There has been a long-standing rumor that 'Ed D. Louie' is a pseudonym for Edward D. Wood Jr. However, there is very little evidence to support this. Indeed, Wakefield Poole, who directed various other gay porn films around the time, confirmed to me that he saw the film during its run in the 55th St Playhouse. He stated "I remember it was made by a Chinese man who was an uncle of Frank Lee, the owner of the playhouse. [He] was called Mr. Louie. He managed the theater during a period of 2 years."
After some further looking for anything regarding the Frank Lee mentioned by Poole, I found an article talking about a young Chinese man running a theater in California named Frank Lee Jr. I found his website* and contacted him asking if he was related to the man who owned the Playhouse. He confirmed that he is indeed related. Thus, if Wakefield is to be believed, we have a living relative of the director.
There has been a long-standing rumor that 'Ed D. Louie' is a pseudonym for Edward D. Wood Jr. However, there is very little evidence to support this. Indeed, Wakefield Poole, who directed various other gay porn films around the time, confirmed to me that he saw the film during its run in the 55th St Playhouse. He stated "I remember it was made by a Chinese man who was an uncle of Frank Lee, the owner of the playhouse. [He] was called Mr. Louie. He managed the theater during a period of 2 years."
After some further looking for anything regarding the Frank Lee mentioned by Poole, I found an article talking about a young Chinese man running a theater in California named Frank Lee Jr. I found his website* and contacted him asking if he was related to the man who owned the Playhouse. He confirmed that he is indeed related. Thus, if Wakefield is to be believed, we have a living relative of the director.
I'll bump this thread with a small update. My research partner and I have recently reignited our search for this film. We've been in contact with several of the key players involved in the search, including but not limited to Vincent Parillo, David Tipmore, 'KrakenSlayer' and Billy A. Anderson.
Using all the information we've gathered, I'm working on a short essay that should serve as a comprehensive guide to all that's known about the film. It's very nearly finished. It includes a good amount of information not (easily) available to the general public online. Certainly a lot of stuff not listed on the Wiki. I want to release it as soon as possible, but we've got one more idea on how to contact Frank Lee. Once we've given that a shot, we'll get it released. Expect a link here as soon as it's ready.
Note the "hand in hand films" credit, and the first title listed under contents. It's word-for-word one of the taglines featured in The Village Voice ads.
Note the "hand in hand films" credit, and the first title listed under contents. It's word-for-word one of the taglines featured in The Village Voice ads.
That's amazing! I think this actually could be it! A bunch of the other content notes sound like they could also be some NSFW films (I mean, Times Square strip? Hot & heavy?). It says "short films", do we know how long it was supposed to be?
That's amazing! I think this actually could be it! A bunch of the other content notes sound like they could also be some NSFW films (I mean, Times Square strip? Hot & heavy?). It says "short films", do we know how long it was supposed to be?
No idea how long it's supposed to be. A few of the other films listed actually are feature-length films, so I'm guessing that most of them probably are just "highlight reels" from longer features. I have the email of American film critic Phil Hall on file, so I've emailed him about it as he's shown considerable interest towards this film in the past.
If he, or anyone else, could gain access to the material, I also have the details of Vincent Parrillo, Wakefield Poole, and David Tipmore on file. As they have all been confirmed to have seen the film, I could easily forward the material onto them for a positive identification.
That's amazing! I think this actually could be it! A bunch of the other content notes sound like they could also be some NSFW films (I mean, Times Square strip? Hot & heavy?). It says "short films", do we know how long it was supposed to be?
No idea how long it's supposed to be. A few of the other films listed actually are feature-length films, so I'm guessing that most of them probably are just "highlight reels" from longer features. I have the email of American film critic Phil Hall on file, so I've emailed him about it as he's shown considerable interest towards this film in the past.
If he, or anyone else, could gain access to the material, I also have the details of Vincent Parrillo, Wakefield Poole, and David Tipmore on file. As they have all been confirmed to have seen the film, I could easily forward the material onto them for a positive identification.
Still, even if we get SOME of the film, that'd be an enormous step.