Growing up happily in Ramsgate, grandfather of gay porn, Peter de Rome discovered his sexuality at age 11 and never looked back. With a keen eye for hot men, especially well-endowed black ones, Peter made a series of groundbreaking gay porn movies in the 1960s and 1970s that focus on arousal and eroticism, which makes the sex far steamier than most of today’s rather straightforward fuck-fests.
The new documentary Peter De Rome: Grandfather Of Gay Porn explores his life in his own words, as he narrates his own story at age 89. Not only does the documentary include extensive – and explicit – clips from Peter’s films, but it also follows him back to the places where he shot them in Britain and America during the key events of the gay rights movement.
Infused with Peter’s cheeky, curious attitude, the film also features insightful comments from guests including Julian Clary, colourful BFI Flare programmer Brian Robinson and filmmaker Wakefield Poole (who made iconic gay porn film Boys In The Sand).
Plus a superb sequence in which Peter gets up close and personal with some hunky Kristen Bjorn pornstars.
This is a simple, unfussy documentary about a man who had an impact on gay history from the underground scene of the 1950s (yes, he started making movies when homosexuality was illegal) through Stonewall and the Aids epidemic.
Peter’s lusty, youthful personality shines on-screen and is reflected in his artfully clever porn, which is packed with staggeringly sexy men who were clearly happy to get naked with him.
In other words, it’s an essential dvd for the library, especially alongside the BFI’s 2014 releases The Erotic Films Of Peter De Rome and Fragments: The Incomplete Films Of Peter De Rome.
• Peter De Rome: Grandfather Of Gay Porn is released by Peccadillo DVD/VOD on Monday 14th March.
