tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post2815523627888757005..comments2024-03-10T06:53:25.401+00:00Comments on To Obscurity and Beyond...: Lost Movie Detective: Him (1974) UPDATEDCaptain Obscurityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00982751839439260400noreply@blogger.comBlogger92125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-71550575212993985782023-07-11T23:42:42.295+01:002023-07-11T23:42:42.295+01:00something new?something new?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-72710218952998394442023-03-06T17:50:13.674+00:002023-03-06T17:50:13.674+00:00damn
damn<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-78140806329540107362022-05-17T09:49:36.325+01:002022-05-17T09:49:36.325+01:00So looking at the photo collection that photo came...So looking at the photo collection that photo came from, another photo from a few feet down the road shows the theater's marquee. To me, it looks like the theater is showing Him. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/aea7cced-6e68-982c-e040-e00a1806318eAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-65597595917434388972022-01-28T15:59:26.775+00:002022-01-28T15:59:26.775+00:00Curious if you remember the name of that defunct f...Curious if you remember the name of that defunct film preservation message board. I've never seen those particular photos mentioned and I'd love to see if I could find any archives of the site.Jack Holmanhttp://www.jackwholman.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-33102665667574977192022-01-27T14:01:56.537+00:002022-01-27T14:01:56.537+00:00Continuing
Realistically, being gay in 1974 was “...Continuing<br /><br />Realistically, being gay in 1974 was “taboo,” so making gay films or even going to see them in a theater was not something a lot of people wanted to be involved in. Your life could easily be ruined if you were seen by someone you know walking out of the Bijou. So again the idea of the longevity and future of these films was never in the forefront of most of these filmmakers minds. And it was water under the bridge when people started putting adult films on betas and VHS. Granted there was 8mm and sometimes 16mm things available to the public, usually mail order or purchased at a bookstore or theater. This film very well made it to 8mm, albeit probably abridged to stick to the sex film point and possibly with no sound. I’ve found equally weird things on 8 and 16mm. But really, if the film wasn’t something that was turning the crowd on, it was a dud and the theaters wanted to move on quick to keep seats film. So the prints that they bought probably got scrapped.<br /><br />Big picture here is that there’s evidence that the film exist(ed) but until someone digs it up it’s a lost film.<br /><br />Other films were things of legend that eventually turned up. Notably a set of European biker loops packed with all of the swastika clad bikers and rape that you could imagine.<br /><br />The adult film world was the Wild West until they really started cracking down.<br />Andrenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-90328245049982331052022-01-27T13:59:34.894+00:002022-01-27T13:59:34.894+00:00Old porn nerd here.
(Bare with me, I’ve got an in...Old porn nerd here.<br /><br />(Bare with me, I’ve got an infant and a two year old so this is going to be sort of scatterbrained, but I’ll try to make my points clear.)<br /><br />This film absolutely exists. The description is debatable but there being a gay film about Jesus called HIM is well documented. There are several people that do what I do, basically search for adult films every day. HIM has been one that has eluded everyone for decades.<br /><br />I’ve personally seen it advertised in various adult magazines and periodicals from 1974/1975. The advertisements are always for screenings of it. I’ve seen them from San Francisco, to Chicago, to Boston and NYC. Probably others too, but this is going off of memory. Anyway. There’s at least evidence there of it being advertised for screenings. About eight years ago someone on a now defunct film preservation message board posted a couple of pictures that they had come across while going through their grandfathers belongings. The man must’ve seen a car on the side of the road that he liked and stopped to snap a couple of pictures. In the background there was a theater and in its windows there was two one sheets for the film. Not very in focus, but if you’ve seen the advertisements for the film you can make out the title and the image of Jesus. Lastly, another person uncovered a photograph of a gay theater that had “World Premier: HIM” and under it something along the lines of “The Things They Didn’t Tell You In The Bible.” So in my opinion this is proof that the film at least existed and was screened. So there’s that. The biggest smoking gun to surface was production stills. Albeit nothing extreme and unfortunately lost to aforementioned defunct message board. It was a big discovery at the time.<br /><br />There’s several problems when it comes to the preservation of adult films. The simplest being that the legality of making films of this nature back then was dicey, there usually wasn’t much of a film crew, and to avoid repercussions they would either not credit anyone or the director would at least be credited and it would be a one off nom de plume. You hit a dead end there. Usually the cast was the same. A bunch of nobodies, sometimes one or two well known actors, sometimes before they became well known and hadn’t found their ‘name’ yet. So they used other names. All of this makes it hard to track things down. Nobody wanted to get bagged for obscenity.<br /><br />Another factor is that in the early 70’s home video was barely a thought for the adult film world. Not everyone was Gerard Damiano or The Mitchell Brothers. The big picture for a lot of these people wasn’t getting famous, it was whipping something together to make a buck. A director under a fake name and no crew names should be evidence enough that no one wanted their name attached to this. There’s great potential that this was made by someone who was already established making films but that it either came out and they didn’t like what they made or they knew it was going to cause a stir so they wanted to avoid that. Then again most adult film directors(and actors, writers, etc) were using a multitude of names and it varied from film to film. Look up someone like Shaun Costello on IMDb and browse his filmography, at least a dozen different working names. “Straight” filmmakers worked on adult films under aliases. That ranged from Wes Craven to Orson Welles. So my theory here is that it was either a nobody or someone who had a career and resources to make a decent film. But the problem here is that without being able to see at least a few clips of the film you wouldn’t be able to tell the production value.<br /><br />This was sort of pre one-day-wonder(films made exclusively to run at specific theaters, made in a day just for content)and I think that that makes my quick buck theory kind of weak. But it’s still a theory.<br /><br />Andrenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-55814469951427129282022-01-17T00:48:18.538+00:002022-01-17T00:48:18.538+00:00The movie really exists. Vinny Parrilo said that h...The movie really exists. Vinny Parrilo said that he watched in 1974 at an adult movie theater.Andrénoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-48327309438920722302021-12-27T17:59:12.984+00:002021-12-27T17:59:12.984+00:00It may never have been registered with the U.S. Co...It may never have been registered with the U.S. Copyright Office to begin with, which is not unheard of for gay pornographic cinema from that period. Mick Cantonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04130340964486506527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-40331937030265011422021-12-15T04:36:26.363+00:002021-12-15T04:36:26.363+00:00Interestingly, this film is not listed in the Copy...Interestingly, this film is not listed in the Copyright Index at all, which lists every film registered through them, including pornos (Deep Throat, Memories Within Miss Aggie, etc.) - I find that very suspect. Also, it appears from the Variety film index that Variety actually never reviewed the movie.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-13185384818541181002021-10-09T00:00:16.884+01:002021-10-09T00:00:16.884+01:00Evan does amazing work. I met him (albeit briefly)...Evan does amazing work. I met him (albeit briefly) at the screening of the 4K restorations of Fred Halsted's films at MoMA in NYC, a month before Covid wreaked havoc on the world. Mick Cantonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04130340964486506527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-84103999407871291972021-10-02T09:23:11.515+01:002021-10-02T09:23:11.515+01:00Thanks, Mick. At the very least, should the film e...Thanks, Mick. At the very least, should the film ever be found, I'd be doing my own analysis/commentary regardless of any involvement in any release. <br /><br />I do hold out some hope for it to be found. For just one example, Evan Purchell of Ask Any Buddy has located or helped locate a bunch of lost "all-male" films. Just recently he found a previously lost all-male spoof of The Exorcist, and now a new 2K restoration from that print has some screening dates in the States. The screening dates I've compiled imply the existence of at least two prints, so it certainly isn't hopeless. Could be found tomorrow for all we know.Jack Holmanhttp://www.jackwholman.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-3172597367621757902021-10-02T02:57:52.347+01:002021-10-02T02:57:52.347+01:00Thank you, Jack. If the film is ever found (has an...Thank you, Jack. If the film is ever found (has anyone thought to look in NYC's Chinatown district?), it would be the cult movie news of the century. If a Blu-Ray release ever happens (keeping my fingers and toes crossed), you should definitely be involved in any supplements. Mick Cantonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04130340964486506527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-57849513336485398752020-10-01T01:58:15.979+01:002020-10-01T01:58:15.979+01:00What was the film distributed by and do you have a...What was the film distributed by and do you have a copy of the film?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09665589330075489072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-83003685383923504662020-09-03T22:08:20.049+01:002020-09-03T22:08:20.049+01:00His website doesn't seem to have worked for so...His website doesn't seem to have worked for some years, although you can still access bits and pieces of it through the wayback machine. I've been in touch with him, although we tend to go long whiles between contact. I can confirm that he's indeed a very lovely man, he even takes the time to wish me a happy birthday each year.Jack Holmanhttp://www.jackwholman.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-58307118140166241452020-09-03T11:07:08.969+01:002020-09-03T11:07:08.969+01:00Has anyone heard from Vinny Parrillo lately? His ...Has anyone heard from Vinny Parrillo lately? His website no longer works. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-3663928330154022452019-12-18T14:42:30.323+00:002019-12-18T14:42:30.323+00:00It's a good thing we have an International int...It's a good thing we have an International interest in the mystery of Mr. Louie and his strange film. I'm not sure how serious and dedicated they are as film detectives, but we do have one Spanish language webpage, where, strangely, a claim is made that Tava in the role of Jesus has not been confirmed, and I don't know why the person writing for this webpage would make that claim. The non-Jesus actor has been identified was his first name Ron? That still with three other guys probably had its clearest and best defined posting to a German language webpage about New York City, with a relatively small section devoted to the 55th St. Playhouse, although the lastime I visited the web page, that still was not there. One of the guys clearly has a mustache, and there are porno film fans who spcialize in "pornstache" actors, as well as 2 Yahoo groups that attempt to ID porno models, although Yahoo recently announced a change in policy on those groups. If that pornstache model could be identified, it would add a third name to the cast of HIM, along with Ron and Tava.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-60844858048616200412019-12-13T01:43:55.792+00:002019-12-13T01:43:55.792+00:00Hi Mick. The current version of the essay is avail...Hi Mick. The current version of the essay is available via my website, www.jackwholman.com. You'll find it linked there under the "Long-Form Essays and Academic Work" section. From there you should be able to download it and do with it as you please.Jack Holmanhttp://jackwholman.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-1408913559694278442019-12-12T16:56:26.520+00:002019-12-12T16:56:26.520+00:00I am the guy who wrote the above commentI am the guy who wrote the above commentMick Cantonehttp://instagram.com/mcantoneartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-40444261596306521782019-12-12T16:54:31.458+00:002019-12-12T16:54:31.458+00:00Having followed this article since its inception, ...Having followed this article since its inception, I have to say that this is fascinating. Jack, I have read your essay in the past and I would like to have a copy of it as your detective work is second to none. This would make a great documentary about the dedication and legwork required to track down (and potentially rediscover) a lost film.Mick Cantonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04130340964486506527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-80743257475056195782019-12-05T03:06:49.104+00:002019-12-05T03:06:49.104+00:00Someone knows what happen with the kindsey institu...Someone knows what happen with the kindsey institute digitalization process or new information?Creeoymetalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12735438030545464471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-68442886010462344262019-04-06T13:47:35.317+01:002019-04-06T13:47:35.317+01:00well, thanks again. but now the question is, who...well, thanks again. but now the question is, who might be 'louie'? I still wonder if its an illegibly scribbled 'wood jr' on some document? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-24477560360892110832019-03-03T15:07:21.819+00:002019-03-03T15:07:21.819+00:00I see, quite a shame. I'll have to contact the...I see, quite a shame. I'll have to contact them directly to see if I can get a quote.<br /><br />In regards to the Ed Wood connection, recently uncovered articles and recollections have shown that Ed D. Louie likely wasn't a pseudonym at all. There really isn't anything concrete that links Wood to the production, just the name Ed and the fact that he directed porn in the latter part of his career.Jack Holmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-43563106834333592212019-03-03T13:57:00.642+00:002019-03-03T13:57:00.642+00:00hello again. to be honest I just sent an email to ...hello again. to be honest I just sent an email to their archive when I read about your possible breakthrough.[ no wish to pour cold water on it.] one argument against this being a wood film is that he was based in california not new York, where 'him' seems to be set. BUT he was from NY originally so the possibiblity of ed going there for a project increases. my source-book, 'nightmare of ecstasy' also shows that wood liked to dress up as jesus at times. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-71722266456877656002019-02-23T21:37:45.771+00:002019-02-23T21:37:45.771+00:00I have not seen this, but I do have some informati...I have not seen this, but I do have some information that may help people in finding information about Him.<br />First, the Adonis Theatre lasted into at least the late 1980's, so if you know people who worked there, they may have information. (Source: "Skyscraper" by Karl Sabbagh, Penguin Books, 1991)<br />The location where the photo in this page was taken was in Soho, but I can't give the exact address. The name on the window is an actual business name, not a set dresser's gag. The business moved to NJ around 1980, and they are still around. (They may not want the publicity from having a porn film filmed at their old location.)<br />There is or was an Ed D. Louie living in Hawai'i, but I don't know if it's him or someone else, or if he still lives there.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438895679877550326.post-2374347156395637532018-12-22T15:51:39.771+00:002018-12-22T15:51:39.771+00:00Would you mind elaborating somewhat? What exactly ...Would you mind elaborating somewhat? What exactly were your communications with the Kinsey Institute? Thanks.Jack Holmannoreply@blogger.com