Cruising the Movies – Détails, épisodes et analyse

On this episode of CRUISING THE MOVIES, Liz and KJ discuss what they consider one of the best documentaries of all time, regardless of topic: Rosa Von Praunheim's ARMY OF LOVERS OR REVOLT OF THE PERVERTS. Made by the prodigious German filmmaker in the aftermath of his groundbreaking and controversial IT IS NOT THE HOMOSEXUAL WHO IS PERVERSE BUT THE SOCIETY IN WHICH HE LIVES—and at the same time as several other of his New York-based features—ARMY OF LOVERS documents the peaks and valleys of gay liberation in the US during the 1970s. Along the way, Praunheim meets both the historical catalysts of gay liberation as well as a cavalcade of characters, including Rev. Troy Perry, sex god Fred Halsted, and more than one person on the fringes of acceptability. Tune in as we talk about Rosa's longstanding fascination and celebration of the United States, warts and all, his distinctive storytelling style, and this documentary still feels provocative and salient five decades later.

On this episode of CRUISING THE MOVIES, our hosts dive into another queer film classic: Edward D. Wood, Jr..’s GLEN OR GLENDA. Calling anything Ed Wood made a genuine “classic” is a relatively new phenomenon in many film circles. Ed Wood used to be the laughingstock of lazy (and bigoted) critics—his name being shorthand for poorly done and confusing work. Now, amid what would’ve been the filmmaker’s 100th birthday, many more people are seeing his films as fascinating looks at gender, desire, and dreamlike feelings that can’t even be put into words. At once earnest and surreal, we make the case that GLEN OR GLENDA should be seen as a foundational trans film—and how Wood’s personal life shaped some of the storylines you see onscreen. We then continue this conversation with Willow Catelyn McClay, co-author of CORPSES, FOOLS, AND MONSTERS: THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OF TRANSNESS IN CINEMA. Liz, KJ, and Willow all discuss how you don’t get to David Lynch without Ed Wood, why domesticity is a recurring tension in trans film images, and where trans cinema may (hopefully) go next. 

You can watch a rare 35mm print (!) of GLEN OR GLENDA with us at the IFC Center on Tuesday, August 20 at 7PM. We are pairing it with the short VALERIE, which is a gem of a short about a Black trans woman in 1970s Ohio. CORPSES, FOOLS, AND MONSTERS is  available wherever you do reputable book business.

Bienvenue! This month on the podcast we’re going international by taking a look at two films shot and set in gay Paree. Up first is Peter de Rome’s 1974 romantic comedy, ADAM & YVES. If you know the film, it’s probably for at least one of two reasons: that it was Peter de Rome’s first feature-length narrative film or that it technically includes Greta Garbo’s final screen appearance — yes, really. What the film actually captures is something between a pas de deux and a folie à deux — is it a grand romance or it shared delusion? —played as a guessing game of seemingly endless film and cultural references. 

As an Ask Any Buddy first, we’ll be hearing from filmmaker Peter de Rome himself through interviews recorded during the production of the 2014 documentary, PETER DE ROME: GRANDFATHER OF GAY PORN. We also discuss the troubles he and Jack Deveau encountered making the film in France, its groundbreaking all-Black orgy, and how this film is remarkably, the first international gay hardcore feature. 

The lines between reality, art, and fantasy all blur together this week on the podcast as we take a look at one-and-done director Enrico Montenegro’s FORBIDDEN PORTRAITS. Sebastian is a Montreal-based artist whose expertise is drawing male erotica. When he randomly receives an envelope of nudes from an adoring fan in New York, Sebastian immediately becomes obsessed with this enigmatic figure who, of course, forgot to leave a return address. His subsequent erotic fantasies and reveries lead him to the nocturnal erotic labyrinths of the Village in search of his muse, John Bolton (played by Bosch Wagner). Will he find his man?

A playful, horny, and mature adult film influenced by the work of Arthur J. Bressan, Jr., FORBIDDEN PORTRAITS has unfortunately languished in obscurity for decades, unavailable on home video since the 1980s, with no 16mm prints confirmed to exist. We’re happy to discuss the film’s plot in detail and bring to light some information on the mysterious director Enrico Montenegro, who was associated with fellow filmmaker Joe Gage. 

In this episode we’ll discuss the true star of this film: the sketched portraits (and hands) of Robert W. Richards, the famous NYC commercial artist whose art and writing was a fixture in several gay publications at the time, including Honcho and Stallion. We also profile one of the genre’s few real-life couples – Roy Garrett and Bob Shane – who indulge in what can only be described as the purest form of boyfriend sex. We also touch upon the anal acrobatics of star Bosch Wagner and also ponder why the film’s main credited performers are otherwise unknowns. 

This week on the podcast, we explore one of the strangest and most outrageous gay films of the 1970s: Red Drayton’s HOLLYWOOD COWBOY. With a cast and crew assembled from filmmaker Pat Rocco’s fan club SPREE, HOLLYWOOD COWBOY feels like both an undiscovered midnight movie and a hardcore variation on the troupe’s original gay-themed stage plays. Joey Daniels stars as the eponymous Cowboy, the proverbial new kid in town who quickly finds himself thrust into Los Angeles’s seamy pornographic underbelly shortly after stepping off the bus from Texas. A chance bar brawl leads him to the benevolent Pops, a former filmmaker whose career ended in dark scandal. As the two form a platonic bond, Cowboy sets off on a quixotic mission to avenge his disgraced elderly friend and help him make one last movie. Will he succeed? 

In this episode we’ll uncover the likely identity of  the mysterious one-and-done filmmaker Red Drayton — and find out how this film was truly a family affair. We also touch on the longevity of Pat Rocco’s fan club, revisit the idiosyncratic court-reporter-turned-filmmaker David Allen and his equally-bonkers THE LIGHT FROM THE SECOND STORY WINDOW, and also note the influence of John Schlesinger’s MIDNIGHT COWBOY on the genre.

When Tom DeSimone’s CATCHING UP begins, two lovers are in crisis. The older man, Frank, tells his younger partner Dennis that their relationship has grown stagnant after a mere three months of living together. Frank’s solution? Spice things up by opening their relationship! At first outraged by this suggestion, the doe-eyed, yet well-hung Dennis (Keith Anthoni, here in his screen debut) rises up to the challenge by throwing himself into a journey of sexual maturation and, well, CATCHING UP. From cruisey movie theater balconies to kinky personals, the romantic comedy-drama of CATCHING UP manages to resonate with relationship issues and tropes still common today. 

Critically lauded at the time of its release, CATCHING UP was a watershed film for filmmaker Tom DeSimone. Its success allowed him to finally make the jump beyond pornography — and the stigma that went with it — into more legitimate mainstream films. In this episode, we focus on this, as well as DeSimone’s relationship with Hand in Hand’s Jack Deveau, and the unlikely college education of one of the film’s beefcake stars. We also mull over why the film has been somewhat forgotten over the years, especially compared to some of DeSimone’s other work. 

Somewhere between RASHOMON and a telenovela, Jack Deveau’s FIRE ISLAND FEVER does what many of us wish we could at this time of year: launch from mid-winter chills to summertime splendor. Featuring a supporting cast of New York gay entertainment grand dames, FIRE ISLAND FEVER takes us to the scandals of Cherry Grove, as well as the men who came to the seaside village to find themselves. Our story not only follows the travails of tumultuous couple and beach house renters Ron and Rick, but also the temporary lovers they take up out of spite along the way—as well as a third roommate who may or may not have had an acid-induced romantic experience with a portrait he imagined into being.

While maybe not one of Hand In Hand’s best-known features, FIRE ISLAND FEVER offers a comedic and engrossing glimpse at a true gay getaway. (And, at the very least, it’s worth comparing the bustling, zeitgeist-y, cliquish portrayal of Fire Island that Deveau provides in this film to the outdoorsy, nearly pastoral depiction Wakefield Poole offered just a few years prior!) In this episode, we discuss this film’s place within Hand In Hand’s trilogy tribute to Fire Island, consider the obscure film knowledge and campy wordplay peppered in throughout, and wonder whether the movie’s truly mind-boggling amount of plot also covered up for some performance fatigue. We also appreciate AAB staple and genuine thespian Garry Hunt, theorize about the film’s confusing marketing campaign, and remember another classic director’s Fire Island series. 

Wakefield Poole’s Boys in the Sand wasn’t the first gay porn film, nor was it star Casey Donovan’s screen debut. It wasn’t even the first gay film to be be shot on Fire Island. But its runaway success and crossover appeal marked a turning point in the nation’s growing gay consciousness and collective pornographic fantasy — not to mention establishing Wakefield Poole as one of the leading figures of the new movement. That said, BOYS IN THE SAND holds up as a lush, heady, and yes, fully versatile romp through the salt-breeze, sand-bar idyll of Fire Island, that gay oasis just a couple of hours away from Manhattan.

Over the course of this week’s episode, we’ll take a look at the unlikely career trajectories and chance circumstances that led Wakefield Poole and Casey Donovan into the adult film world — and each other. We’ll also dispel some myths about the film’s production and explore the groundbreaking marketing and distribution campaign that fueled a genuine  groundswell of intrigue and fascination. By the end of the show, you’ll understand while we still seem to be reckoning with the impact of BOYS IN THE SAND five decades after its original release.

Guess who’s back? The podcast returns for a special holiday Fistmas treat, with one of the roughest films we’ve covered: Roger Earl’s BORN TO RAISE HELL. Filmed with an unflinching documentary feel, Earl’s film comes with a disclaimer that it is 'based on a psychological study of a sadomasochistic relationship between adult men.' Quite an understatement for a film that features golden showers, ruddy beaten asses, alligator clamps, and — yes — brutal fisting. We’ll go in-depth on the Brazilian leather icon and star sadist, Val Martin; discuss the cyclical influence of Fred Halsted and Earl; and learn why the film is banned from screening in L.A. to this very day.

And speaking of L.A., we also take a deep dive into one of the most notorious chapters in the city's queer history: a 1976 charity "slave auction" that resulted in the arrest of 40 leathermen, including many of the principal cast and crew of BORN TO RAISE HELL, Fred Halsted, and the staff of Drummer magazine. We cover the raid from its initial discovery via a postal inspection informant to detailed reports of the auction to its the accused’s lengthy legal battle.

This is a corker of an episode — sit back, grab a recycled beer, rest your legs on a willing sub, and listen!

Happy Halloween, everyone! We wanted to cap off Spooky Season with a true classic—and so we’re covering one of the most beloved films in the adult male genre. FALCONHEAD II throws us back into Michael Zen’s haunting realm of narcissistic self love, but with a few key twists. We’re no longer in a trippy 70’s atmosphere but, instead, a foreboding 80’s new wave space, complete with lush dark synths. We follow Derek as he’s thrown into a journey literally to hell and back, one replete with tempting cherry twinks, bearded brides, dick twins, and tattooed love boys.

In this episode, we dive into what led Zen to make this sequel nearly a decade after the original, as well as the ways FALCONHEAD II builds off of the Orpheus myth to explore gay narcissism in new ways. After discussing distinctive tattoos and the tabloid notoriety of the titular actor, we consider whether we personally prefer the first or second chapter of the Falconhead myth. Regardless of which one we like more, both movies are truly artistic—and truly hot—classics that you should scout out.

And while you’re still in the Halloween spirit, make sure to check out the rest of our Spooky Season selections from this year and last year! (It turns out ghost dick and haunted hole was more popular a sub-genre that we thought.) You’ll get to hear our coverage of not only the first FALCONHEAD, but also several other gems, such as the psychedelic doppelgänger tale THE DESTROYING ANGEL, the bizarrely darling GAYRACULA—and our *free* bonus on SEX DEMON.

Happy listening—and watch out for fangs.