1972!

The year was 1972.  As VGMH has reviewed with the last few posts, society's views on sexuality were changing.   A gay sex film debuted that year with a lot of "firsts"  in that it was the first Hand-in-Hand studio movie production, the first fully-scripted gay porn movie, and the first musically scored gay porno (More about this film coming).  Behind the Green Door was a major sex cinematic success with the general public that year, Doris Day's family friendly television show acknowledged the growing gay population of San Francisco's with the portrayal of an obviously gay couple living together, and a young man named named John Holmes was very busy making smut loops.
 
Appearing in lots of quickie loops and low-budget grinders under many names, this was the time (late-1960s early 1972) when John was in the process of changing his life, from married regular blue collar guy, to hustling his manhood for cash.  Holmes worked in both gay and straight still photography and movie shorts. His work in straight porn wound up with John being arrested in 1972 for pimping and pandering. It's reported that he becomes an informant for the police to escape the charges.

In May of 1972,  a smut movie production company begins operations with their first mail order flyer for a selection of gay 8mm films, one of which stars John Holmes.  These images (below) are from a color copy of a 1972 gay loop that Holmes performed in.  He's very young and enjoying himself with the company of a male pal.  The soft core interactions between the two of them look genuinely playful. First they are laughing and just hanging out in the kitchen, then they go to the bedroom.  John is already nude waiting in bed and the banter is playful between the two of them as his pal undresses and climbs in bed.  Afterwards they shower together.


Just ten years after this 1972 loop,John will be charged with murder with regards to the Wonderland house crime (1982 On the 20th May).




No one can say for certain how many gay-oriented reels and loops John performed in.  Holmes went by a lot of stage names in the late 1960s when he was appearing in stag and loops.  Sometimes he was not even credited at all.  His very early gay work shows that the young John Holmes was sexually attractive, something that is often ignored.  Efforts continue to locate all surviving 8 mm loops starring Holmes that he appeared in during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s and to convert them to electronic media for posterity.    Since most 8 mm smut films (due to the nature of the fragile film stock used at that time) were either thrown away, damaged from storage in basements and garages, or disintegrated from wear and time, it is believed that the majority of Holmes' loops are lost forever.  
A 1960s loop which continues to be searched for reportedly starred a very young and very skinny "Peter" (Holmes) wearing a navy sailor outfit. Reportedly filmed outside of Los Angeles in a secluded area with a worn 1950s truck in the background (California sunshine has always provided free lighting for low-budget movies), part of the confusion about this missing film is that people recall seeing what were probably two different versions.
It's likely both versions were filmed at the same time and edited into two different products.  This was a common activity in smut back then.   In both versions of the missing movie, a smoking sailor "Pete" first poses with the thick outline of his cock in his pants before he pulls it out for some fresh air.   After this opening, one version has just Holmes posing solo.  The other version is with 'sailor' Holmes receiving a very enthusiastic blow job from another young man.

'Sailor Johnny' was a straight loop with a youthful Holmes playing a sailor anchoring himself inside a girl.

Unfortunately, these grinder loops were not intended to last for decades.  If it was produced (most likely) by one man in the 1960s who photographed it and then was distributed on his own via mail, relatively few copies would probably have been sold.  We also don't know the quality of the reel film used to make copies.  To add to the confusion about this missing gay sailor smut loop that some say they recall, John Holmes also performed in a straight flicker in which he was also a sailor (titled 'Sailor Johnny').