1

00:00:01,042 --> 00:00:08,958

[instrumental music]

2
00:00:43,917 --> 00:00:48,833
[funky electronic music]

3
00:01:29,917 --> 00:01:37,833
[projector noise]

4
00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:04,042
- Outside line please, Carolyn.

5
00:02:04,333 --> 00:02:05,375
- Tom's number again?

6
00:02:05,667 --> 00:02:06,583
- Uh-huh.

7
00:02:06,875 --> 00:02:08,417
His ad just came out in the Barb.

8
00:02:08,708 --> 00:02:10,208
- Tom is running an ad?

9
00:02:10,583 --> 00:02:12,875
- Yep, uh-huh. A sex ad.

10
00:02:13,292 --> 00:02:15,333
Although it's not quite the usual kind.

11
00:02:15,625 --> 00:02:17,542
- Artie, I'll get you his number.

12
00:02:17,833 --> 00:02:19,625
You send the paper down here
when you through reading it.

13
00:02:19,917 --> 00:02:21,125
I'd love to read it.

14
00:02:21,542 --> 00:02:24,000
[dial tone]

15
00:02:24,292 --> 00:02:32,208
[dialing]

16
00:02:36,125 --> 00:02:40,125
[phone ringing]

17
00:02:40,542 --> 00:02:41,292
- Hello, Tom.

18
00:02:41,583 --> 00:02:43,167
- Yes, this is Tom.

19
00:02:43,458 --> 00:02:44,375
- Well, Tom, it's out.

20
00:02:44,750 --> 00:02:45,667
- Oh, Artie. What's out?

21
00:02:45,958 --> 00:02:48,000
- Your ad. I just finished reading it.

22
00:02:48,292 --> 00:02:50,333
Where did you ever come
up with the idea for it?

23
00:02:50,625 --> 00:02:52,458
I didn't know you wrote poetry.

24
00:02:52,833 --> 00:02:54,417
- Well, Artie. I don't.

25
00:02:54,708 --> 00:02:55,917
I copied it out of a book of poems

26
00:02:56,208 --> 00:02:57,417
that I have in my room.

27
00:02:57,708 --> 00:02:59,458
I tried to write a regular ad but

28
00:02:59,750 --> 00:03:01,375
I couldn't come up with anything,

29
00:03:01,667 --> 00:03:03,417
except the usual Barb trip.

30
00:03:03,708 --> 00:03:07,625
You know, gay, white, male, 28 years old,

31
00:03:07,917 --> 00:03:12,875
6 foot 3, 160 pounds,
blond hair, blue eyes,

32
00:03:13,167 --> 00:03:13,792
seeks...

33
00:03:14,083 --> 00:03:14,792
- Seeks what?

34
00:03:15,208 --> 00:03:15,750
- I drew a blank.

35
00:03:16,042 --> 00:03:19,125
So, I sent in that poem
by Walt Whitman in instead.

36
00:03:20,208 --> 00:03:21,000
Are you at the theater?

37
00:03:21,292 --> 00:03:21,792
- Uh-huh.

38
00:03:22,083 --> 00:03:23,000
- How's porno heaven?

39
00:03:23,292 --> 00:03:24,625
- It's about the same Tom.

40
00:03:25,250 --> 00:03:27,208
Two new flicks off from L.A.

41
00:03:27,500 --> 00:03:28,125
Washed out colors,

42
00:03:28,417 --> 00:03:30,417
shitty prints, lousy soundtracks.

43
00:03:30,708 --> 00:03:32,250
The house is about half full.

44
00:03:32,542 --> 00:03:33,125
You figure it.

45
00:03:33,417 --> 00:03:35,625
- Yeah. What are the films about this week?

46
00:03:36,042 --> 00:03:38,333
- Well,
one supposed to take place in Paris,

47
00:03:38,625 --> 00:03:40,125
but it's the usual, boy meets girl.

48
00:03:40,417 --> 00:03:41,500
Boy fucks girl.

49
00:03:41,792 --> 00:03:43,417
Girl does everybody in town.

50
00:03:43,833 --> 00:03:45,708
There's a beautiful dude
in the second feature

51
00:03:46,083 --> 00:03:47,583
and the Paris one has a good fucking scene

52
00:03:47,875 --> 00:03:48,917
in it near the end.

53
00:03:49,208 --> 00:03:51,208
They're just about par for the course.

54
00:03:52,042 --> 00:03:53,875
Were you late for work this morning?

55
00:03:54,250 --> 00:03:56,000
- Artie, these days,
I've been late for work

56
00:03:56,292 --> 00:03:57,292
just about every morning.

57
00:03:57,958 --> 00:04:00,583
I went to the bar last
night and stayed 'til last call.

58
00:04:01,250 --> 00:04:02,208
Then I cruised Polk Street,

59
00:04:02,500 --> 00:04:06,292
and got home by 3:30 a.m. alone.

60
00:04:06,958 --> 00:04:08,667
I was half asleep on the bus this morning.

61
00:04:08,958 --> 00:04:10,375
I've been stumbling
around the office coasting

62
00:04:10,667 --> 00:04:12,250
until lunchtime.

63
00:04:13,250 --> 00:04:14,417
Listen, Artie.

64
00:04:14,708 --> 00:04:16,000
What did you think of the ad?

65
00:04:16,292 --> 00:04:18,500
I mean if, if you didn't know me at all,

66
00:04:18,792 --> 00:04:20,458
would you answer it?

67
00:04:20,750 --> 00:04:23,042
- Well, I like the last part, you know,

68
00:04:23,333 --> 00:04:25,625
where it says, "I wake at night alone.

69
00:04:25,917 --> 00:04:28,125
I do not doubt, we shall meet again.”

70
00:04:28,875 --> 00:04:32,708
Heavy shit, but, no,
I wouldn't answer it, Tom.
71
00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:34,667
Poetry is not my style.

72
00:04:34,958 --> 00:04:36,500
- Well, I hope somebody answers it.

73
00:04:36,792 --> 00:04:39,208
- Tom, you know who will answer your ad?

74
00:04:39,500 --> 00:04:41,375
- Dear Box1154,

75
00:04:42,542 --> 00:04:46,958
My name is Robert. I'm 18
years old. I've never answered

76
00:04:47,250 --> 00:04:48,458
an ad in the Barb before.

77
00:04:49,125 --> 00:04:51,167
But yours seem so different
from the others in the paper that

78
00:04:51,458 --> 00:04:52,458
I thought I'd write to you.

79
00:04:53,917 --> 00:04:56,542
It's been very difficult for
me to enter the gay world.

80
00:04:57,417 --> 00:05:00,417
I live with my parents and I go
to school down by Aquatic Park.

81
00:05:01,542 --> 00:05:04,375
I don't like school
that much. It's a hassle.

82
00:05:05,042 --> 00:05:07,083
Being new to the gay scene is scary.

83
00:05:07,458 --> 00:05:08,917
Even writing this letter is weird.

84
00:05:09,750 --> 00:05:10,833
I don't know what to write.

85
00:05:11,750 --> 00:05:13,750
I've thrown away six tries so far.

86
00:05:14,375 --> 00:05:16,625
I'm going to mail this one
no matter how bad it is.

87
00:05:18,083 --> 00:05:21,500
I wish you had put your name along
with your post office box number,

88
00:05:21,792 --> 00:05:23,500
it would have made answering easier.

89
00:05:23,792 --> 00:05:24,708
I'm into movies,

90
00:05:25,167 --> 00:05:26,333
especially old ones.

91
00:05:27,208 --> 00:05:29,750
I like music and I have a
pretty good collection of records.

92
00:05:31,083 --> 00:05:32,667
I don't know how to end this letter.

93
00:05:33,583 --> 00:05:35,292
I'm wondering about what you're like,

94
00:05:36,042 --> 00:05:37,333
what your life is like.

95
00:05:37,917 --> 00:05:38,833
Right now, things for me

96
00:05:39,458 --> 00:05:40,667
are pretty heavy.

97
00:05:41,167 --> 00:05:43,042
I guess that's why I'm answering your ad.
98
00:05:43,792 --> 00:05:46,458
I wish I could put down
on paper what I'm feeling.

99
00:05:47,375 --> 00:05:49,500
Sincerely, Robert.

100
00:05:50,083 --> 00:05:55,500
P.S. My address is 2468B
Day Street San Francisco.

101
00:05:56,167 --> 00:05:58,667
If you answer,
don't put your name and return

102
00:05:58,958 --> 00:06:00,417
address on the outside of the envelope.

103
00:06:01,583 --> 00:06:03,333
My parents might ask who you are.

104
00:06:04,917 --> 00:06:12,833
[instrumental piano music]

105
00:08:30,708 --> 00:08:38,625
[projector noise]

106
00:09:11,875 --> 00:09:19,792
[sleazy electronic music]

107
00:14:19,458 --> 00:14:22,042
[TV sounds]

108
00:14:22,333 --> 00:14:24,875
- KDUX San Francisco
in cooperation with the

109
00:14:25,167 --> 00:14:27,083
Worthington Foundation presents

110
00:14:27,375 --> 00:14:30,333
Silent Screen Classics,
films from Hollywood's

111
00:14:30,625 --> 00:14:35,250
Golden Era. Tonight,
D.W. Griffith's Broken Blossoms, starring

112
00:14:35,542 --> 00:14:40,458
Lillian Gish and Richard
Barthelmess. Released in 1919, Broken

113
00:14:40,750 --> 00:14:43,625
Blossoms, marked Griffith's
return to the simple melodrama

114
00:14:43,917 --> 00:14:47,250
after the commercial failure
of his masterwork, Intolerance.

115
00:14:47,917 --> 00:14:50,708
Broken Blossoms is a story of
the doomed relationship between

116
00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:55,208
an Oriental man and a
White girl filmed in 19 days.

117
00:15:12,125 --> 00:15:20,042
[Broken Blossoms playing on TV]

118
00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,000
- Dear Robert, thanks for answering my ad.

119
00:18:39,292 --> 00:18:43,625
I got your letter yesterday at the
post office. I'm, I hardly know where to

120
00:18:43,917 --> 00:18:48,000
begin. First,
I didn't write that ad by myself. I copied

121
00:18:48,292 --> 00:18:51,208
it out of a book because, well,
I'm not a very good writer

122
00:18:51,500 --> 00:18:54,417
and it was hard to think of
words to describe my scene

123
00:18:54,708 --> 00:18:57,083
these days. I hope you understand.

124
00:18:58,042 --> 00:18:59,625
You asked about me in your letter.

125
00:19:00,167 --> 00:19:01,375
I'm 28 years old.

126
00:19:02,125 --> 00:19:04,583
I've lived in San
Francisco for about 5 years.

127
00:19:05,417 --> 00:19:06,458
I was born in New York City.

128
00:19:07,708 --> 00:19:10,833
I work at the telephone
company in an office downtown.

129
00:19:11,625 --> 00:19:12,542
It's a job.

130
00:19:13,792 --> 00:19:15,042
At night, I go ask the bars.

131
00:19:15,750 --> 00:19:17,125
The Stud is my favorite place.

132
00:19:18,500 --> 00:19:20,875
On weekends,
I usually the windup with the baths.

133
00:19:21,375 --> 00:19:22,833
I've been going there a lot lately.

134
00:19:23,125 --> 00:19:24,375
I like the baths because

135
00:19:25,333 --> 00:19:27,000
I can be close to a man without all the

136
00:19:27,292 --> 00:19:28,583
hassles and introductions
137
00:19:28,875 --> 00:19:30,625
and heavy bar cruising.

138
00:19:31,333 --> 00:19:32,625
Things that the baths don't last too long.

139
00:19:32,917 --> 00:19:33,583
But,

140
00:19:33,875 --> 00:19:35,208
I've met some good folks there.

141
00:19:36,417 --> 00:19:36,917
My friend, Artie,

142
00:19:37,208 --> 00:19:40,708
says that sex is my
primary interest in life.

143
00:19:41,250 --> 00:19:41,917
I don't know.

144
00:19:42,208 --> 00:19:44,292
But then again,
he may be right because on Sunday,

145
00:19:45,167 --> 00:19:46,833
unless it's raining very hard,

146
00:19:47,792 --> 00:19:48,708
I'm out cruising.

147
00:19:50,458 --> 00:19:50,958
On Polk Street.

148
00:19:51,250 --> 00:19:59,167
[instrumental ragtime music]

149
00:22:15,458 --> 00:22:17,458
- You said in your letter,
Robert, that it's hard for you to

150
00:22:17,750 --> 00:22:18,875
enter the gay scene.
151
00:22:19,875 --> 00:22:21,708
I started on the street
when I was really young.

152
00:22:22,458 --> 00:22:24,000
I'd see some man who turned me on.

153
00:22:24,833 --> 00:22:28,042
I'd look and wish we could just
go somewhere and go to bed.

154
00:22:29,458 --> 00:22:31,917
Finally, a guy came over and talked and

155
00:22:32,333 --> 00:22:33,250
said hello,

156
00:22:34,167 --> 00:22:35,167
and that was it.

157
00:22:36,042 --> 00:22:39,167
Some of my friends think
cruising the streets is trashy but,

158
00:22:39,458 --> 00:22:40,583
I still dig it.

159
00:22:40,958 --> 00:22:42,083
It's out in the open and I can always

160
00:22:42,375 --> 00:22:43,625
back out if I change my mind.

161
00:22:45,250 --> 00:22:46,875
I live close enough to
Polk Street to walk home

162
00:22:47,167 --> 00:22:48,083
with whoever I meet.

163
00:22:48,375 --> 00:22:48,875
And,

164
00:22:49,167 --> 00:22:50,208
just have good time.

165
00:22:51,583 --> 00:22:53,875
If any of this stuff makes sense,
write back.

166
00:22:54,542 --> 00:22:55,958
I'd like to get to know you better.

167
00:22:57,083 --> 00:22:58,292
Love, Tom.

168
00:22:59,833 --> 00:23:00,375
P.S.

169
00:23:00,667 --> 00:23:03,542
If you answer,
you don't have to write to Box 1154.

170
00:23:04,208 --> 00:23:06,333
I live at 3098 California Street.

171
00:23:07,042 --> 00:23:08,458
Zip, 94115.

172
00:23:08,750 --> 00:23:16,667
[instrumental rock music]

173
00:27:35,875 --> 00:27:36,792
[telephone clicks]

174
00:27:37,083 --> 00:27:45,000
[dialing]

175
00:27:47,583 --> 00:27:48,750
[dial tone]

176
00:27:51,083 --> 00:27:52,625
[sleazy electronic music]

177
00:27:52,917 --> 00:27:54,958
[telephone rings]

178
00:27:59,250 --> 00:28:01,667
- This is a recorded message
of the program at the Variety

179
00:28:01,958 --> 00:28:03,125
Cinema on Turk Street.

180
00:28:03,417 --> 00:28:06,125
San Francisco's oldest Art Cinema.

181
00:28:06,792 --> 00:28:10,000
Through next Tuesday, two films from
Miracle Motion Pictures,

182
00:28:10,750 --> 00:28:13,583
Nymphets Go to Paris
with Gabrielle Gabrielle

183
00:28:13,917 --> 00:28:18,042
and Lina LaMont in Fuck Me,
Fuck Me, My Sweet.

184
00:28:18,500 --> 00:28:21,625
Nymphets at 10, 2, 6 and 10 p.m.

185
00:28:21,958 --> 00:28:24,417
Fuck Me at noon 4, 8 and midnight.

186
00:28:25,333 --> 00:28:27,458
For further information, hold the line.

187
00:28:27,792 --> 00:28:28,708
- Hello, Artie?

188
00:28:29,250 --> 00:28:30,208
- Tom, how're you doing?

189
00:28:30,583 --> 00:28:32,875
- Okay.
- How's it going with the letter writing?

190
00:28:33,333 --> 00:28:35,333
Well, I've written three more
to Robert since I saw you

191
00:28:35,625 --> 00:28:39,750
last.
- What's he like? I know, you told me, he's 18, but

192
00:28:40,042 --> 00:28:44,833
what else?
- Well, I think he's really neat. I mean, he sounds

193
00:28:45,125 --> 00:28:48,625
a bit lonely,
but I can relate to that. He doesn't like

194
00:28:48,917 --> 00:28:53,708
school too much. He seems
sincere. I'd like to meet him

195
00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:58,000
soon. - Did you write that in your last letter?
- No. Well,

196
00:28:58,292 --> 00:29:01,500
let's see. I just mailed the
last one yesterday. I wrote

197
00:29:01,792 --> 00:29:05,792
about my day and I asked him to send me his picture.
- What?

198
00:29:06,500 --> 00:29:08,792
- Well, I just asked him to
send me a photograph of himself

199
00:29:09,083 --> 00:29:11,500
so I could see what he looks like.
- Do you think that was

200
00:29:11,792 --> 00:29:15,708
an okay thing to ask for?
- What do you mean? - I don't know.

201
00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:20,000
It could sound freaky. Is
it that important? I mean,

202
00:29:20,292 --> 00:29:24,625
- how he looks?
- Yeah. Yeah, I guess it is.
203
00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:32,917
[eerie instrumental music]

204
00:30:05,667 --> 00:30:13,208
[discordant instrumental music]

205
00:32:55,083 --> 00:33:03,000
[wind blowing]

206
00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:13,917
[instrumental music]

207
00:34:55,917 --> 00:35:03,083
[trolley noises]

208
00:35:04,542 --> 00:35:09,958
- Dear Tom, it's nighttime.
I'm sitting in my room writing

209
00:35:10,250 --> 00:35:13,917
this and feeling sorry for
myself. I guess I'm digging

210
00:35:14,208 --> 00:35:17,625
it. I've been thinking about
what you wrote in your last

211
00:35:17,917 --> 00:35:23,042
letter about getting together on Saturday,
June 23rd. I'm

212
00:35:23,333 --> 00:35:26,625
pretty scared to actually meet you,
scared that you might

213
00:35:26,917 --> 00:35:29,625
not like me or that all the
feelings in me might not come

214
00:35:29,917 --> 00:35:33,917
out. I want to love someone
but I've never gotten outside

215
00:35:34,208 --> 00:35:38,000
my head about it. Besides,
I'm getting used to writing to

216
00:35:38,292 --> 00:35:43,083
you. It's funny, you know,
more about me than anybody else

217
00:35:43,375 --> 00:35:46,708
and we've never really
met. I don't understand you

218
00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:50,292
too well. You wrote that you
have friends and that you've

219
00:35:50,583 --> 00:35:53,917
had lovers, and yet you said
you're not at all that happy.

220
00:35:54,292 --> 00:35:57,583
That blows my mind. Right now,
I wish there was someone

221
00:35:57,875 --> 00:36:04,583
to hold on to. Anyone.
School is a continuing drag. I

222
00:36:04,875 --> 00:36:08,875
hate P. E. class. I keep
wondering if anybody can tell I'm

223
00:36:09,167 --> 00:36:14,250
gay just by looking at me.
I feel skinny and weird. In

224
00:36:14,542 --> 00:36:17,458
the showers,
I freak out trying not to get an erection.

225
00:36:18,167 --> 00:36:21,458
It's a bummer. I hope I'm
not boring you with all this,

226
00:36:21,750 --> 00:36:24,458
but I'm lonely and I'm getting
tired of being lonely, which
227
00:36:24,750 --> 00:36:29,750
is worse. I don't know. At school,
I always get 70 in English.

228
00:36:30,625 --> 00:36:33,042
My teacher says,
I don't write enough on my assignments.

229
00:36:34,250 --> 00:36:37,667
I can never think of what
to say. So I just sit there and

230
00:36:37,958 --> 00:36:41,958
hand in whatever comes to
mind. But writing to you is different.

231
00:36:42,917 --> 00:36:46,625
I can get some of it out on
paper at least. I guess it's

232
00:36:46,917 --> 00:36:50,833
because you're not here in
my room looking at me. Your

233
00:36:51,125 --> 00:36:59,042
friend, Robert. P.S. About Saturday,
I'm sorta freaked out.

234
00:37:01,625 --> 00:37:04,625
But I'll meet you near the point
at Land's End by 10 o'clock.

235
00:37:07,042 --> 00:37:10,625
I hope you'll be there.

236
00:37:15,292 --> 00:37:18,750
[birds chirping and wind blowing]

237
00:37:42,833 --> 00:37:50,750
[♪ Open Waters by Jack McMahon ♪]

238
00:38:15,458 --> 00:38:23,167
There wasn't anybody listening,
but a white gull glistening

239
00:38:23,458 --> 00:38:31,375
across the open sky. She called
away to open waters. There's

240
00:38:34,750 --> 00:38:42,667
a place here without borders,
fix themselves upon demise.

241
00:38:45,875 --> 00:38:49,958
And then, he's gone.

242
00:38:50,333 --> 00:38:58,250
So long. Beyond the sun.

243
00:39:09,042 --> 00:39:16,208
Oh, the night upon the ocean,
like a drink of gypsy potion

244
00:39:16,500 --> 00:39:24,417
makes you leave the world
behind. Would fill the darkest

245
00:39:25,583 --> 00:39:33,208
eyes with moonglow. It'll linger
and it won't go without your

246
00:39:33,500 --> 00:39:41,417
dreams inside. On the sea,
the sleepy deep.

247
00:40:03,167 --> 00:40:08,667
Now, there's a new day in
an hour. We might fill our fists

248
00:40:08,958 --> 00:40:16,875
with flowers when we reach
that port of call. I've been

249
00:40:18,667 --> 00:40:25,750
reading in these faces,
a filling in of spaces and the

250
00:40:26,042 --> 00:40:33,958
cost so very small. For we are all.

251
00:40:41,458 --> 00:40:47,042
One and all.

252
00:40:50,458 --> 00:40:55,333
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

253
00:40:59,167 --> 00:41:03,833
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

254
00:41:19,958 --> 00:41:27,000
[wind blowing]

255
00:41:37,333 --> 00:41:45,250
[♪ Gymnopédie No.1 by Erik Satie ♪]

256
00:45:44,833 --> 00:45:52,750
[instrumental piano music]

257
00:52:07,042 --> 00:52:14,958
[wind blowing]

258
00:53:10,583 --> 00:53:18,500
[♪ Gymnopédie No.1 by Erik Satie ♪]

259
00:57:44,167 --> 00:57:52,083
[wind blowing]

260
00:57:57,875 --> 00:58:05,792
[playful instrumental music]

261
01:01:23,833 --> 01:01:31,750
[romantic instrumental music]

262
01:05:00,083 --> 01:05:05,000
[♪ Great Expectations by Jim O'Connor ♪]

263
01:06:06,167 --> 01:06:12,250
Gonna take my song down out of the attic.
Gonna dust my shoes

264
01:06:12,542 --> 01:06:17,292
off,
take them out of the closet. I'm gonna get

265
01:06:19,167 --> 01:06:24,792
that old time magic, back.

266
01:06:32,917 --> 01:06:36,333
Gonna spend some time
just the way that I ought to

267
01:06:37,083 --> 01:06:41,250
Hope you like the song and
the smile that I brought you

268
01:06:42,250 --> 01:06:50,167
These lazy days are driving me crazy now

269
01:06:57,375 --> 01:07:05,292
Great expectations

270
01:07:15,667 --> 01:07:21,250
I think I'm gonna get to
loving your city. If I never told

271
01:07:21,542 --> 01:07:26,542
you, I think that you're pretty. Now,
could would take walk

272
01:07:26,833 --> 01:07:34,750
down by the sea

273
01:07:40,167 --> 01:07:48,083
Great expectations

274
01:09:01,667 --> 01:09:05,792
Gonna take my song down out of the attic

275
01:09:06,125 --> 01:09:10,750
Gotta dust my shoes off,
take them out of the closet

276
01:09:11,417 --> 01:09:19,000
Gonna get that old time magic back

277
01:09:41,958 --> 01:09:46,167
I'm gonna spend some
time just the way I ought to

278
01:09:46,458 --> 01:09:51,625
Hope you like the song and
the smile that I brought you

279
01:09:51,917 --> 01:09:59,833
These lazy days driving me crazy now

280
01:10:01,583 --> 01:10:07,250
Great expectations

281
01:10:31,500 --> 01:10:37,083
Gonna take my song out of
the attic. Gotta dust my shoes off

282
01:10:37,375 --> 01:10:42,292
take them out of the closet.
Gonna get that old time

283
01:10:42,583 --> 01:10:48,250
magic back

284
01:10:50,875 --> 01:10:58,792
Great expectations
Great expectations

285
01:14:44,000 --> 01:14:49,083
[playful instrumental music]