Boys In the Sand (1974)

Wakefield Poole was something of a showbiz insider back in 1971, when he decided to make a gay sex film that was not dark or degrading. Prior to this, Poole was an accomplished, dance instructor, Broadway hoofer and photographer. It was not until an evening in 1969 when Poole, and his partner, Peter Fisk, and some friends, went to a grind-house somewhere in Manhattan to catch a couple of gay skin flicks. Apparently, the movies were so bad, that several of the men fell asleep at the viewing.

It was after this adventure that Poole scraped some funding together (mostly by way of credit cards) and assembled a cast that included a young actor by the name of Cal Culver (who would go on to be known as the legendary, Casey Donovan) and over the course of several weekends in Fire Island, shot his film, Boys in the Sand. Once filming was complete, Poole sold ads for his movie to both Variety and The New York Times, and then held the movie’s world premiere at the 55th Street Playhouse in Manhattan. Allegedly, opening night was a sellout with Gotham’s elite showing up to see what all the fuss was about. Reviews, mostly positive, showed up in the New York Times (apparently the only gay porn film ever reviewed in the Gray Lady) Variety, and many other mainstream publications. History was made! Were it not for the release of Deep Throat, a year later, which overshadowed Boys in the Sand due to its leading lady, Linda Lovelace, Boys in the Sand might have secured a more prominent place in the history of erotic cinema. Nonetheless, the film made its mark, and pretty much set the standard for most gay porn films to come – as well as turning its leading man, Casey Donovan into a minor celebrity in some circles.

Boys in the Sand is basically, three short sex films, which are very heavy on atmosphere, though, surprisingly, light on actual sex ; though this is not to say that the film isn’t erotic, it’s just not what one might be expecting.

Part 1, entitled, Bayside, starts with the bearded, Peter Fisk (Poole’s real-life lover) strolling the bramble choked shoreline of Fire Island’s bay until he finds a spot, disrobes and sits on the beach staring forlornly into the water. With a soothing classical music soundtrack playing, one quickly becomes involved in the stunning photography and the calming scenes. It sort of comes as a shock, when in the distance; a gorgeous man rises from the water and makes his way to Fisk on the beach. The fact this is shot in slow motion only adds to the hypnotic mood the film is casting. Casey Donovan is the blond who emerged like Venus from the waters and he is exquisite, a sort of X rated Robert Redford. Once Donovan is on the shore line, He stands in front of Fisk and immediately, Fisk begins to run his hands over the blonde’s chest, as if he were trying to prove to himself that this apparition before him is actual flesh and blood and not just a hallucination. Once it becomes apparent that Donovan is real, Fisk sets to working on the other man’s dick and gently takes it into his mouth while on his knees as if he were receiving communion. Soon, Donovan pulls away and beckons his partner to join him in the woods. Here the men continue gently caressing each other and eventually engage in some mutual oral sex. It is all handled very tenderly and with great artistic flair, and when the men have reached their mutual orgasms, Fisk pulls back and leaves Donovan alone. Now the camera tracks the man we watched earlier coming to the beach, as he walks into the water until he vanishes from sight. When Donovan emerges from the brush he can not find Fisk, only the man’s discarded clothes which he scoops up and wears as he himself wanders away into the sunset. So it seems that the fantasy figure has now become reality, or something like that.

Part 2, entitled Poolside is probably the most beguiling piece. The first ten or fifteen minutes of this concern Casey Donovan playing with his dog, reading the paper, swimming in a pool, and waiting on a parcel from the post office. It seems that something in the local gay rag has caught our hero’s eye and he dashes off a letter and mails it waiting for whatever it is he ordered to be delivered to him. To show us the passage of time, we watch as a calendar’s pages are burnt and then sent flying off into the wind. Eventually, through a double exposure effect, we watch Donovan swimming in a pool that seems to be filled with half burnt calendar pages. Finally, the package arrives and Donavon finds a small box with a large white tablet in it (which frankly looks like an over-sized Alka Seltzer tab). He tosses the tab into the pool and before you can say, “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is”, the water begins churning and, ta-da! A hunky man rises from the pool. I guess he ordered some “instant stud”. Danny DiCoccio is the hunky water sprite this time, and he wastes no time at all getting out of the water and getting it on with Donovan. Now, just when we are hoping that we are going to see something really nasty, well for some reason the sex scene is shot through some trees and while it might be artsy looking, it kind of makes it hard to figure out exactly what is going on. It is clear at one point that DiCoccio is banging Donovan’s butt, but forget trying to see it clearly because you can’t see the fucking for the trees. The sex out of the way, Donovan and his just-add-water-mate go back into the house, get dressed and take a leisurely stroll around Fire Island.

Part 3: is entitled, Inside: We once more find Casey Donovan alone in his big beach house. This time, he’s busy watching an African American lineman (Tommy Moore) working on the telephone wires outside. Soon, our hero is struck with a sizzling case of jungle fever and he imagines having sex with the handsome blue collar worker. Once more, the sex scenes are kind of frustrating as they keep jumping back and forth to Donovan’s imaginings and his reality. Realizing that he needs a bit more help in getting off, Donovan gets to work with a massive dildo while dreaming of being pile-driven by the Bell Telephone man. Actually one of the hotter moments in this sequence is with Donovan imagining he and the worker are standing on the top of the steps while they both savagely work on each other’s nipples. After a half a dozen more choppily edit fantasy moments, Donavan has his orgasm and falls back on a sofa, a satisfied smile on his angelic face … but, outside we discover that the lineman has found his way into the house and is about to make Casey’s dreams come true … and that’s where the movie abruptly comes to an end. The theme here seems to be the power of fantasy – which is a timeless one – as well as an almost mythological belief in water and its power to bring forth life. Pretty heady stuff for a fuck flick, no? But that’s just it. Boys in the Sand is more of an art film as opposed to a dirty movie. I do believe that the first two sections could be aired with, some very minor editing, on PBS or at an art house. Clearly, Wakefield Poole set out to produce something more than a movie to be watched with a raincoat over your lap. He has indicated in interviews that he wanted to make something light and life affirming. In that aspect, he definitely succeeded. Furthermore, Poole seemed to want to bring something of a plot line to the skin flick in general. He also succeeds in that area also. As light weight and fantastic as the plot lines are, they are there and string the narrative along. It’s interesting to note, that upon watching Boys in the Sand, the viewer might be put in mind of dozens of other porn films – but see, that’s just it, Poole set the standard that others have exploited over and over again. I am highly recommending Boys in the Sand; not as something to get your rocks off to, but as something to watch and ponder. Takes some time to appreciate that 37 years ago, the cast and crew of this little epic put a lot on the line to get their product out there – add to that the major cojones of Poole and company to not only advertise Boys in the Sand in the New York Times, but to hold it’s first major screening in downtown Manhattan where it was going to be seen by a predominantly straight audience. And then keep in mind that this movie was celebrated by the mainstream press…all of this in 1971!

*****

Casey Donovan seemed to have benefit most from his exposure in this movie. Besides firmly establishing himself as one of the first “name” gay porn stars of all time, he also managed to parlay his fame into some legitimate work in both stage and film – though ultimately, his porn past and somewhat limited acting ability, kept him in the adult and hustling business until he passed away in 1987 from AIDS. Wakefield Poole managed to run with the success of Boys and made several more porn films, including a straight sex film entitled, Wakefield Poole’s Bible! which was supposed to be an erotic retelling of several old testament tales. Eventually Poole got around to a sequel and in 1984 he directed Boys in the Sand II, which again starred Casey Donovan.

Poole, who had made a lot of money in both pornography and legitimate show business developed a major drug habit in the late 70’s and ended up broke for a time. Happily, he decided to turn his life around, and in his 50’s he entered a cooking school and became a chef. In 2000 he released, Dirty Poole, The Autobiography of a Gay Porn Pioneer, in which apparently he drops many famous names as he talks about his showbiz past.