This is an oddly intriguing one – a porn film, written by a legendary actor, which has been made even though even before shooting it wasn’t clear whether the filmmakers had any rights to do so. The actor is the late Oscar-winner John Gielgud, who was great friends with the ‘grandfather of gay porn’, Peter De Rome.
De Rome made explicit films in the 60s and 70s for his friends, which then found a wider audience when they were released in the 70s porn-chic era as The Erotic Films Of Peter De Rome (and which were re-released by the BFI a couple of years ago). Gielgud apparently wrote an x-rated short film for De Rome to direct, having enjoyed his friend’s hardcore movies. However it was never filmed – until now, that is.
Before his death last year, De Rome passed the script for Trouser Bar to David McGillivray, who made the documentary Peter de Rome: Grandfather of Gay Porn. Shortly afterwards McGillivray announced plans to film the movie, which is about a men’s clothing store where an orgy is taking place. The director even managed to enlist the likes of Nigel Havers, Barry Cryer and Julian Clary as passersby who spot what is going on.
There has always been a problem though, and that is very early on that Gielgud’s esatate made it that they believed they owned the rights to the script and that in their opinion McGillivray had absolutely no right to make Trouser Bar.
Ian Bradshaw from the Sir John Gielgud Charitable Trust told the Daily Mail, “Earlier this year, the trustees decided not give their permission for it to be produced because they didn’t think it was appropriate. They didn’t have to go into detail because they own the copyright.”
McGillivray decided to go ahead anyway, with filming taking place a few weeks ago and the short now being edited. He says, “Pornography is still a stigma in this country, but Sir John loved porn and, in his letters, he talks about visiting gay cinemas. I was shocked when the trust didn’t give me permission. We stuck to Sir John’s script very tightly when we made the film a couple of weeks ago. He was very specific about the clothes he wanted the actors to wear. They have come down heavily on me. They are using intellectual copyright as an excuse.”
Unless the director has an iron-tight release where GIelgud gave De Rome the right to make the film, or for him to give the rights to someone else, it’s difficult to see how McGillivray is going to justify it legally. Indeed, if the Gielgud Trust decides to sue, Trouser Bar may never even be screened. The director has previously suggested he thinks he’s okay on that front though, saying “they don’t have a leg to stand on”.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens.
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