Desperately Seeking Susan- Constance Found

Constance Money, aka Susan Jensen. The Opening of Misty Beethoven, directed by Radley Metzger.

Unforgettable in her starring role in the classic 1975 erotic film ‘The Opening of Misty Beethoven,’ Constance Money is an iconic figure of adult film’s golden age who continues to fascinate all those who see her films.

Piastro Cruiso, writer of one of her later films, “Anna Obsessed,” said of Constance: “She was different from anyone else in the business: innocent, distracted, unaffected, friendly, a natural beauty—many of us fell in love with her (or at least felt protective of her), and she made us all think we had a chance.”

If Money’s performance in a handful of golden-age classics made her famous, her subsequent disappearance made her a legend.

From 1985 on, she appeared in no films, gave no press appearances or interviews, attended no more parties at the Playboy Mansion. Like Bambi Woods and Nancy Suiter before her, it was as if Constance Money had simply ceased to exist.

So who was Constance Money? How did she come to be an icon of the Porno Chic movement? And why did she leave it all behind?

Thankfully, over the past few years I have been staying in touch with Susan.  While I wanted to have her involved in our actual re-release of The Opening of Misty Beethoven, she was just not ready. But we stayed in touch and thankfully we finally got to meet up last summer in Seattle, where we were able to sit down for a heartfelt interview(location courtesy of SWV). We will post some snippets from the B roll camera and the full interview will be released in the near future.

Special Thanks to Susan Jensen, Plausible Films, Something Weird Video

Original Camera Negative for Jeff Lieberman’s, 1978, Blue Sunshine, FOUND!!

Anyway, for those of you who don’t have much time, I will first skip all the bullshit! I just wanted to confirm the rumors that have been circulating, although I have not been able to get on Facebook or the blog as much lately, I have gotten some email and a few calls regarding this. I think it is a rather awesome film discovery and worthy of some major press and fan satisfaction. Recently, I have discovered the original Picture Negative to Jeff Lieberman’s, 1978, Blue Sunshine. There has not been a physical transfer or scan, but based on the actual elements, they look absolutely great, which is a huge start. This is a famous and sought after film, and one that the horror community has embraced as sort of a cult classic. The bottom line is that film is set in LA, it has murderous maniacs, caused by some LSD they took, need I say more! Combine that with this brand new find and were talking a serious Blu Ray Release!!

So,”YES”!… The Original Camera Negative for Jeff Lieberman’s, 1978, Blue Sunshine, has been FOUND, alive and well and heading to the lab for a truly glorious restoration project. Details will follow when finalized, but the simple approach is a 4k scan, followed by Davinci timing, which it will need plenty of and then after we complete the timing, we can decide on what levels of digital restoration we need to perform, like scratch and dirt removal. It is something we need to think about before we even start the scan because today, many of the higher end scanners have a technology from Kodak called DICE, and this is a very expensive and even a complex addition to the scanners, and it basically enables the scanner to effectively remove dirt, scratches and other flaws during the actual scanning process(I think of it like a digital wet gate). You can search “film scanning DICE technology” and learn more about it. But essentially, when this option used, the scanner automatically slows down and adjusts the rate that the film goes across the gate. During this slower scan, much of the flaw that would take weeks to remove manually with digital software, can now be done with DICE. Of course, this can add anywhere from $10-20 dollars to each minute of scan time, so it is a very expensive option, so we have not yet decided if this negative will be scanned that way.

Blue Sunshine, 1978, Original Camera Negative.

Well, “when it rains it pours”, is how the saying goes and for my small and rather intimate archival efforts, I can admit that this is true. These past 6 months have been amazing, from discovering a crisp 35mm print of an American literary and cinematic classic like Orson Welle’s, Falstaff(1965) to the negative of an American underground-cult classic like Jeff Lieberman’s, Blue Sunshine(1978), at Distribpix Inc we are certainly doing something right and that is literally unearthing some of cinema’s lost film treasures and elements.

Always traveling all over the place to retrieve film elements, look at new ones and archive collections takes a toll on the body and mind. It is like going on a scavenger hunt and if your successful , you need a 56 foot trailer truck, fork lift, 5 thousand dollars and a bottle of Advil, to simply ‘move it out’. Unlike many other worthy and valuable hobbies, like stamp collecting, where an entire collection of rare value can be carried in a briefcase and stored in a safe, a film collection needs a large space, a warehouse, a film storage facility, it’s a lot, and by film collecting standards I am rather small potatoes, housing much of a 3000 square foot warehouse with random films element and always convincing myself that I have room for me( which I do)!

And what is great, which is not that uncommon in film discoveries from the Distribpix archive, is that most of the time we are able to track down the origin of the films elements and find out where they originated (mainly through files, record and research) and how they ended up where they are. In most cases, it can be it’s own show or episode, it can be that amazing and detailed, other times its rather simple and straightforward. This is exactly the case with the negative for Blue Sunshine. For me, this was a simple forensic analysis and the determination was made through files that were from my private records, but after through research, the same info was also found to be easily available on the internet.

Blue Sunshine, 1978, Original Camera Negative.

Analysis of the discovery of the Film Elements for Blue Sunshine (Original Picture Negative):

Here is what I can tell you about the life of the original picture negative for Blue Sunshine. Again, this is concise and to the point, but the actual story like many, is packed with details. In the late 1970’s when Jeff Leiberman had the original film negatives, he had utilized the services of Movie Lab in NYC to not only strike prints, but also store and ship prints. Movie Lab was one of the major go to labs of the day, and provided services to almost every film company during the 70’s and 80’s, from Hollywood to New York.

Their bicoastal location allowed prolific producers and directors on both coasts to more easily churn out pictures in the booming exploitation market. In many cases, these local labs thrived on the business of exploitation filmmakers(more on the cheaper, action style films and X-rated adult features), as the demand for this niche and theatrical prints was at it’s peek, as grindhouse after grindhouse dotted the streets of NYC and many other cities across America. America wanted it’s filth and they needed it quickly and easily, the only way to make it accessible was to have prints struck and in some cases hundreds of them for theaters all over the world! Today, we take for granted that much of the HD quality video we all watch on our tablets and mobile devices is streaming from some invisible Cloud that lingers in the atmosphere, of course I am speaking of cloud based servers and storage. But, back in the 70’s and 80s’s, if you want to see the shit, if you wanted anything to do with it, you went to the theaters. It was an experience. It was a way of life, this was just before and during the infancy of the home video revolution(VHS). This is how America and most viewed films, it was a place for the commoner and the cinephile, the raincoated-pervert or the business man. If you wanted it, you came out to see it, no way around!! I was fortunate enough to be a youngster around it, I saw it and experienced NYC and Times Square in the late 70’s and early 80’s, man it was incredible. Anyway, there is no way of getting around technology, don’t fight it, embrace it.

Back to the story……so while the labs were always busy the began to  depend more and more on the success of the filmmakers and producers, and as these filmmakers would move on from one project to another, it was not uncommon to have original elements either stored or held at specialty film labs. Movie Lab was that place for Blue Sunshine, as well as literally thousands of other films elements from studios big and small, from around the world.

In the early 90’s, when Movie Lab had gone out of business, which is it’s own story, there were still thousands of film elements that were either abandoned, not claimed, unknown or just not identified correctly and became the property of Movie Lab and/or their responsibly to get rid of it, as they space the inhabited for so long was now to be vacated.  So in the early 90’s, after a business deal was made between Distribix Inc. and Movie Lab, all of these various film elements were brought by trailer trucks to a warehouse in New Jersey, owned by Distribpix. These elements were stored for a while and eventually ended up in some different areas, some stayed in NYC, and many went to Los Angeles and then we followed the paper the trail to Seattle’s, Something Weird Video, where they would stay for approximately 25 years, hidden and tucked away with thousands of other boxes in storage areas, filled with film elements, ranging from negatives, to prints, mag tracks, trailers, work prints, etc.

The simple reason they ended up in Seattle, at SWV, was due to the fact that in the early 1990’s a young and aggressive businessman( as well as cinephile, professional collector, comic book hound, punk rock expert, and well known video bootlegger) by the name of Mike Vraney had contacted Arthur, the owner of Distribpix Inc, as Mike wanted to distribute some of the early Distribpix sex exploitation films, as well as try and exploit the new Movie Lab acquisitions as well. While I was just getting out of junior high school around that time, I was still aware of what was going on, to a degree, now my tenure and files can confirm everything. Anyway, Mike Vraney and Distribpix had a very pleasant relationship, and I remember times when Mike, Dave Friedman and my father and brother, would often all rendevoux once a year in the Big Apple, where they would romp around, eat and drink. Mike was a true character and I have thought about him so much since his passing just over 15 months ago. He leaves behind an amazing legacy and film collection, and a good portion of those elements are owned by Distribpix Inc. Anyway, after Mike’s passing I had spent almost a year going back and forth to Seattle every 6 weeks or so, to spend time with Lisa, Mike’s wife and owner of SWV, as well as Tim Lewis, the head of operations. We had some great times. I also got to be at Mike’s memorial and oother events to remember his life. While in Seattle this past summer, I had also been looking through elements and gathering films as well. In July of 2014, after spending 3-4 consecutive days on my hands and knees, I was elated to find a box that was labeled with Blue Sunshine.

Blue Sunshine, 1978, Original Camera Negative.

I don’t exactly recall why I was looking for it or why it was on my ‘keep an eye out for” list, maybe because Jeff had mentioned it to a friend of mine, as he knew I would be scouring through the Movie Lab elements with a fine tooth comb, but Lisa was also aware of the fact that they might be there. I mean Jeff Leiberman even had a hunch, as he would know best and he was right. I immediately brought the box to Lisa where it was locked away in her office until I was able to have it securely package and shipped to the east coast. Where is sits beside me and awaits a 2 hour drive too the lab in just over 48 hours! That is the life line of these elements, I hope you enjoyed this story. I am want to thank Mike/Lisa/Tim from SWV for always being such solid people to me and great hosts and I want to thank and congratulate Jeff Lieberman on the confirmation that his original negative not only exists, but will be getting a grand restoration and one done with love, passion and care to detail.

While this is a great find and the elements are now safe with me they will be going home to daddy!! After the restoration, which is complete I will personally drive the negatives back to Jeff’s home, where the reels can live with Jeff, sandwiched between some of his other prized elements he owns. I just hope his film elements for Remote Control, will not be too jealous of his brand new and gorgeous looking 35mm-celluloid addition to the family!

More details to follow. Thank you for reading.

http://www.distribpix.com

If you live in LA, or your going to be in LA tomorrow night, May 15, you got to come and check this out. The bottom line is that these guys over at Westgate Gallery love their cult, exploitation/sexploitation and vintage X rated posters. Christian and I have been friends for many years and he has been a huge supporter of the Distribpix Archive and the artwork of the films as well. From what I have seen so far online, I am so excited for this event. I am flying all the way across the country, so I can be there and be surrounded by amazing art. One thing I love most about the organizers of Westgate is their passion and commitment!! That is what makes this so exciting. Lots of guests and events surrounding this. Tons of original posters and artwork.

I hope to see all of you tomorrow night and congratulations to the team at Westgate Galleries, a job well done!

DETAILS:

What:   WESTGATE GALLERY PRESENTS:  THE DEVILS PLAYGROUND 

A  Classic Exploitation Movie Art show.

When:  FRIDAY MAY 15^TH 8.00pm

Where: LETHAL AMOUNTS GALLERY, 1226 WEST 7^TH STREET, DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES 90017

Who:    Mink Stole,  X-rated Royalty Serena, Jeanne Silver,and Annie Sprinkle; adult film historian/performer/screenwriter/agent Bill Margold, 2015 XRCO Hall of Fame actress Karen Summer, cult film favorites Holly Woodlawn and Kitten Natividad (all confirmed); erotic filmmakers/photographers Suze & Holly Randall and XXX superstar Kelly Nichols (schedules permitting)

Westgategallery.com  is an online original movie poster boutique specializing in rare & outrageous Classic, Cult, Exploitation, Giallo, Golden Age XXX & Horror, with one of the largest selections of painted/illustrated porno 1 sheets and Italian subway posters you’ll ever find.

This is a section of exclusive artwork, from Distribpix( not included in the show)

Here are some images to get you excited about seeing the art of cult films!!!

The Nesting, By A.W.

Original art for Joy.

Scorpio 70.

Did you ever hear the words  ‘BLUE SUNSHINE’

Try and Remember…. your life may depend on it!

HD Screen Grab from Blue Sunshine.

Blue Sunshine – 4k Restoration Project and Release update:

Its been a long time coming and we want to send out a project update regarding the 4k restoration of Jeff Lieberman’s, Blue Sunshine. First of all, the actual restoration of the picture is complete, and simply put, its wonderful. The 4k scan was performed on the Arriscan 6k film scanner, and I chose to utilize the Kodak Dice technology. For the post color work, Davinci’s Resolve was the software of choice and the best colorist I know handled the work.  Phoenix Finish Software was used for the digital restoration, removing thousands of instances of dirt, scratches and other damage, that remained. Overall, the digital restoration took me approximately 40 hours.

Director Approved!!! Jeff Lieberman has been very hands on through this entire restoration. Jeff doing QC on the color correction.

Digital Restoration, removing defects, like large dirt marks, emulsion scratches and water spots.

Digital Restoration, removing defects, like large dirt marks, emulsion scratches and water spots.

This total scanning and restoration process on the whole, took quite a bit longer than most of the other completed projects we have done, simply due to the fact that this was a true 4 k restoration. So everything takes longer to do, it is essentially double the size of 2k, and nothing plays back at real time, so you have to be patient, especially while changes are rendering. All in all, the final product looks clean. Color is very consistent as well.

Blue Sunshine, Nitehawk Cinema, Brooklyn , NY. Screening of the 2k DCP.

We had already created a few DCP’s and back up Blu-ray’s for a few of the theaters that have begun to screen the new restoration. It has been screened in Brooklyn at Nitehawk Cinema, and upstate NY at Proctor’s Theater and headed out west in November, for its LA premiere at Cinefamily. Its been a great experience so far and the last few weeks have been a bit hectic as we are beginning to ramp up the last phase; preparing the Blu-ray and media packages.

The discovery of the negative was a surprise for all of us and especially Jeff, who assumed it was lost forever. These incredibly preserved elements proved to be key for such a smooth restoration process. Out of literally hundreds of films scanned at the lab, it was unanimous that these elements were among the nicest they have ever seen. After the scan, I was able to return the long-thought lost negative back to Jeff.

Director Jeff Lieberman, reunites with his Negative elements for Blue Sunshine. A happy man!

So as a standalone film, it would probably still be an amazing seller, simply because the legions of fans around the world want to see this how it was meant to be seen, with crisp color and grain, and in the proper aspect ratio. We are well aware of that, and it might be available like that in the future. Our goal all along, has been to commemorate this special project with a spectacular Blu Ray/DVD release and one in which the true fans and collectors would want to cherish. The film has become a cult classic of the horror community around the world and this brand new edition, needs to be given some serious attention.

Now for the fun stuff, some of the extras and bonus material that we have been working on for several months. In order to make the project as good as it can be I have hired Elijah Drenner,  a veteran producer of DVD features and docs. We have been working closely together on this project and we have also been friends for several years, which makes this much more special. I have also been working with Jim Kunz, another very well-known producer and director, and no stranger to Blue Sunshine. Together, we have begun to assemble what we think will be the ultimate edition for fans.

Blue Sunshine package Features:

•Brand new and director approved 4k scan and restoration from the original negative elements

•Brand new HD scan of original theatrical trailer from negative

•Brand New Full-Length Audio Commentary with Director Jeff Lieberman, moderated by Elijah Drenner

•Locations Featurette : Then and Now

•Q/A from ‘Jumpcut Cafe’ screening in LA

•From The Archives: The Fantasy Film Festival interview with Mick Garris and Jeff Lieberman

•Brand New Interviews with co-stars Robert Walden, Richard Crystal, script supervisor Sandy King and writer/director Jeff Lieberman.

•Exclusive CD Soundtrack with music composed by Charles Gross

•Slideshow and Ephemera Gallery

•Illustrative Liner Notes Book

•Subtitles

Plus more to be announced!

We want to thank everyone in advance for all the strong support. We are very anxious to push this through this last phase and delivery something that we can all be very proud of. For now, please check out some of the mouth watering images!

Here are some screen grabs from our recent interviews to be included exclusively in the upcoming deluxe package:

Blue Sunshine-Writer and Director, Jeff Lieberman.

Actor, Robert Walden, who plays Dr. David Blume in Blue Sunshine.

Blue Sunshine- Script Supervisor, Sandy King.

Director Jeff Lieberman, revisiting the original shooting locations, Summer 2015.

In the meantime, please check out some of these final HD screen grabs from the final version of Blue Sunshine:

Dr. David Blume, played by actor Robert Walden

Opening Credits.

Wendy Fleming, played by Ann Cooper.

John O’malley, played by Bill Cameron.

Zalman King, plays Jerry Zipkin.

Ed Fleming, played by Marc Goddard.

O’Malleys neighbor, played by Alice Ghostly.

Alicia Sweeny, played by Deborah Winters.

Wayne Mulligan, played by Ray Young.

CALLING ALL FANBOYS, FILM BUFFS & HORROR HOUNDS…….BLUE SUNSHINE MATERIALS WANTED!!!

For the slideshow we are creating, we are making one last call out for Blue Sunshine materials!! We are looking for any movie related artifacts, like paper materials, news articles, literature, posters, one sheets, ad mats, etc. We do have some great stuff, but if you have anything that you would like to share, to be included on the Blu Ray, please let me know by sending me an email at distribpix@gmail.com. Let me know what you have and we can see if it is something we can use, if so we would need a digital copy. If we use your materials, we will send you a free contributors copy of the Blu Ray, as a huge thanks.

ALSO : We are looking for a handful of Blue Sunshine Polyglots who may want to do some foreign language transcribing, in return for credits, and of course a free copy of the Blu Ray, and even some awesome movie posters and other goodies from the archive. Again, anyone interested in contributing to the project should reach out to us via email at distribpix@gmail.com.

Thank you all very much. More to come!!

Cecil Howard’s, Scoundrels getting full 4k restoration and deluxe Blu Ray treatment!!!

It’s time for an update on the restoration of Cecil Howard’s, Scoundrels…..it’s definitely already in progress and I am sort of in awe that this is actually happening. It took a long time, I mean a long time, for the legendary director of erotica to finally take that last step into the brand new digital era. His recent decision to take a huge leap from his analog comfort zone, and team up with me to bring his films to the 4k future, has been monumental. It’s a dream come true and to all who have helped along the way, it will prove to be a major milestone.

This first restoration project has proven to be a bit challenging on a few levels, which is good, as it is our first time working together and finding the flow is half the battle. We are both particular when it comes to details and Cecil is very hands on, so this means that we have spent quite a bit of time together since we have begun to restore Scoundrels. We drove to his archive together and retrieved the negatives, we traveled to the lab together, we have spent countless hours discussing new technology, and he has been amazing in sharing details with me, about his films and love for the genre. It has been a once in a lifetime experience.

Considering how private Cecil prefers to be, I feel even more lucky that we are spending so much quality time together. In the past month, we have really ramped up the production of quality bonus features for the upcoming release, and in many cases working closely together. The actual 4k scan is complete, and the next steps are color correction and some digital restoration. Besides the film and trailers being included in stunning HD, we now will have an entertaining and exclusive director commentary to go along with the film as well. Cecil also gave me a wonderful and touching audio interview, which may be included on the DVD or possibly used for promotion. If that wasn’t enough, Cecil has been gracious enough to allow me to molest, hand pick and digitize a good portion of his image archive, which includes stellar 35mm chromes, press books, ads, original art , and more. Much of this will be used to create a slideshow and gallery for the Blu Ray. (On a side note, Cecil has one of the most well kept archives, from films to files, it is very organized and impressive. It reminds me very much of the way Radley Metzger keeps his archive and files, which were always well kept and detailed).

Oh, and did I mention that Ron Jeremy also gives an awesome lead actor commentary!! Its going to be a great little package, I mean quality all the way. It is clear that Cecil and Ron have a great fondness toward each other, and I wanted to include some of that essence in this package.

The film package will not be ready for release until shortly after the new year, but it will be worth the wait. Stay tuned for more details and more surprises.