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

by Nelson, Jill C.

  The original grindhouse stylized film Slaves in Cages produced by Armand Atamian was directed by sexploitation sultan Lee Frost under the pseudonym Carl Borch. As a marketing scheme, the Phoenix International Films release was billed as a Denmark production, but was actually shot quickly in Los Angeles. Ride Hard, Ride Wild (1970) and The Captives are additional early Phoenix productions advertised as European/Denmark films. Under a similar title, Freeway Films eventually produced the hardcore feature Sweet Captives (1979) with Rhonda Jo Petty in the starring role (co-starring Paul Thomas), though the two films are quite different. Another effort titled Sleazy Rider (1972) was produced by Cresse and Atamian, and directed by (sometimes) actor Roger Gentry. In 1973, Sleazy Rider and Ride Hard, Ride Wild were paired together at the box office.

  Julia, along with her two sisters, was often sent to reside with relatives on a temporary basis while enrolled in high school in San Diego. The three girls also traveled to Los Angeles on different occasions to help at their Uncle Armand’s burgeoning film company in part-time employment.

  We’d go up there for a week or so in the summers to work in the office. My sisters would go and then I’d go. It seemed that we all took turns. There was one time when we were there together, but that was only for a couple of weeks. I’m not sure why my mom kept letting us go or shipping us to other people’s places. I suspect it’s because she couldn’t deal with us. Anyway, we’d go up there and do filing and box stuff up and all kinds of miscellaneous things. Armand had the office on Cordova Street and next door to him was Dave Friedman. Originally, I worked as a file clerk at the back and then I’d leave because I had boyfriends or I’d go back home. I don’t really remember the entire sequence of events. Armand would teach us how to work because teenagers don’t know how to work. I would end up working there for a summer doing theater records where they’d order something and they’d put it on a card and you’d put it into a machine. It was the first of its type, a computerized system using cards because back then they didn’t have computers. We happened to have one of the first derivatives of a computer for the business.

  Eventually, I did the bookkeeping. A few years after the movies were put out I was still making those reports. At first, Armand distributed for other people, and eventually, he distributed for Universal — big companies. Back then, they used to mix porn with big companies. Eventually, they opened up a partnership with my Uncle Gil. I didn’t know at the time that Gil was a partner. Armand would tell me to do the books and to cut off twenty-five percent, and then add ten percent back on. I didn’t know why he was doing it that way. My Uncle Gil was angry one day and started yelling at me. He called me a “lying cheater”. Armand looked at him and said, “Don’t say those things to her. She doesn’t know.” I didn’t know who the partners were. I was told to add and subtract things so I did.

  Freeway Films

  They started Freeway Films in the early 1970s. That’s when Armand started to make films on his own because up until that point everything that Armand did was for his buddies. My uncle must have had a lot of energy because he was doing the exploitation films, and then he was doing the films with Dimension Pictures such as The Thing with Two Heads (1972) which was a legitimate production Lee Frost directed starring Rosie Greer and Ray Milland. They were very campy movies back then. While he was also doing work for Universal Pictures, he opened Freeway Films right around the same time. He was good actually, with business. Freeway opened in the office next to us on Cordova Street, and then later, it was moved up to Hollywood. The office was moved to appease Damon Christian really.

  Damon Christian was hired as a producer for Freeway Films when Freeway decided to branch out to produce sophisticated films that eventually became hardcore in nature, including plans to resume continuation of the popular Johnny Wadd series. As her Uncle Armand integrated into the adult filmmaking business as a venture capitalist, Julia’s mother found it challenging to raise her youngest and most independent-minded teenage daughter while having marital difficulties. With much uncertainty in her home life, St. Vincent found it difficult to concentrate on her studies.

  I think my mom was overwhelmed having to take care of kids. When I was fourteen, she had shipped me to Boston for the summer and when I got back, she told me that she and my stepfather were getting a divorce. She said, “Oh, by the way, your dad doesn’t live here anymore and we’re divorcing.”

  I was like, “What?” That’s when I started getting into trouble and having problems. The next year she shipped me again, but by then I was the age where people ran away so that didn’t work. When I was seventeen, I hitchhiked to New York and graduated there. I was in school in New York until January when it was freezing cold. I remember I went to someone at the school and said, “I want to graduate early. If you guys don’t graduate me I’ll probably never graduate,” so they did it. I didn’t even have enough credits. I’d missed so much school by that time from having problems. I was seventeen and a half.

  St. Vincent’s strained relationship with her mother during her teen years inspired her to do a fair bit of traveling on her own and make new friends. She hooked up with a band and had several opportunities to demonstrate her impressive singing talent as a part-time vocalist. When she and one of her boyfriends eventually broke up and the funds ran out, Julia contacted her Uncle Armand for assistance prior to returning to work for him at Freeway Films. During her absence, Freeway Films produced Beach Blanket Bango (1975) starring Rene Bond and Ric Lutz, a send-up of the Frankie Avalon/Annette Funicello MGM feature Beach Blanket Bingo (1965). Freeway also released Confessions of a Teenage Peanut Butter Freak (1975) with Rex Roman, John Holmes, Helen Madigan and Constance Money.

  I told Armand that I needed money and I needed a ticket home and he sent me the money. It was just like the Beatles’ song “Ticket to Ride” because he sent me the ticket to get back home. Armand was the guy who saved everybody and he had money. My mother was divorced and she never remarried again, but she never gave me anything.

  Between the years 1975 and 1978, Atamian and Freeway Films, one of the top production companies of its day generated the final five and best Johnny Wadd pictures of the series and became the largest distributor in the world of the Johnny Wadd domain. Freeway is duly credited for proficiently turning Johnny Wadd into a brand unrivaled in the industry. With superior production values, Freeway’s library of Johnny Wadd features stand apart from low budget productions of the era. Over the next couple of years, Julia fulfilled different roles in the company when needed while her uncle hoped to finally secure her in a permanent, full time position.

  Armand was like my refuge. He was the one I went to when I didn’t want to go home to my mother; I’d go to Armand. I worked for him at Freeway Films when he was making Liquid Lips (1976) and Tell Them Johnny Wadd is Here (1976) — that was a summer job for me. It just so happened that they were making those films when I was there. The previous films had been made at Bob Cresse’s apartment or they’d do shots on the street or something, but it wasn’t hardcore porn. They’d switched over to hardcore because actress Felicia Sanda who was hired to do the one scene with John in Tell Them Johnny Wadd is Here was not originally supposed to do a hardcore scene. I was working at Freeway that summer when those two Johnny Wadd films were shot, and then I came back and they were making China Cat and The Jade Pussycat in 1977. I think Armand would be in production and he’d call me and say, “Come up here.” I’m not sure how I happened to end up there every time they were doing a film, but I believe it’s because he called me.

  St. Vincent recounted how she and her female co-worker were present on the set of Tell Them Johnny Wadd is Here the day actress Felicia Sanda broke away from the script and engaged in hardcore sex with Holmes rather than the softcore scene that had originally been written. For a young naïve woman, St. Vincent described the experience as shocking, yet intriguing, to witness the spontaneous fusion unfold.

  I was on the set of Liquid Lips when I was still a kid so I wa
s sneaking around and peeking in windows and stuff, but it was exciting to be there because there were lots of people around and cameras and everything. The other girl who worked in the office and I would run back inside and Armand would tell us to get back to work. We’d sneak out again and go see the next scene and he’d not really impose penalties on us. We’d sort of sneak around until we almost got in the way and then he’d tell us to leave. Honestly, I think he knew he was kind of my father so I believe he was trying to curtail my activities.

  I had gone up to San Francisco when they were shooting The Jade Pussycat. Armand had sent me up to San Francisco to watch Damon Christian during the production of The Jade Pussycat to make sure he wasn’t screwing around. I walked into one of the hotel rooms and Georgina Spelvin took all of her clothes off and was running around naked. I was like, “Oh my god! What am I supposed to do?” I ended up sitting in John’s room because he was the only normal person in the room. Everyone else was doing weird things and laughing. They were all much older than I was and they were naked. Imagine a twenty-two year old girl with blue jeans and pink high heels. I was sort of a disco girl but had no experience with that kind of a situation. I thought to myself, “What? You guys are going to strip and start screwing each other?” I don’t know, but it was strange which is why I ended up hanging out with John because he was sort of like a big brother or something that was not naked. I hung out a little with Damon, but he was right in there laughing and cajoling with all of the naked people. There were other sets where people would try to get me into a threesome going, “Come on, we’ll do it right now. Just close that door. Let’s go in that closet.”

  I said, “No, I’ve got to work.” They didn’t understand that I had a job, although frankly, I’m sure if I quit doing the job I’m not sure that anything would have happened. It’s not as if my boss would come in and say, “You didn’t do your job!”

  I had originally been the file clerk. Then the bookkeeper would leave and Armand would get another bookkeeper and he wouldn’t like her. He kept enticing me to come back with money, or a new car or whatever it took to get me to come back to L.A. to work. I didn’t want to go there. I believe he gave me a new Pinto, one of the first compact cars made.

  So I was there when they filmed The Jade Pussycat and I stayed with Freeway probably a year. Then I left again because Damon Christian and I got into a fight and I got sick of him. He drank and he would bitch at me and treat me terribly. When I left after The Jade Pussycat nobody wanted me to leave, but I couldn’t work with Damon. He’d slave me to death and when people would come over he’d yell at me and say, “Go get me coffee.” It was humiliating. At one point, I got up and walked out so that was why I quit because of him. I had also worked for a while at Crown International Pictures that did the film Coach (1978) with Cathy Lee Crosby and some other movies that were sort of B-rated movies and were legit, low budget. I got tired of it though because they made me a clerk and a receptionist. I had gone back to San Diego and got in a band and then I screwed around for a couple of years, but I ended up returning to Freeway. When I came back later, they were going into production with their last two films before Armand died.

  Moving On Up & Mr. Wonderful

  When Julia returned to work for Freeway for what became her longest and final period, the company was about to go into production with Sweet Captive (1979) and Sweet Dreams Suzan (1980). Both pictures highlighted star Rhonda Jo Petty and were directed by Lee Frost. Unbeknownst to everyone at the time, the productions would be the last two movies made by Freeway under Atamian’s reign.

  I had been in Lake Tahoe with my boyfriend and I’d had just had surgery. I was in the hospital. Armand bailed me out of that, too. I went back to Freeway and that’s when he invited all of his buddies over like John Holmes, and Lee Frost, and everyone was there telling me what a great opportunity it was to go back to work for Freeway. Armand would buy me any car I wanted. He bought me a Toyota Supra, a little sports model. It was a brand new car and I was to get so much money per week and holidays paid, and all these things to convince me to come back to work. He told me that day that he’d fired his girl Joyce. I’d been back working there for a couple of weeks and I said, “You fired her. Who’s going to do her job?” I started to work as a print booker and bookkeeper for Freeway up at Hollywood and Vine. Damon Christian wasn’t in there at that point; he had been gone. Armand got rid of Damon because Damon was cheating on Armand with Joe Steinman [head of Essex Pictures] and a bunch of other people. Damon made an under-the-table deal with Joe and Joe gave him the money to run a big company that was somewhat successful. Armand hated Joe because of that.

  In the 1960s, Columbian born Joe Steinman started Essex Video, an adult production company and distributor located in Northridge California. Alongside Caballero Home Video and Video Company of America, Essex grew to become one of the largest pornographic production firms in the United States during the 1980s. In 1988 Essex Video declared bankruptcy owing its creditors including filmmaker and cinematographer John Derek (husband of actress Bo Derek until his death in 1998) nearly one million dollars. Derek had made Love You (1984), an explicit sex film he sold to Essex consisting of cast members Annette Haven, Wade Nichols, Lesllie Bovee, and Paul Thomas in a tale depicting a couples’ romantic getaway weekend.

  They convinced me to stay. For a while, I lived with Armand and then I got an apartment. One thing led to another and I started hanging out with “Mr. Wonderful” [John Holmes]. I spent time with Mr. Wonderful at night when no one was around. I had actually gotten a little house and my boyfriend at the time lived there for a couple of weeks before my uncle kicked him out. Armand said to me, “Do you want me to have some people break his legs?”

  I said, “No, just put him out.” He did and let him go. It was weird and my boyfriend left. He didn’t want to leave because he was pissed off and he knew how it was coming down. I had the opportunity to be with people more successful than he was. Besides, he was abusive toward me. I wasn’t very good at picking people at this point in my life. Not that I ever was, but I kind of just picked the next person that walked around that was attractive. He was a good-looking guy, you know. He had a good body and he was a musician, and I thought he was cool. He left and then it went on from there. I started hanging out with Mr. Wonderful. He was actually the main reason why my boyfriend had to leave.

  Adult Film Association of America

  Julia grew to know John Holmes quite well and embarked in a romantic relationship with him lasting a few years. Together they socialized with people in the industry and often spent down time at St. Vincent’s Hollywood home. At the time, Julia kept her friendship with Holmes private from her uncle and their colleagues. During the initial stages of their relationship, Holmes’s excessive use of cocaine and freebase hadn’t yet become problematic. In the interim, St. Vincent stepped up to become the youngest board member of the Adult Film Association of America.

  After I came back to Freeway, I got my own house and I started hanging out with all the porn people. I had never done that before because I was younger than they were and I just never did it. At the same time, Armand started sending me to all of the meetings for the porn business. They were producer meetings. He really didn’t want to go himself so he’d send me there and he would go out gambling. I usually went by myself. I don’t remember Armand there but he might have gone once or twice. I would go to the all of the conventions. I would have been between twenty-two and twenty-four years old at this time. The people at the producer meetings were [directors] Ann Perry and Carlos Tobalina and his wife Maria, and Joe Rhine, who was the First Amendment attorney — that was Ann’s husband. Joe Steinman was the head of Essex, which was one of the largest companies in the world making pornography at that time, and Dave Friedman who was the President of AFAA. Every Friday, or every other Friday, we’d have these meetings and then we’d all go to dinner. We’d have meetings with several industry people, but the top guys would go to dinner. I went along becau
se I was the Kewpie Doll in the group.

  St. Vincent laughed while recalling how Holmes would often suggest she dress in appropriate professional business attire for AFAA board meetings rather than in jeans and high heels which she customarily wore. Julia wasn’t about to conform her personal style or her fashion preferences for anyone.

  I was the youngest board member of that group. I would go to dinner with all of the big shots and one day they asked me, “Do you want to be on the board?”

  I said, “Sure, what do I have to do?” They said, “Nothing, you just raise your hand whenever we do it.” They had a big meeting and there were about a hundred people, and somebody nominated me. I was voted in as one of the board members. There was a President and a Treasurer and there were approximately five board members. I remember that I was the youngest board member and I attended the conventions. It was probably about a year.

  Rationale

  As a woman who grew up working behind the scenes for Freeway Films, and eventually, looked through the lens as director of an erotic movie, Julia confessed she can’t conceive why an individual would choose to expose oneself in sex films.

  There were times they’d be shooting a scene and we’d be in the background watching them and I’d turn to Bob [Chinn] and say, “How the hell do they do this?”

  He’d say, “I have no idea.’ I hate to say it like this, but how could these women allow themselves to be put in a position where the whole world was going to find out? How much is that worth, two hundred dollars? How do you have sex in front of people for two hundred dollars? I can’t imagine it. People will tell me that they were poor. Do you mean to tell me that they didn’t have a single relative to stay with; I find it hard to believe. I guess if you were an addict and working in adult films and you don’t have any one to support you because they’ll kick you out. Back then, people didn’t know about how to deal with addiction.