I Always Said Yes: The Many Lives of Wakefield Poole Review

Distributor: Gorilla Factory Productions Edition Details: Director's Cut Streaming and Download Movie Specs: Genres: Documentary Run Time: 98 minutes Rated: not Release Year: 2013/2016 Director: Jim Tushinski Written by: Jim Tushinski, Wakefield Poole (based on autobiography by) Cast: Wakefield Poole, Felice Picano, Linda Williams, Robert W. Richards, Frederic Franklin, Gemze de Lappe, Marvin Shulman, Jill O'Hara, Mary Rodges (as Mary Rodgers Guettel), David Edward Byrd, Roger Puckett, Yvonne Puckett, Tim Kincaid (as Joe Gage), Henry Guettel, Ed Kresley, Drey Sheppard, Georgina Spelvin, Hans Boon, Jack Fritscher, John F. Karr, Daniel Nicoletta, Charles Sinclair, Crayton Robey, Dennis De Lorenzo, Ron Martin Voices: Robert Boulanger Release Specs: Audio: English Stereo Subtitles: (where available) English SDH, French, Latin American Spanish, German, Brazilian Portuguese Video: Widescreen, 1.78:1 (anamorphic) Video Format: NTSC Format: Streaming/Download Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): N/A Number of discs: N/A

I Always Said Yes: The Many Lives of Wakefield Poole a documentary about the life of, among other ventures, gay adult film director Wakefield Poole. I Always Said Yes feels more Poole sharing his life experiences with you than it feels like a documentary. Based on Dirty Poole, Poole's autobiography, I Always Said Yes takes a three act set-up for the movie. While friends and associates are on hand throughout the documentary to give insight on Poole, most of the material comes from the mouth of Poole himself.

I Always Said Yes may be a product of director Jim Tushinski; however, it is clearly a project that Poole himself is emotionally invested in. There are even several times during the interview footage of Poole where he breaks down and chokes back tears. What makes I Always Said Yes the strong movie that it comes from Poole himself telling about his life. Tushinski has a range of supporting voices to give insight into Poole but most of the documentary comes from Poole himself. The documentary also shows the intertwining of Poole's professional and personal life.

Tushinski has done a great job presenting the footage. The interviews have archival footage, archival photographs, stock footage, and stock photographs that are shown next to the person talking, so there is usually something always going on to keep interest up.

Tushinski has designed I Always Said Yes as a three act documentary, harking back to Poole's Broadway days, that cover different distinct periods of Poole's life. The first act starts in Salisbury, North Carolina, in 1946 with Poole's childhood. The documentary follows Poole in North Carolina, Florida, and then ending up in New York City and the act focuses on Poole's early singing before he got into dancing and Broadway. Poole's transition into choreography and then interest in experimental filmmaking. The creation of the landmark gay hardcore film Boys in the Sand and the follow-up films Bijou and Bible!

The second act starts up in San Francisco, California, in 1974 and covers Moving! and then Poole's descent into drugs with cocaine and freebasing. His making Take One and then going back to New York City and getting himself off of the drugs. His work as a salaried adult movie maker at Panda Films. And then his life after being an adult movie director when he went to cooking school, working at Calvin Klein, and his retirement in Florida.

The third act, and shortest of the three acts, takes place at Fire Island Pines, New York, in 2010 and shows Poole returning to Fire Island, the filming location of Boys in the Sand back at the beginning of his adult filmmaking career, for the screening of Boys in the Sand, for a fundraiser to have a doctor available in the hamlet on the barrier island 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I Always Said Yes also shows Poole revisiting locations from Boys in the Sand to see how they have changed.

In short, I Always Said Yes is an emotional and touching movie that documents the life of Wakefield Poole, one of the most influential filmmakers within the LGBT community. I Always Said Yes isn't always a happy tale, it is filled with sadness and heartbreak, but it never fails to entertain the viewer and at the end leaves the viewer wishing it hadn't ended yet. This is a documentary that, despite Poole usually making gay adult films, should appeal to all fans of classic adult cinema. I Always Said Yes isn't the story of a bisexual adult filmmaker, it is the story of an adult filmmaker. I Always Said Yes is an easy movie to heartily recommend.

I Always Said Yes is available on a several VOD streaming services and download sites (Vimeo, iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play) therefore the quality of the audio and video can vary from service to service and depends on your internet connection. I Always Said Yes was originally made in 2013 and traveled movie festivals. The edition of I Always Said Yes screened is the streaming edition on Vimeo. This release is the new 2016 director's cut of I Always Said Yes. I Always Said Yes is presented in the anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1. Archival footage is obviously not up to the quality of the new material.

Vimeo will be offering English SDH, French, Latin American Spanish, German, and Brazilian Portuguese subtitles. Other streaming or download services may offer some of the subtitle options.

Vimeo has exclusive extras that aren't available through the other streaming and download services that have I Always Said Yes. Some of the extras are exclusive to I Always Said Yes and others have seen previous or other upcoming releases of Wakefield Poole's films.

There are several extras that are exclusive to I Always Said Yes. There is a sequence of six deleted scenes that were trimmed from the film that lasts for seven minutes. There is also a deleted sequence that covers the production and controversy of Poole's movie One Two Three and runs for five minutes. The final deleted sequence is called “The Donnell Center Incident,” and covers Poole's 2007 trip to New York City for a presentation at the NYC Public Library's Donnell Center. “The Donnell Center Incident” runs for six minutes. There is also an interview with the executive producer, and friend of Poole, Ed Frascino about Poole that runs for three minutes.

Several of the extras are available on the previously released Boys in the Sand DVD from Vinegar Syndrome. “Revisiting Fire Island,” is an 11-minute feature where Poole visits the shooting locations from Boys in the Sand. Two of Poole's early experimental films have been included on the release as well. “Andy,” a ten-minute film from 1971 shows the Andy Warhol retrospective at the Whitney Museum. “Vittorio,” a three-minute film from 1970 from the Triton Gallery which was part of their art of Vittorio Fiorucci exhibit.

One of the extras will be on the upcoming DVD release for Take One / Moving from Vinegar Syndrome. “Wakefield Poole in San Francisco,” a 14-minute short documentary that covers part of Poole's time in San Francisco by Jim Tushinski. The short covers, among other events, the filming of the short films “Roger” and “Gay Freedom Day Parade” along with the feature film Take One.

I Always Said Yes: The Many Lives of Wakefield Poole is a documentary from director Jim Tushinski on the groundbreaking gay adult filmmaker Wakefield Poole. I Always Said Yes does an amazing job of covering Poole's life without ever getting slow or dry. The documentary also gives a glimpse into the emerging adult film industry. Fans of the classic era of adult films will want to see I Always Said Yes, whether they are gay or straight.

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