Before social media, influencers and selfies, there was Peter Berlin; whose blond hair, fair skin and slim physique made him an international icon. He was “the original influencer.
The gay erotic film Nights in Black Leather was a significant release during the 1970’s Golden Era of Gay Porn. It was embraced and celebrated internationally due to it’s sexual representation but primarily because of its star and creative mind behind the film, Peter Berlin.
In this episode we are going to take a look at Nights in Black Leather. A fluke film with a loose narrative made on the fly that would cement its place in the annals of gay porn history to this day. We will also explore the life and work of Peter Berlin, a talent artist, photographer, filmmaker and human being who would become a defining gay sex symbol and reluctant porn star through his photography and porn films that only had one main subject…himself.
[00:00:00] Before social media, influencers and selfies, there was Peter Berlin, whose blonde hair,
[00:00:26] skin and slim physique made him an international icon. He was the original influencer.
[00:00:35] The gay erotic film Nights in Black leather was a significant release during the 1970s golden
[00:00:40] era of gay porn. It was embraced and celebrated internationally due to its sexual representation,
[00:00:47] but primarily because of its star and creative mind behind the film, Peter Berlin. In this
[00:00:52] episode, we're going to take a look at Nights in Black leather. A fluke film with a loose narrative
[00:00:57] made on the fly that would cement its place in the annals of gay porn history to this day,
[00:01:02] and we will also explore the life and work of Peter Berlin, a talented artist, photographer,
[00:01:07] filmmaker and human being who would become a defining gay sex symbol and reluctant porn star
[00:01:12] through his photography and porn films that only had one main subject himself. This is Demystifying
[00:01:20] Gay Porn. My name is Zika Grande and if you watch Gay porn, I've definitely helped you get off.
[00:01:29] Before we continue, please don't forget to help my channel and this audio visual podcast by
[00:01:33] subscribing, clicking the like button and selecting the bell icon so you can be notified every time
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[00:01:42] Peter Berlin was born Armand Hagen, Fryer von Hoenigin Hoenig. In Poland in 1942, during World War
[00:01:55] 2, to a family of diplomats and artists. Being born into a blue blood family with my grandmother's
[00:02:03] side of philosophers and attitudes, and then my other side of artists in photographers. There's one
[00:02:12] very famous George von Hoenigin Hoenig was a photographer of Hollywood and so there's where my
[00:02:22] roots are coming from. His father, a farmer met his mother in Berlin and the two married.
[00:02:27] When Berlin was two, his father died as a soldier during the war. At a time when the German
[00:02:32] government was rationing weapons and firepower and sending unarmed soldiers to protect the eastern
[00:02:37] front. After this, Berlin's mother took her three children to live in the capital while the
[00:02:41] East Germans were building the wall. As a teenager and after his sexual awakening,
[00:02:53] Berlin remembers borrowing his grandmother's sewing machine and making his own clothes,
[00:02:58] not believing that clothes in fashion at the time showed off the body as they should.
[00:03:03] Berlin would spend his youth on the streets, parks, train stations of Berlin showing off and
[00:03:08] wearing leather, not for the kink of it but rather how leather made his body look. It was around
[00:03:13] this time that Berlin would study photography, leading to a job as an in-house linzman for a German
[00:03:19] chat show. However, post-war Berlin was not exactly a thriving location for an artist of his caliber
[00:03:25] and Berlin with the help of a friend made his way to Paris, Rome, New York, and finally San Francisco in
[00:03:33] the early 1970s. It wasn't his early 20s that Berlin one day looked in the mirror and was excited
[00:03:45] by himself. It was a new sensation and from then on Berlin learned how to please himself to himself.
[00:03:52] Once Berlin found himself in San Francisco, he began to shape and redefine his image while
[00:03:57] cruising bath houses and parks. As Berlin would recount, his main throw while cruising was in the
[00:04:04] ritualistic manner, the hunt for sex. Once someone cruising him was intrigued and enticed,
[00:04:11] Berlin was satiated and gone, leaving the cruiser wanting more.
[00:04:22] Berlin would earn his place, garnering local fame among Polkstreet's most eccentric people.
[00:04:48] With the skill he picked up when he was younger, whenever Berlin couldn't find what he was looking
[00:04:53] for in the store, he turned to making his own clothes that were meant to expose as much of
[00:04:58] his body as possible and pants that would compliment and hug his trademark bulge.
[00:05:10] Berlin's photography mainly consisted of self-portraits that would appear on Game Magazine covers
[00:05:15] and make him an international cult icon. Berlin was a self-loving exhibitionist who embraced his
[00:05:20] look and never shot away from anything too provocative. He would dress up for himself
[00:05:25] and if you happen to like it as well, then great. During this time, erotic films like Boys in the
[00:05:31] Sand and Deep Throte were having lucrative theater runs. It was only a matter of time before Berlin,
[00:05:37] along with his friend director Richard Abel, got the idea of shooting footage that would become
[00:05:42] the 1972 film Nights in Black leather. The film would feature Berlin, along with solos,
[00:05:50] oral scenes and simulated sex. Nights in Black leather was successful and Berlin would then write,
[00:05:56] produce and direct his next film That Boy. After Nights in Black leather and That Boy,
[00:06:02] Berlin solidified its place as a sex symbol and bona fide celebrity among the art world.
[00:06:07] Rubbing shoulders with Salvatore Dali, Andy Warhol and Robert Maplethorpe.
[00:06:12] Warhol along with Maplethorpe were the only two other photographers Berlin allowed to photograph
[00:06:18] him. Thomas Finland also immortalized him in drawings. Berlin's drive for the business
[00:06:24] end of photography and filmmaking was never stronger than his own simple want of living life
[00:06:29] and taking some pictures. He ran a mail order business selling pictures sets and videos
[00:06:34] to fans which combined with an inheritance from a close friend was enough to let Berlin live the
[00:06:39] lifestyle he enjoyed. Berlin's fanbase was large enough to make him an international icon.
[00:06:46] Of his fame, Berlin would go on to say it was fun in the beginning however once he was recognized
[00:06:52] wherever he went the whole thing was over for him.
[00:07:05] That is a Italian magazine I guess who had because you see I was this internationally
[00:07:23] fans person you know if one thinks about it's true and I am the first one who was amazed how
[00:07:31] again how little one has to do in order to be picked up by the press also because I mean basically
[00:07:37] the world is sort of quite boring so that little obviously edges and of course what people want
[00:07:48] hear about read about. Peter Berlin is probably the strangest porn star you will ever hear
[00:07:54] maybe because he isn't really a porn star. Berlin was his own invention a self-created icon and
[00:08:01] enigma who through his clothes quickly became a fixture of the international streets inciting both
[00:08:07] shock and delight to onlookers. The world today is saturated with people obsessed with taking
[00:08:14] pictures of themselves. Berlin predated them by nearly 50 years. Peter Berlin didn't create
[00:08:22] the obsession but he unknowingly pioneered the sexualized self-portrait as we know it today.
[00:08:29] Peter Berlin is alive and well and lives a quiet life in San Francisco.
[00:08:35] The Peter Berlin character has since been retired but in interviews Berlin has gone on to say
[00:08:40] that he is astonished at how his image has found such an endearing home in gay history.
[00:08:46] I reached out to Peter Berlin for an interview and did not receive a response
[00:08:51] although I am told that is not uncommon.
[00:08:56] I still can walk and talk and even people recognize Mr.
[00:09:00] Dennis Peter Berlin what is sort of nice because if you can as a 60-year-old man get a compliment
[00:09:10] from a stranger like Ampa Sainte on the street calling you you look cute. I never will forget
[00:09:19] now who in the hell with 60 years old can look cute. I said my god Peter you are really good and
[00:09:26] sort of making people not see a 60-year-old man because actually I feel like 90
[00:09:33] and there is nothing good about a world. Old is old, nothing, no.
[00:09:51] Peter Berlin but an American born German-speaking San Francisco Art Institute film student
[00:09:57] Richard Abel in 1972 after watching a 10-minute black and white film he made on his Bollex H-16
[00:10:03] reflex camera. He showed me his piece for the judges I guess whatever they have to submit to get
[00:10:13] that degree. I told him you can show them to some friends and your mother and they all will
[00:10:19] like it but it's a bore so why don't we make a final film. By this point Berlin had garnered local
[00:10:27] celebrity status in San Francisco so they were able to use that as motivation. They invested $5,000
[00:10:34] into the project and began to aimlessly film until something stuck. That something was Peter
[00:10:39] Berlin while making the film Berlin was directing in front of the camera as well while Abel would
[00:10:45] manage all of the post-production work. He edited the film he was doing as a sound and I had nothing
[00:10:56] to do with the making of the film. I just was in front of it and telling him what to do so I sort
[00:11:04] of gave him the idea to shut here or make it all. Night in black leather took 14 days to film.
[00:11:17] After the film was shot and edited Berlin began promotion for the film. Richard Abel took the
[00:11:23] stage name Ignacio Rutkowski. Berlin was featured on the poster as Peter Boreon a name based on
[00:11:30] someone Berlin had admired for his beauty while he was still in Germany. Berlin would then get a big
[00:11:35] envelope from a lawyer in New York accusing him of stealing the name from Peter Boreon, a legitimate
[00:11:40] New York model. Upon the threat of a lawsuit Peter Boreon the star of night in black leather became
[00:11:45] Peter Berlin because well he's from Berlin. First and foremost the title of the film is a playoff
[00:11:56] of the Moody Bluses 1967 song Night in White Scent and could have possibly inspired
[00:12:02] Betmiddler's Night in Black leather. Night in Black leather follows the sexual adventures of a
[00:12:07] German immigrant through the city of San Francisco. The film is shot on location in San Francisco,
[00:12:14] North Beach and Land's End. While the film is beautifully shot by Rutkowski there is very
[00:12:20] little full on sex. The film consists mostly of Felicia scenes in soft focus and shadows and solos.
[00:12:28] When there are sex scenes they are simulated. Berlin attributed this to his inability to get hard
[00:12:33] due to being shy and just trying to mimic things he had seen in other gay porn films.
[00:12:43] Night in Black leather was shot around and picked up by Monroe Bielers Jaguar films in Los Angeles.
[00:12:49] Bieler gave Berlin and Rutkowski $8,500 to distribute the film. The film was released in 1973
[00:12:56] and became a huge hit financially. Night in Black leather played for months in the US as well as Europe.
[00:13:02] The success of the film catapulted Berlin and the image he portrayed. It led to him being
[00:13:07] critically adored by mainstream artists at a time when the art world fully embraced the developing
[00:13:12] erotic film industry. Berlin would then start his own lucrative male order business selling self-portraits
[00:13:18] through advertisements and gay publications. This became Berlin's primary stream of income
[00:13:23] and Berlin was free to pursue his sexual pleasures at leisure. Berlin would go on to brainstorm another
[00:13:28] project the following year called That Boy and a pair of shorts called Blue Boys. Just like with
[00:13:34] Night in Black leather, the film had no script, no plot and focused on Berlin and its exploits.
[00:13:41] Night in Black leather, like many of the films featured in this season,
[00:13:50] served as a time capsule that you will not see this unfiltered anywhere else I dare say.
[00:13:55] Up until recently it was unknown whether an intact 16-millimeter print of the film existed.
[00:14:01] But then Berlin received news that the original negative of the film was in storage in Southern
[00:14:07] California. From that negative, a brand new 16-millimeter print was made and the original
[00:14:13] and its negative are currently on loan to the legacy project. A joint venture between Outfest
[00:14:19] and UCLA Film and Television Archives. You've been listening to Demystifying Gay Porn.
[00:14:26] I am your host, Aikegrande.
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[00:14:53] Once again, this is Demystifying Gay Porn. My name is Aikegrande and if you watch day porn,
[00:14:58] I've definitely come to that.