Leonard Kirtman and International Film Industries

Leonard Kirtman is probably best known to Temple of Schlock readers as the director of CARNIVAL OF BLOOD (1971) and THE CURSE OF THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN (1972) and the producer of John G. Avildsen's first film, the nudie TURN ON TO LOVE (1969), but he had a long career as a producer and/or director of softcore and hardcore adult movies (SEX CIRCUS, DEATH BY INVITATION, THE FARMER'S DAUGHTERS, EROTIC DR. JEKYLL, THE AFFAIRS OF JANICE, SEX WISH). In 1977, Kirtman relocated his International Film Industries (and its videotape/cable TV division, Video Programs International) from Manhattan to nearby New Rochelle, NY, once the home of the Thanhouser Company and Terrytoons studio. In the article below, published in The Standard Star (12/14/77), he outlines his plan to produce more mainstream fare and states that his company will not be making adult films.

HERBIE THE SUPER DOG never got finished, if it was even started, but Kirtman -- under the pseudonym "Leon Gucci" -- did manage to crank out such hardcore hits as FEMALE ATHLETES, COED TEASERS, TARA, THE SEDUCTION OF CINDY, and THE EROTIC ADVENTURES OF LOLITA during his stay in New Rochelle (For slimy Kirtman stories, check out issues of Bill Landis' Sleazoid Express 'zine and the 2002 documentary DESPERATELY SEEKING SEKA). By 1986, with the majority of hardcore being produced on videotape rather than film, Kirtman was gone from New Rochelle and, judging from the IMDb, no longer making movies of any kind in any format.

(Above) The Standard Star, 9/4/78

(Below) BOUNCE ad from a 1978 issue of Boxoffice, courtesy of William Wilson of Video Junkie Strikes Back from Beyond the Grave.

(Below: 450 Main Street in New Rochelle today)

BILL LANDIS R.I.P.

Cult film legend Bill Landis passed away on Saturday at age 49 of an apparent heart attack. There were movie fanzines in circulation before Landis came along, but once that first one-side-of-one-sheet issue of his Sleazoid Express appeared in the summer of 1980, the face of film criticism changed forever. Sleazoid Express inspired a dozen imitators (Trashola, The Gore Gazette, Confessions of a Trash Fiend, Chicago Shivers, etc.) that in very short time attracted their own imitators until it seemed like every 17-year-old with access to a VCR, typewriter and photocopier was cranking out a ‘zine to spread the word about Andy Milligan, Herschel Gordon Lewis, MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY, and Rudy Ray Moore. Nowadays ‘zine editors are called “bloggers” and they never have to leave their homes, but Landis put himself out on the mean streets to get the job done. Unlike the Golden Turkeys who encouraged readers to laugh at (or turn away in disgust from) the low-rent efforts of poverty row filmmakers, Landis saw gutter-level street art on display in every rotting grindhouse. He dove into the dark waters over and over again, always resurfacing with treasures many of us still watch and enjoy to this day. Would there be movies by Roberta Findlay, Andy Milligan or Lee Frost on DVD now if Landis hadn’t written about them in Sleazoid Express twenty-five years ago? It’s impossible to say, but one thing’s for sure: there wouldn’t have been a Temple of Schlock. Bill's shuffled off to the grindhouse in the sky, and if he isn't running the projector yet, I hope he at least has a front row seat.