Okay, since I'm taking an extended break, I figured I put up some kind of an Index for the curious who wander by. This is by no means exhaustive, but if I put EVERYTHING in here, there would be no fun in the search.
The man that inspired every depraved little thought ever expressed on the blog has died. Bill Landis wrote the book Sleazoid Expressabout the sleaze and terror of the "Deuce" in New York City before redevelopment and Disney covered the whole thing in bleach like a dead sex crimes victim. I've often written about Sleazoid Expressbecause there was really no other book like it. Other books might talk about the Ilsa movies, but SE went the extra mile and talked about how it was like to be in the theater when one of those things unspooled on the silver screen. To read his words was to sit in one of those dodgy seats, fifty years old and reeking of whatever condition it previous occupant died of. It was to try and glare toughness at the crack fiends ready to cut you for the $2 in your wallet just because you looked funny and they knew you wouldn't say shit about it- 'cause no one's crazy enough to admit they'd actually paid money to see Olga snap the whip across some broad's back. Oh, hell. Go read for yourself. And buy the damn book already. It'll help the economy and his widow, Michelle Clifford needs more reason to continue her fine career. Sleazoid Express. Fear of Darkness. Weird Wednesday. Filmmaker, the magazine of independent film.
I'm not quite sure what to make of this one. Hundreds dead by their own hands at the suggestion of an apocalyptic madman? There's a deranged sort of comedy at work in this situation. "Jonestown" and "drink the Kool-Aid" have an almost mocking effect in their current usage. Anyways, offered with much confusion and morbid fascination: is the Hollywood version of Jonestown.
Most of you probably don't know who Gerard Damiano is so... (second ad)
(SD Tribune 20 April 1977)
Got an idea now? He directed Deep Throat. And The Devil in Miss Jones. And a sloppy mess of others. And oddly, there're very few taking time to mourn his passing outside the adult film world (and only a few inside that knew or even know of him). So, fans of sleaze and slime, take a few minutes to think well of a guy that really got lucky and made a gigantic contribution to the cultural landscape. Try not to think of the borderline criminal nature of the circumstances behind Deep Throat. Or the fate of Linda Lovelace after the 1970s. Or the largely artless nature of porn today. Just think of a guy that did a lot with not a lot.
(For more information on the rise of Pornography in the 1970s, check out The Other Hollywood by Legs McNeil and Inside Deep Throat. Both are works of depth and humor about a medium not known for either.)
San Diego Tribune B-6. Monday 18 July 1977.
And while he didn't direct it... San Diego Tribune C-12. 19 July 1978.
I've included a couple of ads for films not directed by Damiano- but they do advertise the PussyCat Theatres chain which wouldn't have existed without the success of Deep Throat and its successors. For more information on the PussyCats and Downtown San Diego in the 1970s, check out Before it was the Gaslamp [it was called Stingaree] by Jay Allen Sanford.
Wow!!! You've really built up an amazing historical archive here! Our own efforts to chronicle local theater history at the Reader have been greatly helped by all your research - and the actual movie ads you archive tell countless stories all on their own. Now that you've posted an index, I'm sure I'll spend a bunch of time - again - combing your posts!