Fred Charles Halsted (July 20, 1941 – May 9, 1989) was an American gay pornographic film director, actor, escort, publisher, and sex club owner.
Plays Itself are the only gay pornographic movies in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, where they were screened before a capacity audience on April 23, 1974.
[15] His long-term lover (though with interruptions) was Joseph Yanoska, who appears in his movies under the name "Joe Yale"; they were called "sadomasochism's heaviest couple".
[24] The movie begins with a shot of a sign at the city limits of Los Angeles, giving its population at the time (2,535,700).
The action is not one continuous scene; it is punctuated by Halsted driving through Griffith Park, a gay cruising spot also featured in John Rechy's City of Night.
In the park unidentified men appear, the camera focusing on their dirty pants, especially crotches ("baskets," in gay slang) and asses.
There are also interspersed newspaper headlines about weird cults and the Manson murders, ads pushing "101 varieties of meat", shots of hustlers, bums, vagrants, porn theaters.
[26] The movie was praised by Fernando Arrabal, William Burroughs, and Al Goldstein, but was misunderstood by most homosexuals and film critics.
The film was restored by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 2020 and released on DVD, Blu-ray, and VOD by Altered Innocence on December 28, 2021[29] Sex Garage was a 35-minute black-and-white short.
As it begins a woman takes her car to the garage for service, and performs fellatio on her long-haired mechanic boyfriend.
Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, performed on a piano, is background music, as is "When Tomorrow Comes" by The Emotions.
[30] The film was restored by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 2020 and released on DVD, Blu-ray, and VOD by Altered Innocence on December 28, 2021[29] Erotikus is a history of the gay pornographic movie, directed by Tom DeSimone.
Also, DeSimone reused the shot of the Los Angeles Times headline "New Weird Cult, Link to Tate Murder" from L.A.
Plays Itself and Sex Garage, it was produced, written, directed, edited, photographed, and starred in by Halsted.
[37] It is centered around a party where a relatively innocent-married young man discovers the diverse sex practices of a dozen people.
Sextool explores a fantasy Los Angeles populated by policemen, boxers, leathermen, a sailor, and one questionably straight man squiring his American transgender paramour.
The use of the more expensive film meant Halsted was not able to shoot much transitional material, leading to a choppy effect.
[42] The film was restored by the Museum of Modern of Art (MoMA) in 2020 and released on DVD, Blu-ray, and VOD by Altered Innocence on December 28, 2021.
[44] Halsted had an important role in El Paso Wrecking Corp., the second of the Working Man Trilogy directed by Joe Gage.
After some drinking triggers a fight, Gene (played by Halsted) and Hank are fired from their job at the Kansas City Trucking Co..
[46][47] "When El Paso Wrecking Corp. first opened it caused big shock waves all across gay America, but since then it's picked up as easily as fashion, wear your jackets and chains.
[17][49][50] Halsted's, located at 2453 Glendale Blvd., Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California,[51] was, as he himself described it, a naked industrial space transformed into "a stand-up fuck club".
Founded by Halsted, his lover Joseph Yale, and David Webb,[13] the club had booths with glory holes, bunk beds, and a sling.
(At the time, empty truck trailers were a popular venue for gay sex in the meatpacking district of New York City.
A Night at Halsted's does not have a plot; it consists of a series of sex scenes at the club of the same name, preceded by a brief introduction and followed by a similarly brief conclusion.
The box cover of the movie states: "Only Fred Halsted could create a fantasyland where anything and everything goes, a place where you can meet the video stars of your dreams - and make them cum true!
Glory holes, mirrors, slings, and other toys become a living playground for this orgy of tight, glistening flesh.