about to go in for the cum shots, a “looky-loo” was spotted. We wrapped the guys in blankets, covered our video equipment and just sat around like we were chatting. Just when you think the scene is almost done! After about ten minutes, he finally left our sights and wandered off. Cum shots both came quickly and we were on our way back to town. Here’s a link to “The Making of His Terrible Twin,” a short video on my channel.

We definitely needed some stiff drinks after the shoot, so we hit the bars. Brad Austin, who always gets chatty with strangers in bars, was telling the bartender that we were in town shooting porn. I’m sure as a way to entice him into bed. The bartender was familiar with Catalina Video and mentioned that his roommate had a small sailboat that would be perfect for shooting a scene. We had scheduled the next day’s scene with Brad McGuire and Aaron Tanner at our house rental, but Brad Austin begged me to come up with some “moolah” to shoot on the boat. I thought it was a great idea and told him, “Yes, let’s see if we can get the bartender’s friend to accept $300.” It meant another fabulous dinner at the Lobster Pot would have to go bye-bye in exchange for a couple of pizzas from Spiritus, but we all agreed because we wanted to get on that boat to shoot. The scene came out fantastic and can be viewed in Brad Austin’s movie Party in Provincetown. The boat owner even dragged along a little dingy so we could get wide shots while the dingy circled the large sailboat. It looked like a million bucks. The next day, we hiked along the sea steps that led to an attached island with Ray Harley and Robert Black. There was a beautiful lighthouse in the distance so we stopped, set up the cameras and shot their sex scene with it in the background.

After wrapping up in Provincetown, we drove to Burlington, VT, where we picked up Steve Rambo and David Chelsea at the airport. We then headed out to Williamstown, VT, where we rented a secluded home in a rural part of the state. The house was home base for us to shoot some scenes for Vermont Reunion and New England Summer. On our way to Williamstown, we passed through Montpelier, VT for some dialogue scenes. In the movie New England Summer, Steve Rambo picks up his friend, played by David Chelsea, at the train station. Steve has always been in love with David, but David is such a whore that it was impossible to tie him down. Throughout the visit, the two find more things in common and realize they can embrace his “whorish ways” by playing together, thus making them the perfect couple. The movie ends with David proposing and the two of them walking into the stunning Capitol Building to take their vows. In 2002, when we shot this movie, the state of Vermont was not yet allowing gay marriage. I guess I was an optimist when writing the script, insinuating that Vermont allowed gay marriage, because it wasn’t until September 1, 2009 that Vermont actually became the fourth state to do so. The state of Vermont did, however, allow civil unions starting back in March of 2000. We continued our drive to the house rental and just so happened upon the most amazing covered bridge, right next to a dam and running river. When I spotted it, I just had to stop, pull out the cameras and get some shots of the two actors walking out of the bridge and across the dam. I discovered, from a YouTube follower who watched the New England Summer trailer on my channel, that it was “The Lower Cox Brook Covered Bridge in Northfield, VT.” Thanks! He was responding to a previous follower who thought it might be the Beetlejuice Bridge, from the 1988 film.

My partner, Tony, and our friend, Mark, all returned to the East Coast and Provincetown a few weeks ago. Provincetown has not changed one bit! Lunch at the Lobster Pot was amazing, and the doughboys and custard filled donuts at the Portuguese Bakery brought me right back to 2001! I thought we were booked into the same B&B that we shot His Terrible Twin in, but once we arrived I realized I was wrong!!! Damn, I had a whole blog I was going to write about that! It was actually up the street from where we stayed on Bradford Street, but I remembered (because of Tony’s diary that he’s kept since the early 1980’s) that His Terrible Twin’s house location was a house rental, not a B&B. I fucked up, but the John Randall House where we stayed this time was fabulous and actually more central to town! Once back in Rhode Island, we actually toured the real Conjuring house in Harrisville, but I’ll write about that in one of my Halloween themed blogs this October, as we also went to more haunted places while we were there.

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.

Producer Scott Masters was able to secure some great talent to work for Catalina Video in the 1980s and early 1990s. One of his main discoveries was Matt Powers, who I wrote about in the blog “Some Real What The Fuck Moments While Making Scott Masters' LIFEGUARD ON DUTY.” Scott signed Matt to an exclusive contract, moved him into his home and started a romantic relationship with him. When their breakup happened and Matt moved out of the residence, Scott suffered from separation anxiety and put out the feelers for a new exclusive model to replace him.

This new exclusive model came to us from the state of Colorado and was signed to a multi-picture deal in 1991. The model was Cody Foster, 21 years old, born October 9th, 1970. His very first scene was a J/O in the video Stargazing, which featured solo performances from all of the up-and-coming Catalina stars. He was personable, very friendly and fun to be around. Then we started production on Malibu Pool Boys (1992), his first full feature, which received more attention and instant success than many movies before it. Malibu Pool Boys made Cody an instant star and led to a staggering amount of magazine covers to follow, essentially turning him into the “It Boy” of 1992. Cody was poised to have a long successful career and an exciting life as one of Catalina’s dancers who toured the country. His multi-picture contract and company backing almost guaranteed that. In addition, his Colorado agent had national and international connections with all the gay clubs and event promoters.

I’d say some red flags were glaring to myself and the crew from working with him on Malibu Pool Boys. Shooting the movie started off smoothly, with Scott Masters, Cody and myself taking a drive down the Pacific Coast Highway, shooting exterior shots and having a fantastic seafood lunch on the shore. Spirits were high and everyone was excited to start this movie that we hoped would be a “star-vehicle” to make Cody a success. Shooting the first day with Chad Knight was going excellently - who didn’t love shooting a scene with Chad! His dick was always up and ready, so the oral went great. The real trouble started with the fucking. Scott Masters would never - absolutely never - put the full power and finances of the company behind a new exclusive star who was a “bottom,” no way no how. That’s how he felt, and he often verbalized it. This was years before popular power-bottom Joey Stefano hit the scene.

The shooting of Malibu Pool Boys was a classic lesson on how not to start off a working relationship. You see, Cody Foster was a bottom, through and through; he verbalized it to all of us and even tried to reason with Masters, but to no avail. Scott Masters was going to have this hot new exclusive fuck Chad Knight, come hell or high water! Well, I can tell you, that went over like “a fart in church.” Cody would get hard, run into the shot, try to stick it in and go soft almost immediately. This literally went on for hours and hours, and you could visibly see Cody’s spirit dimming and his hostility growing. Still photographer Jeff Burton and I were even a little frightened by certain personality changes we witnessed. It was more than just frustration we were seeing; his anger filled the room, though Scott Masters didn’t seem to notice. Yes, we got some shots in the final movie of Cody fucking, but at what expense? Cody became angrier and angrier and probably felt like his voice wasn’t heard, and his first time with the full crew was probably embarrassing for him. There was no Viagra then, and you could just see him almost losing it every time he had to penetrate Chad. I felt bad for Chad, too; how do you finish a scene with someone who is obviously in distress and ready to explode? Jeff and I both tried to get Scott Masters to just have Cody bottom to release some anxiety on the set, but it all fell on deaf ears. He waited until both models were absolutely exhausted to finally let Chad fuck Cody. Of course, Chad fucked like the star he is and saved the scene. But the damage was done. From that very first sex scene on his very first movie, Cody acted completely different in every single conversation with Scott Masters and the crew.

A couple of days later, it was time for Cody’s second scene in the movie with Arik Travis. Can I just say that Arik Travis never got the full “star-treatment” he so deserved! He is tall, dark and handsome, with a chiseled face and fat piece. I think the only cover he graced was for Fan Male, by Chi Chi LaRue, even though he worked on and off from 1992 to 2003. Total star potential with him! In any event, everyone showed up with a good attitude and the scene went off without a hitch, with Cody doing all the bottoming and no topping. Even though things went well that day, there was this weird tension in the air, almost like Cody was super annoyed to be around all of us.

The next time we saw Cody was when he came to town for his role in Chi Chi LaRue’s Bi-ology: The Making of Mr. Right (1992) with Lois Ayres and Dean Glass, and his role in Reunion (1992). I was shooting Down Bi Law downstairs while Chi Chi was working with Cody upstairs for Bi-ology. Chi Chi later told me that it was a bit tense at moments, where Cody would kind of get a bit pissy and she was scared that I would see Lois’ head rolling down the staircase. Lois Ayres is a strong woman, and the kind of starlet that you don’t fuck with. She might have pushed Cody’s buttons once or twice, causing another tense set. We split the crew in half to shoot simultaneously, and photographer Jeff Burton would run up and down the stairs to cover the still photography for both movies. He kept plopping down and sharing the nightmarish behavior happening upstairs with me. For the movie Reunion, I was the head videographer and we shot it at the 8 Is Enough TV show house in Universal City. All I truly remember is that it was tenser than tense! I’ve blocked out why and how, but Cody became very dark and slightly scary. I was so happy to have never had to direct him - I could always stay on his good side by being just the cameraman, plus a good listener when he wanted to go off.

By mid-1992, when Masters and John Travis departed the company, Cody had one movie left on his contract: Cody Exposed (1993), which I passed on to Brad Austin to direct. He never forgave me for that! Cody’s contract was not renewed, despite his becoming immensely popular with the public. He then went on to work with numerous companies like All Worlds (Hard as Marble, 1992), Falcon (Basic Plumbing, 1993) and Pleasure Productions (Ripped, 1992), despite having numerous run-ins with the law in Colorado. In 1992, a civil suit was filed and in 1993, he had a restraining order against him and was convicted in Colorado for prohibited use of a weapon. I remember hearing that he fired his gun at a government building. In 1994, despite his legal troubles, he worked on three movies: The Bigger the Better 2 (HIS), Workin’ Stiff (Falcon) and Grease Guns (Studio 2000). In early 1995, his popularity was finishing its peak when he worked on Tradewinds (Huge) for Matt Sterling and Whitefire (All Worlds). After those movies, suddenly and without warning, all productions of movies featuring Cody Foster ended.

In 1995, he began serving a four-year prison sentence in a Jefferson County, Colorado jail for retaliating against his wife, who had previously filed charges against him for battery. His wife divorced him while he was in jail. Once out of incarceration he tried to revise his career, this time in the bondage market of adult entertainment as a submissive bottom taking punishment under restraint, which included whipping and spanking. In 2003, despite the change in his looks and image after getting out of jail, he went on to work in Open House (Massive Studios) and Goldenrod (Studio 2000) for producer Scott Masters. Go figure.

He was not seen on screen again until 2006, when he was featured in Tough-Man Bondage (Grapik Art Productions), where he was hanging from all fours from the ceiling while John Bondi sweated his ass off while brutally whipping and spanking him. Those who have worked with Cody state that he had a very poor childhood, suffered from physical abuse when he was young, got married at age 20 and struggled with being in the closet.

On June 7th, 2007, he passed away from liver cancer at age 37. A difficult story to tell, for sure.

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.

One of my absolute favorite movies of all time is Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes (1977). In the movie, a typical American family, with all their faults and neurosis, gets stranded in the New Mexico desert when their RV breaks down. To complicate things, they took the wrong “dirt” road and have no idea where they are. It turns out they are smack dab in the middle of some radioactive area that a local “inbred” family of hillbillies calls home. Oh, and did I mention that the hillbilly family is deformed from all the radiation and also appears to be psychotic? This heartwarming film features the actress who played the mother character from both Cujo and E.T. - Dee Wallace. She got the role in The Hills Have Eyes a couple years after making her minuscule debut in The Stepford Wives (1975). She really stole the show for me in The Hills Have Eyes and I found myself spotting her in countless movies throughout the years, with her newest, to debut this year, called Stream (2024). When someone has screen presence and can stop a scene cold I really take notice. She is one of those actors.

A show-stopper that I worked with ever since Valley of the Bi Dolls (1993) is Sharon Kane. She is also one of those scene-stealing performers to me. Naturally, I knew Sharon Kane would have one or two show-stopping scenes when I cast her in The Hills Have Bi’s (1996), but I had no idea that the supporting cast I compiled would also surprise me with their outstanding “drop the mic” performances. Yes, the script was probably one of the best I’ve written since Revenge of the Bi Dolls (1994), but little did I know how fun, cheeky and campy this movie would turn out to be. So much so that it won Best Bisexual Picture and Best Sex Comedy at the Gay Erotic Video Awards.

Every good bi movie needs a straight scene and a gay scene; I’ll start with the straight. Ever since shooting straight porn star “Bad Boy” Sean Rider in Straight To Bed 2 (the sequel to Straight To Bed, read the blog), we all wanted to get Sean Rider and his fat cock in front of our cameras again! Sean started his career as an adult performer at age 22 in 1993 and retired in 2002. Chi Chi LaRue, who plays a non-sexual role in Hills, was still in deep with Vivid Video and had inside access to the stars of the straight industry. Sean Rider had turned us down numerous times before, but this time he had an interesting proposal. He agreed to perform in the straight scene if and only if I could secure a new starlet on the porn scene named Lexi Erickson. I quickly went to work and drove my ass down to the valley to meet with the main agent in the straight porn industry. He was very welcoming and didn’t hesitate to reach out to Lexi Erickson on our behalf. Like I said, he was a powerful player in the industry and within that initial phone call he got her to commit to the booking, just like that! I couldn’t wait to call Sean and let him know! When the agent hung up the phone, he looked over to me and said, “Okay, who else do you need?” I told him I was also looking for an actress who would agree to do a bisexual scene. He said he had a few, then pulled out a giant book of photos and we started looking at the girls together. The industry was more open to bi movies at this point, but I was surprised that he didn’t “grimace” when I mentioned a bi scene. He was very cool and didn’t even flinch over the idea. The role I was casting was for the cheeky character called “Lupe,” the maid to an affluent Beverly Hills family. She needed to be a knockout, and actress Taylor Dante was just that! From the moment she walked onto the set, her confidence and sexual aura was evident. She ended up stealing the show every time she was on camera! Especially when she had a tit for tat with Chi Chi LaRue and Moist Towelette’s characters. Taylor Dante’s incredible looks and body that popped out of her maid’s uniform commanded attention while she shot attitude in every direction with her eyes and facial expressions. Her big moment was in a threeway with Paul Carrigan and Dylan James, two painters charmed by her beauty! She looked so incredible in that maid’s uniform, she asked if she could keep it, which of course I said yes to. Even though the two actresses were not on set together, her interactions with Sharon Kane were hysterical.

Lexi Erickson was 23 years old, stood 5’5” and had piercing hazel eyes and blond hair. When I first saw her in person, I was blown away by her beauty, looking very down home country girl. I can see why Sean Rider was chomping at the bit to work with her! She looked so pure and natural that I changed her character name to Sara Lee, from whatever it was before. She was meeting the Beverly Hills couple, Sharon Kane and Sean Rider, who were the parents of her fiancé, played by Drew Andrews. Getting Lexi in this role was a game changer, like Spelling getting Sammy Jo in Dynasty, except Sara Lee was sweet and kind. I was also pleasantly surprised that Sean Rider had grown his hair out since performing his J/O in Straight To Bed, where his head was shaven. He really fit the role of the family patriarch. The set up was that Sara Lee’s family was coming for the wedding and to meet her new in-laws. The problem was her family. Chi Chi LaRue, Moist Towelette (Chi Chi’s lover), and their sons from an unknown “daddy,” Alec Powers and Mason Walker, were a hillbilly family so backwards just them being themselves turned the household upside down.

When the father, Sean Rider, sneaks into Lexi Erickson’s room, we all were treated to some crazy fucking so wild that it ripped the condom in about twenty seconds and I felt guilty to even say the word “cut,” because I didn’t want to intrude on their crazy chemistry just to replace the condom, reset lights and move the camera. So we just jumped around the best we could while they fucked and fucked and pounded and pounded! It was hands down the hottest chemistry we ever caught on tape! I remember photographer Jeff Burton coming up to me all concerned because Sean was fucking her so hard. I chimed in and asked Lexi if everything was okay and she let out a big laugh and said, “You bet!” So we carried on; it was very impressive seeing that fat cock penetrating her tight pussy. Sean was like a rabid dog. I was so happy that he was pleased, as it showed in his rock hard boner!

Not to leave the gay boys out, Jake Taylor played the best man to groom Drew Andrews. The twelve-bedroom house was just so small that they were forced to share a bed for the night prior to the wedding. The groom found himself needing just one more hot juicy cock before resigning himself to a life of eating and pounding pussy. There is a great seduction scene between the two guys and I don’t think either of them ever looked better on the screen.

Last but not least, Sharon Kane as the matriarch Clarice, a pissed off, mentally drained wife who has reached the end of her rope with her cheating husband, Sean Rider. She tries to embrace the fucked up hillbilly family by offering afternoon tea, of sorts, but when Chi Chi tastes the caviar and Clarice explains what it is, Chi Chi freaks out and spits it out of her mouth, giving Clarice a face-full. The look on Sharon Kane’s face, full of caviar, is priceless!

Sharon Kane’s acting talents are not the only thing she brought to the table for this movie. She collaborated with Clint Yeager on a duet, which she performs in the middle of the night when she wakes up and realizes her husband is not in their bed. The song, “Desires of the Heart,” is a moody ballad that is a departure for both Yeager and Kane, and they nail it. Clint Yeager sings the opening title song, “White Trash,” which is a rocking tune more his style, and Sharon Kane sings the closing tune, “The Hills Have Bi’s,” as she’s driving off with her new hillbilly family after leaving her husband forever. I’ve linked the songs to this blog, should you like to take a look!

Clint Yeager, who worked in our Catalina offices in the art department, was lead guitarist in the Los Angeles based band GAYC/DC, and was a longtime bartender at Eagle LA. Unfortunately he passed away on August 15th, 2023 at the age of 53. We are all very proud of him and the vast history and legacy he left behind.

To me, The Hills Have Bi’s is so much more than a great viewing experience - from the story, to the sex, to the amazing cast, and all that great music. To me, it’s a celebration of how, when it all works and everyone is on the top of their game, a porno – yes, a porn movie – can be pure magic!

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 M. Webster

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

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

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

Following are some excerpts from the interview.

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

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

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

GayLife: Where do you advertise?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

GayLife, August 22, 1980 letter to the editor:

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

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

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

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

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

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