L.A. Tool & Die
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
L.A. Tool & Die is a 1979 gay pornographic film, the third in the "Working Man" trilogy by director Joe Gage. Gage became a 2001 GayVN Video Awards Hall of Fame inductee, largely because of the significance of this trilogy. James McCourt described Gage as "the Douglas Sirk of queer porn," calling this the final in gay porn's "great romantic trilogy." (McCourt p. 326)
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[edit] Plot
The blue-collar protagonist Hank (Richard Locke) has to decide between sexual freedom and settling down with that "man of his dreams." Hank has group sex in vacant offices. Later in a gay bar, he spots a cowboy named Wylie (Will Seagers). They talk, but don't connect. Hank eventually believes that Wylie is the one for him. Cast also included Bob Blount and Paul Barresi (as Paul Baressi). Michael Kearns, who has appeared in mainstream films and television series such as The Waltons, has a cameo role in an orgy scene, a rare instance of a "legitimate" actor performing explicit sex acts in a hardcore pornographic film.
[edit] Influence
Historian John Burger notes it is "the story of an unrequited love, in which Richard Locke follows the man of his dreams across the country. They eventually live happily ever after." He adds that this film came at the very end of the pre-AIDS filmmaking, when "all levels of erotic experience were faithfully documented by the porn industry... men could be whores, men could be monogamous, or men could cruise the spectrum in between." (Burger, p. 24)
These classic movies have been fully restored on DVD. In 2006, Adult Video News named it to the top ten most innovative, influential, and hottest gay movies of all time.
[edit] References
- Burger, John R. One-Handed Histories: The Eroto-Politics of Gay Male Video Pornography. Haworth Press ISBN 1-56024-860-2
- Kearns, Michael (1980) The Gage Boys are Rolling Again with L.A. Tool & Die. Drummer, Issue 34, pp. 20-22
- McCourt, James (2003). Queer Street: The Rise and Fall of an American Culture, 1947-1985. W. W. Norton & Company ISBN 0-393-05051-3
- Ramone, Mike, Tim Connelly, Peter Stokes, Acme Anderson (2006). The AVN Guide to the 500 Greatest Adult Films of All Time. Thunder's Mouth Press ISBN 1-56025-719-9.
