BijouBlog

By M. Webster

During a recent session of scanning and touching up behind the scenes photos from Jack Deveau's Hot House (1977) from our archive of materials from the great Hand in Hand Films, I felt a lot of enthusiasm to share them with an interested audience. In that spirit, here is a primarily photo-based blog featuring a selection of those images, interspersed with interview excerpts from Hand in Hand crew members pulled from the 2019 book Good Hot Stuff: The Life and Times of Gay Film Pioneer Jack Deveau, a historically valuable peek into the inner workings of one of the foundational studios of '70s/'80s gay porn!

On Hot House:
Classic porn icons Roger and Jack Wrangler star in this comical tale of frustration as two horny men trying to find privacy to have fun in a NYC apartment that is invaded by obnoxious painters, crabby janitors, and neighbors who have lost their keys.

Also starring Jayson MacBride (Catching Up, A Night at the Adonis), David Hunter, Eric Streiff, and Garry Hunt (Ballet Down the Highway, Dune Buddies, Fire Island Fever), and featuring the voice of Tray Christopher (aka legendary fetish video artist Christopher Rage).

Director: Jack Deveau
Writer: Moose 100
Camera: Kees Chapman & Jack Deveau
Sound: Rolf Pardula
Key Grip: Ken Schnetzer
Make-Up: Gene Kelton
Make-Up Assistant: Jim Delegatti
Production Coordinator: Sydney Soons
Editor: Robert Alvarez
Mixer: Kees Chapman
Music Consultant: Bobby
Producer: Jack Deveau

“The big-ticket draw of Hot House was to have been the sex scene between Wrangler and Roger, and the pay-off is there. Back in 1977, these two porn titans knew that the audience expected to be transported nearly to Valhalla when settling in for this section, and both go all out to create what comes off as a genuine physical desire.” - Manifest Reader

“There's a sense of humor and a sense of innocence that resonates from an earlier time.” - Mr. Magazine
 

Frequent Hand in Hand sound mixer Rolf Pardula started with the company with 1975's Ballet Down the Highway and continued to work with them throughout the rest of their productions. He went on to serve as the sound mixer for many independent films including George Romero's Day of the Dead, Larry Cohen's The Stuff, and several Spike Lee productions (School Daze, Malcolm X, Crooklyn, Summer of Sam, and Bamboozled). In Marcus Siedelmann's Good Hot Stuff interview with Pardula, he credits Hand in Hand with helping him to come out.

“When I started working with Bob [Alvarez] and Jack [Deveau] – that was back in the 70s – this was my first introduction into another world, the homosexual world. I had never been exposed to that. I was having relations with women at the time. Bob and Jack, they liked me... They treated me as a part of the family, which was very kind. They had love and care, and they didn't want anything to happen to me. In fact, they protected me, and at the same time allowed me to be on the set, and see these beautiful men having sex with other men. After a few years, I realized I'd been hiding my sexual feelings, and that I really wanted the company of other men. So thanks to Jack and Bob, I was allowed to formulate my personality, who I really was... I didn't have to suppress my feelings or to hide them. Why should I hide my homosexuality if Jack and Bob didn't do that?”

On Jack's style on set: “[Jack] managed it in a very casual style; never something like the set of a Hollywood film. It was always like having a party. He was always comfortable. He never screamed, and he was always a gentleman on the set. He said he wants this and that done, but it was always graciously, and with great respect... That's one of the things Jack Deveau was very well known for.”

Hot House screenwriter Moose 100 had begun as a playwright and was introduced to Jack Deveau and Bob Alvarez through his friend David Earnest, who wrote original scores to many of the studio's early films. Moose 100's writing brought Hand in Hand into its later era, which largely focused on lighter, more comedic works cleverly and affectionately capturing and spoofing NYC gay life.

“Most of the films I've written opened at the Adonis Theater. People went there to cruise. The most unusual thing was that somebody would sit down and watch the movie from the beginning to the end. So the audience saw the films in fragments. Jack and I felt that it was giving us the opportunity to write the movies just like we wanted to, because no one paid that much attention. They were just looking at the sex scenes. They were fantasizing. They were picking up men. That freed us. We felt we were able to experiment. In fact, I used to borrow a print of a new movie, throw a big party, and asked the audience consisting of my straight female friends. They loved them! And they had plenty of hot men to look at.”

Moose 100: "We had a style of working where I would present a first draft. Then we would meet and talk about it, discussing some changes. I used to go home and write [these revisions]... Once we got a shooting script – and this is what I really liked about the process – I was on set all the time in case I was needed. The minute a sex scene starts, you're shooting a documentary. It's what happens in reality, and sometimes, people who act in porn movies got problems, because suddenly there are all these people around, those big hot lights, and they're expected to get erections. Sometimes it doesn't work that way, and things have to change. So having the writer right there can be a helpful thing, or – depending on the people in the cast – sometimes you see one of the actors and you want to sort of customize the role for them. There was one incident during Hot House. They were shooting a sex scene, and right when they'd come to the cumshot, the film suddenly went out of the camera. And they lost it. Immediately, Jack fixed the camera and put in new film, and by that time they were ready to re-shoot the scene – Jack Wrangler also was sexually ready again. I think he was amazingly good at what he was doing. I used to call him The Sexual Professional. You could tell him: 'Jump out of an airplane, jerk off, and come as you land!' (laughing) And he could have done it, because he was totally a pro. In a way that nobody I ever worked with was. He could control his sexuality in a way most people couldn't.”

Robert Alvarez was Jack Deveau's partner in life and in Hand in Hand. They co-founded the studio with Jaap Penraat in 1972 and later co-ran it with Kees Chapman. Bob was the studio's editor, with past experience in experimental and documentary film, and his creativity and skill brought polish and excitement to Hand in Hand's productions.

“[Kees Chapman] came to us actually as the partner of Sydney Soons [aka Mark Woodward]. Sydney came to our office and worked as a production assistant. He also was in Drive, of course, but he was way more interested in the jobs behind the camera, and so he ended up working for us in production. Kees then was working as a waiter downtown. He came in, hung out, and next thing you know, he also was doing work for us [behind the scenes]. At a later point in the game, Kees and Sydney split up... Kees became another partner [in Hand in Hand] because he was very valuable to us. He was a huge help in the later years of Hand in Hand Films' existence. He organized a lot and he also got into camera work. He actually shot some of the stuff in the later films with Jack. He had no specific artistic background; I guess it just came out while working with us. He was very ambitious to learn the different aspects of filmmaking. He was able to work with actors very well, especially after Jack died. More or less, he took over the directing of the actors. We always worked well together.”

Jim Delegatti worked in many different behind-the-scenes roles for Hand in Hand over the years. He initially came to them after seeing their debut film, Left-Handed (1972), with the fantasy of being a performer. They didn't need any at the time, but were looking for crew members. He began as assistant to their make-up artist, Gene Kelton, and served as primary make-up artist on some of their final films. He additionally did set decorating, still photography, acting cameos, and more (“I was still doing this and that. I was learning a lot during the films.”). In his interview with Siedelmann, Delegatti says of Hand in Hand, “We really were a family in many ways” and that, as a small company, everyone helped with everything.

“It was a wonderful time of my life... I always wanted to do it, and I did it. And it was good. I helped a lot to create these films, because in these kind of films you need a certain atmosphere on set; a special mood. And I helped a lot on that too. The actors got their buffet. (laughing)”

“Jack became sick and after he passed I was... he was a big influence in my life. He meant a lot to me. At the time, I needed someone like him to be around. He was there, and so this was a big family loss.”

“I really don't think there was such a thing after Hand in Hand. Jack tried to make something out of it, something different than just a porno film. He was a great cinematographer, and he learned to do all these different things by himself... [Jack] did a lot to improve pornography, and gay cinema. There was a story behind all his films, and there is so much knowledge about the gay community.”

Read more interviews and catch more behind the scenes photos from Hand in Hand Films in Good Hot Stuff: The Life and Times of Gay Film Pioneer Jack Deveau!

In addition to Hot House, Bijou carries the Hand in Hand Films catalog of movies on DVD and Streaming.

For more Bijou Blogs on Hand in Hand Films:
-Interview with Robert Alvarez
-Blog on Jack Deveau & Hand in Hand
-Interview with Tom DeSimone Part 1 & Part 2
-The Backstory of Peter de Rome's The Destroying Angel

By Josh Eliot

“All Kinds of Action for All Kinds of Men”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bio of Josh Eliot:

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

By Josh Eliot

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bio of Josh Eliot:

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

By Josh Eliot

In 1987, before opening the San Francisco studio and hiring me to work for Catalina Video, Scott Masters and editor Chet Thomas had stopped productions for Nova Studios and started working for William Higgins. William Higgins was getting ready to hightail it out of the country for Amsterdam and was prepping Scott Masters to become producer for Catalina Video. Scott Masters also signed on to direct movies produced by Higgins until his departure. Scott’s initial movie for Catalina was called Down For The Count. On paper, it was going to be a star-studded sure-fire hit and, despite itself, it was. The cast included European import Sven Ericson, Chad Johnson, Kurt Bauer, Danny Russo, Kyle McGyver, Dave Phillips (actually: Jon Vincent), Joe Fuller, Matt Forrest, David Dabello, Tyler Jensen and Ricky Rhodes. The lead, however, was a tall, handsome, blue-eyed boy named Eric Manchester.

Born August 26th, 1964, Eric Manchester appeared in over a dozen movies released between the years 1987-1989. Such hits like Spokes 2 (1988) and Touch Me: It’s Hot, It’s Tender (1988) for director Steven Scarborough, as well as In Your Wildest Dreams (1989) for director Matt Sterling, working alongside Tom Brock, Justin Cade, Chad Douglas, Leigh Erickson, and Kevin Williams. Movies released through Catalina Video included Down For The Count (1987), Innocence Lost (1987), They Grow ‘Em Big (1988), Head Of The Class (1988) and his very last movie, Powerline (1989).

Down For The Count had everything going for it - until the make-up man sabotaged the entire project. I remember hearing about this movie on the set, long before ever seeing it on VHS. Hearing Chet Thomas and John Travis laughing about the in your face make-up didn’t really prepare me fully for when I first viewed it and then again some 34 years later, as I revisited the movie. The over use of the make-up and eye liner pencils didn’t go over well in the eyes of William Higgins. I’m just imagining that maybe Scott Masters was heavy handed in the make-up department, like he was in the wardrobe department, and just didn’t realize that shooting on video was less forgiving than shooting on film? But certainly he would have questioned the make-up when shooting the close-up face shots, since he could see them in color on the studio monitors? In any case, the movie is plagued with hot models looking very RuPaul’s Drag Race, especially in the close-ups. I’m sure Sven Ericson was a tall hot stud, but you just can’t get past the eyes. It had some naturally good looking guys in it, like Kurt Bauer and Chad Johnson, but it’s hard to look past what was done to them. Seriously, how do you do that to Chad Johnson (Bijou Video’s Perfect 10) and get away with it!? Despite the make-up (and some questionable costume choices - example: men’s sports bra-like tops), Eric Manchester was the true lead of this movie and does a great job playing the oversexed college wrestler who gets in hot water with the coach for banging every guy in latex who crosses his path. Even though Jon Vincent, Kurt Bauer and Danny Russo provide the standout three-way scene in the school shower, this is really Eric Manchester’s movie. I remember being impressed by this icon from the moment I saw him Matt Sterling’s In Your Wildest Dreams - he was totally dreamy!

In 1989, I worked with him on Powerline. From the moment he walked into the San Francisco studio with director John Travis, we were all smitten. Once again, it was a great surprise to see who John Travis would be bringing in to the shoot, as we never knew in advance. Eric’s scene was in a studio-designed dirt pit where they were going to be adding a power pole. I was going to actually be using the exact same set the following day in my debut movie Runaways. I remember being very envious that John Travis was the one who got to direct Eric Manchester, but you know what? I was just as happy to be the videographer for his scene, where I got to be right below him, shooting from underneath, while he got sucked off. I got the better end of the deal, I suppose. Out of the hundreds of models I’ve worked with over the years, Eric, in my mind, had that something extra making him much more attractive beyond his stunning good looks and breathtaking blue eyes. His time in the Navy, stationed in Washington, gave him a “straight, edgy” persona that was very attractive. In fact, years later when Chi Chi LaRue brought Joey Stefano to the set, for the very first time, to shoot the movie Billboard, I was jettisoned back to the set of Powerline in 1989. To me, they could have been brothers. Joey Stefano was a dead ringer, looks-wise anyway, for Eric Manchester.

After shooting the scenes for Powerline, John Travis and Eric Manchester couldn’t wait to “light up” a big boner Eric had with him. The only thing John Travis loved more than his Benson and Hedges 100’s was a good “bone.” I remember thinking that Eric Manchester was even cuter when he was stoned. His blue eyes all red and blood shot from smoking weed were even more sexy, if you can believe it! He was more relaxed and playful with the crew and a lot lighter on his feet. Back then I remember, at least I think I do, that he was definitely bisexual and had a girlfriend back home. He had the straight boy cool jock from high school feel to him, yet would suck, fuck, top, and bottom with gusto and passion. I truly believed he loved being on the set and enjoyed his uninhibited sexual encounters. I was 27 when we shot Powerline and I just assumed that he was older than me, but in fact he was 2 years younger. He carried himself with such confidence. I’m surprised he made a deliberate decision to get out of the business after completing work on this movie. For years, I couldn’t help but to be curious as to where he was and what he was doing, hoping he would someday surface and contact us for more video work. If I even had a hunch, during my years as producer, that I could have tracked him down, I would have moved heaven and earth to get him in front of the camera again. Decades went by with no word about him. As far as we knew, he cut all ties with the industry, and was untraceable. Where was he all these years? Chatter on the internet had him escorting in Seattle and San Francisco throughout the 1990’s. Escorting ads he placed in magazines and sightings on Polk Street from various sources attest to the fact.

When I went on the internet this week to find shots of Eric Manchester for a Down For The Count trailer I was cutting for my YouTube Channel, I was shocked to see a write up on IMDb about him. In 2023, while evidently visiting the city of San Francisco, Eric Manchester was discovered, by hotel staff, unresponsive in his room. He unfortunately passed away from a heroin overdose, and was laid to rest at the Wellston Cemetery in Oklahoma.

He passed away on March 12, 2023 and was 58 years old.

Bio of Josh Eliot:

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

By Josh Eliot

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.