"4 ARE ARRESTED IN FILM SEIZURE" - The New York Times, October 1, 1970
"Judge Rosenberg set Oct. for a hearing in the case of the distributor, Saul Shiffrin of Livingston, N. J., and the managers, Thomas DeGraffenreid of the Evergreen Theater at 55 East 11th Street, Henry Young of the Lido East at 211 East 59th Street and Chung Louis of the 55th Street Playhouse at 154 West 55th Street."
I can't say I've come across the name Chung Louis before in relation to the Playhouse. It is strikingly similar to 'Louie', isn't it. Perhaps Ed D. Louie was a pseudonym after all. Perhaps Ed D. Louie and Chung Louis were relatives. Perhaps they're two unrelated people. Still, an interesting little tidbit.
I think it might be a bit of a jump, since those could both be last names. I do think Ed D. Louie is a pseudonym of some sort, or he uses a different name typically when working, something along those lines. As for the other "titles" given in the library listing, the description says that there was the handwritten note that went along with the reel, so they were just using what they had because the shorts didn't have a title in the actually footage.
I've done some looking into the films on the Kinsey re-- Sorry, print. I managed to identify most of them with relative certainty. There were only three I couldn't identify whatsoever, including the one we're interested in. My guess is that those three are either under alternate titles or just flat out mistitled. I've put together a table of each of the films, including their year of release, directors, distributors, and studios. You can find it at this link.
Well, you can almost immediately disregard that. In the few hours since I posted that I found a listing for 'Curb service' and amended the table. I couldn't find a listing for 'Hot & heavy', but I did find a listing for a 'Hot, hard and heavy'. I'm thinking it might be a typo or something along those lines, so I've included the information from that listing as a placeholder. The updated table can be found here.
I've done some looking into the films on the Kinsey re-- Sorry, print. I managed to identify most of them with relative certainty. There were only three I couldn't identify whatsoever, including the one we're interested in. My guess is that those three are either under alternate titles or just flat out mistitled. I've put together a table of each of the films, including their year of release, directors, distributors, and studios. You can find it at this link.
Well, you can almost immediately disregard that. In the few hours since I posted that I found a listing for 'Curb service' and amended the table. I couldn't find a listing for 'Hot & heavy', but I did find a listing for a 'Hot, hard and heavy'. I'm thinking it might be a typo or something along those lines, so I've included the information from that listing as a placeholder. The updated table can be found here.
Honestly, "Hot & heavy" sounds like such a generic porn name, it could be a film that's just undocumented online.
Well, you can almost immediately disregard that. In the few hours since I posted that I found a listing for 'Curb service' and amended the table. I couldn't find a listing for 'Hot & heavy', but I did find a listing for a 'Hot, hard and heavy'. I'm thinking it might be a typo or something along those lines, so I've included the information from that listing as a placeholder. The updated table can be found here.
Honestly, "Hot & heavy" sounds like such a generic porn name, it could be a film that's just undocumented online.
A few things struck me as interesting. Firstly, the page lists the distributor and studio behind Him as 'Fantastic Films', not Hand-in-Hand. The listing on the site for Fantastic Films turns up nothing other than Him. The page lists actor 'Ron Travers' in the role of the main (non-Jesus) character. Again, his page brings up nothing other than 'Him'. The page lists several scenes, including a few not mentioned in either David Tipmore or Al Goldstein's reviews.
The page cites three sources for this information: 1. Pete Dvarackas. "Gayflicks" Gay Times #19, 1974 pg. 22 (Review) 2. Bruce King. Gay Scene Vol. 4 No. 12 May 1974 pg. 15 (Review) 3. Data-Boy No. 114 Mar. 12, 1975 pg. 17 (Review)
I haven't come across any of these articles before in relation to the film. The page also lists Gustav Von Will (AKA Tava) under the name 'Tava von Wilo', which I'm thinking is probably just an error. I'm not sure how any of the new info presented on the page holds up, I guess I'd have to take a look at those articles to find out. I haven't been able to turn up anything in searching for them, but I've emailed the webmasters over on the site to see if they can provide me with the relevant scans.
A few things struck me as interesting. Firstly, the page lists the distributor and studio behind Him as 'Fantastic Films', not Hand-in-Hand. The listing on the site for Fantastic Films turns up nothing other than Him. The page lists actor 'Ron Travers' in the role of the main (non-Jesus) character. Again, his page brings up nothing other than 'Him'. The page lists several scenes, including a few not mentioned in either David Tipmore or Al Goldstein's reviews.
The page cites three sources for this information: 1. Pete Dvarackas. "Gayflicks" Gay Times #19, 1974 pg. 22 (Review) 2. Bruce King. Gay Scene Vol. 4 No. 12 May 1974 pg. 15 (Review) 3. Data-Boy No. 114 Mar. 12, 1975 pg. 17 (Review)
I haven't come across any of these articles before in relation to the film. The page also lists Gustav Von Will (AKA Tava) under the name 'Tava von Wilo', which I'm thinking is probably just an error. I'm not sure how any of the new info presented on the page holds up, I guess I'd have to take a look at those articles to find out. I haven't been able to turn up anything in searching for them, but I've emailed the webmasters over on the site to see if they can provide me with the relevant scans.
The webmaster got back to me: "I personally don’t have access to this material.
There could have been multiple studios/distributors attached, or Hand-in-Hand was a subsidy or had subsidies, or they changed their names at some point/had pseudonyms.
There could have been multiple studios/distributors attached, or Hand-in-Hand was a subsidy or had subsidies, or they changed their names at some point/had pseudonyms.
Or the webpage in question could be mistaken. Still, it's worth making note of.
Post by stintergalactic on Apr 13, 2018 14:50:09 GMT
The following is probably all coincidence, but I found it interesting, none the less.
I was Googling the sources of that website listing, and I found that Gay Scene Vol 4 No 12 was also cited in another movie. That movie was named "The Bible" aka "Bible!". And while that movie seems unrelated, other them biblical themes, "Bible!" is said to be "From the creator of ... Bijou". Which I found interesting because that was the name of the theater Him has supposedly been screened at.
Like I said, probably a coincidence, but pretty cool.
The following is probably all coincidence, but I found it interesting, none the less.
I was Googling the sources of that website listing, and I found that Gay Scene Vol 4 No 12 was also cited in another movie. That movie was named "The Bible" aka "Bible!". And while that movie seems unrelated, other them biblical themes, "Bible!" is said to be "From the creator of ... Bijou". Which I found interesting because that was the name of the theater Him has supposedly been screened at.
Like I said, probably a coincidence, but pretty cool.
That would be Wakefield Poole's Bible. David Tipmore mentioned it in his review of Him in The Village Voice. I believe it may have played alongside Him when it first showed at the 55th Street Playhouse. Unlike Him, Bible is actually quite easy to find. Vinegar Syndrome put out a remastered dvd a few years ago, director's commentary and all.
As for the Bijou connection, that probably is just a coincidence. Far as I'm aware, Wakefield Poole never opened or operated any theaters. He certainly never brought it up when I spoke to him.
The following is probably all coincidence, but I found it interesting, none the less.
I was Googling the sources of that website listing, and I found that Gay Scene Vol 4 No 12 was also cited in another movie. That movie was named "The Bible" aka "Bible!". And while that movie seems unrelated, other them biblical themes, "Bible!" is said to be "From the creator of ... Bijou". Which I found interesting because that was the name of the theater Him has supposedly been screened at.
Like I said, probably a coincidence, but pretty cool.
That would be Wakefield Poole's Bible. David Tipmore mentioned it in his review of Him in The Village Voice. I believe it may have played alongside Him when it first showed at the 55th Street Playhouse. Unlike Him, Bible is actually quite easy to find. Vinegar Syndrome put out a remastered dvd a few years ago, director's commentary and all.
As for the Bijou connection, that probably is just a coincidence. Far as I'm aware, Wakefield Poole never opened or operated any theaters. He certainly never brought it up when I spoke to him.
I thought Bible was lost too? I vaguely remember it being on that Pimpadelic Wonderland site list of lost movies. Was it found since then or am I just mistaken?
That would be Wakefield Poole's Bible. David Tipmore mentioned it in his review of Him in The Village Voice. I believe it may have played alongside Him when it first showed at the 55th Street Playhouse. Unlike Him, Bible is actually quite easy to find. Vinegar Syndrome put out a remastered dvd a few years ago, director's commentary and all.
As for the Bijou connection, that probably is just a coincidence. Far as I'm aware, Wakefield Poole never opened or operated any theaters. He certainly never brought it up when I spoke to him.
I thought Bible was lost too? I vaguely remember it being on that Pimpadelic Wonderland site list of lost movies. Was it found since then or am I just mistaken?
I certainly never recall word of it being lost. I could be mistaken, but I'm not under the impression it ever was.
I thought Bible was lost too? I vaguely remember it being on that Pimpadelic Wonderland site list of lost movies. Was it found since then or am I just mistaken?
I certainly never recall word of it being lost. I could be mistaken, but I'm not under the impression it ever was.
No, I think you're right. It was probably listed in the movies the site had for sale and that's what I'm thinking of.
The following is probably all coincidence, but I found it interesting, none the less.
I was Googling the sources of that website listing, and I found that Gay Scene Vol 4 No 12 was also cited in another movie. That movie was named "The Bible" aka "Bible!". And while that movie seems unrelated, other them biblical themes, "Bible!" is said to be "From the creator of ... Bijou". Which I found interesting because that was the name of the theater Him has supposedly been screened at.
Like I said, probably a coincidence, but pretty cool.
I think we might have some confusion between Bijou, the now defunct movie house-sex club in Chicago, and "Bijou," a film directed by Wakefield Poole, which played where? probably in NYCity, a year or so before HIM was released, and which Al Goldstein went Gagga over in his Screw review of.
Bijou the Chicago movie theatre, and Bijou, the film directed by Wakefield Poole, are two entirely seperate different things.
Another important aspect of the search for Ed D. Louie's HIM, is the film Censor Board of Maryland, probably the last state in the USA to have such a censor board.
Over on Zombie Auxiliary Quilting Bee, Deeky Wentworth, the Webmaster, was nice enough to post links to the yearly reports of the Maryland Censor Board from 1970 thru the last year of the board's operation in 1979 or 1980.
During those years, HIM was not listed as being approved or even submitted for consideration of approval by the Maryland Censor Board.
So, those film detectives searching for newspaper ads for showings of HIM can skip the years that the censor board was still active when looking for possible showings in Maryland, which would have been after the censor board closed, and before the porno movie houses folded due to their being supplanted by the widespread use of VHS tapes.