By Selwyn Harris
Time was--in the ancient age before home video--hopped-up horndogs in search of pornographic product over which they could pop off actually had to consume such material in the confines of bona fide, open-to-the-public, popcorn-stand-equipped, watch-your-step-in-the-balcony movie theaters.
It was a unique experience, to say the least. And among the most fascinating aspects of the X-rated filmgoing era were the films themselves. As theatrical hardcore exploded in popularity throughout the 1970s, the ambitions of its creators did as well. As a result, adult movies from 1968 to around 1986 represent a fascinating, previously overlooked chapter in the annals of American cinema.
And their starlets rank among the most sexually explosive beings ever captured on film, to boot.
At the forefront of this prurient vanguard--then and now--was Video-X-Pix, a company that pioneered both the escalation of top-flight porn-flick production and the onslaught of the medium on home video.
Presently Video-X-Pix is issuing its library of ribald classics on DVD. Steven Morowitz, one of the studio's executives and son of its founder, took some time to bring MrSkin.com fans up to speed on using modern technology to turn us all on--again--to the Golden Age of hardcore.
Please give us some background on Video-X-Pix.
Video-X-Pix was founded in New York City in1965. Back then the company was called Distribpix, and its main function was to produce and distribute adult films to the adult theaters throughout the United States. Distribpix owned many of those theaters too.
After VHS began to replace film in the early 1980s, Distribpix phased itself out of the theater business and continued to release some of the most well-known classics on VHS under the new label, Video-X-Pix[http://www.videoxpix.com].
VPX became one of the best-known companies of the late '70s and into the '80s. By the end of the 1980s, though, the VHS game became overly competitive, which gave way to much lower quality production featuring lesser-known performers. The entire market was changing from high-end projects shot on film to low-budget videos.
It was this decline that prompted VPX owner Arthur Morowitz to shelve his library of classic adult films in order not to cheapen the line. The original masters were mothballed and kept in good condition for almost twenty years until DVD started proving to be the next great format of home entertainment .
In summer 2002 we reopened Video-X-Pix to release the classics on DVD. We have been going strong ever since. It's awesome.
What are the goals of Video-X-Pix in reissuing these classics of hardcore on DVD?
First off, we are able to fulfill a specific niche. Our stuff will always be in demand because classics are a niche.
Secondly, it's very important for us to re-release the Golden Age classics that many people who today are in their forties and fifties had once seen as theatrical productions. To enable those fans to relive the experiences they had in the 1970s and '80s--only now in their own homes, with DVD players--well, that's very gratifying.
We get big fan responses at trade shows. People will come up and investigate our titles--classics like Inside Seka, Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle (Picture: ), or Tigresses with Vanessa Del Rio (Picture: 1 - 2)--and they'll say, "Wow! I used to steal that movie from my Dad's top drawer when he was at work!" They're very surprised to see that our movies are available.
Another main goal of ours has been to maintain the quality of our product at the top of the pyramid. The customers recognize that and it's been great for our sales. There are many companies that don't care about the quality of their DVDs. But we take a lot of pride in re-releasing, so our goal is to produce an excellent product. We don't cut any corners and we go that extra mile. We add bonus features, trailers, classic slideshows, and extra footage. Our customers are the most important thing to us and we want to give them all the bang for their buck!
You are the son of Video-X-Pix founder Arthur Morowitz. What was it like growing up with this as the family business?
My father was actually a tough guy. He was very smart and did not take much shit from my brothers and me as we were growing up. But, for the most part, he was very easy-going regarding the adult industry that he worked in. From a very young age, I had a good idea of what he did for a living. It didn't faze me. It felt kind of natural. Plus, I had a gutter mouth and I was a perverted kid. So growing up around the world of pornography just seemed to be a fit.
I also think that one of the reasons I wasn't fazed by it was because my father was all about business. He was always working. Even though the nature of the adult business seems exciting, the day-to-day operations involved owning and operating movie theaters and retail stores, along with handling distribution--not to even mention production.
Every day, my father left early and came home late. He set a great example to follow.
Do you have any interesting stories about coming of age in this environment?
One that comes to mind happened when I was seven or eight years old. I went into the office with my father in New York City.
At this point, the entire business was operating in one single building--production, sets, filming, editing, sales, distribution. Everything. So going to work with my father was like going to some kind of crazy X-rated candy shop. Everywhere I turned, I was overstimulated by sexual curiosity. After all, I was a kid.
This particular day, I was hanging out with the guys in charge of dubbing audio into the movies. They had 100 VCRs going all day long. I would just sit there watching everything with a little boner. I was a perv.
Anyway, my father called me into his office to meet some woman. I wasn't completely sure who she was, but I could definitely tell she wasn't there to apply for a secretary job. She was a gorgeous blonde. She grabbed me and gave me a hug and I sat on her lap while she and my father talked business.
When I went back to the dubbing room, the production guys told me that I'd been sitting on the lap of Seka! I will never forget that. It always seems to stay with me.
Later on--when I was around twelve or thirteen--I would go to my father's theaters around Times Square sometimes to help drop off new prints or pick up the prints that were being sent to other locations. That's where I first got a dose of the reality of what goes in the world of porn and smut.
Once I was sitting in a projection booth and I saw two male audience members engaging in gay sex. You can imagine what kind of shock that was to a young kid. That down-and-dirty reality was nasty, but then I'd also see the images of these classic movies on the big screen.
Growing up around those theaters and adult stores--and growing up in New York especially--helped to define me as the person that I am today.
What was good and what was bad about the shift from theaters to home video?
By 1982 the market was entrenched with VCRs. Basically video put porn back in the home where it belonged. But before the transition was complete, Distribpix was able to break movies in theaters and on video the same day.
Inside Seka, one of our best sellers, was released simultaneously in New York and Los Angeles. The video alone sold 4,000 cassettes on the first day. This was back when wholesale was $40. It was amazing!
One important aspect of film production back then was that if you produced on film, and your movie played theatrically, it could sometimes take more than a year to phase out the production. Since film was very expensive, production houses could only make enough prints to be distributed exclusively to the better theaters around the country.
All of the theaters were not able to play the best movies all of the time. New York and Los Angeles were the most sought-after locations. When video came in, it was much cheaper to shoot on and produce and studios could release product to the entire country at one time.
The change from theatrical to video releasing was relatively smooth for our company, but there were some negatives and positives. One negative was that the theater business was virtually wiped out and shooting on film became rare. One positive was that the studios who had their masters on film now had content ready for the next venue, which became the home-video market.
Was your company involved in the production of the films? If so, what was that like?
Yes. Very much so.
Many of the films were shot in New York City throughout the 1970s, by many of the greatest directors in adult-film history, such as Gerard Damiano, Henri Pachard, Joe Sarno, Carter Stevens, and Jonas Middleton. They're all legends!
As the business grew, our movies expanded to other locations as well. We stopped actively producing around 1988.
Was the adult-film industry similar to Hollywood?
It was very duplicative of Hollywood. There were even agents that shopped the theaters. Many big chains of mainstream theaters also had two or three adult theaters, and they handled the movies just like mainstream Hollywood releases.
What were those theaters like?
In many cases, the theaters were regular neighborhood movie houses. Usually they were small venues. In the cities, it was not uncommon to see small ninety-nine-cent grindhouses popping up from time to time. Eventually theaters began to take on Main Street locations in the cities, and as the cities grew more populated, the theaters took on unique identities of their own. The Circus Theater and the Pussycat are two good examples of that.
There is a renewed interest in the films of the Golden Age of theatrical hardcore. How do you account for this? What do you think that today's audience most enjoys about the X-rated classics?
One reason is that retro is back in a huge way. People just seem to love the classics. These films are the originals and they are timeless.
Another reason is that many fans of porn today are sick of plastic starlets with fake boobs and gonzo-style productions with little plot and no budget. We are finding that guys like natural boobs and a hairy bush, and even a storyline. We can provide them with all of that.
Plus, with the classics, you are getting some of the steamiest sex scenes ever recorded on film. They have storylines that make them ideal for stag or couples viewing. There are dramas, mysteries, comedies--and these films were produced in the age of extravagant budgets, outstanding production vales, and spectacular performances by adult superstars such as Gloria Leonard (Picture: 1 - 2), Georgina Spelvin (Picture: 1 - 2), and Jennifer Welles (Picture: 1).
People today love to get a chance to see some of the legends of porn acting in their first X-rated roles ever. It's priceless to see the interaction on film between a young Ron Jeremy and a young Annie Sprinkle.
What are your personal favorite films in the Video-X-Pix library and why?
I love the Inside series. They are good, solid, shot-on-film looks at the lives of some of the earliest sexual goddesses of our time.
Other great classics in our collection include Roommates, Blonde Goddess, Angel Buns, Take Off, Teenage Deviate, and Maraschino Cherry. They have great stories and great performances from the greatest stars of the Golden Age, such as Veronica Hart (Picture: 1 - ), Kelly Nichols (Picture: 1 - 2), Sharon Mitchell, Annete Haven (Picture: 1), and Candida Royale, to name just a few.
Another favorite of mine is That Lucky Stiff. It stars a young Samantha Fox (Picture: 1 - 2), Candida Royale, Ron Jeremy, and Randy West. The footage is shot in New York City and Europe in the 1970s. It's priceless stuff. And the movie is very funny.
Of the films in the Video-X-Pix library, which ones do you think are the most likely to catch on as modern-day cult classics?
Through the Looking Glass already has its own cult following, as does the movie's director, Jonas Middleton. There has always been a buzz about this dark classic, which stars a young Jamie Gillis and Catherine Erhardt.
Who are your favorite performers of the Golden Age and why?
That's a tough question. There are so many. Here is a quick list of some of them.
Veronica Hart is always so elegant and a great actress, to boot.
Vanessa Del Rio is the all-time Latin sex queen--busty and beautiful.
Annette Haven is the embodiment of class and feminine allure.
Annie Sprinkle never fails to shower the screen with love. And those huge breasts!
Samantha Fox is a great actress and a very sexual person. She seemed to have perfect chemistry with many actors of the '70s, especially Bobby Astyr. He's another one of my favorites. His acting dialogue and acting were among the best in the business.
What are some upcoming titles and projects from Video-X-Pix?
There is so much in the works for Video-X-Pix in 2006. We still have fifty to seventy masters to be transferred to the DVD format.
Some of the titles we're planning on releasing in the next year include Campus Girls with Tina Russell, Visions starring Sharon Mitchell, She's Got the Four-X Feeling with Amber Lynn, and Hot Girls in Love with Crystal Breeze, Honey Wilder, and Gina Carrera.
We are also looking to make some high-definition transfers as well as releasing some high-end star collections.
