The Rialto Report

This past week I phoned Paul Thomas, former adult performer and film director, also known as PT. I’m heading out to LA shortly and was calling to set up a date with him and his wife. Seeing the two of them when I’m out west is one of my favorite things. It starts sitting together in their backyard under the Los Angeles sun, catching up on what’s been happening since my last visit. Then strolling slowly through the Venice canals as PT pontificates on one thing or another and his wife and I roll our eyes at him...

Years ago, I first saw the 1970s adult film Barbara Broadcast (1977) on the big screen, and it made a big impression.

In the film, there’s a scene which shows a man standing behind an industrial kitchen worktable, a shirtless, mustached piece of beefcake that was Wade Nichols. Rugged yet pretty. Lean, toned, and handsome. He looked like the Marlboro man from the distant plains, if that cowboy had inexplicably turned up in New York and started moonlighting as a Manhattan sous-chef. He had the appearance of a man in love, or a rather a man in lu...

Who was the original actor cast in the lead role of the golden age blockbuster, The Devil in Miss Jones (1973)?

Not Georgina Spelvin, the talented doyenne of adult films who starred in many pre-video era features, first in New York then in California, and who was the eventual star of the film as ‘Miss Jones.’

No, Gerard Damiano first chose another actress, Sue Flaken, to fill the role, only to change his mind at the last minute. The movie went on to become one of the biggest hits of the era, making Spelvin one of the...

In the first part of our interview with Susan Hart, we heard about Sue’s early years in 1970s Los Angeles, growing up in a strict Catholic family, running away from home when she was 15, and becoming involved in a bad relationship. She escaped – into the army of all places, before finding a different kind of home, of sorts, as a prolific performer in the early adult video industry.

But what is unusual and remarkable about her story is that Susan is willing to tell it at all. As you will hear in this concluding episode, Susan left...

Perhaps one of the less obvious aspects of The Rialto Report is that it may lead to the impression that people involved in the adult industry forty or fifty years ago are all pretty comfortable talking about their pasts and have led serene lives, free of incident, since they stopped making sex films. After all, our podcasts and interviews are filled with people talking pretty openly about their experiences.

In fact, quite the opposite is normally the case. You see, the truth is that the majority of people we approach – actors, directors, producers – are usually rather keen to n...

Previously on Chasing Butterflies – Stories of Cubans in Exploitation-Era Florida:

After Dolores Carlos’ retirement from acting in South Florida nudie films in the late 1960s, she still remained close to her circle of Cuban filmmaker friends, and none more so than José Prieto, Greg Sandor, and Rafael Remy. They would still meet regularly, and all three took an active interest in her daughter Marcy’s well-being. From time to time, they would joke about the fortune teller that the three men had consulted when they escaped from Cuba. Greg Sandor had moved out the California and had indeed...

Previously on Chasing Butterflies – Stories of Cubans in Exploitation-Era Florida:

You may remember Marcy Bichette’s start in life from our earlier episodes: she was born Marcelle Denise Bichette in St Petersburg, Florida in August 1950 to a young married couple who had distinctly different ambitions in life. Her father, Maurice Bichette, had married looking for a settled, quiet existence, but her mother, Dolores, wanted to live her life moving in the opposite direction. Dolores had come from a protected, patriarchal, patriotic Cuban household, and she longed for the excitement and glamor that she saw onscreen in her favo...

Previously on Chasing Butterflies – Stories of Cubans in Exploitation-Era Florida:

Manuel Conde had lived several lives even before he moved to Miami, Florida. He’d been born José Conde Samaniego in 1917 in Galicia, in northern Spain, though his family fled to Cuba after General Franco’s fascist coup d’état in the 1930s. And then, in 1959, Castro overthrew the government and enforced Communist rule over Cuba. Manuel, having already fled one dictatorship in Spain a few years earlier, took his family and fled to Miami, Florida, smuggling out a sexploitation film that he’d just made, called Girls on the...

Previously on Chasing Butterflies – Stories of Cubans in Exploitation-Era Florida:

Dolores Carlos was from a fiercely Cuban family, even though she was born in Tampa, Florida in October 1930, and never visited her country of origin. Her Cuban heritage and good looks, not to mention her patriotism, came from her father, Gus, and grandfather, Carlos, who had run the family’s cigar making business.

Growing up was complex for Dolores: she was close to her family, but she dreamed of breaking free and having a glamorous life as an actress, seduced by the silver screen and the...

Cuba may only be 90 miles from the southern tip of the United States – a leisurely boat trip on a calm day – but since the 1950s, the island has seemed part of a distant world, too many communist miles away.

It wasn’t always the case. For years, Cuba was almost an extension of America, almost another star on its star-spangled banner. Links between the two countries dated back to when the Cuban cigar industry first arrived in Florida in the 1830s, and Hispanic communities developed in Miami as impoverished Cubans emigrated, dissatisfied with Cuba’s poor economy, a high p...

What happened when Iris de la Cruz, sex worker and activist, interviewed her 10-year-old daughter?

The post Iris De La Cruz – And Her Daughter Melissa: Street Walking Blues – Podcast 143 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

We remember Howard Ziehm, one of the pioneers of adult films with the groundbreaking ‘Mona' (1970).

The post R.I.P. Howard Ziehm: Mona… (and marijuana, music, and M.I.T.) – Podcast Reprise appeared first on The Rialto Report.

What happened to Dian's career after the rise of the internet crippled the magazine business?

The post Dian Hanson – Chronicles, Part 4: The Taschen Years – Podcast 142 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Dian's career continues in the ever-expanding and competitive world of New York sex publications into the 1980s/90s.

The post Dian Hanson – Chronicles, Part 3: Going Solo – Podcast 141 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Part 2 of our interview with Dian Hanson - in which she embarks on a career in men's magazines.

The post Dian Hanson – Chronicles, Part 2: The Peter Wolff Years – Podcast 140 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Dian Hanson was a legendary figure in the world of men's magazines in New York in the 70s that overlapped heavily with the adult film scene.

The post Dian Hanson – Chronicles, Part 1: The Early Years – Podcast 139 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Whatever happened to Geri Miller?

The post NYC Starlets – Part 3: An Afternoon with Geri Miller, Warhol Super-Groupie and Sexploitation Actress – Podcast 138 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Rare and unpublished on-set photographs of Pat Barrington.

The post Pat Barrington in ‘Orgy of the Dead’ (1965) – Unpublished Photographs and Podcast (reprise) appeared first on The Rialto Report.

David Cronenberg's 'Rabid', Linda Lovelace and Marilyn Chambers, the Nicaraguan Contra rebels and more..

The post Svengali – The Chuck Traynor Story: Part 7, Endgame, Podcast 137 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

How Chuck Traynor, ex-husband of 'Deep Throat's Linda Lovelace moved on to Marilyn Chambers.

The post Svengali – The Chuck Traynor Story: Part 6, The Marilyn Chambers Years, Podcast 136 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

F.M Bradley died last month just a few weeks shy of his 70th birthday. We remember our 2021 interview with the pioneering 1980s adult star.

The post F.M. Bradley: Hiding in Plain Sight – Podcast 113 – Reprise appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Michael Findlay's films were so single-minded - so how much did his own life influence his work?

The post Flesh! The Untold Origin of the Findlays and the ‘Flesh Trilogy’, Part 2 – Michael’s story appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Michael and Roberta Findlay's film's were more shocking that their peers. So who were they?

The post Flesh! The Untold Origin of the Findlays and the ‘Flesh Trilogy’, Part 1 – Roberta’s story appeared first on The Rialto Report.

The dramatic second part of Lisa Cintrice's life story, covering her time in the adult film business and reveals what happens next.

The post Lisa Cintrice: Not Being Afraid, Part 2 – Podcast 133 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Lisa Cintrice talks about her life inside and out of the adult film business in this candid and personal interview.

The post Lisa Cintrice: Not Being Afraid, Part 1 – Podcast 132 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Herschel Savage passed away this week: Ashley West remembers him and revisits the 2013 interview with him.

The post R.I.P. Herschel Savage (1952 – 2023) appeared first on The Rialto Report.

The NYPD break with code - and make an X-rated in an attempt to break into the adult film business.

The post Cop Porn: When the NYPD made a Porn Film – Part 2 – Podcast 131 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

In 1977, the Public Morals Squad in New York set up an undercover porn production company.

The post Cop Porn: When the NYPD made a Porn Film – Part 1 – Podcast 130 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Legendary 1960s roadie, Neville Chesters, talks about The Who, Jimi Hendrix... and his adult films.

The post Neville Chesters R.I.P: How Jimi Hendrix’s Roadie became a Porn Producer – Podcast 77 (reprise) appeared first on The Rialto Report.

After 'Deep Throat' is released, Linda Lovelace is suddenly famous.

The post Svengali – The Chuck Traynor Story: Part 5, Deep Throat Explodes (and so does Sammy Davis Jr.) appeared first on The Rialto Report.

What really happened behind the scenes of 'Deep Throat' (1972)?

The post Svengali – The Chuck Traynor Story: Part 4, The Making of Deep Throat… What Really Happened? appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Debbie Revenge had two adult film careers - but her life was much more dramatic that anything on screen.

The post Punk and Porn in New York City – Part 2: Debbie Revenge, The Punk in the Photograph appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Part 2 of our Rialto Report interview with Sue Nero, a golden age adult performer in film, on stage, and in men's magazines.

The post Sue Nero: Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More (Part 2) – Podcast 126 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Sue Nero was a larger than life, super-hero of a porn star - she talks about her eventful life in this Rialto Report interview.

The post Sue Nero: Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More (Part 1) – Podcast 125 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Jamie Gillis went on a life-changing visit to Europe in 1977, and kept audio diaries of his experiences.

The post Jamie Gillis in Europe, 1977 – His Audio Diaries: “Life Is Easy When You Don’t Know How” appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Adult film icon, Kay Parker, passed away this week. In our podcast interview, she talks about becoming a star in the XXX film industry.

The post R.I.P. Kay Parker (1944 – 2022) – The Rialto Report interview appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Kitten Natividad died in Los Angeles this last week. She was a genuine cult pop culture figure.

The post R.I.P. Kitten Natividad – La Reina, Her Last Interview – Podcast 123 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Chesty Morgan makes ‘Deadly Weapons’ and ‘Double Agent 73’, and acts with Donald Sutherland.

The post The Trials of Chesty Morgan – Doris Wishman, Fellini, The Law and Me, Part 2 – Podcast 122 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Bionca was a striking performer, appearing in over 350 films and countless magazine spreads from 1984 through the early 2000s.

The post Bionca: The Daredevil Amazon – Podcast 121 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Chuck and Linda go to New York to find work in the adult film scene, and make some of the most notorious loops in adult film history.

The post Deep Throat @ 50: Svengali – The Chuck Traynor Story: Part 3 appeared first on The Rialto Report.