Bringing in the BIG GUNS

By Josh Eliot

Arguably the best movie director William Higgins ever made was the bestselling hit Big Guns. Released in 1987, it quickly became the movie to see and to share with friends. Big Guns was the winner of Best Gay Film at the 1987 XRCO Awards and honored again in 2003 at the Grabby Awards for Best Classic Video. The lead, and featured constantly throughout the movie, was Mike Henson. The A-list co-stars include Jeff Quinn, John Davenport, Kevin Williams, John Rocklin, Chris Gray, Mike Ryan, Jeff Boote and Rocky Armano. The two other co-stars, Chad Douglas and Kevin Wiles, had the “show-stopping” scene that, at least in our San Francisco flat, was played, rewound, played again and rewound over and over again. Freeze frames sucked on a VHS machine, so you could never really use that as an option to fantasize over. I’m pretty sure I remember being pissed that the rental tape had creases throughout that scene from other renters, prior to us, doing the same wind and rewind. Big Guns was a defining moment for Catalina Video as a company and the wave continued with its sequel, Hot Rods: The Young & The Hung 2. I started working with Catalina Video in October of 1987 and was very well aware of who they were as a company and the history of William Higgins' work, thanks to my local video store on 18th and Castro. I literally felt like I hit the jackpot when Dan Allman (Cameron Leight) told me exactly what company was hiring me. Something left out of the conversations in my two previous interviews with Scott Masters and John Travis before getting their blessing and having a final interview with Dan. Talk about not feeling worthy!

I slowly got used to life on the set. In the beginning, we were not pumping out two to three movies a month like we did starting a few years later. I continued my job as an insurance claims adjuster and got Norma, my manager, to agree for me to have days off when Catalina booked me for shoots. She and her husband owned a franchise video store called National Video and she was just as thrilled as I was when I told her I got my dream job to work in video production. Of course I never told her it was porn; she would not have been on board with that. I told her that tired old story I felt the need to tell time and time again - that I was working on corporate training videos. It worked and she made the accommodations for me. Of course, it didn’t hurt that I got all the employees to throw her a 20th anniversary surprise party to celebrate her time with the insurance company. I got her consent a few days later. I know how to time things! So shoots were sporadic, maybe a few days a month. After getting a few movies under my belt and starting on second camera, Catalina asked me to work at the studio in between productions with Dan Allman for a salary instead of day-pay. I accepted and before we knew it production was increasing. Scott Masters would schedule at least two scenes for two different movies for every set that we built. For example, we built a shower for The Young Cadets and also used it for Black Force, a biracial movie.

In 1988, John Travis made a movie with one hell of a cast called My Best Buddy. This year, My Best Buddy is celebrating it’s 35th Anniversary. To celebrate it and my memories working on it, I cut a little PG trailer for my YouTube Channel and Instagram. Here’s the link if you’d like to check it out.

Dan and I spent a few days putting together a woodsy set. We went to Golden Gate Park and got lots of greenery from the ground as well as fallen tree limbs. We also worked out a deal to rent trees from a local nursery. The set looked incredible; with our night back drop, it came across as very realistic. We shot a scene for Dan’s movie Black Force, which he directed under the name Freddy Murphy instead of Cameron Leight; you know, different era.

A day or so later, John Travis showed up with Doug Niles and his co-star, none other than Big Guns lead Mike Henson. We were never told in advance what models were flying up from L.A . with the directors and this was the first real “star sighting” for me. I knew him from Big Guns, but also In Hot Pursuit, Hot Rods: The Young & The Hung 2, Full Load and Bad Boys Club. It really felt like porn royalty was walking through the door. It turns out he was one year younger than me, born in 1963, and could not have been more down to earth and friendly. He and Doug Niles really hit it off and I was suddenly shown what a real performer behaved like on the set. Totally into the scene, bonding with his partner and knowing how to work a camera. Very little direction needed except for repeating some actions to get different angles. I was lucky enough to work with him again when I directed Sailor in the Wild 2 in 1990 and Powertool 2, co-directing with Chi Chi LaRue in 1991. If you remember, Powertool ends with Jeff Stryker cruising Mike Henson across the street. In the sequel, we opened the movie with Stryker cruising Mike Henson, but replaced the shots of Mike Henson with new ones that we shot, looking a bit older. We intercut it with Styker seamlessly, then he turns and sees Lex Baldwin. Henson bids adieu to Stryker and goes off with Baldwin. (Click this link for a look at the Powertool 2 extended trailer on my channel.) We almost got Stryker for Powertool 2, but negotiations broke down. It’s too bad; I wanted to change his look utilizing a hairy chest and facial hair, but it was not to be.

Another great set that we did not build, but rented, for My Best Buddy was a passenger bus. Kurt Bauer, who I knew from my very first day on the set, and Mike Gregory, who I knew from Young Cadets, were cast for a three-way on the bus. A bus on which, by the way, we also shot a scene for Scott Masters' The Main Attraction and a scene for my first directorial debut video, Runaways. Their co-star was John Davenport, winner of the Best New Stud award at the 1986 XRCO Awards. Another shake-in-my-boots star sighting famous for his giant piece and outrageous cum shots. I remember Dan throwing on a hat and sunglasses when he shot the underneath angle, and he told me to stand back with the fill light or it was going to get a soaking. I first saw him in The Bigger They Come, then Big Guns, Powertool and Innocence Lost, to name a few. It’s amazing what huge hits he was a part of. He was a lot more intimidating than Mike Henson. I want to say John Davenport was more straight-acting than most gay-for-pay guys and really needed constant direction to pull the performance out. The giant hard dick was not the issue, it was up and ready to go, it was more like the energy level didn’t match that of hot Mike Gregory who was always ready to go and Kurt Bauer who, bisexual himself, really let himself go and enjoyed himself while playing with the boys. John Davenport was on the set again the next year in John Travis’s Powerline in 1989, this time with even lower energy or desire to be there. I’m not sure why, but we never saw him again after that. To round off my first set of star sightings, Mike Ryan, another Big Guns star, showed up one day for the yellow bedroom scene in My Best Buddy with the Young Cadet himself, Chris Williams.

Even though the movie Big Guns really featured a packed cast, the movie My Best Buddy was noted by many for having a top notch cast, as well led by newcomer Doug Niles. Niles is the true star of the movie, and if you happen to watch his scene with Greg Stevens, let me know if you notice the flub. Between day one of shooting their scene and day two, Greg Stevens met some trick in the Castro and didn’t make it back to the “models apartment” that night. He was MIA the next morning and we had to wait in the studio until John Travis contacted us saying he returned, which was sometime early afternoon. Everyone was annoyed and stressed, especially John Travis. It was obvious to all that he had partied all night and whomever he tricked with gave him and extreme punkish haircut. Like a tweaker got a pair of scissors and went to town. John Travis was beside himself, breaking his own record of chain smoking. He asked the make-up man (whose nickname was “Wolf-Pussy,” don’t ask me why) to try and make his hair match what it looked like the day before. We even re-shot his close-ups from the day before so it would “kind-of” match! I think we were done with Greg Stevens after that movie. Other than that hideous day, working on My Best Buddy with some real Big Guns was an experience that always stuck with me, as a positive exciting time.

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.