The Films And Videos Of Wakefield Poole Volume 1
"An excellent collection of movies by one of the best gay adult filmmakers !"
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This special limited edition slipcover is limited to 1,000 units and is only available on our website and at select indie retailers. Absolutely no major retailers will be stocking them.
Muscle is a new film distribution company with a heavy repertory slant from historian, programmer, and filmmaker Elizabeth Purchell. Borne out of an understanding of the role that accessibility plays in shaping cultural histories, Muscle is dedicated to complicating and expanding the canon by shining a light on works that either never received their proper due or that have unjustly faded into obscurity, and championing new works by some of today’s most exciting underground filmmakers. Muscle loves scrappy, misfit films that don’t fit into any particular box.
There Are No More Closets is a three-volume anthology collecting the complete works of pioneering gay film and videomaker Wakefield Poole. This first volume brings together Poole’s final three feature films and first two videos.
In the wake of the disastrous release of Bible! (1973), Poole relocated from New York to San Francisco and marked the occasion with Moving! (1974), a trio of vignettes starring Casey Donovan (Boys in the Sand) and Val Martin (Sextool). Three years later, he teamed up with local experimental filmmaker Edd Dundas to make Take One (1977), an ambitious “docufantasy” about the lives and lusts of a group of real gay men, including the iconic Richard Locke (Forbidden Letters).
Poole returned to New York at the turn of the decade and reunited with Donovan once again for his final feature film, Hot Shots (1981). He made the transition to shooting on videotape in 1984 with Split/Image (1984), another trio of vignettes themed around a magazine photoshoot, and The Hustlers (1984), a narrative feature about two roommates who earn their living on their backs that began its life as a semi-autobiographical vehicle for Donovan and Robert La Tourneaux (The Boys in the Band).
directed by: Wakefield Poole
starring: Casey Donovan, Val Martin, Burt Edouards, Curt Gerard, Peter Fisk, RIchard Locke, Sal Guange, Nick Ritter, Dutch Valentino, Rudy Valentino, Glenn Robinson, Bill O'Connell, Philip Borden, Alexander Stewart, Guillermo Ricardo
1974-1984 / 382 min (combined) / 1.33:1 / English DTS-HD MA 2.0
Additional info:
Overall rating: 4.7755103 / 5 from 49 reviews.
This limited edition Blu-ray collection of Wakefield Poole's films, curated by Muscle, offers a comprehensive look at the pioneering works of a gay filmmaker. The set includes restored features and videos, along with insightful commentaries and featurettes. Customers praise the release, the quality of the films, and the overall presentation.
Review topics: [quality, looks, packaging, set, upgrade, work, buy, film, release, collection, extras, feature, wakefield poole, transfer, capsule, filmmaker, movie, footage, interview, see, start, addition, age].
"An excellent collection of movies by one of the best gay adult filmmakers !"
"Just in time for Pride, queer film historian extraordinaire Elizabeth Purchell has launched the new label Muscle Distribution. The first collection is the first volume in a series commemorating the legendary Wakefield Poole. Focusing on his last three films and first two videos, There Are No More Closets, Vol. 1 is a fascinating time capsule of the film into video era in the early 80s. They've done an excellent job with the restorations working with what I assume to be fairly damaged materials. (Moving! is shot on Super 7 and is ironically the best looking feature in the bunch. ) The extras are too bountiful to list here, not that I've had the time to peruse them all. Love the pink vintage feel of the slipcover and the two essays by Purchell and KJ Shepherd are expectedly fun reads. Highly recommended."
"Elizabeth Purchell's film company makes its Mélusine debut with this overdue upgrade of two of Poole's last film features and first two videos. The transfers on this release look great. Poole was an important filmmaker and it's great to have this thoughtfully produced collection. I look forward to more volumes of his work and to see what else Purchell brings us in the future."
"A thorough, thoughtful approach to presenting an archive of this essential material. The video sources allow only for some really rough transfers in a few instances - static-tracking from VHS tapes! those were the days! - but with its being preservational in its purpose, it works. The films themselves hold up well. They have a beauty to them that is classic. The physiques and overall looks of these men may seem dated, but they illustrate ideals from that time. Poole uses setting and location to amp up the class factor, so much of what he depicts has beauty and clever props. The extras are where this release comes fully to life - archival quality, again, but so informative and insightful in their content. Interviews with Poole are charming and important, and the footage of pride marches from San Francisco in the 1970s is essential history."
"Amazing historical documents on film, and an excellent booklet too. Can't wait to dive into the extras."
"None of the films impressed me as much as "Boys in the sand" or "Bible!" - still nice to have."
"this is a dream!! i am hoping we will see the other volumes soon!"
"Finally we get some Wakefield Poole releases! If this is your type of thing, well you’re gonna love it. And the transfers look good for what they had available. Check it out!"
"Finally, gay men have a Melusine release. One which not only excites, it has historical extra features, specifically the San Fran 1974 Freedom March ie: among the nations first gay pride parades. What an interesting and joyous journey to look back on. Great special features and enough smut to shame the most prolific prude. 5☆"
"A well-organized tribute to Wakefield Poole, and long overdue. Present-day producers of check-the-box objectification porn could learn a lot from Poole's poetic, nuanced eroticism. The 8mm and videotape productions show their resistance to restoration but "Moving" is pristine. Here's hoping vol. 2 will be coming soon to do similar justice to Bijou, Boys in the Sand and its underrated sequel, with all the soundtrack and sharpness improvements your AI tools can muster."
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