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Post by Billy A. Anderson on Dec 1, 2018 10:04:57 GMT -5
It is now a week short of two months since I have updated this thread, and I have put the Film Detective work on the back burner for awhile. I am attaching an article from The Baltimore Sun of August 22, 1973, page 3, "Vatican Attacks Danes Over Film." While the film in question is not Ed D Louie's HIM, it does relate to the (in this case true) Legend surrounding Mr. Louie's film, and the repeated rumors (some untrue) surrounding reports of announced Jesus porno films. Again, following up on this story is a back burner project with me, but in this case, I don't see any reason to dismiss a mainstream newspaper story carried by a major wire service, and quoting from a Vatican newspaper, as an untrue rumor spread by the "religious right wing" of the USA. But it does show the roots of such untrue rumors. I do think I have the time to check out Jens Thorsen, to confirm that he is, or was a real film maker, and possibly find out if his proposed film, "The Loves of Jesus Christ" was ever made. I can't recall if the Danish government yielded to the Vatican's attack or not, and might have withdrawn the subsidizing of the film. And, I don't know exactly when Wakefield Poole first announced plans for his Bible / Scandals film, which was believed by some to have motivated Ed D Louie to make HIM, and whether this announced Danish film could have influenced either Mr. Poole and / or Ed D Louie to make their two Biblical porno films. Attachments:
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Post by Deeky on Dec 1, 2018 10:10:06 GMT -5
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Post by Billy A. Anderson on Dec 1, 2018 10:37:57 GMT -5
Deeky, I also did a net search on Jens Jorgen Thorsen, and it is amazing to me, how the history of Jesus porno films, both proposed and actually made, is virtually unknown to those such as the Snopes Urban Legend Debunkers, who I never saw a mention of this would have been real film, and the many protests against it.
Someone needs to bring this to the attention of the Snopes people, but right now, I just don't have the time to do it.
We could well have some members here on the board who are interested in Snopes, and could get them to add this forgotten history to their page on Jesus Porno films.
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Post by Deeky on Dec 2, 2018 18:27:39 GMT -5
This is why you need an intern.
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Post by Billy A. Anderson on Dec 11, 2018 1:08:34 GMT -5
For DoubleU, I am attaching a properly scanned, alhtough probably not high res scan of Al Goldstein's review of HIM, to replace that fuzzy, unreadable optical camera copy he now has a link to on his essay about the film. Attachments:
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Post by Jack Holman on Dec 11, 2018 4:46:03 GMT -5
For DoubleU, I am attaching a properly scanned, alhtough probably not high res scan of Al Goldstein's review of HIM, to replace that fuzzy, unreadable optical camera copy he now has a link to on his essay about the film. Excellent work as always, Billy. Much appreciated by me and, I'm sure, any future readers of my essay. |
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Post by Billy A. Anderson on Dec 14, 2018 0:10:18 GMT -5
Ian Whitcomb asked where do Farah, and Bo and others go? They go Hollywood! Where do well healed film detectives with money to throw away go, to solve the mysteries of Ed D Louie and HIM? They go EBSCO. EBSCO Life, is an online archive of LGBT publications. And, as with other such archives, they are not giving it away. They're Out For Hire! Here is a link to their price list: www.ebsco.com/request-informationThey have different types of people requesting to use their archive, from institutions such as the military, and I don't remember how many others, but "individual" is not on the list, so what would an amateur film detective, interested in a virtually forgotten and supposedly lost film from 44 years ago, claim as his or her qualification to use their archive, on the link above, just find out what the prices to use their archive are? As far as newspapers.com goes, I feel that I will have gotten my money's worth when my membership expires in less than 3 months from now, with researching things mostly not connected for the search for Ed D Louie's HIM. But, at this time, I am not ready to Go EBSCO,as a Buyer, or even pursue further research of their outfit, for free, but if any of you other Film Detectives, Pro or Am, want to, please do, and save this amateur film detective, a lot of time and money, that, even if invested in EBSCO might not result in one single piece of data useful in solving the mysteries of Ed D Louie and HIM. |
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Post by Deeky on Dec 14, 2018 12:25:35 GMT -5
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Post by Deeky on Dec 14, 2018 12:30:59 GMT -5
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Post by Billy A. Anderson on Dec 14, 2018 17:23:03 GMT -5
Deeky, I had not pursued things that far. Many thanks for the links, which will require a lot of study to see if anything in any of the listed publications would be of use in learning more about Ed D Louie and HIM.
But, I am willing to do that studying to find out.
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Post by Billy A. Anderson on Dec 17, 2018 14:18:49 GMT -5
Deeky, after looking over the EBSCO lists, it seems most of their publications are more recent, and few go back to the 1970s.
But, I will give it another, closer look.
Even if I was connected with an institution (and, I sometimes feel like I belong in a "mental institution" for researching Ed D Louie and HIM), and I had the money, I might not find anything of use from them.
The Nob Hill theater, a regular advertiser in the Bay Area Reporter, did not advertise their run of HIM in that special interest newspaper, and none of the BAR reviewers reviewed the film,or even mentioned it in their columns about NYC LGBT news, and they must have known
about HIm from word of mouth, as well as the coverage in Screw, which had national distribution, just because a publication is aimed at the GLBT community it would not necessarily contain anything about Ed D Louie and HIM.
My favorite item in the BAR was a photo of the late pro wrestler Virgil Riley Runnells, who performed as "The American Dream," and "Stardust," and was always offering his opponents a piece of his tail, and the BAR photo caption said, "Shades of Georgeous George."
There is a library in New York City that I'll give the name and further details on, in another post, if any of our board members living there ever want to check out what they have in their it was something like "special interest" collections.
I think I"d have a better chance of finding out where HIM played, by getting some newspapers on microfilm from some of the key missing cities, if they still do interlibrary loans. Sometimes there is a charge for such loans, but it has never been too much for me to pay.
I'm getting tired of typing this post, but I'll offer more of my views later.
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Post by Deeky on Dec 17, 2018 14:23:43 GMT -5
... they must have known about Him from word of mouth, as well as the coverage in Screw, which had national distribution ... Not sure I'd agree with that. I don't see why an obscure porno film would be well-known by the gay press. |
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Post by Billy A. Anderson on Dec 17, 2018 18:08:09 GMT -5
Deeky, all of us make our own observations about things, and nobody can say for certain who is correct. Possibly all of us are correct in some ways and incorrect in other ways.
You've probably looked over the ads that Krakenslayer posted from the Villiage Voice, and I'd say any reader of that newspaper at that time, could not have missed.
Also, there was a member of CHFB, who was and is, quite in the know about exploitation films of all types, including porno. He considered HIM to have been a well known film in its original release across the USA, but of course, when you are dealing with special interest films made for relatively small audiences, you do have to consider the relativity factor.
My impression from what I have found reading ads in newspapers.com was that HIM was not given the balyhoo ad campaign it had in NYC, and was just another routine 2 week, or one week only film, and it did not have continual re-runs like the films of Wakefield Poole had. I have gone thru to the end of 1976, early in that year the last known showings of HIM,in NYC, and with that one exception, have found no ads for encore showings in Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and, did I leave any other cities out? for 1976, or even 1977 & 1978.
But, it is possible that HIM could have been shown during those long stretches of time at some of the porno houses, where no film titles were given, or, where the first film title was listed,and the ads just said, "plus second feature."
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Post by Deeky on Dec 17, 2018 18:28:06 GMT -5
Deeky, all of us make our own observations about things, and nobody can say for certain who is correct. Possibly all of us are correct in some ways and incorrect in other ways. What. |
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Post by Billy A. Anderson on Dec 17, 2018 21:17:37 GMT -5
Deeky, all of us make our own observations about things, and nobody can say for certain who is correct. Possibly all of us are correct in some ways and incorrect in other ways. What. Deeky, possibly I am just re-stating my doctrine that All Is Contradiction. Over on CHFB, in a post related to a lost Frankenstein film, my friend filmdetective happened to mention him, and got quite a response from a member there who really knows a lot about exploitation films. Also, one member makes a reference to the elusive mention of HIM in Butt magazine, which no one seems to be able to find. Click on the link below, and if you want to get right down to business, scroll down to Post #9, and the second paragraph in answer to filmdetective: ". . . I suppose I wonder also how HIM came to be regarded as so very obscure in the first place . . . " www.tapatalk.com/groups/monsterkidclassichorrorforum/viewtopic.php?f=75&t=50199&p=1075765&hilit=Bloop+Dr+Frankenstein#p1075765 |
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Post by Billy A. Anderson on Jan 3, 2019 0:15:29 GMT -5
I suppose it makes some sense that I should resurrect this old thread. Rather than retread over the all old information, I'll just link the current version of my essay of the subject of Ed D. Louie's HIM (which IIRC includes a link to the old thread). As is stated in said essay, I fully encourage people to get in touch if they have any useful information in the hunt for this obscure slice of film history. Well, recently someone did. Subject: HIM Showing in Amsterdam in the 70s-80s Message: "Hi. I recall seeing at least the confession and crucifixion scenes of the film 'HIM;, but probably more of this movie somewhere between 1979 and 1985 in the Amsterdam gay scene in a small gay porn theater setting. I don't know precisely where, but it was either at Le Bijou, Spuistraat, Le Salon, Nieuwendijk 22, Beate Uhse Twin Cinema, or the movie space of the long defunct Viking Disco (Later Havanna Bar) in the Regulier Dwarsstraat. I have seen several films copied to VHS there, so it could very well be a VHS version, but I also remember hearing a reel rattling in the back in those places in the earlier years. I was a young university student from the Caribbean at the time, and at the time I was very impressed by those scenes, as I recall now." It's a bit of a hard tip to verify, but it's certainly nice to know that there are still fresh leads to follow. I'll continue to update the essay link in this post as new revisions get made. I don't know if anyone has checked out those movie houses named in Amsterdam to see if they are listed on the Cinema Treasures webpage or not. But, if no one has done so, I might start such a search on that webpage, possibly as early as, or late as, Friday of this week. It's a case of If I don't Do It, It Won't Get Done, or, If I dont' do it somebody else will, and possibly they have already done it. But, even if that's the case sometimes a 2nd check on thigs is a good idea. Got a lot of work ahead of me later today (past midnight after a heavy work day that put me right to sleep after finishing, until 11:30 PM. And, another heavy workday probably from sunrise to sunset later today, after I hopefully get a bit more pre-work sleep. I've even thought of joining the Cinema Treasures Message Board. |
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Post by Billy A. Anderson on Jan 30, 2019 23:34:33 GMT -5
Almost a month since this one has been updated, but I did join Cinema Treasures. So far I have not posted anyting there, but might do so in the future, but probably will never discuss Ed D Louie's HIM on that message board.
I did check the South Station Cinema in Boston, and anyone who wants to test their mettle might want to check out what patrons of that joint had to
say.
And, I'm still not up to checking out the movie houses in Amsterdam where one man claims to have seen EDL's HIM.
Right now, my area of concentration is on a possible video release of HIM, or at least a trailer of the film.
I have thought of giving a thorough analysis of the comments related to HIM being shown at the South Station Cinema in Boston as reported on Cinema Treasures, but the Lazy Spirit of Beetle Bailey is now possessing me.
To put it briefly and make it short and sweet:
On Cinema treasures, a man said he was surprised by someone claiming to have seen the trailer for HIM (possibly beginning with "why is everyone talking about HIM?) on a video tape 15 years earlier than his post, which would have been in 1982, which was the latest date of any of the trailers and/or excerpts that film that the Kinsey Institute reportedly cannot find. And, remember that one promotional ploy of Something Weird Video was to have VHSes & or DVDs with both a trailer and a scene from films they were selling.
And, remember in an earlier post, I mentioned an outfit called the Factor Press Video Collection, which kinsey has quite a lot of titles from, each one having a feature and some filler on it. Was it 200, or 500 total numberings of the Factor Press Video Collection?
Well, it was in the hundreds, but Kinsey did not have the whole collection.
I'm planning a Jumbo project to list all the Factor Press Videos Kinsey has listed, and how many they don't have. Somehow, I have a hunch, that if the Factor Press Video catalog could be found, that EDL's HIM just might be on one of their VHSes.
I have done one net search on Google after another, as well as Yahoo, and cannot find Factor Press, or Factor Press Video Collection.
And, I could not find that name in the production company listings of the Gay Erotic Films Index.
My strategy in this matter is to check the Bay Area Reporter for the Video era, and see if the Factor Press Video Collection is advertised.
And, the BAR does have a search engine, so that should facilitate such a search.
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Post by Billy A. Anderson on Feb 6, 2019 4:10:47 GMT -5
Just thought of another angle. Very often porno films would have a magazine printed to aid in their promotion.
Even if the film HIM is never found, could there possibly have been a porno magazine that was sold to promote the film?
Could someone be offering such a magazine for sale on Amazon or E Bay?
And, of course the 55th Street Playhouse catalog of the films they sold on 8mm.
And, the Factor Press Video Collection. Somwhere there must be some surviving copies of these last two catalogs, and HIM could be listed in them.
And, it is aloways possible that some porno collector(?) could have HIM on film or video, and one of those 2 film catalogs or a promotional magazine for HIM (if one was ever published), and that collector or collectors have no idea that they have the remains of a much sought out lost film?
That said, I still don't think that the interest in HIM is all that great, and that there would not be much profit if it is in the public domain, or someone could get the rights to the film from the heirs and assigns of Mr. Louie.
About the same as those who say that if anyone does really have a copy of London After Midnight, and is keeping quiet until MGM looses its copyright claim in a few years from now, and becomes public domain, the film would not produce any worthwhile revenues.
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Post by Billy A. Anderson on Feb 6, 2019 4:13:20 GMT -5
Don't know how that last one got posted twice, so I'v deleted the text from the redundant second posting, and will use this one for my next post when I have something new to report on my film detective work.
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Post by Jack Holman on Mar 3, 2019 10:05:50 GMT -5
Been a while since I've posted anything here, but I have a pretty big update for everyone. As I have discussed with some members of this forum privately, filmmaker Sam Ashby has been in touch with me in recent months with regards to Ed D. Louie's HIM. Several months ago he emailed me several contemporary articles from Variety regarding that film. Mr. Ashby recently gave me permission to include links in my essay, which has been updated to include them.
I'll give a brief rundown of the articles:
April 3rd, 1974 - a small listing for the film as it entered its second week noting "Who he, this gay hardcore superhero? Opening week answer was a pleasantly unmysterious $17,200 or near."
April 8th, 1974 - Another small listing noting the film was at 4th place at the New York box office.
April 17th, 1975 - A big feature dedicated to the movie. Says that Ed D. Louie is "reportedly the nephew of Frank Lee, San Francisco-based owner of the [55th Street Playhouse]", thus adding more credence to Wakefield Poole's claims.
July 24th, 1974 - A small story on "Jack Deveau's Hand in Hand Films" which states "Deveau has picked up distrib rights to Ed. D. Louie's "HIM," the gay hardcore pic depicting Christ which recently played N.Y.".
January 8th, 1975 - An index of "Distributor Abbreviations" which seems to confirm that Ed D. Louie distributed the film himself.
Big thanks to Mr. Ashby for finding these and allowing me to reproduce them.
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