Celebration (HIS) Review

Reviewed by sydguy  on  4/23/2007

Do you remember 1978? People who weren’t even born then know the '70s as the Decade That Fashion Forgot – when men (even straight men) wore moustaches, flannelette shirts, cut-off jeans, knee-length athletic socks and boots. All of these can be seen in “Celebration”, based around the first “Gay Freedom Day” parade in San Francisco, which evolved to become the Gay Pride parades we know today. Aside from being a reminder of what people wore in those days, it’s also a time capsule of late-1970s porn – when guys had slim, athletic bodies, unshaved hair on their faces and chests, untrimmed hair on their groins, and average-size dicks. In other words, they looked like the kind of guy you might actually meet in your local gay bar, who might actually invite you to spend the night, rather than the handsome, gym-enhanced, waxed, prodigiously-endowed demi-gods who tend to populate porn films these days. They wore ugly Jockey underwear, not expensive Calvin Kleins. And they had sex which was fun, when it was OK to smile or even talk (in complete sentences), rather than the ultra-serious, unsmiling, sex we often see today.

There is no real plot, and the effort to link the sex scenes loosely to the parade (scenes from which are inter-cut throughout the film) suffers from some continuity problems, so it’s best to ignore them.

Scene 1 takes place in a bedroom, between dark-haired Gene and his blond boyfriend Casey. The sex starts with mutual sucking until Casey jerks Gene to orgasm. Then Gene sucks and jerks off Casey, and sticks his cummy dick in his mouth. Although only oral, the scene works well, with both models smiling and even laughing, i.e. clearly enjoying themselves.

In the next scene two guys cruise each other in a park then go back to someone’s bedroom. One guy, Kelly, has a hideously large handlebar moustache, which looks like a small mammal has attached itself to his face. The other, Mark, looks like a boy next door with a moustache. The sex starts with mutual blowjobs: Mark lovingly sucks Kelly, then Kelly deep-throats Mark while at the same time giving him lots of tongue action. After a brief 69, Mark fucks Kelly doggie-style on the bed, and we get to see the origin of the term “pillow-biter”. Fur-lovers will also enjoy close-up shots of hairy balls thumping against a hairy ass. Mark pulls out but his cum shot is more or less missing in action, and Kelly doesn’t cum at all.

In Scene 3, Kelly meets up with his old friend Casey. Kelly performs his oral magic on Casey then they 69. Casey fucks Kelly in three different positions. Although Casey uses a great hip motion for the fucking, the camera angle changes too often to really get into the scene (a contrast to modern films, when scenes tend to go on too long). Casey squeezes out a small load but again Kelly doesn’t cum.

The next scene takes place in an antiques shop where short, young, blond shop assistant Bobby seduces his married, black customer Ben Johnson (not the disgraced Olympic athlete of that name). Ben says it’s his first time having man-on-man sex, though he had thought about Bobby a lot (how romantic!). It obviously isn’t Bobby’s first time, as he proves to be an experienced cocksucker. Ben doesn’t reciprocate before fucking Bobby, then Bobby sucks Ben again briefly. Ben produces a big load from his uncut dick, then leaves.

In the final scene, the shop-owner Frederick – tall, dark and bearded and looking a bit like Jesus – arrives. Bobby displays his impressive cock-sucking again, but this time Frederick sucks and rims Bobby before fucking his perfect creamy white ass. Frederick produces a big load on Bobby’s chest to end the film.

Despite being an energetic performer, we don’t really see Bobby’s dick at any point in the last two scenes, and he doesn’t cum at all. And both scenes are plagued by technical difficulties: in scene 4, Ben’s dark skin and prick disappear into the shadows due to inadequate lighting, and in scene 5 the cameraman’s shadow is clearly visible on two occasions. The camera angles are also bad in that scene, and we hardly see the action when Frederick services Bobby.

The extras are limited to a picture gallery with about a dozen grainy shots from the film, plus trailers for three other pre-condom classics: “Kansas City Trucking Co.”, “El Paso Wrecking Corp.”, and “LA Tool and Die”.

In terms of getting bang for your buck, the film hardly compares to today’s epic efforts: although there are five scenes, they are all quite short, and the total running time is barely 60 minutes. There are only four decent cum shots, and the sex isn’t remotely adventurous (no flip-flop, three-way etc). Technically, the film can’t compare with the far superior films being produced today.

On the other hand, it is refreshing to see talented, regular-looking guys (instead of gorgeous but sometimes untalented guys) having real sex. You can also view the film as a celebration of the era after the Sexual Revolution, before the Age of AIDS, when condom-less, casual sex was plentiful and fun, and the most you had to worry about was getting crabs or a dose of the clap. So while it won’t get your rocks off as effectively as some other films, it could make an interesting addition to your porn library.