It’s 1971 and you’re at a Groovy Guy Contest. There, you set your eyes on Jimmy Hughes. Hughes would go on to win the contest and become a sought after model during the early part of the 1970’s before being entangled in rape and kidnapping charges that would landed him in jail in 1974.
When a feature film becomes a massive box office hit, it has the capacity of shifting the cultural landscape, putting its finger on the pulse of the day and age. And it will almost inevitably assure that a hardcore porn film parody will soon follow. Greek Lightning may just be one of the first erotic film parodies in history.
But just who was the director of the 1972 gay erotic film Greek Lightning? Robert Walters? Ken Albert? Robert Stephens? The answer is all of them, because iconic filmmaker Scott Masters, who founded Studio 2000 and Nova Films used all of those names during his long career in gay adult entertainment.
In this episode, we will celebrate Scott Masters, a guerrilla filmmaker and director who began his career in the adult industry pushing the boundaries of full frontal male nudity his film Greek Lightning, a gay porn that was meant to be a hardcore take off of The French Connection,. And Lastly, we will take a look at the short but fascinating modeling career of Jimmy Hughes, a golden age performer who achieved star status during the early to mid 70’s before it all came crashing down amidst several sex crimes.
[00:00:00] Just who was the director of the 1972 gay erotic film Greek Lightning? Robert Walters, Ken Albert, or Robert Stevens? The answer is all of them, because iconic filmmaker Scott Masters, who founded Nova Studios and Studio 2000, used all of those names during his long career in the
[00:00:19] gay adult entertainment industry. When a Hollywood feature film becomes a massive cultural shifting hit that grips the entire world, it's almost inevitable that a hardcore porn film parody will follow soon after. Greek Lightning, directed by Scott Masters under the name Warren Stevens,
[00:00:37] may just be one of the first gay erotic film parodies in history. It's 1971 and you're at a groovy guy contest. Then you set your eyes on Jimmy Hughes. Jimmy Hughes would go on to win
[00:00:50] the contest and become a sought-after model during the early part of the 1970s before being entangled in rape and kidnapping charges that would land him in jail in 1974. In this episode, we're going to celebrate Scott Masters, a guerrilla filmmaker and director who began his career in the
[00:01:06] adult industry pushing the boundaries of full frontal male nudity. His film Greek Lightning, a gay porn film that was meant to be a hardcore takeoff of the French connection. And lastly, we're going to take a look at the short but fascinating modeling career of Jimmy Hughes,
[00:01:21] a golden age performer who achieved star status during the early to mid 1970s before it all came crashing down amidst several sex crimes. This is Demystifying Gay Porn. My name is Ike Grande and
[00:01:33] if you watch gay porn, I've definitely helped to get off. Before we continue, I want to remind you that you can help this channel and its original yet risque content by liking, clicking the subscribe
[00:01:49] button or selecting the bell icon for notifications to see more content like this. And for all you podcast listeners, leave a review or rate it if you can. Thank you. Scott Masters was born William
[00:02:08] Lewis Scheffler on May 8th, 1934 and grew up in a Jewish family in Illinois. In 1966, Masters drove his parents from Illinois to Montana for a vacation. While they were there, Masters drove himself out
[00:02:22] to San Francisco. He entered an adult bookstore and was shocked by all the male physique magazines and photographs. It was more than anything he had seen back home. When he returned to Chicago, Masters persuaded local bookstore owners to let him buy gay material for their stores.
[00:02:39] Around this time, J. Brian's Golden Boys, a photography magazine featuring slightly nude young men, was about the most hardcore material being published. Masters began to buy photo sets from various photographers who also had nude images of the
[00:02:54] same models. His business began to boom, with Masters acknowledging that they couldn't get the material fast enough to their customers. After getting to know the owner of Champion Magazine based out of New York City, Masters thought he should start publishing his own magazines
[00:03:10] under the name Checkmate. Masters was making trips out to the West Coast every two months to facilitate the printing and distribution. When Masters first arrived in Los Angeles, he ran into issues getting paid by companies who hired him for his original photography work,
[00:03:31] something Masters has said was common at the time. Whenever that happened, there was always a distributor looking to purchase good material, which Masters always had. During this time, Masters met a distributor who had produced a little hardcore film called Drilled Deep,
[00:03:47] starring underground icon Jim Cassidy as well as another icon, Dakota. With a good-sized mail order list and the film Drilled Deep, Masters and his distributor made some good money in hardcore film. Masters would go on to meet the film's cinematographer and launch Nova Studios
[00:04:06] with photographer Jim Randall based out of Los Angeles. At this time, gay porn production on the West Coast was divided between San Francisco, where Matt Sterling, John Travis, and Falcon Studios were based, and Los Angeles, where Shant Sales, Monroe Beeler, and Tom Disimoni were making
[00:04:28] gay erotic movies that resembled full-length Hollywood features. Like many of the early filmmakers, Masters had come to hardcore filmmaking from producing softcore and later hardcore porn magazines. He cast, staged, and photographed sex narratives for more than 500 magazines between
[00:04:46] 1970 and 1977. During the time of working on the magazines, he had developed an entire visual vocabulary for erotic storytelling. As with many of his contemporaries, Masters was hit with an obscenity charge in the 6th District of Texas for his movies and the brochures promoting them.
[00:05:11] Masters would plead guilty so his sentencing could be transferred to LA, and he was fortunate to have a judge who did not believe pornography through the mail should be a prosecutable item. The biggest setback from this incident was Masters was not supposed to work in the industry again.
[00:05:26] From there, Masters cut back his involvement and began making loops. At this point, Masters wanted to make a feature film. The timing was perfect and film houses were now screening sex films. Masters approached Monroe Beeler, who owned the Century Theater in Hollywood but also had his own
[00:05:48] studio, Jaguar Films. Masters pitched an idea for a hardcore feature film inspired by the Hollywood blockbuster The French Connection. Of the film, he had said, I had wanted to call it The Greek Connection. It was a thriller. The key to the mystery was a
[00:06:03] tattoo on some guy's ass. But someone else came out with a film called The Greek Connection, just before I did, so we changed it to Greek Lightning. The lead for the film was rising
[00:06:13] porn star Jimmy Hughes. Hughes was having his moment, having just won the Groovy Guy contest. The experience of working on Greek Lightning was enough to make Masters not want to make another feature. In 1976, Masters launched Nova Studios, producing longer loops and in its heyday
[00:06:38] in direct competition with Falcon, eventually producing longer and more elaborate films with storylines. Drawing upon Masters' expertise as a publisher, Nova produced glossy full-color brochures to market its short films. Each 16-page brochure was illustrated with photographs of the
[00:06:56] film's action. Rather than the standard 10-minute loops, Masters made loops of 15 to 20 minutes. The longer loops offered a more polished and glamorous product than the handheld efforts shot at the time in seedy motel rooms. The longer loops also allowed Masters to tell slightly more
[00:07:14] complex stories in his films. Most of Nova's releases had a story to tell, with clear transitions and dramatic conflict. Masters transferred the editorial approach he had as a magazine editor. The typical Nova film showed men having sex with other men in settings not typically considered gay locations
[00:07:49] a factory, a garage, football locker room, or stable. The fantasy created was that jocks, hardhats, wranglers all segued into sex right there in the workplace. The point was above all to show hot guys
[00:08:03] having gay sex, not gay guys having hot sex. One of the most fascinating things to learn about Nova Studios was that for all its luster and popularity, Masters has gone on to say Nova Studios never made
[00:08:15] enough money to support two people. After releasing the film Boy's Town, Masters' film partner disappeared with the film Masters and all of the money in the account. It was then that Masters
[00:08:27] found out that his business partner Jim Randall had been selling the rights to all of the films to distributors behind his back. Nova was $60,000 in debt and closed its doors in 1986. Masters would go on to work with close friend and contemporary William Higgins.
[00:08:51] Masters produced and directed for Catalina from 1987 to 1992, directing many films during his period. His final film, Behind the Bar and Door, was a farewell to Catalina, lending a way for new directors to join the fray of adult entertainment. Masters announced his retirement in 1999 but
[00:09:11] quickly returned to making adult film after he and John Travis found and hired Czech photographer Jan Novak and formed Studio 2000, an international line with European talent. In April 2006, Masters and Travis sold Studio 2000 to former Falcon Entertainment consultant David McKay.
[00:09:30] Scott Masters was a guerrilla filmmaker who had a plan of action to make independent gay films, inevitably leading to his impact in the industry. His work has been called a must to study for all aspiring erotic filmmakers. For four decades, he captured a visual representation of gay sex
[00:09:58] and its shifting world. He was a pioneer in the field of filmmaking and his work has been For four decades, he captured a visual representation of gay sex and its shifting landscapes from gay liberation to AIDS through the new millennium. Facing health issues,
[00:10:14] Masters moved from Palm Springs back to Illinois where he had family. On July 20th, 2020, Scott Masters, William Lewis Scheffler, passed away in an assisted living facility in Bloomington, Illinois at the age of 86. After years of working in softcore gay erotic imagery followed by hardcore
[00:10:46] imagery and finally making loops, Scott Masters aka Robert Walters aka Warren Stevens decided to make a feature film. At the time, people would go to theaters to watch sex films and one of the most
[00:10:59] well-known was the Century Theater in Hollywood owned by a man named Monroe Beeler. Beeler had a production company and had been distributing his own films by this point and he would play these titles exclusively at his theaters. Masters met with Beeler and told him he wanted to make
[00:11:15] a film for him. They came to an agreement and Masters hired Jimmy Hughes for the lead role. Masters called the film The Greek Connection but someone else had already beaten Masters to the name and the film ended up being called Greek Lightning. Right from the start, the opening
[00:11:37] credits are a fun tribute to the James Bond films opening titles. The film begins with a voiceover reminiscent of the Dragonite TV show. Friday, October 9th, 10 a.m., private detective Johnny Acropolis
[00:11:49] received a phone call from a Mr. Alex Kincaid. Alex Kincaid is the attorney for a top political figure with a gay sex scandal about to unfold and possibly foreshadowing how nothing really changes when it comes to gay political sex scandals. The information leading to the scandal
[00:12:05] was tattooed on somebody and swinging detective Acropolis has received a $50,000 retainer to get to the bottom of it. Using his body of course. At a gas station an attempt on Acropolis's life is made but the shooter accidentally takes out some poor guy just trying to use the bathroom.
[00:12:22] A sped up car chase ensues and when Acropolis catches up to the shooter they scuffle before the shooter himself is taken out by an unknown assailant. But not before revealing that Queen B is behind all of this. No, not that Queen B or that one.
[00:12:43] Just then a beautiful British man, Rex Gardner, just happens to stroll out of his house and offer to help. Once inside Acropolis makes himself at home. He has a drink with Rex which leads to
[00:12:55] Acropolis discovering a tattoo on Rex's body. Acropolis then asks to see his body leading to some sexy time. Kincaid calls Acropolis and lets him know Queen B's identity. Acropolis heads to Griffith Park Observatory where we finally meet the flashy Queen B. You're going to take
[00:13:18] that extremely pretty ass of yours down the mountain to that little park and cause Mr. Acropolis to follow you to the usual bar. There you will have help if needed and there you will flash your ravishing eyes and thrust forward your near to bursting basket
[00:13:41] and there you will attract Mr. Acropolis. The man Acropolis followed into the bar, Pretty Mark, approaches him while two other men assault Rex looking for the pictures he's holding. Acropolis takes Pretty Mark home where, well you know. Afterwards Rex calls Acropolis and
[00:13:58] tells him what happened. They meet at the convention center and Rex is shot. The plan is now set to retrieve pictures and put a stop to Acropolis. Queen B and his henchmen capture Acropolis. Queen B questions Acropolis while getting a hummer
[00:14:19] but Acropolis won't budge. Acropolis is then tied up and well, I assume a stunt butt was used considering Jimmy Hughes asserts to never bottoming on screen. Pretty Mark comes in and Acropolis convinces him to let him loose.
[00:14:33] After some play they escape together and another car chase ensues. The pursuit continues on foot where Queen B chases Acropolis onto the top of a train which was shot without a permit and they had
[00:14:44] to bribe a security guard with money for a good 10 minutes of shoot time. Queen B is blown off of the train and killed after the explosion. Acropolis visits Rex at the hospital and it's
[00:14:56] at this time that a voiceover lets us know that the political figure's scandal is put to rest, however photos and evidence have not been found. After the final sex scene, Rex figures out what his tattoo means. Overall the film is well made and has a good enough
[00:15:14] light plot to keep you interested. Also the sex, the sex is gonna keep you interested. I love looking at the film's use of locations especially around Los Angeles in the early 1970s. Greek Lightning was made when synced audio existed but was seldom used for erotic films.
[00:15:31] Here Masters chose to go with a music soundtrack and it's dubbed over well for the most part. Masters went on to describe the shooting of Greek Lightning as a fiasco, saying the movie that you
[00:15:43] see is not what he had envisioned. Other than Hughes many of the other actors were terrible and Masters could not get the best out of them. Buehler, the film's producer chopped it up and
[00:15:54] made it palatable, something that deeply offended Masters but as time went by Masters realized that it was a business decision trying to make a movie that would sell. After his experience with Greek Lightning, Masters soured at the idea of making another feature. Jimmy Hughes was born James
[00:16:21] Edward Hughes in Ventura, California on June 24th 1950. Hughes grew up a majority of his life near an Indian reservation at Fort Yuma. Hughes's father was a merchant marine who became a power plant
[00:16:34] engineer. Hughes grew up with his father and was a battered and unwanted child. Hughes went on to become a little league all-star and teenage athlete with a couple of juvenile delinquency charges. Hughes graduated high school in 1970 and moved to Los Angeles. Hughes entered into a popular contest
[00:16:54] run by Pat Rocco called Mr. Groovy Guy. Hughes won the contest beating another golden age icon Kent Sprague, otherwise known as Dakota. After winning the Groovy Guy contest Hughes was approached
[00:17:13] to make gay film loops on both the east and west coasts. Hughes has gone on to describe the difference in the experiences of making loops to features. For loops there were no scripts and you can do it
[00:17:25] in a variety of ways. His first feature gay erotic film was The Experiment directed by Tom Disimoni for Jaguar Productions. For a film like The Experiment Hughes remembers having to attend rehearsals. Hughes would follow that film with Ghost of a Chance also for Jaguar Studios.
[00:17:42] While he appeared in these films Hughes's sexuality was still questionable. Hughes had said that he would concentrate on what he was doing and if he thought about anything it was the money he would be getting paid for his work. For loops Hughes would take home 300 to 500 dollars.
[00:17:59] For his next film Greek Lightning Hughes would make a thousand dollars for his starring role. As soon as I finish this case I want to come back and finish what we started.
[00:18:16] You can bet your sweet ass on that. After his gay erotic films Hughes would have a lot to say about his experience and express regret saying he only made loops in films for money by doing things
[00:18:27] on camera that he had done many times before. He would then go on to say gay pornography has done more harm than good by driving gay men more towards fantasy and away from the reality of loving
[00:18:44] relationships. Hughes felt the budding gay erotic film industry was not a credit to the movement. He would even go on to offer advice to young men saying don't get involved with these films
[00:18:56] you have to live with it once you've made it for the rest of your life. On February 23rd 1974 Jimmy Hughes was arrested and charged with gunpoint kidnapping, rape, and anal and oral
[00:19:13] copulation with as many as nine women in the Van Nuys area of the city. 18 charges had already been filed against him and police said there were more. On February 6th 1975 Jimmy Hughes was given
[00:19:26] two sentences of five years to life for rape at gunpoint with two women. Through plea bargaining his original charges had been reduced to these two counts to which he pled guilty.
[00:19:57] Jimmy Hughes had done all kinds of modeling and had been in three gay features and was one of the best known names and faces and physiques in the LA gay community. In 1981 while on parole for
[00:20:09] previous convictions he was arrested and later convicted of several more rapes and sentenced to 89 years in prison. Hughes was up for parole as recent as July 2023 but it was denied with his next hearing in July 2026. You've been listening to Demystifying Gay Porn. I am your host Ike Grande.
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