GOLDEN GODDESSES: 25 LEGENDARY WOMEN OF CLASSIC EROTIC CINEMA, 1968-1985

by Nelson, Jill C.

  True Love & Sexploitation Films

  I met my husband Frank in 1969. Shortly after my mother died, I came out here and met him. He tried to meet me in Massachusetts; he was from Massachusetts too. He had gone back to Massachusetts to his brother’s high school reunion. Our mutual friend thought we’d be perfect together so Frank called me on the phone and he sounded so pompous, you know. I didn’t want him to come to my dinky little town just to meet me. He did imbue me with ideas and some lofty intentions, but suddenly, he was in California trying to get into the film business. I ended up moving in next door to him three months later. I looked at him and I said, “God damn, he looks like John Lennon.” He did then. John Lennon was everybody’s favorite Beatle — we had to switch over to the other members of the Beatles when we found out that Lennon was married.

  Anyway, Frank and I fell in love then through all of that period. We had our fortieth anniversary in February [2010]. Frank got me work, and he got me an agent. One of his neighbors, I forget her name, got me into modeling. I did quite well strictly modeling and then came the Sexploitation films. It all started when the United States was allowed to show X-rated films, which was in and around 1968. That’ right when I started. Hal Guthu was my agent’s name. He was a sweetheart. The last time I actually saw Hal was in 1972.

  Hal Guthu was one of the first agents to represent female and male models and actors during the early days of the softcore film industry in Los Angeles. Guthu’s studio was discreetly located on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood where he kept binders containing information on his growing collection of talent and often photographed prospects himself. Hal Guthu died in a rather mysterious fire in 2000. He is widely remembered by those he represented for having integrity and character.

  Mills admitted during our interview that her memory is vague about some of the dates and other aspects surrounding her career. The first feature documented in Barbara’s filmography is The Harem Bunch aka War And Piece (directed by cult film director Paul E. Hunt and co-written by Bob Cresse, 1969) in which Barbara recalled using body paint in a mud wrestling scene that didn’t come out after the shoot.

  Actually, sometimes I can remember things from back then and sometimes I can’t. I didn’t willingly hold onto any memories. There are some things in my past where I say, “I’ve got to remember this and I do.” It was a job, after all. It wasn’t a career move. It wasn’t an art form per se. It was a job and it paid well, and it left time for living. I enjoyed the people. It wasn’t sexual. I was fierce back then. People were afraid of me! They treated me with a lot of respect.

  Unlike many other softcore film actresses who progressed to hardcore once the industry made the conversion, Barbara drew a line in the sand which served to further capture the attention of her grass roots fan base.

  The little known 1970 release Delicato (aka Passport to Pleasure) directed by Nick Philips (aka Nick Millard) is one of Barbara’s first endeavors as an actor. Many of the early releases such as this one were billed as Denmark productions in an effort for filmmakers to avoid arrest. Delicato featured Barbara (in an uncredited role) in this supposed travelogue adventure along with her best girlfriend at the time, Lynn Harris, in addition to Suzanne Fields and Maria Arnold. Stunningly clad in leather from head to toe (apparently director Millard’s trademark), Barbara is portrayed as one of three swinging hippie girls. The film contained simulated lesbian sex and full frontal nudity.

  In 1971, Mills and Linda York played lesbian lovers involved in a triangular tryst with Jason York in The Love Garden wherein Barbara delivered a remarkable fusion of tenderness and detached cool. Her naturalistic execution, particularly prevalent in her love scenes with York, lends a startlingly tranquil beauty, stirring and delighting the senses in the otherwise average simulated sex film. The respectable outing was produced by veteran director Bob Chinn and directed by Mark Haggard. At the time, Chinn had commenced production of the very first adult film series detailing the life and loves of private detective Johnny Wadd, played by John Holmes. A year later, in 1972, Barbara portrayed a young wife and mother in the mainstream flick Blue Money, a semi-autobiographical story about a young French Canadian adult film director (Alain Patrick) drawn to the forbidden fruits of the industry. Blue Money was written and executive produced by Chinn with a relatively healthy sum at the time of thirty-five thousand dollars for the low budget feature.

  I wasn’t crazy — I was completely nude in my film appearances, but no penetration, no genitalia, and no oral sex. That would have been stupid. If you’re going to sell it, you might as well keep your anonymity. They never tried to get me to do more. The filmmakers respected that and you would have to sign a pre-release. There were plenty of others willing to go that way, who got off on it. It was a business. We would talk about vegetable soup on set. I didn’t do films for very long either.

  The Class of `74 was a spin-off of Gabriella, Gabriella (1972), and that one was released by Crown International. It was bad. It had some decent co-stars and everything, but the script was terrible and the direction was mediocre. Class of `74 eventually ended up in the Oxford Drive-In in my hometown in Massachusetts! The state finally said, “All right.” It didn’t have to play in an X-rated theater anymore. I’m having some blocks of memory that is probably quite interesting. I’m just not able to pull out everything.

  Although underused, beautiful Barbara Mills is the main attraction in the mildly entertaining feature Gabriella, Gabriella (aka Gabriella — the original uncut version was never shown theatrically) that is something of a modernized West Side Story (1961) except that Mills’s character (billed as Gabriella Mills) and her boyfriend (Bob Kresting) prevail at the film’s conclusion. Gabriella and Stephen are the subjects of two underground filmmakers with a goal to capture the young couple’s pure and undiluted love for one another — something real and pristine within the ugliness and cruelty of the outside world. Mills is utilized mostly as window dressing and has little dialogue, but it’s hard to take your eyes off of her sculpted features and chestnut brown tresses. According to Johnny Legend who wrote the storyline, the film’s plot was to have been inspired by the late 1960s “peace and love” youth movement, only by 1969, punctuated by the stabbing death at the Rolling Stones concert in Altamont in December of that year, the movement was already in its decline. Directed by Mack Bing and produced by Jack Mattis, Gabriella, Gabriella included supporting actress Sondra Currie who was most recently seen in The Hangover (2009), and The Hangover, Part II (2011). Gabriella, Gabriella was re-packaged and re-released under its alternate title, The Class of `74, with an “R” rating grossing an impressive four million dollars.

  Mills continued accepting work in blue movies during the early seventies and played a seventeen -year old housewife trapped in an abusive marriage to a much older man in Lee Frost’s Chain Gang Women (1971). The revelatory depiction of incarcerated men working on a chain gang in Georgia during the early 1970s introduces Mills’s character as she secretly welcomes escaped cons into her home in hope that the twist of fate will provide her with a ticket to freedom. Once again, Barbara is stunning to observe with her long dark hair and rosy cheeks complementing her porcelain skin. Mills’s dialogue is sporadic, but her facial expressions skillfully project the emotions of a woman longing for the subtle touch of a man who can please her physical needs. She is shown naked above the waist in a rape scene, and her bare backside is visible in a subsequent scene where she initiates a lovemaking session with one of the ex-cons. The film’s best bits however, occur in the first half during the interior and exterior prison footage.

  I thought Chain Gang Women (1971) was funny because it’s not my voice. They dubbed it. It was Christmas time and we had plans to go back to Massachusetts to visit our families so it has someone else’s voice and it’s funny. They did a poor job with the dubbing. I’ve done voiceovers too with Dave Friedman. Bob [Chinn] knows him; he’s probably dead too — it’ll come to me later.

  Barbara is referring to Davi
d Friedman, the independent pioneer of the Nudie Cutie, movie scene who eventually formulated his own company in the 1950s. Friedman’s productions would inevitably include “roughies,” a harder, darker-edged variety of sexploitation films often containing violence, S&M, and/or horror themes. Dave Friedman became the third President of the Adult Film Association of America in 1971, and was re-elected four times before becoming Chairman of the Board. He died on February 14, 2011 at eighty-seven years of age.

  Sweet Georgia (1972), that film was the one movie where they made me ride on a horse bareback in the nude. I’ve actually read some of the reviews of my films online. It’s funny, I remember I once got a letter from this one guy who had seen some pictures of me in a magazine and wrote, “I just love the photos of you in this magazine. Could you please send me some close-up photos of your feet?” Some people had foot fetishes. I’ll admit; I was pretty.

  Whether or not she was able to recollect, Mills neglected to mention a film considered one of her best outings, Matinee Wives (1970), in which she had an opportunity to show off her competent acting moxie as Linda Devlin, a young, frustrated newlywed. Linda loses her sexual desire for her husband Paul (Stephen Treadwell) and enlists the aid of a friendly neighborhood Madam (Luanne Roberts) who hooks up Linda and her best girlfriend Pat Chandler (Allessanora) with one another’s husbands for some hot sweaty sex. Linda lets her inhibitions run wild. Not realizing that their spouses are best friends or that they made love to one another’s wives, in the film’s paradoxical conclusion, the two men, feeling pompous about their lucky scores, decide to celebrate their sexual prowess by arranging a dinner date so their “lonely, neglected” wives can finally meet.

  Panama Red

  I stopped working in films in 1972. Panama Red (aka Acapulco Gold released in 1976) was my last film because I was pregnant. Nigel was born in `72 and I’ve got a big baby in there. Because of who he was, I thought it was ironically funny that in Panama Red John Holmes was my buddy, patting my pregnant belly and making sure that I was comfortable, taking care of me. He was assistant director on that film.

  Panama Red could quite likely be the forerunner to the weed lovers’ cult classic Up in Smoke (1978) that starred the comedy duo Cheech and Chong. Thin on plot (not pot), but long on cannabis induced ramblings appropriately relatable to anyone who was under thirty in the early 1970s, the non-sex film Panama Red doesn’t pretend to be about anything other than what the title suggests. Mills plays the very pregnant wife of her male lead, Jim Wingert, who hopes to unload enough dope in time to purchase two one-way tickets to Spain before the birth of the couple’s first baby. A parade of familiar faces from late 1960s-1970s west coast adult film fare pop up throughout the picture: Rene Bond, Rick Cassidy, Sandy Dempsey, John Holmes, Alain Patrick, (softcore director) Walt Davis, and a cameo by the film’s director Bob Chinn. The original Frank Zappa and Mothers of Invention drummer, Jimmy Carl Black, also makes a rare appearance.

  Jim Wingert, an aspiring singer-song writer was solicited by Chinn for the purposes of writing and performing the music in conjunction with his role as the friendly neighborhood marijuana trafficker. Barbara and Frank Mills’s Venice Beach home was used for authenticity in some of the film’s footage, the very same house in which their daughter Carly resides today. Historically, Panama Red is significant to the landscape of the Los Angeles food and beverage industry as scenes were shot at Follow Your Heart (the subject of a new documentary in the works), a natural foods store and restaurant located in Canoga Park which recently celebrated its fortieth anniversary. The owner of the store, Paul Lewin, even had a small part in the feature that was graded one of the top ten “stoner” movies of all time by Toke of the Town.com.

  A lot of things happened quickly and these shoots were very short. After Panama Red, my husband was doing camera work for [director] Alan Colberg and we did some Johnny Wadd films in San Francisco. I was the make-up lady. The film that I remember most is All Night Long [directed by Alan Colberg starring Rick Lutz and John Holmes in 1976]. I didn’t do the make-up on that one, but Frank did the camera work. They already had a make-up person. He was in his fifties then and had been part of the Max Factor team early on in his life.

  John was a funny guy, actually. So was Alan. They all were. [Still photographer and friend] Joel Sussman is still funny. I got along very well with John. We had some yard sales for him. He’d sit there with a stack of Screw magazines, and he’d autograph them for people who came to the sale!

  One time we were working on a film after Frank had become unionized so he had a different job. I think it was the last shoot I did with Alan and John, up in San Francisco. John had gotten a small dog and he wanted me to go through security before him and distract the people, which wasn’t that hard to do when they were all male and I was young. I just chatted my way through and he skipped around the edges with the dog. We all had to leave San Francisco early because there was this big hurricane threat and we had to get home. We got on the plane and we were on a TSA trip, a businessman trip where the seats face each other in some portions. The dog popped out of John’s bag and everybody laughed, and the stewardess thought it was so cute. The stewardess was just fawning all over John and she was asking him what he wanted, and then she asked, “What do you do for a living?” The whole plane erupted in laughter. Everybody recognized him but her!

  You know, John was very nice to my kids. My kids liked him. One of our other friends, Lynny Harris [early adult starlet, Lynn Harris], had fallen head over heels in love with him and she was heartbroken when she learned he was married. I do have fond memories of John and Bob [Chinn]. I’m going to call Bob up soon.

  Eventually, Frank did become a member of the IFC Union. I think it was in 1976, and at that time, I was working as a cocktail waitress. I worked at The Mayfair Music Hall and I waited on a lot of celebrities there. Juliet Prowse, Mae West, and Carey Grant were people I met there. I remember I spilled popcorn in Juliet Prowse’s lap! After the kids were born, I ended up going back to college. When my brother died, I went back east for a year with the kids. Afterwards, I came back to California and then I started working for the school system.

  Hands On

  As a woman who did not choose to make the crossover from softcore to hardcore performing, it is quite possible that in addition to becoming pregnant with her first child in 1972, Barbara felt it was time to close the door on her role as an actress as more explicit sex films began to dominate the adult landscape. Once the change came, there was no turning back. Mills felt fulfilled by her new responsibilities as a mother and continued to find part-time work in different vocations.

  I was a teacher’s assistant and I attended college. I worked with pre-school children at first, and then I worked with severely handicapped kids — teenagers. The hours weren’t good enough and the money wasn’t good enough. I also went to work for the grocery industry as a deli-manager and then as a professional cake-decorator. I did enjoy that. When I went into other businesses like the school system, I didn’t talk about my past in films. Eventually, everybody got onto Google so those who did, found me. That’s okay. As I said, I have gotten e-mails from people a few times, but actually, nobody has ever recognized me personally.

  Barbara held her love of art in reserve and proceeded to cultivate her excellent skills in various mediums throughout her years as a parent and while in the work force.

  Alan Colberg and his wife Laurie came to some of my art openings. I was a member of the Malibu Art Association for a number of years. I was on the board. We had group shows and it was fun. Some of my paintings are on my face book profile. I like to paint landscapes, people, still life, and food. My daughter and I have been working on some fantasy scenarios, we were out painting late last night. It’s a good outlet. Acrylic paints are a great medium. It’s safe, it’s non-toxic; you can do layers upon layers. You can work fast. It dries quickly. I actually sold a lot of my work just before I retired. It has been a sideline because nobody can actually live by
painting alone. That’s why I like cake decorating so much. We did all of these custom cake orders. I did paintings on chocolate cake.

  Stimulated by a vibrant and conducive environment, Barbara’s ingenuity as an artist and creator was heightened. Mill’s love of flowers and plants are delicately reflected in her paintings in soft hues and also bold tones. Looking back over the years, Barbara recounted how liberal influences in the world of art, spirituality, and social structures made an imprint upon her and the manner in which she lived. As a result, Mills allocated her acquired wisdom to those fortunate enough to have traversed into her orbit.

  I felt my individualism to be an extension of the sixties revolution. I felt in control of my life and I have a partner. Frank has been a great life partner. He has always backed me up so I didn’t feel the need to press my political views or my religious views that were practically nil — except that I was a very strong Democrat — on anybody. I was living in Venice and that was a very individualistic community. I did feel bad for some of my friends who moved into less urban areas that had heavily religious or Republican views in their towns. I invited many of them to come and visit and they did.

  Some stayed and had families here, but most of them went back. Everyone enjoyed the experience of Venice Beach because it was so unique. Those were some funny days, you know. Venice Beach was a nude beach for two summers. One year some company flew over and unloaded a bunch of edible underwear all over Venice Beach. It was a case of, “I got two strawberries and one vanilla. Do you want one?” Then there were the malingerers on the side, the guys who wore beach shorts and knee socks — like peeping Toms. We didn’t care about them. Where I’m living now, Samui, it’s a young society. It’s almost a cowboy town. There are no traffic tickets, there are no parking tickets, and property taxes are low.