Talk about a hook- now out on Blu-ray from Altered Innocence is a thought-to-be-lost 1973 erotic classic about France’s first gay porn superstar- Karl Forest. And directed by Rudolf Nureyev’s lover Wallace Potts (Nureyev even choreographed Forest’s cabaret numbers in the movie. If that isn’t enough, a forest sex scene was supposedly directed by an Oscar-winning cinematographer- Nestor Almendros (Days of Heaven).
Wallace Potts was not part of the visionary gay porn artists of the 70s like Fred Halsted, Wakefield Poole or Joe Gage. He mostly worked in mainstream films as an assistant on films for director James Bridges and Burt Reynolds. His relationship with Rudolf Nureyev had him filming many of his dances and this treasure trove of films are archived at the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation.
This project with French adult film performer Karl Forest ((Jean-Paul Doux) was purposefully not to be an ordinary bio-pic. It would contain interviews with the opinionated muscular stud about his childhood in the south of France and his years as commander in the army to becoming a male hustler in Paris and his sexy stage performances. The film would mix in his erotic fantasies of interactions with cops, soldiers, pick-ups, even cruising at a sex club.
Karl Forest had made a name for himself in a 1976 gay film called Johan directed by Philippe Vallois about a group of gay men and their lovers, friends and tricks. Karl Forest stood out in the film and even made the poster.
But Wallace Potts was determined this film about Forest would be different. In his “Director’s Statement” he said: “The film partly consists of a tape-recorded interview with Jean–Paul (Forest) and myself. Sometimes the interview is superimposed over images that visualize or counterpoint what Jean-Paul is saying. At other times the interview stops and his fantasies take over.”
Cinematographer Nestor Almendros, who was making a name for himself working with Francois Truffaut and Eric Rohmer was involved with the project and supposedly shot the hot sex scene in the woods with Karl Forest and another man.
It’s a weird hybrid of a film and offers up a fascinating portrait of a complicated, sexual free spirit. The film played in New York at the notorious porn movie palace The Adonis. But afterwards the only way to see it was blurry renditions on VHS. It wasn’t until Wallace Potts’ brother found the 16mm negative in his late brother’s apartment that a stunning 4K scan was created for this Blu-ray. Potts never did another film like this- he directed the bizarre 1989 slasher film Psycho Cop and passed away in 2006. Karl Forest sadly passed away in 1986 at only 35. But this film really elevates him to legendary status as a porn icon.
