Dave Allen followed up his performance in A DEEP COMPASSION with this pretentious drama about the life of a homosexual porn star. Two-hour running time including an extremely preachy second half doomed it to obscurity, but it has historical significance.
Based on his own novel of the same name, title refers to a signal, used by male prostitutes to alert their johns that "the coast is clear" and one can ascend the stairs for servicing.
Allen plays the lead role of Lee Jones with boyish innocence, dominating the picture as writer-director-star. Stu Drexyl gets an unusual "sexual sequences directed by" credit, while DEEP COMPASSION helmer Brad Kingston is acknowledged as cinematographer and "special directorial adviser", so Allen cannot be accused of being a credit hog.
Lee arrives in Tinseltown off a Greyhound bus, having given up a college scholarship to instead try to become a movie star. He's met by: Karl (Winston Kramer), a sympathetic Black guy who is to be his sexual mentor; Mother (Richard Lindstrom), an outrageously styled drag queen, who gives the film's best performance; and Alma (Vicki Miles), an old lady whose sexual persuasion is undefined. They're working for underworld type Mr. Cury (British-accented Brad Preston), and Lee is headed for a life of prostitution and throwaway roles in XXX gay porn.
Karl's wife is buxom blonde Annie (Eva Faye), introduced flashing Lee. The film is unusual as gay porn in giving prominent roles to women, rather than featuring an all-male cast.
After loop-style XXX homosexual encounters in the second story room, plot begins in earnest when Karl shows Lee the ropes, in an explicit mixed-combo sex scene.
For his first assignment by Mr. Cury, Lee's sent to the home of a father and son, where they have a threesome by the pool, featuring explicit incest (treated quite casually).
Next up he's sent to service movie star Jeff Durango, played by his DEEP COMPASSION co-star Jim/Rick Cassidy.
First hour of the picture climaxes with an orgy back at Mr. Cury's hdqts. Mainstream porn star Ric Lutze is well-cast as a corrupt cop who becomes attracted to Lee and humps him twice. Though declaring to Cury: "I hate faggots!", Ric instantly develops a love/hate for Lee, belittling him as merely a whore and mocking his aspirations to become a movie star. Ric's bitter dialog delivery rings true, since the prolific porn vet never got a chance at the big time.
Ric slaps Lee down after sex, and throws him off the bed at a chair nearby, in a highly realistic sequence (Allen's arm is bleeding afterward in this continuous take). Lee freaks out and Cury has him drugged to calm him down, an important plot device.
Second half of the picture gives Allen a chance to mount his soapbox and expose the seedy truths of his profession. Down and out, Lee meets a chubby guy named Bill who takes him home. Bill wants sex, but is sympathetic, turning out to be an animal trainer (with a large snake as pet). All Lee wants is love and friendship, cueing Bill's lengthy philosophical soliloquy, betraying the film's origins in a novel.
In the first of many speeches that probably read better on the printed page than when recited in the middle of a movie, Bill contrasts the escapism of one-night stands typical of gay folk with lasting relationships. "Youth goes, idealism goes too", he laments, emphasizing how gays have harmfully internalized the outside world's view of them. "Society's destructive attitudes towards us made us destructive to ourselves, and then to each other". Lee looks soulful, listening attentively to this food for thought.
Mr. Cury insists that Lee do one more f*ck film, and when he rebels, he's injected again (apparently with heroin). Though Alma and Annie encourage him to go cold turkey, Lee stays with Cury's program, and surprisingly becomes a big star, hailed by the mainstream media as "the find of the decade".
Meanwhile, Bill has committed suicide (probably sick of reciting Allen's pompous dialog), and Lee reads the final sad and romantic letter from Bill, as the camera pans 360 degrees across the skies and trees.
Alma's straight cousin Chuck (Ray Todd, straight from gay porn Central Casting) is visiting, to attend UCLA, where Lee is now writing his thesis in Psychology, titled "The Male Hustler in Hollywood". Like Lee, Chuck wants to be a star, but he rebuffs Lee's sexual come-on to him by the pool, even though he gets a hard-on.
Now a big star, Lee is visited by male hustler Big John (Joey Daniels), who takes great umbrage at Lee's disinterest in sex, only wanting to interview the stud for his thesis. Way out of his acting depth, Daniels is asked to recite many world-weary speeches about the life of a hustler, e.g. "Bodies aren't as durable as money is", and ends up refusing Lee's $20 bill in payment. Lee later sees him on the street and gives him a $100 bill, which Big John gladly accepts.
In a predictable twist Chuck phones and asks Lee's help to break into films -he's quit school. Against his better judgment, Lee helps him with Mr. Cury, following the same sordid path he did to make it in Hollywood. When they finally have sex, Chuck dominant of course, Lee is rejected, as Chuck has no interest in loving him, it's just sex.
Sad and cynical look at the "Great American Dream" climaxes with Lee attending a Hollywood premiere for his next big movie (shot guerrilla style, evidently stealing use of the location & extras from an actual premiere), with Lee framed by klieg lights. Aural highlights are voiced over reiterating the movie's main themes, with Chuck getting the last word, voicing over a poem, contrasting with the lyrics of the ballad "Why Was I Born?" previously sung at a nightclub scene by lip syncher Felisha Fahr.
Based on his own novel of the same name, title refers to a signal, used by male prostitutes to alert their johns that "the coast is clear" and one can ascend the stairs for servicing.
Allen plays the lead role of Lee Jones with boyish innocence, dominating the picture as writer-director-star. Stu Drexyl gets an unusual "sexual sequences directed by" credit, while DEEP COMPASSION helmer Brad Kingston is acknowledged as cinematographer and "special directorial adviser", so Allen cannot be accused of being a credit hog.
Lee arrives in Tinseltown off a Greyhound bus, having given up a college scholarship to instead try to become a movie star. He's met by: Karl (Winston Kramer), a sympathetic Black guy who is to be his sexual mentor; Mother (Richard Lindstrom), an outrageously styled drag queen, who gives the film's best performance; and Alma (Vicki Miles), an old lady whose sexual persuasion is undefined. They're working for underworld type Mr. Cury (British-accented Brad Preston), and Lee is headed for a life of prostitution and throwaway roles in XXX gay porn.
Karl's wife is buxom blonde Annie (Eva Faye), introduced flashing Lee. The film is unusual as gay porn in giving prominent roles to women, rather than featuring an all-male cast.
After loop-style XXX homosexual encounters in the second story room, plot begins in earnest when Karl shows Lee the ropes, in an explicit mixed-combo sex scene.
For his first assignment by Mr. Cury, Lee's sent to the home of a father and son, where they have a threesome by the pool, featuring explicit incest (treated quite casually).
Next up he's sent to service movie star Jeff Durango, played by his DEEP COMPASSION co-star Jim/Rick Cassidy.
First hour of the picture climaxes with an orgy back at Mr. Cury's hdqts. Mainstream porn star Ric Lutze is well-cast as a corrupt cop who becomes attracted to Lee and humps him twice. Though declaring to Cury: "I hate faggots!", Ric instantly develops a love/hate for Lee, belittling him as merely a whore and mocking his aspirations to become a movie star. Ric's bitter dialog delivery rings true, since the prolific porn vet never got a chance at the big time.
Ric slaps Lee down after sex, and throws him off the bed at a chair nearby, in a highly realistic sequence (Allen's arm is bleeding afterward in this continuous take). Lee freaks out and Cury has him drugged to calm him down, an important plot device.
Second half of the picture gives Allen a chance to mount his soapbox and expose the seedy truths of his profession. Down and out, Lee meets a chubby guy named Bill who takes him home. Bill wants sex, but is sympathetic, turning out to be an animal trainer (with a large snake as pet). All Lee wants is love and friendship, cueing Bill's lengthy philosophical soliloquy, betraying the film's origins in a novel.
In the first of many speeches that probably read better on the printed page than when recited in the middle of a movie, Bill contrasts the escapism of one-night stands typical of gay folk with lasting relationships. "Youth goes, idealism goes too", he laments, emphasizing how gays have harmfully internalized the outside world's view of them. "Society's destructive attitudes towards us made us destructive to ourselves, and then to each other". Lee looks soulful, listening attentively to this food for thought.
Mr. Cury insists that Lee do one more f*ck film, and when he rebels, he's injected again (apparently with heroin). Though Alma and Annie encourage him to go cold turkey, Lee stays with Cury's program, and surprisingly becomes a big star, hailed by the mainstream media as "the find of the decade".
Meanwhile, Bill has committed suicide (probably sick of reciting Allen's pompous dialog), and Lee reads the final sad and romantic letter from Bill, as the camera pans 360 degrees across the skies and trees.
Alma's straight cousin Chuck (Ray Todd, straight from gay porn Central Casting) is visiting, to attend UCLA, where Lee is now writing his thesis in Psychology, titled "The Male Hustler in Hollywood". Like Lee, Chuck wants to be a star, but he rebuffs Lee's sexual come-on to him by the pool, even though he gets a hard-on.
Now a big star, Lee is visited by male hustler Big John (Joey Daniels), who takes great umbrage at Lee's disinterest in sex, only wanting to interview the stud for his thesis. Way out of his acting depth, Daniels is asked to recite many world-weary speeches about the life of a hustler, e.g. "Bodies aren't as durable as money is", and ends up refusing Lee's $20 bill in payment. Lee later sees him on the street and gives him a $100 bill, which Big John gladly accepts.
In a predictable twist Chuck phones and asks Lee's help to break into films -he's quit school. Against his better judgment, Lee helps him with Mr. Cury, following the same sordid path he did to make it in Hollywood. When they finally have sex, Chuck dominant of course, Lee is rejected, as Chuck has no interest in loving him, it's just sex.
Sad and cynical look at the "Great American Dream" climaxes with Lee attending a Hollywood premiere for his next big movie (shot guerrilla style, evidently stealing use of the location & extras from an actual premiere), with Lee framed by klieg lights. Aural highlights are voiced over reiterating the movie's main themes, with Chuck getting the last word, voicing over a poem, contrasting with the lyrics of the ballad "Why Was I Born?" previously sung at a nightclub scene by lip syncher Felisha Fahr.