Django Nudo, Smut Pedler and Kitty Lash devote the 50th episode of Cultpix Radio to celebrate the life and career of the first true male adult star Harry Reems.
Born Herbert Streicher into a Jewish Bronx family in 1947, Harry Reems pursued stage acting in New York but did stag loops to help pay for the rent. The pimply kid with the big nose had come out of the Marine Corps with a hard body, plus he could act. Kitty Lash found Bucky Beaver's Stags Loops and Shorts (1970) quite the turn on with its authentic and sweaty humping; in Ape Over Love (1970) Harry goes full gorilla (fake suit); while Mondo Porno (1971) foreshadows obscenity troubles to come, though the "judge for yourself" of the erotic "case studies" got Kitty purring again.
Deep Throat (1972) gave Harry fame and notoriety as he became the only US actor to ever be charged for appearing in a film. The case(s) dragged on until 1977 and contributed to his alcoholism. Late in life the love of a good woman saved him as he became a 'church gypsy': "I am not religious. I'm spiritual, 100 percent," he said. He also won belated recognition in the documentary "Inside Deep Throat" (2005). While converting to Christianity he kept his stage name and was happy to discuss his porn past.
A Touch of Genie (1974) is what you'd get if Woody Allan had made porn in the 70s, though Deep Jaws (1976) is also genuinely sexy and funny. Both beautifully restored by Vinegar Syndrome. The Love Witch (1970) sees Harry do an 'Alex Guinness' and playing multiple parts - with on-screen Batman-style f/x! Sherlick Holmes (1975) sees him playing the great detective, in More (1975) he is Detective Dick (!) Copper, while Dark Dreams (1975) is a hallucinogenic sex and horror trip.
Harry was shooting films in Sweden and Germany while his legal appeal was under way in the 1970s.: Justine & Juliette (1975) and Bel Ami (1976) are literary adaptations with a veneer of cultural respectability, but primarily gorgeously shot XXX features. Strangest Harry film of all is the non-nude SS Operation Wolfcub (1983) where he's a mercenary infiltrating a neo-Nazi training camp in Swedish forests.
Harry made a return in the 1980s. Trashy Lady (1985) is Harry doing a reverse My Fair Lady on too-classy mob moll Ginger Lynn, while in China and Silk (1984) Harry plays a cop.
For anyone wishing to learn more about Harry we recommend the New York Magazine article 'The Afterlife of a Porn Star' by Dave Itzkoff, as well as the excellent podcasts by the Rialto Report here, here and here. Of course we also have a Harry Reems Spotify playlist.