Ze Good Ol' Days Part Deux
Behind The Green Door
Me and Vanessa Del Rio
I refer to today’s stable of porno actress as “occupants.” They have the staying power of a sickly fruit fly. They enter the porno business not out of the commitment to “make love and not war,” but rather to use their exposure in the fuck film to being a featured topless dancer.
I reviewed my first fuck film in 1969 and what I loved about it was that it was like going to a family circle. My uncles and aunts were identifiable and there was a basic humanity that made the fucking a pleasure to watch. The porno actresses of the late 60’s and early 70’s were on a merry-go-round and their sexual antics were heartfelt, and hard-on felt. What distinguished these beautiful creatures and the films they made was that their actions were a political statement. They felt that fucking and making love was a real response to the flag-draped coffins being returned everyday from Vietnam.
The quality was better because the films were shot in 35mm and there were only two or three new releases every week as opposed to today’s smut shot on video with ten new movies released per hour. The directors were men of true ability and included Gerry Damiano, Jack Weston, Radley Metzger and Ron Sullivan. It also included stars of the future like Wes Craven who directed me in ‘It Happened in Hollywood’ and Brian DePalma who went on to make many great films including Scarface.
Gerry Damiano’s first film, Deep Throat was the first that contained a sense of humor and a meaningful plot. On the west coast, hard core broke through mostly through the efforts of DiRenzi’s theater called The Screening Room. It was the first theater in SF to show hardcore.
And we have to applaud the efforts of the Mitchell Brothers, they brought us Behind the Green Door, 120 Days of Sodom and the Resurrection of Eve. They were clearly the outlaws of the business. While the mafia controlled things on the east coast, in SF it was a political statement and artistic integrity and pride mattered. It is no wonder those films are still popular today. Because there was so little product the names of Harry Reems and Jamie Gillis stand out as the pioneers they are. Compared to today where we only have a huge, fat, hairy pig named Ron Jeremy who makes films hourly and is 50 years old.
Today’s films with nameless and faceless actors that no one will remember 10 minutes from now have no drama, no conflict and they are the toilet paper of cinema. Today’s films are a fart in the wind rather than the cinematic or political statements they used to be. The death of 35mm celluoild and the birth of VHS, DVD and now streaming video is like the Buchenwald of entertainment.
posted by Al Goldstein @ 11:34 AM
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