Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes (1998)

Directors:

Wesley Emerson
Alan Smithee

Writers:

Martin Brimmer (writer)
Rodger Jacobs (written by)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography

Plot:

Friends, enemies, acquaintances, and family of porn star John Holmes recall their experiences with him, from his childhood to his eventual death from AIDS in 1988. |

Plot Keywords:

Porn Star | AIDS | Death From AIDS | Death | Penis

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Bill Amerson	...	Himself
Denise Amerson	...	Herself
Sean 'Duke' Amerson	...	Himself
Juliet Anderson	...	Herself (as Aunt Peg)
Paul Thomas Anderson	...	Himself
Tom Blake	...	Himself (as Det. Tom Blake)
Bunny Bleu	...	Herself
Martin Brimmer	...	Interviewer (as Rodger Jacobs)
Paul Cambria	...	Himself
Bob Chinn	...	Himself (also archive footage)
David Clark	...	Himself
Ron Coen	...	Himself (as Hon. Ron Coen)
Misty Dawn	...	Herself (also archive footage) (as Laurie Holmes)
Mitchell Egers	...	Himself
Don Fernando	...	Himself
Larry Flynt	...	Himself
Al Goldstein	...	Himself
Annette Haven	...	Herself
Bobby Hollander	...	Himself
Jim Holliday	...	Himself
John Holmes	...	Himself (archive footage)
Sharon Holmes	...	Herself
Ron Jeremy	...	Himself
Gloria Leonard	...	Herself
John Leslie	...	Himself
Vonda Lia	...	Herself (as Vonda Lia Ph.D.)
William Margold	...	Himself
Sharon Mitchell	...	Herself
Kitten Natividad	...	Herself
Richard Pacheco	...	Himself
Ann Perry	...	Herself
Candida Royalle	...	Herself
Mike Sager	...	Himself
'Reb' Sawitz	...	Himself
Dawn Schiller	...	Herself (as Dawn)
Ilona Staller	...	Herself (as Cicciolina)
Joel Sussman	...	Himself
Kenneth Turan	...	Himself
Bob Vosse	...	Himself

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexual content, language, drug use and some violent images. (edited version); Rated NC-17 for explicit sexual content.

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Certification:

New Zealand:R18 | Germany:16 | Australia:R (DVD rating) | Australia:X (original rating) | USA:NC-17 | USA:R (edited version)

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Cassel Productions

Quotes:

Bob Vosse: Almost no one in the business knew John Holmes or anything about his personal life about where he was born, lived, his family, his wife, or anything. John had almost no social life and very few friends. He didn't want you to be his friend. I tried to be John's friend...

Movie Connections:

References Sweet Alice (1983)

Fascinating piece of Americana. Recommended!

For a documentary "Wadd" ain't so innovating, and maybe it's too long but still my eyes were glued to screen. I knew John was a cokefiend and involved in a mob hit but I didn't really knew he was vicious wife beater and a chronic liar/schizo that fed the cops info on pornproducers in the early 70's. "Wadd" isn't that pornographic (no penetration scenes) it's more of a tragic story of a not too bright kid with the world's biggest "tool". Lots of people from the adult industry are interviewed (Goldstein, Flynt, Sharon Mitchell, Ciccolina etc.) as you would expect but also cops, lawyers, journalists and guys like Paul "Boggie Nights" Anderson are included. I know it's almost impossible to make Holmes-docu that isn't interesting but "Wadd" is a fascinating and important portrait of a legend that some called The Elvis Of Pornography!