cultshock

Yeah, I should have mentioned that point about organized crime too, in the 70's their hands were all over the porn industry. I've read that child pornography wasn't technically illegal until 1979 I think? (not sure, I was too young to check out porn shops in that era ). But I'm sure that the mob didn't want to use actresses that were blatantly underage, they didn't want to attract any additional heat in a industry that already had a lot of legal problems, but if a performer around 16 or 17 had ID that was "good enough" they could likely work in the industry, not like now.

Anyway, as mentioned, this was very loosely based on real people and stories (e.g. Dirk = John Holmes, Jack = Bob Chinn, etc.) but you can't go through it with a fine tooth comb looking for factual inaccuracies. At any rate, I still fucking love this film!

orangerunner

My other thought was how could a 17-year-old kid get a job in a nightclub as a busboy / porter? Wasn't the drinking age in California still 21?

Maybe the rules were a little more relaxed back then.

Paff

Even today, an 18 year old can WORK in a bar in California, just can't get served.

I thought Jack was based on Gerard Damiano, not Bob Chinn.

(EDIT - I just looked around, and saw that the Dirk/Jack scene from Amber's documentary is directly lifted from a Holmes/Chinn scene from Exhausted. So yeah, Jack is based on Chinn, yet his look in the film is very similar to Damiano's so I'm guessing the character is a combination of the two)

But yeah, you can't nitpick details in this movie. Some things are similar to real people and events, and some are not. In the end it's fictional, and not meant to be a bio-pic. Even the Dirk Diggler/John Holmes comparison. Like many bits of dialog from Dirk's films (like the "audition" for Amber, or the scene in the bar "It's not good, it's excellent") come directly from Holmes films, yet in one scene Dirk mentions John Holmes so it's apparent both exist in this world. And of course, the Rahad Jackson scene is clearly based on the Wonderland Murders.

I've wondered about Eddie/Dirk's age as well, but I attended a screening of Hot Skin and Hard Candy* back in the 90s, with actor Bill Margold in attendance. He said back then, it was illegal to MAKE porn movies, yet completely legal to show them. Odd loophole. Anyway, if they were breaking the law by filming them, it's logical to assume they'd also break the law by using underage actors if necessary. It wouldn't at all surprise me if some performers (most likely female) were 16 or 17 in films of the era.

Actually, the one inconsistency with reality that I've noticed is that it's highly unlikely Dirk would be as wealthy as he seems to be, at least before becoming a coke fiend. Male performers weren't paid that much. Not enough to even rent the home Dirk is living in, along with the designer clothes, the Corvette, etc.

But yeah, I love this movie too. Last weekend, I had to make a road trip to the San Fernando Valley, a place I've only been to once or twice. It's kind of a haul. Anyway, I stopped to get gas in Reseda, and I was bummed to find out later I was just a mile or so from the vacant Reseda Theatre, which is prominently featured in the opening camera crawl. Along with Hot Traxx (before becoming the Rodriquez Brothers Nightclub). It's a church now, apparently. I wish I had gone and snapped a few photos.

* - This was a crazy event. The movies were 3-D, and shown in full 2.35:1 scope. 35mm. Unfortunately, the theater handed out the polarized 3-D glasses, when this was the old anaglyph red/green! I lived close enough to go home and get some red/green glasses I had and return to the theater (they allowed in/out privileges with a ticket stub), but the print was so faded the 3-D still didn't work. Plus, the time it took to go home, I missed a lot of the movie and couldn't follow the plot upon returning.

JackoOnHisBacko

See: Traci Lords, started when she was 16, with a fake ID.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traci_Lords

dom56

Nina Hartley was the only real porn star in the film. Can't believe she's 61 and still doing porn. She look great for her age by the way.

Paff

This woman would like to have a word with you:

Coral

Summer Cummings and Skye Blue had non-speaking roles. They were the 2 girls in the jacuzzi.

cultshock

Yeah, here in Ontario a busser at a restaurant or bar can be under the drinking age, they just can't serve alcohol themselves, which is why they are relegated to clearing tables and cleaning rather than serving customers.

Yeah, I'm sure there was some combinations of several real people for some characters. In addition to the Exhausted scene, it was also Chinn who created the Johnny Wadd character and made those films (which are also depicted in Boogie Nights, although fictionalized with different names).



Absolutely, some have been revealed as such years after the fact, and considering the lack of ID required back then, and considering that many girls wandered in, filmed a one hit wonder and then left the business without a trace, there were likely plenty of underage actors.
Normally that is the case, but I believe that at his peak, Holmes was bringing in a lot more money than the average male performer was. He was a "star" at that point and was paid accordingly.



Speaking of Chinn, I highly recommend his autobiography, it includes a lot of Holmes stories and overall is a very interesting read.

shizawn

One of my favorite parts is when Wild Bill is talking to the DP/editor guy while his wife is having sex on the driveway he says something about how he's too distracted to talk about the shoot tomorrow because his wife "has an ass in her cock". I guess PT Anderson chose to leave that in since it really drives home how flustered Bill is.

Re: Porn Stars in the film, wasn't the girl the Colonel brought to the party (the one who overdoses) also a porn star? Little Cinderella or something like that.

dom56

Ah, I only saw the film once so didn't know about that.

Why So Blu?

Jaime Gillis was also another real life porn actor that PTA used as a composite for Burt Reynold's character, especially during the scene towards the end with roller girl where she picks up guys off the street to have sex with her. Gillis had a series like that in the 80's, as well:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Prowl_(film_series)

cultshock

Good point, I forget to mention that, and it does show how some characters amalgamate two or more real individuals. Luckily they went with Gillis' "On the Prowl" series rather than his "Human Toilet Bowl" series (the little of which I've seen is gross and horrifying )

Paff

Didn't know that about The Colonel's "date" (that the actress was in porn for real). I believe Amber Waves was somewhat based on Veronica Hart, especially with the child custody issues, thus the casting of Hart as the Family Court judge.

One question I have, is how exactly was Floyd Gondolli connected? I'm assuming he owned the theaters that showed porn, but had to take over as producer too after The Colonel's arrest. Reason I ask is that Jack had heard of him but never actually met him till the New Year's Party, so the two did not really work together until the 80s. Also, it doesn't seem likely that The Colonel would want Gondolli to be the producer, after all that was his job, so I assume it was more out of necessity.

(by the way, watch Robert Ridgely in the background as Philip Baker Hall says "I like the simple things in life: butter in my ass and a lollipop in my mouth". Ridgely just freakin' LOSES IT on that line, and I can't say I blame him)