William E. Jones Presents Fred Halsted: LA Plays Itself + Sex Garage
Artist William E. Jones introduces two hardcore films by legendary 1970s sex radical Fred Halsted, LA Plays Itself and Sex Garage.
LA Plays Itself
In anticipation of his forthcoming book on legendary sex radical Fred Halsted, filmmaker William E. Jones (V.O., Tearoom) returns to the LLGFF to introduce a rare screening of hardcore Halsted films. Reconstructed to approximate its original theatrical version, the episodic LA Plays Itself contrasts two sexual drifters - one lingering in idyllic Malibu Canyon, the other cruising the gritty streets of 1970s LA.
Shot with an underground art aesthetic of dramatic shadows and non-synchronous sound, this deliciously disturbing film captured the raw underbelly of 1970s LA as few films ever have and introduced S/M sex (including scenes with lover Joey York) to gay pornography.
| Directed by: | Fred Halsted |
| Cast: | Fred Halsted, Joseph Yale, Jim Frost |
| Country: | USA |
| Year: | 1972 |
| Running time: | 55min |
Sex Garage
Sex Garage, a featurette created as a theatrical accompaniment to LA Plays Itself, takes Kenneth Anger's fetish aesthetic to the hardcore limit.
| Directed by: | Fred Halsted |
| Cast: | Gus Harvey, Sonia Boyd, Bob Madison |
| Country: | USA |
| Year: | 1972 |
| Running time: | 35min |
