31 Day Film Challenge: Day 18

Day 18 of the 31 Day Film Challenge: The Worst Script in any Film. This movie is so bad it's good, but there is no denying that it is the worst script in the world. Even Gore Vidal, the author of the book that the script was based on, disowned this film. Here is the amazingly bad, but good Myra Breckinridge!

After Dark May 1978 (The Final Part, finally)

Yes, this is the final post for this issue. I never thought I'd get here. I'm sure that each post began to look like the previous with the same photo of Bette Midler over and over and over and over and etc... it was getting a little annoying. This part won't be that long, but it does have some 70's beefcake for those who want it. But first, I have to share this one photo. This photo conjures up so many laughs in my head. After the premiere of Sextette at Hollywood's Cinerama Dome, Mae West, accompanied by Paul Novak, went back to the Beverly Hilton for supper and everybody converged on the table to talk to Miss West. The conversation between Madame and Mae West is the one I would have wanted to hear. Wayland Flowers and Madame must have had a ball talking to the legendary Miss West, but the look on Mae West's face, makes me wonder what was going on in her head.

In previous posts on this issue of After Dark, I had photos from new stage productions of Timbuktu and On the Twentieth Century, but since this was an anniversary issue, they had a couple of photos of previous stage hits. One was The Boys in the Band, but the other featured one of the best looking guys I've ever seen. Hiram Keller had starred in Hair with Paul Jabara and Suzanne Nostrand, here behind Robert Indiana's "LOVE" poster. If you don't know (shame on you), Hiram is the one on the right.

In the "Highlights" section of the issue, they usually feature jewelry, electronics, and fashions that you need to be on the lookout for and buy. Catalina had a royal blue and white open mesh tank-style shirt of flame terry knit worn with flame terry boxer-style shorts. At $11 each, that wasn't bad. But who was the model? Luckily, I knew. It wouldn't be until the following year after this issue that he would start making a name for himself on TV. He played the southern "Sweat Hog" on the last season of Welcome Back, Kotter, but it was his role in a backdoor pilot on Charlie's Angels, that I remember him most. His name was Stephen Shortridge and though he hasn't acted in film and television for a while, there wasn't too much you couldn't catch him on throughout the 80's.

Another guy that I will always remember starred in the beautifully filmed Querelle and the harrowing Midnight Express. His name was Brad Davis and his smoldering looks and understated acting will be missed.

Former After Dark cover boy Perry King was going to be playing an unusual part in A Different Story.

There is something about a guy in denim cutoffs that I love and Robby Benson is no exception. He would be starring in Ice Castles following his role in Burt Reynolds' The End.

Fashion designer and soccer coach John Stavros became known for his athletic wear. His fashions were seen in another issue I featured in a previous post. In this issue he modeled his own designs. This Greek-born designer looks as hot in his clothes and out of them.






That's it! It's finished. The Tenth Anniversary issue of After Dark had a lot to feature with some great photos to share. If you get the chance to check out eBay for past issues, I would definitely make sure this one is on your list. The articles like Bette's interview were fun to read and many more ads that bring nostalgic memories of a bygone era.

After Dark May 1978

Here's Bette Midler appearing on her third cover of After Dark! This issue also happens to be the Tenth Anniversary Issue! There is so much going on in this issue, I am going to have to break it up into multiple posts. There are the regular features, plus a look back at some of their favorite moments, films and people. In William Como's "Speaking Out" column, he talks about the demise of Ballroom Dance Magazine and how it was reinvented as After Dark. I really need to post that first issue of After Dark. Maybe next weekend.

Bette Midler interviews The Divine Miss M. That's right! It was a cute little piece that shows the natural humor of Miss Midler.



There was a bit on the Ruby Awards, which I mentioned in an earlier post. It had a photo of the previous seven winners that included Bette Midler,

her former accompianist and friend and star in his own right, Barry Manilow,

Peter Allen,

Ann-Margret,

Lucille Ball,

Mae West,

and Ruby Keeler (here with Dorothy Collins) for whom the award was renamed.

That's right, the Ruby Award was originally called the Starry Night Award, but more on the award and the parties that were given in other posts.
Back to the issue. Since it was the 10th anniversary, William Como and the staff got together for a group shot to show you the faces behind the monthly madness of After Dark.

In continuing their retrospective, they talked about some of the movies that made an impact with the newcomers of yesteryear now being the stars of today. Nudity in mainstream films like The Strawberry Statement which featured Bruce Davison,

Midnight Cowboy with Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman,

Jane Fonda as Barbarella,

David Bowie who appeared in The Man Who Fell to Earth and was going to be starring in Just a Gigolo,

Myra Breckinridge star Raquel Welch who would soon be appearing in The Sin and The Animal.

Who else is going to be featured in this issue? I'm afraid you'll just have to wait and see. Check back this week for more from this double-size issue.
Until then, will somebody order me a Gay Bob doll? I really, really want one.

Happy 4th of July

Go out and celebrate your independence!

After Dark September 1972

When I saw this cover of After Dark, I was excited to think that there would be a whole article on Candy Darling. Candy was a Warhol celebrity who started life by the name of Jim Slattery. Sad to say, this issue was a let-down. It turns out that Editor-In-Chief William Como had a bunch of photographs that were unused in previous issues, so he created a section for this issue called "Editor's Out-Takes".

There is no running theme to the photographs...just that they were great photos that needed to be used. So in addition to the cover photo of Candy Darling by Jack Mitchell, he used a Kenn Duncan shot of Rudolf Nureyev. Nureyev had a film that premiered that summer called I Am a Dancer.

Young actor Nicola Caturano had made his film debut in The Godfather and was going to be seen in Across 110th Street. He posed with gun-in-hand for this portrait by Jack Mitchell.

Jack also photographed artist Jack Brusca who specialized in air-brushed canvasses.

Kim Milford had left Hair for the touring company of Jesus Christ Superstar. In later years, Kim would tour as Rocky in The Rocky Horror Show, but I'm getting ahead of this issue. Kenn Duncan took this photograph of the long-haired singer as well as...

...6'2" Kris Johnson who played Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar while designing his own costumes for the production.

Candy was also photographed by Roy Blakely. Candy, at the time of this issue, was performing off-Broadway in Tennessee Williams' Small Craft Warnings.

The last photograph that I'm highlighting is another Warhol superstar, Pat Ast (here photographed by Michael Childers). She appeared in Heat with Joe Dallesandro and Sylvia Miles.


One of the other featured articles this issue was "Evening Out the Odd Couple" by David Johnson and this photo by Jack Mitchell. Tony Randall talks about a lot of things and for a man who played gay characters, somewhat gay characters, and latent gay characters, he sure had a surprising and shocking thing to say about homosexuality. It seems he went to a skin-flick house next door to his hotel and the story goes from there, "The first moment is so shocking. But, you can't stay shocked--so then you're bored. I went to an all-homosexual one, too. That's nothing. That is nothing. They have a number of all-male houses in Los Angeles. A group of went to that one night recently. Oh, that was really bad. Just terrible. Just disgusting. But also not good. Oh, guys sucking each other's cocks. There's nothing to watch in that. It confirms what something I've always suspected about homosexuality--they don't like it. These guys never got aroused. Whereas in the other, in today's modern porno, these kids really go at it, yeah. Oh, it's awful to see great big guys...definitely not my bag." It also seems he complained about the attitude of these hordes of homosexuals who come to the opera and scream and squeal over and support these broken-down sopranos. Even with all of this, he came off funny and now that I'd read that TV's Felix Unger had said the word "Cocks", I thought I'd try to sit through some episodes of The Odd Couple and put them in my Netflix queue. Nah, I'll just watch Pillow Talk again.

Even though she was working with Nick Ashford at the time, there was still a couple of years to go through before Valerie Simpson and he formed the singing duo of Ashford & Simpson.

Luis Botto wrote about The Mercer Arts Center, described as a cultural honeycomb in Greenwich Village. One of the theaters in the complex was featuring One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest starring Lane Smith.

Jack Blackton was performing in the musical revue called Hark! where the high point of the show was a ballad titled "Coffee Morning".

Producer Robert Fryers is spotlighted in an article by Harr Clein. He produced Travels with My Aunt starring Robert Stephens and Maggie Smith...

,,,as well as Myra Breckinridge with Mae West and Roger Herren.

Kenn Duncan took this photo of interior designer Joseph Braswell painting his friend, model Tony Milano.

Tom Eyen's See Why Hanna's Skirt Won't Stay Down was playing at San Francisco's Theatre of the Eye with David Baker Jr. and Mink Stole.

Edward Albert was photographed by Berry Berenson.

Actor/model Andy Ordon would be featured in an upcoming issue of After Dark. Here he is modeling a beige cotton suit from Belgium.

Stand-up comedian and actor Sandy Baron had a cute ad for his comedy album.

"The Most Lavish Bathhouse Ever Built" for the discriminating male was called The Club. Their ad stated they had Club Baths throughout the USA including Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Hammond, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Miami, Newark, New Orleans, New York City, St. Louis, Tampa, Toledo & Washington. I wonder if they were really all that lavish in Hammond.

Kaftans were the order of the month for the Lew Magram catalog. Of course the Turtlesuit just looks funny modeled without pants. Of course, I guess if the model wore pants you wouldn't get the idea.

Next issue I'm going to do an issue from the early 80's. Maybe I'll do After Dark September 1982 so we can see the changes in the magazine a decade made.