This February, Spectacle presents five recently restored films (four features and one short, four narratives and one doc) exploring sadomasochism and dominance and submission. All controversial in their own time—with L.A. PLAYS ITSELF and MOUSE KLUB KONFIDENTIAL, and going so far as to incite protests and riots upon their initial releases—these five films hold up for their fearless, and, yes, very erotic, probings into the outer reaches of sexuality.
DIDN’T DO IT FOR LOVE
Dir. Monika Treut, 1998.
Germany. 81 minutes.
In English.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6 – 10 PM
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9 – 7:30 PM
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24 – 10 PM
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27TH – 10 PM
“The adventurous life of Eva Norvind…”
Eva Norvind was born Eva Johanne Chegodaieva Sakonskaja in 1944, the daughter of a Russian prince and a Finnish sculptor in Trondheim, Norway. Monika Treut’s DIDN’T DO IT FOR LOVE traces the many stages of her unbelievable life story: from her early success as a showgirl in Paris to her transformation into Mexico’s Marilyn Monroe in the 1960s, her subsequent career as a journalist in the 1970s, and culminating in her establishing herself as New York’s most famous and business savvy dominatrix in the 1980s. DIDN’T DO IT FOR LOVE is an odyssey through the wilderness of sexuality, capturing Eva’s search for the wellspring of her obsessive drive to dominate.
Courtesy of Muscle Distribution.
Preceded by:
BONDAGE
Dir. Monika Treut, 1983.
West Germany. 20 minutes.
In English.
Carol from New York’s Lesbian Sex Mafia talks about her love of bondage and domination.
Courtesy of Muscle Distribution.
THE IMAGE
Dir. Radley Metzger, 1975.
United States / France. 94 minutes.
In English.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5 – 7:30 PM
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9 – 10 PM
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15 – 5 PM
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20 – MIDNIGHT
“When pain is pleasure, punishment becomes reward…”
When Jean (Carl Parker), an author living in Paris, runs into his old friend Claire (Marilyn Burns) at a boring society party, he becomes intrigued by the S/M relationship she shares with her younger submissive, Anne (Rebecca Brooke). Initially shocked by the harsh manner that Claire punishes and publicly humiliates Anne, Jean soon finds himself becoming a willing and enthusiastic participant in the couple’s sexual games—and learns that the roles aren’t quite as set as they initially appear.
Adapted from the controversial underground novel by the enigmatic Jean de Berg (later revealed to be France’s most famous dominatrix, Catherine Robbe-Grillet) and made shortly before his switch to hardcore filmmaking as “Henry Paris,” Radley Metzger’s THE IMAGE is a sumptuous and transgressive study of sexual power dynamics from one of the true masters of erotic cinema.
New 4K restoration by Distribpix and the Rialto Report, courtesy of Muscle Distribution.
Note: this film contains explicit sex.
L.A. PLAYS ITSELF
Dir. Fred Halsted, 1972.
United States. 60 minutes.
In English.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4- 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13 – 5 PM
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22 – 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27 – MIDNIGHT
“New information for me!” – Salvador Dalí
Fred Halsted plays himself in his notorious portrait of Los Angeles. Two men have a fleetingly idyllic meeting outside of town while Halsted shows a young pickup the ropes within city limits, climaxing in what After Dark magazine described as being “the most spectacular scene since the parting of the Red Sea!”
4K restoration by the Museum of Modern Art, courtesy Altered Innocence and Anus Films.
Note: this film contains explicit sex.
Preceded by:
MOUSE KLUB KONFIDENTIAL
Dir. Jim Baker, 1976.
United States. 15 minutes.
In English.
The shocking life of M*useketeer-turned-gay bondage pornographer Buddy Wilson (Ken Camp) is exposed in this UCLA Project One student film by future videomaker (BLONDE DEATH) and novelist (TIM & PETE, BOY WONDER) James Robert Baker. Are Wilson and his degenerate films merely an aberration, or is there more to “the happiest place on Earth” than meets the eye?
Unseen since its controversial inclusion in the second-ever San Francisco Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival in 1978, MOUSE KLUB KONFIDENTIAL is a hilarious satire of Fred Halsted, America, and a certain cartoon mouse that’s long been credited as causing none other than conservative film critic and talk radio host Michael Medved to abandon his dreams of filmmaking. And we can all be grateful for that.
New 4K restoration courtesy of Muscle Distribution.
Note: this film contain explicit sex.
THE ULTIMATE DEGENERATE
Dir. Michael Findlay, 1969.
United States. 70 minutes.
In English.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1 – 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 10 PM
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17 – 10PM
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28 – MIDNIGHT
“The uncommon adventures of a wild nymph in search of erotic playmates…”
Maria (Uta Erickson) is a lesbian exhibitionist who gets her kicks answering personal ads in the back pages of dirty newspapers. One of those ads was placed by Spencer (filmmaker Michael Findlay), a wealthy but depraved voyeur who hires women to perform in strange sex shows at his Vermont home. Maria throws herself into Spencer’s games, but who is the bigger pervert?
Courtesy of Distribpix and Muscle Distribution.