Friday, January 17, 2003

UNDERGROUND

director: Peter de Rome; from the 1973 release, The Erotic Films of Peter de Rome

Peter de Rome's first public showing of one of his Super 8 films was at the First International Wet Dream Film Festival in Amsterdam, and he won Best Short for Hot Pants (in 1971 or '72). Soon after that he was introduced to Jack Deveau, who had just started his own production company, Hand In Hand Films, and was putting the finishing touches on his first feature-length film, Left-Handed. After seeing several of his films, Jack asked de Rome what he planned to do with them - de Rome replied "oh nothing - they were just made for fun." Deveau was sure that they could be successful commerically, and suggested blowing them up to 16mm, and putting the shorts together as something like The Erotic Films of Peter de Rome (which is how it was released in April of 1973, first shown at the Lincoln Art Theater on 57th St. in Manhattan). After offering to be de Rome's producer, they agreed on several of the shorts to include, and also decided to make two new ones to round out the collection. He decided to try a fantasy he had thought about frequenlty - cruising and having sex on the NYC subway. They did most of the cruising shots in the morning, during rush hour, and the sex scenes mostly later that same night, with the final fuck on the F train going to Queens. The most basic of plots - a young hippie-type boards a subway train, spots a clean-cut executive-type, smiles are exchanged, crotches are furtively rubbed, etc. The actors were apparently so into it, and each other, that they were oblivious to the doors opening at the West 4th St station, trousers at their ankles, going at it. This clip is most of the original film, but taken from the fantastic 1975 "documentary" Good Hot Stuff, which I think gives a pretty cool set-up at the onset.