Tweet
Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: June 3rd, 2014.
Director: Wakefield Poole
Cast: Casey Donovan, Peter Fisk
Year: 1972
Purchase From Amazon
The Movie:
Following their releases of Bible! and Bijou, Vinegar Syndrome rolls out the red carpet for pioneering gay porn director Wakefield Poole's feature debut, Boys In The Sand, a film that is considered to be the first 'mainstream' adult feature (it was written about in a few notable trade magazines) intended for a male homosexual audience.
Shot on location on Fire Island in New York, the feature is basically made up of three separate short films, the only real link being the presence of Casey Donovan (or Calvin Culver, if you prefer). The first, entitled Boys In The Sand, features Donovan emerging from the ocean onto the beach and then making love to Peter Fisk (who was Poole's real life boyfriend at the time). It's sort of a fantasy becomes reality type scene and while the sex leaves nothing to the imagination, it is, as is typical with Poole's work, very artistically composed and shot. The second story is entitled Poolside and in it Donovan strolls alongside some beachside real estate until he finds another man waiting for him in his pool. Again, they have sex and Poole seems enamored with Donovan, framing him in interesting ways and catching a lot of his facial reactions in great detail. The third and final story is called Inside and, maybe not so surprisingly, it takes place inside a fancy house where Donovan is meandering about. A repairman appears at the door, Donovan lets him in, and you can basically figure out where it all goes from there…
Very light on plot and essentially silent outside of its use of background music, it's easy to see the appeal of a movie like this regardless of your own particular orientation. Poole has a great eye for composition and seems determined with his work to think outside the box. It would have been very easy and likely more financially rewarding to simply crank out hardcore loops the way many of his contemporaries working in both the gay and straight industries did but instead he puts more effort into capturing some impressive mood and atmosphere.
While the film is rough around the edges in many ways, the director was still perfecting his craft and would show considerable artistic improvements with Bijou a year later, there's definitely enough going on here to keep open minded viewers interested. Of course, it helps immensely if you're attracted to Donovan or any of the other cast members but even outside of the obvious erotic intentions, there's some decent location photography. The film remains not only an important cultural milestone but an curious artifact of gay life in the seventies and also an interesting travelogue showing off the Fire Island locations as they were a few decades ago.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Vinegar Syndrome presents Boys In The Sand in its original fullframe aspect ratio scanned at 2K from the best surviving 16mm elements and it looks pretty good on DVD. The black levels are fairly deep which makes the film's use of shadow and light more effective than it would be otherwise. Skin tones look lifelike and accurate and there aren't any issues with compression artifacts, edge enhancement or noise reduction. There is some minor print damage here and there but all in all this is a decent, film like transfer.
The only audio option on the disc is a Dolby Digital Mono track, there are no alternate language options or subtitles provided but as there really isn't any dialogue, that's not such a big deal. The levels are nicely balanced and the music used throughout the movie has a bit more depth than you might expect for an older mono track. This isn't a fancy mix by any stretch but it certainly gets the job done and sounds true to source.
The main extra son the disc is an audio commentary with Poole in which he talks about how and why he decide to make this film, his choice to shoot the movie on Fire Island, how the cast and crew were assembled and how this feature was birthed out of an earlier short film that he made with a different actor in the role Donovan played in the first vignette. Poole also provides an introduction to the film that covers some of the same ground. Poole's commentary tracks thus far for the Vinegar Syndrome releases have been pretty worthwhile listens and this latest one is no exception. He's very matter of fact when it comes to discussing the history of the picture and what he feels works and he's also pretty forthcoming about where some of his ideas and influences came from.
As the title for this release implies, Boys In The Sand is accompanied by a few of the director's earlier short films. Included here is Andy, a nine minute short piece that was shot on location in the Whitney Museum and which documents a Warhol exhibit that took place there. A Gift is a nine minute experimental short that uses a collage style to show off the shapes and textures of various random objects. Poole provides an optional audio commentary over this one that allows the director to offer up some welcome context. The third short is Vittorio, a three minute animated piece that incorporates illustrated poster art images from Vittorio Fiorucci. Last but not least, Head Film is a comedic short that runs ten minutes and features Peter Fisk in a kitchen setting with some amusing narration over top that comes courtesy of some oddly edited Julie Childs shows.
Poole appears on camera for an eleven minute Return To Fire Island featurette, which is a pretty interesting guided tour of the locations used in the feature attraction that shows how it has and hasn't changed in the years since the film was made. Linda Williams, who appeared on the Bijou DVD, is here again and offers another insightful analysis of what makes Boys In The Sand an interesting picture. Last but not least, we get a twenty-three minute long archival interview with Poole and Donovan culled from the Emerald City public access show. It's a pretty revealing piece in which Poole talks about making films for an adult audience and Donovan, referred to as Culver, talks about his role. Some vintage gay culture related commercials are left intact here and are quite amusing.
The Final Word:
Vinegar Syndrome's DVD issue of Boys In The Sand is about as comprehensive a release as you could hope for. The audience for a movie like this is obviously going to be limited but for those with an open mind and an interest in the subject matter, this is a really well put together release.
