Tuesday, May 13, 2003


So the other day I'm looking thru the video auctions on Naughtybids, and see a video I'd like to own for a good price, so I bid. Then I click "seller's other auctions" and see he has a bunch of stuff, including Joe Gage's El Paso Wrecking Corp. I check it out. Fairly vague description, and of course I already have a couple copies, including the In-The-Box GAGETAPE version. I emailed the seller to see if he has the older, full-version. He assured me he's had it for years, sent the above scan to me, and of course I got excited. Writing him back, I told him what he has is possibly valuable, so he needs to time the video, and if its about 88 minutes long, it's the nearly-impossible-to-get version. BINGO! Then, thru a series of emails over the weekend, I described what's missing from the currently available version, how he really ought to keep it, or at least close the auction down, and sell it on eBay with a new description including somethng about the missing parts. He seemed pleased, but felt that as he had already listed it on Naughtybids, and folks may have bookmarked it, he'd leave it there, and take his chances. (he did update the description a bit)

Well, needless to say, I don't want to see this going for a mere $6.95, so I've bid on it. But, I have more than one copy, and don't really need it, so I kept my bid fairly low, if someone else wants it. So, what's the big deal with this version, you ask? (Ahem! Haven't you been paying attention all these months/years?).

On the GAGETAPE page you'll see some details, but here goes:

  • opening sequence is chopped up, in the current release, you don't know WHY Halsted and Locke are fleeing Kansas City
  • Billy's Bar - homophobe scene: Halsted throws a str8 guy who's been mutterring about all the fags in the bar through a window - also chopped and garbled in the current release
  • fight scene in El Paso - garbles and chopped up, you'd miss the scene with Halsted fighting with the Wrecking Corp.'s foreman - may seem minor, but what I like about Gage films is that he builds sexual tension in these scenes, letting you see the men in non-sex situations so that you are aching by the time they get down to it
  • Mike Morris (father), Jared Benson (son) scene - probably the best-known of the missing parts. It is not, technically, an incest scene, but it is not in the current release (like the other scenes I've described, it's even missing from the DVD version) - Jared Benson is working at the Wrecking Corp, and lures Fred Halsted into this shack. After some chitchat, Fred gets the young man to go down on him. Then, Dad (Mike Morris) walks in, and silently watches from across the room, and whacks off while watching. Fantastic scene, toying with the taboo of incest, while actually utilizing the appeal of voyeurism (dad watching son, son watching dad, fred watching dad watching son, us watching all of them watching each other, you get the idea..) that Gage frequently does so well.
  • orgy finale sequence - nothing terribly noticeable, but it is shorter in the current release than the original issue.
So, like I said, if you've never seen it, and like Gage's stuff, you might want to try for this. The one that's being sold these days is missing 20-25 minutes from this 1977 classic. Apperently you do have to sign up to even view an auction at Naughtybids (is this where I shamelessly suggest you go to the top of this page, click auctions, and find the NAUGHTYBIDS logo to click on so I get the "affiliates program $$" ?). I'm only bidding $10.35, I don't want to be a pig and hoarde the few that are still out there (well, I do, but I won't), but I'd also hate to see someone get it who won't appreciate what he's getting, ya kow?