LA Plays Itself (Vinegar Syndrome) Review

Distributor: Vinegar Syndrome Edition Details: Standard Streaming Movie Specs: Genres: Classic (1970s Shot on Film), Vignette, Gay Also known as: L.A. Plays Itself Run Time: 55 minutes Rated: X Release Year: 1972 Director: Fred Halsted Written by: Fred Halsted Director of Photography: Fred Halsted Cast: Jim Frost, Rick Valli (as Rick Coates), Fred Halsted, Joseph Yale (as Joe Yanichek) Release Specs: Audio: English Mono Subtitles: none Video: Full Frame, 1.33:1 Video Format: NTSC Format: Streaming Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): N/A Number of discs: N/A

LA Plays Itself is a gay adult film that supposedly started filming in 1968. Based off of what is in backdrops it is very likely there was filming going on in 1969 and 1970. This reviewer is hesitant to call LA Plays Itself an all sex film, however, it may not completely fall within the all sex or vignette categories. LA Plays Itself consists of two pieces or acts.

The first act has a hiker (Jim Frost) who runs across a man (Rick Coates) bathing in a pool in the woods. This act would be considered all sex as there isn't any sort of plot here, the two have a tryst at the pool. There is little dialog and the piece is set to classical music. The little dialog that the act has is presented before the two actually meet. The scene has over five minutes of various shots of nature, along with an occasional shot of Frost hiking, before the two meet and the sex scene begins.

The first act contains a very tender sex scene which is juxtaposed with the second act which contains anything but a tender sex scene. The second act has a man (Joseph Yale) who has just arrived in Los Angeles from Houston who gets picked up by a resident of L.A. (Fred Halsted) after the L.A. resident gives a warning about being careful not to end up with the wrong kind of person. This act, unlike the first, contains a story within the imagery that is shown to the viewer.

Where the first scene contained lots of shots of nature, the second scene contains a lot of shots from around Los Angeles and of Halsted driving. Like with the first act, the dialog that is spoken is offset from the footage that it would go with.

Between the two acts, the mood and imagery changes as the nature shots go to an excavator clearing out nature to the city of Los Angeles. The music itself changes as well going from the classical that was playing over the nature scene to a heavier music for the interim imagery and then synth-style music for the Los Angeles city scene.

Neither scene is told chronologically. Not just the audio is off from the image, but the images themselves go back and forth in time as the scenes play out. There is also some double exposed imagery used in the film as well for the full on art touch. There are points when the camera work is a bit shaky, however, for the most part, LA Plays Itself is well shot.

As far as the sex scenes go, they are hard for this reviewer to rate since the reviewer is straight. As previously mentioned, the first scene is tender and soft — not to be confused with softcore — with blowjobs and anal sex whereas the second scene is brutal and harsh containing choking, boot licking, being stepped on, and fisting.

Unfortunately, Halsted's 1972 short film The Sex Garage that often screened with LA Plays Itself, and supposedly was filmed to be a supporting piece for LA Plays Itself, is not present with the film at this time. Hopefully, that can be rectified at some point in the future.

This reviewer is loathed to try and give the meaning behind the film, so this reviewer won't. Halsted, like his contemporary Wakefield Poole, obviously intended each viewer to have their own takeaway from LA Plays Itself or else he would have spelled it out for the viewer. Overall, this reviewer preferred the second act to the first due to the story within the scene as opposed to the storyless act. Halsted was definitely trying to do something different with LA Plays Itself, and it worked. LA Plays Itself is worth watching, be the viewer straight or gay, since there is far more going on in the film than just sex.

The edition of LA Plays Itself screened is the streaming edition at Vinegar Syndrome's Exploitation.tv. LA Plays Itself was shot on film and it appears as if Vinegar Syndrome used a film print for their master for this release. LA Plays Itself is presented in the academy aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The print used is scratched, beaten, and worn and doesn't appear to have been color corrected when scanned. Some portions of the film look overly green. There is grain, print damage, and artifacts present. The video is perfectly watchable just don't expect the normal amazing video quality one finds on the DVD and Blu-ray releases from Vinegar Syndrome.

LA Plays Itself is presented with an English monaural audio track. There is a hiss present throughout the entire presentation and there are numerous crackles and pops within the audio. None of this ruins the experience, the dialog — what little there is — is always clear and understandable and the music sounds nice.

Vinegar Syndrome hasn't included any extras for the release.

LA Plays Itself is a gay half all sex and half vignette adult film from Fred Halsted. LA Plays Itself makes for an interesting watch. There is little dialog and the first of the two parts in the film appears to be without a story. The second part, however, does contain a story — even though it still has little dialog. The story is told through the images presented to the viewer. What both pieces put together means in totality is left for the viewer to decide on their own. LA Plays Itself is definitely worth a watch. Vinegar Syndrome's VOD release on Exploitation.TV of LA Plays Itself is a little rough around the edges with a well-worn print but perfectly watchable.

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