Cruising the Movies

Latest Episodes:

Episode 17: Gorton Hall's ZOOMERANG! (1974) Feb 26, 2021

Show notes

This week on the podcast we're wrapping up a month of grand romance with Gorton Hall's 1974 epic, ZOOMERANG! The first film to be shot in the exciting screen process known as Ultravision, ZOOMERANG! tells the story of Gary and Jack, a middle-class gay couple living in domestic bliss. All that changes when Jack's old 'basically straight' tennis partner throws a wrench in the relationship by visiting on his way through town. Will the couple still be together by the time he leaves? Steeped in sumptuously photographed fantasies and flashbacks by producer/cinematgrapher Barry Knight, ZOOMERANG! is one of the glossiest male films of its era.

And yet, all is not what it seems on the surface of this lighthearted film. Over the course of the second half of the episode, we'll dive into the raids and obscenity cases it spawned, and how they led to the downfall of Jaguar Productions, the largest gay film studio on the West Coast.

Episode 16: Francis Ellie's KISS TODAY GOODBYE (1976) Feb 12, 2021

Show notes

This week on the podcast — and just in time for Valentine's Day — we're taking a look at Francis Ellie's 1976 "romantic triangle of triumph and tragedy," KISS TODAY GOODBYE. George Payne stars as Charlie, a construction worker who finds himself having a torrid affair with Bill, an executive at his firm. Will Charlie and Bill find happiness together, or will outside forces tear them apart?

Over the course of the episode we'll dive into the three (yes, three) people who were Francis Ellie, the film's roots in 60s sexploitation, and the paradox of filming hardcore as softcore.

Episode 15: Christopher Rage's SLEAZE (1982) Jan 29, 2021

Show notes

This week on the podcast, we're taking a look at the film that gave notorious "Master of Sleaze" Christopher Rage his nickname: his sole 16mm feature, SLEAZE. Hyped in advertising as being "ain't no LOVE STORY," SLEAZE documents the initiations and going-ons of an underground, 42nd Street sex club. With a cast of unknowns and heavy hitters like Casey Donovan, Daniel Holt, and Scorpio; and a visual and musical aesthetic that more closely resembles no wave than it does glossy, early 80s porn, SLEAZE is a unique — and controversial — early effort by the most infamous filmmaker of the decade.

Over the course of the episode, we'll dive into Christopher Rage's backstory, his unusual approach to music, and we'll also hear from him and stars Casey Donovan and Daniel Holt.

Episode 14: Arthur J. Bressan, Jr.'s JUICE (1985) Jan 15, 2021

Show notes

We begin a new year of the podcast with Arthur J. Bressan Jr.'s 1985 film, JUICE. Bressan's final adult film (and penultimate feature), JUICE is a sweet movie about 48 cruisey, humpy hours in New York City marked with a deadline. Michael Christopher plays Jim, a photographer who's about to lose his job at New York's hottest gay magazine if he can't find new faces by the end of the weekend. Will his photos make the grade? And what about the angelic runner he keeps eying in Central Park?

In this episode we discuss the perils of working in the print industry, Bressan's relocation to the East Coast, and the never-ending struggle between respectable art and pornography. We also break down what is quite possibly one of the most absurd editing montages in the history of the genre.

A Fistmas Bonus: Talking NEW YORK CITY INFERNO with NYC Inferno Founder Adam Baran Dec 25, 2020

Show notes

It's a Fistmas miracle! As a special stocking stuffer for you, we have an interview with Adam Baran, filmmaker and founder of the long-running New York sex party, NYC Inferno.

Over the course of our discussion, we'll be talking about Adam's first encounters with NEW YORK CITY INFERNO (Episode 12), the ways he's been able to evoke the film's era while avoiding nostalgia, and maintaining community in the age of COVID.

Episode 13: Jack Deveau's ROUGH TRADES (1977) Dec 25, 2020

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Merry Fistmas! On our last episode of 2020, we'll be exploring a film about shafts and the working class, Jack Deveau's 'blue collar blue movie,' ROUGH TRADES. A deliberate attempt by Hand in Hand Films to scale back production costs, ROUGH TRADES is a simple story about one music producer and a whole lot of handymen.

Over the course of our discussion, we'll dig into Hand in Hand's disastrous attempt at expanding into France, the film's farcical tone, and the eternal question of just how much of a grocery order can possibly go up one telephone repairman's ass.

Episode 12: Marvin Merkins' NEW YORK CITY INFERNO (1978) Dec 11, 2020

Show notes

This week we're kicking off Fistmas season with our very first French film: Marvin Merkins' NEW YORK CITY INFERNO. Straddling the line between narrative and travelogue, the film tells the story of Jérôme, a Frenchman who descends into New York's hedonistic leather scene to find his missing lover, Paul.

Shot at several legendary New York gay spaces — including the notorious Mineshaft — NEW YORK CITY INFERNO is a true classic of the genre and perhaps the greatest film to come out of France's gay sex film boom.

Over the course of this episode, we'll dig into the beginnings of the French gay film industry, the film's completely authorized Village People soundtrack, and the backstories of many of the real people and places featured in it.

Episode 11: Tom DeSimone's THE IDOL (1979) Nov 27, 2020

Show notes

This week on the podcast, we're rebounding from our last episode with a true classic of the genre, Tom DeSimone's 1979 film, THE IDOL. Heavily promoted upon its release as being "the motion picture you've waited a long time to see," THE IDOL tells the story of Gary Evans, a college track star with a secret he took to the grave. But what was that secret — and who knew the real Gary?

Listen as we discuss the fine line between romance and schmaltz; Tom DeSimone's long history both inside and out of the genre; and the mystique of its one-and-done star, Kevin Redding.

Episode 10: Mother Goose's ROOM 328 + Fritz Gemein's HONORABLE JONES COMES OUT (1976) Nov 13, 2020

Show notes

This week on the show, we're taking a look at two... out there... films built around iconic — and long gone — San Francisco cruising spots: The Slot Hotel in Mother Goose's ROOM 328 and the Spartan Cinema in Fritz Gemein's HONORABLE JONES COMES OUT.

Over the course of our discussion, we'll go into the history behind each of these locations, the mysterious identity of Mother Goose, and the real scandal that inspired HONORABLE JONES.

If you want more, be sure to subscribe to our Patreon for a special bonus episode where we look at a third film: Fritz Gemeiner's LEATHER 'N THINGS, shot at the famous leather shop that gave us both Mr. S Leather and the hanky code.

Episode 9: Peter de Rome's THE DESTROYING ANGEL (1976) Oct 30, 2020

Show notes

We wrap up our month of horror-themed titles with perhaps the spookiest of them all: Peter de Rome's nightmarishly psychedelic 1976 film, THE DESTROYING ANGEL. Tim Kent stars as Caswell Campbell, a seminary student torn between the cloth and the flesh and plagued by visions of his more endowed doppelgänger. As he loses himself in hallucinogenic drugs and increasingly debauched gay sex while on sabbatical, will his crisis of faith bring about his end?

Equal parts Edgar Allan Poe, magic mushrooms, and Pink Floyd, THE DESTROYING ANGEL is a sex film like no other -- and over the course of our discussion, we'll dive into each of its primary influences and inspirations.

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