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104
90 - MISC/Black Mass (1975 film).md
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@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
---
aliases:
- Black Mass (Hoersch film)
- Black Mass (1975)
category: "Crime & Abuse Networks"
tags:
- Film
@ -8,6 +9,7 @@ tags:
- Philadelphia
- Satanism
- Censorship
- Blasphemy
summary: "Philadelphia film of a satanic mass by Ray Hoersch, later known as R.C. Horsch, withdrawn from the Arcadia Theatre in 1975 after protests led by Cardinal John Krol."
date: 1975-03-01
location: "Philadelphia, Pennsylvania"
@ -17,28 +19,110 @@ relations:
reverse: true
role: "producer and director"
fn: 1
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Arcadia Theatre (Philadelphia)]]"
reverse: true
start: 1975-02
role: "booked the midnight run that was cancelled"
fn: 1
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia]]"
reverse: true
start: 1975-02
role: "reported pressure on the Arcadia booking, according to Art Carduner"
fn: 1
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Art Carduner]]"
reverse: true
start: 1975-03-01
role: "exhibitor who booked the substitute midnight screening"
fn: 1
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Bandbox Theater]]"
reverse: true
start: 1975-03-01
role: "venue of the substitute midnight screening"
fn: 1
- type: participant_in
with: "[[John Krol]]"
reverse: true
start: 1975-02-27
role: "led the interfaith statement against the film"
fn: 2
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Greater Philadelphia Board of Rabbis]]"
reverse: true
start: 1975-02-27
role: "signed the interfaith statement against the film through Rabbis Charles Lacks and Harold Goldfarb"
fn: 2
created: 2026-09-23
updated: 2026-09-23
updated: 2026-10-15
---
*Black Mass* was a film of a satanic mass produced and directed by the [[Philadelphia]] filmmaker Ray Hoersch, later known as [[R.C. Horsch]]. A midnight run at the [[Arcadia Theatre (Philadelphia)|Arcadia]] in Center City was cancelled in February 1975 after what the *[[The Philadelphia Inquirer|Philadelphia Inquirer]]* called reported pressure from the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia|Philadelphia Archdiocese]], and the film was screened instead at midnight at the [[Bandbox Theater]] in [[Germantown, Philadelphia|Germantown]] on Saturday, March 1, 1975.[^1]
*Black Mass* was a film of a satanic mass produced and directed by the [[Philadelphia]] filmmaker [[R.C. Horsch|Ray Hoersch]], later known as R.C. Horsch. A midnight run at the [[Arcadia Theatre (Philadelphia)|Arcadia]] on Chestnut Street was cancelled in February 1975 after what the *[[The Philadelphia Inquirer|Philadelphia Inquirer]]* reported as pressure from the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia|Philadelphia Archdiocese]], and the film was screened instead at midnight at the [[Bandbox Theater]] in [[Germantown, Philadelphia|Germantown]] on Saturday, March 1, 1975.[^1] The *Inquirer* of February 28, 1975 announced the midnight showing at the Bandbox for that Saturday.[^1] On February 27, 1975, sixteen Christian and Jewish leaders of Greater Philadelphia, among them Cardinal [[John Krol]], issued a joint statement against its showing.[^2]
### The Film
### Production
The [[Religious News Service]] reported that the film was "reputed to be the only literal representation ever made of an authentic satanic rite" and was based on transcripts of the rite obtained by Hoersch, who had "reportedly attempted to film the actual ceremony" and, failing that, obtained the transcripts, "including the mystical incantations." Hoersch described it: "The Satanic Mass is the exact inverse of the Catholic ceremony. Every part of it is reversed in blasphemy, for its intention is a deliberate corruption, a parody of the Mass. Starting with the processional, the ritual uses a nude as the altar piece. The second section is a baptism, in which a girl dressed in white renounces her Christianity and seals her pact with the devil. And the third part is the Invocation to lust."[^2] In an interview recorded in 2013 and rebroadcast in 2026 he recalled it as "a literal Catholic black mass in Latin" that "kind of bombed" because few in the audience spoke Latin, said that he had made it as "something to do that was contrary to the law," and said that he still held the film rights to [[Anton LaVey]]'s *[[The Satanic Bible]]*, which he had bought for about 150 dollars.[^3]
Ray Hoersch's earlier screenplays include *Resolved: There Is No Such Thing as Gravity (The Earth Sucks),* registered for copyright in his own name on April 1, 1970.[^3] In *[[Hoersch v. Froehlke]]*, decided by the [[United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania]] on October 11, 1974, Hoersch challenged orders to involuntary active duty issued after unexcused absences from his unit of the [[Pennsylvania Army National Guard]]. The opinion records that he alleged the unit failed to consider his request to wear long hair "as required for his employment as a motion picture producer." The court found that he had been properly ordered to active duty and denied his petition.[^4]
The [[Religious News Service]] described the film as "reputed to be the only literal representation ever made of an authentic satanic rite," based on transcripts of the rite "obtained by producer-director Ray Hoersch, reportedly a former producer of pornographic films." The service reported that Hoersch "reportedly attempted to film the actual ceremony" and, failing that, obtained transcripts "including the mystical incantations." It called the film "more of a documentary than a 'scary story.'"[^5] Hoersch's own description, as the service printed it: "The Satanic Mass is the exact inverse of the Catholic ceremony. Every part of it is reversed in blasphemy, for its intention is a deliberate corruption, a parody of the Mass. Starting with the processional, the ritual uses a nude as the altar piece. The second section is a baptism, in which a girl dressed in white renounces her Christianity and seals her pact with the devil. And the third part is the Invocation to lust, you'll have to see that."[^5] The *Inquirer* printed the opening lines of the same description on February 28, calling the rite "the exact inverse of the Catholic ceremony" with "every part of it reversed in blasphemy."[^2]
In a 2026 broadcast of interviews recorded in 2013, Horsch called it "a literal Catholic black mass in Latin" that "kind of bombed," because "not many of the film-going audience at the time spoke fluid Latin." Asked why he chose to film a black mass, he said: "Something to do that was contrary to the law. I mean, something to get me into trouble."[^6] In the 2013 interview he said that he made the film from money earned on [[The Erotic Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig|Erotic Memoirs]] and other films: "I took the money I made from Erotic Memoirs and a couple of the other films, and I made this unfortunate Black Mass film." He said that the film lost its money and left him in a deep depression.[^7]
Horsch said he still held the film rights to [[Anton LaVey]]'s *[[The Satanic Bible]]*, which he had bought for about 150 dollars.[^6][^7]
### The Arcadia Cancellation
On February 28, 1975, the society column of *The Philadelphia Inquirer* printed a notice that "'Black Mass,' the controversial film by Chestnut Hill filmmaker Ray Hoersch, will be shown at the Germantown Bandbox Theater this Saturday at midnight." The notice said that the film was "originally scheduled for a midnight showing at the Arcadia," and that it "was cancelled after reported pressure by the Philadelphia Archdiocese, according to the Bandbox's [[Art Carduner]], who gave the film a new home."[^1] The showing was to benefit the [[Friends of the Bandbox]], and the column reported that Hoersch would attend the opening.[^1]
The *Inquirer*'s news story of the same date, headed "Protest Raised Here On 'Black Mass' Film," reported that the film "reportedly was scheduled to open here this weekend" and that "it was doubtful Thursday night that the film would open." It had reportedly been scheduled in a center-city theater and one in Germantown. The center-city house said the report "was a mistake," and the Germantown theater said it was not yet known whether the movie would be shown there.[^2] The society column of the same date named the Arcadia as the original booking and the Archdiocese as the cause, in Carduner's account.[^1]
The Arcadia was a 500-seat house at 1529-1531 Chestnut Street in [[Center City, Philadelphia|Center City]], recorded by the [[Athenaeum of Philadelphia]] with the [[Sablosky Corporation]] and [[Frank DeLong]] among its clients.[^8]
In 2026 Horsch described the same events from his side: "It had one screening and then the Catholic Archdiocese in Philadelphia actually had the whole run of the film cancelled. They had quite a bit of clout back then."[^6]
### The Protest
Sixteen Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, and Jewish leaders of Philadelphia, led by Cardinal [[John Krol]], signed a joint statement calling the film's content "a blasphemous attack on the religious rites held in sacred reverence by millions of Christian believers" and "a frontal attack on the sacred itself," and urged "believers of every religious conviction to use every moral force to discourage the showing of this film in the Philadelphia area." They said it was "obviously intended not to be viewed as a film, but as a blasphemous ritualistic observance," noted that current plans called for it to be shown in one theater every Saturday at midnight, and asked everyone in the local film industry "to resist and reject every attempt to market or portray this film." The signers included Rabbi Charles Lacks, president of the [[Greater Philadelphia Board of Rabbis]], and its executive director, Rabbi Harold Goldfarb; Francis G. Brown, general secretary of the [[Philadelphia Yearly Meeting]] of the Religious Society of Friends; the Rev. William J. Brown of the Donegal Presbytery of the [[United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America|United Presbyterian Church]]; and Bishop E. L. Hickman of the First Episcopal District of the [[African Methodist Episcopal Church]], with representatives of the Greek Orthodox community, the [[United Church of Christ]], the Pennsylvania Baptist Association, the Byzantine Ukrainian Rite, the United Methodists, and the Metropolitan Christian Council of Philadelphia. In an addendum the Board of Rabbis said that the film "not only constitutes an obscene travesty of Catholic sancta, but deeply outrages the religious sensitivities of all God fearing people" and that it saw "no redeeming social or aesthetic value whatever in 'Black Mass.'"[^2]
The joint statement was issued on Thursday, February 27, 1975, and the *Inquirer* reported it the next morning as an effort by "Christian and Jewish leaders of Greater Philadelphia" to discourage the showing. The statement called the film "a frontal attack on the Sacred itself" that was "offensive to persons of all religious faiths."[^2]
Sixteen Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox and Jewish leaders of Philadelphia, led by Krol, signed the statement, which the Religious News Service printed in March 1975. It said that the film's content, "depicting an authentic satanic rite," was "a blasphemous attack on the religious rites held in sacred reverence by millions of Christian believers," and it urged "believers of every religious conviction to use every moral force to discourage the showing of this film in the Philadelphia area." The signers said the film was "obviously intended not to be viewed as a film, but as a blasphemous ritualistic observance," noted that plans called for it to be shown in one theater every Saturday at midnight, and asked everyone in the local film industry "to recognize the outrage being voiced by religious people of all faiths and to resist and reject every attempt to market or portray this film."[^2][^5]
The signers included Rabbi [[Charles Lacks]], president of the [[Greater Philadelphia Board of Rabbis]], and its executive director, Rabbi [[Harold Goldfarb]]; [[Francis G. Brown]], general secretary of the [[Philadelphia Yearly Meeting]] of the [[Religious Society of Friends]]; the Rev. [[William J. Brown]] of the Donegal Presbytery of the [[United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America|United Presbyterian Church]]; and Bishop [[E. L. Hickman]] of the First Episcopal District of the [[African Methodist Episcopal Church]]. Representatives of the Greek Orthodox community, the [[United Church of Christ]], the Pennsylvania Baptist Association, the Byzantine Ukrainian Rite, the United Methodists and the Metropolitan Christian Council of Philadelphia also signed. In an addendum the Board of Rabbis wrote that the film "not only constitutes an obscene travesty of Catholic sancta, but deeply outrages the religious sensitivities of all God fearing people," and that it saw "no redeeming social or aesthetic value whatever in 'Black Mass.'"[^5] The *Inquirer* attributed the "obscene travesty of Catholic sancta" sentence to Lacks and Goldfarb.[^2]
The Religious News Service dispatch named United Methodist Bishop [[James M. Ault]] of the Philadelphia Area among those opposing the film, and *The United Methodist Reporter* ran it on March 14, 1975, under the headline "U.M. bishop joins those against satanist movie."[^9]
The Archdiocese had used a movie boycott before. On May 23, 1934, [[Dennis Dougherty|Cardinal Dougherty]] called on the area's 800,000 Catholics to stay out of motion picture theaters and declared it sinful to enter one. Over 300,000 Catholics signed pledges to avoid the movies, and ticket sales fell about 20 percent. Dougherty did not release anyone from the pledge and never officially ended the boycott. In June 1934 the [[Motion Picture Association of America]] agreed to stronger self-censorship and set up the [[Production Code Administration]], headed by the Catholic layman [[Joseph Breen]], and the Catholic [[Legion of Decency]] grew in influence.[^10]
### The Bandbox
[[Art Carduner]] of the Bandbox, who gave the film its new home, booked the screening as a benefit for the Friends of the Bandbox, and Hoersch attended.[^1] The Bandbox had earlier taken over the run of *[[In the Year of the Pig]]* in late 1969, when city inspectors closed Hoersch's [[Underground Cinema 16]] on Sansom Street.[^4] Hoersch said in the same interview that the archdiocese had the run cancelled after one screening, and that after the film he lost interest in the sex-film business and turned to fashion photography.[^3] Eleven weeks before the Bandbox screening, on December 10, 1974, he had been arrested by the [[United States Secret Service]] for counterfeiting ten-dollar bills.[^5]
The Bandbox Theatre stood at 20-22 East Armat Street in Germantown and held 499 seats.[^11] In late 1969 the [[Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections]] closed Hoersch's [[Underground Cinema 16]] at 2021 Sansom Street. The Bandbox then ran the Vietnam documentary [[In the Year of the Pig]], which Cinema 16 had under contract.[^12] The alternative weekly [[The Distant Drummer]] quoted the department's deputy commissioner, [[Leo Goldstein]], as saying: "I first heard about the theatre (Cinema 16) when I read in the BULLETIN that they were going to play that Vietnam film."[^12]
Art Carduner of the Bandbox, who gave the film its new home, booked the screening as a benefit for the Friends of the Bandbox, and Hoersch attended.[^1] The *Inquirer* column of February 28, 1975 announced the midnight showing and reported that Hoersch would attend the opening.[^1] Horsch's account is that the film "had one screening" before the run was cancelled.[^6] The column places the pressure on the Arcadia booking. Horsch places it on the whole run.
### Counterfeiting Arrest
On December 10, 1974, about eleven weeks before the Bandbox booking, [[Hatboro, Pennsylvania|Hatboro]] police apprehended Hoersch, then 31, after the Hatboro Card Shop on Old York Road reported a suspicious ten-dollar bill. The [[The Morning Call|Morning Call]] of [[Allentown, Pennsylvania|Allentown]] reported the next day that [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]] agents under [[James D'Amelio]], searching his car under a warrant, had found $630 in counterfeit ten-dollar bills there, and that his driver's license and registration were also counterfeit. The paper reported that the printing equipment was in a small building on Taylor Street in [[Doylestown, Pennsylvania|Doylestown]], where [[Charles Griffith]] of [[Wallingford, Pennsylvania|Wallingford]] was arrested. Both men were committed to the [[Philadelphia Detention Center]] in default of bail. Authorities described Hoersch as unemployed, "who said he hadn't worked for 11 years."[^13]
The [[Associated Press]] carried the same arrests under the headline "Phony Bill Suspects Held": "Federal agents have arrested two men on counterfeiting charges and have seized $180,000 in phony $10 bills."[^14] The Morning Call headline gave the same $180,000 figure.[^13]
When Hoersch was sentenced on federal drug charges in 1985, the *Philadelphia Daily News* reported that his record included a 1974 counterfeiting conviction "which drew a two-year sentence" and a 1972 check-forging conviction in North Carolina.[^15]
Horsch later said that after the film he "totally lost interest in the porn business" and became a fashion photographer.[^6]
### Footnotes
[^1]: [Society and nightlife column], *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* February 28, 1975, p. 21 ("'Black Mass,' the controversial film by Chestnut Hill filmmaker Ray Hoersch, will be shown at the Germantown Bandbox Theater this Saturday at midnight. Originally scheduled for a midnight showing at the Arcadia, the film was cancelled after reported pressure by the Philadelphia Archdiocese, according to the Bandbox's Art Carduner, who gave the film a new home."). https://www.newspapers.com/image/173366667/
[^2]: "Offensive Material: Leaders Condemn Black Mass Film," Religious News Service, *Lake Shore Visitor* (Erie), March 7, 1975, p. 3. https://www.newspapers.com/image/951794835/
[^3]: West, Ashley. "Unknowing Ray Horsch, Episode 2: Performance," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 172, September 20, 2026, audio at 30:51 to 32:04, republishing interviews recorded in 2013. https://www.therialtoreport.com/2026/09/20/ray-horsch-3/
[^4]: *The Distant Drummer,* no. 65, December 25, 1969, to January 1, 1970, p. 8, Temple University Libraries, Special Collections Research Center. https://digital.library.temple.edu/digital/collection/p16002coll34/id/473
[^5]: "[...] bogus $180,000 in Bucks raid," *The Morning Call* (Allentown), December 11, 1974, p. 5. https://www.newspapers.com/image/275702319/
[^2]: "Protest Raised Here On 'Black Mass' Film," *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* February 28, 1975, p. 11. https://www.newspapers.com/image/173364962/
[^3]: *Catalog of Copyright Entries, Third Series, Parts 3-4: Dramas and Works Prepared for Oral Delivery,* January-December 1970, vol. 24, nos. 1-2 ("RESOLVED: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS GRAVITY (The earth sucks). An original screenplay by Ray Hoersch. 94 l. (c) Ray Hoersch; 1Apr70; DU76768."). https://archive.org/details/catalogofcop197032434libr
[^4]: *Hoersch v. Froehlke*, 382 F. Supp. 1235 (E.D. Pa. October 11, 1974), Civ. A. No. 72-1759 (Hannum, J.). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2596970/hoersch-v-froehlke/
[^5]: "Offensive Material: Leaders Condemn Black Mass Film," Religious News Service, *Lake Shore Visitor* (Erie), March 7, 1975, p. 3. https://www.newspapers.com/image/951794835/
[^6]: West, Ashley. "Unknowing Ray Horsch, Episode 2: Performance," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 172, September 20, 2026, audio at 30:51 to 32:06, republishing interviews recorded in 2013. https://www.therialtoreport.com/2026/09/20/ray-horsch-3/
[^7]: West, Ashley. "Ray Horsch: Sociopathic Villain," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 27, December 15, 2013, audio at 46:22 to 47:45 (the film's financing, its lack of success, and the Satanic Bible rights). Audio preserved in a Wayback Machine capture of March 31, 2019: https://web.archive.org/web/20190331064614/http://traffic.libsyn.com/therialtoreport/27_Rialto_Report_027_-_Ray_Horsch__Sociopathic_Villain.mp3
[^8]: Athenaeum of Philadelphia, *Philadelphia Architects and Buildings,* "Arcadia Theatre," 1529-1531 Chestnut St. https://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/pj_display.cfm/8403
[^9]: "U.M. bishop joins those against satanist movie," Religious News Service, *The United Methodist Reporter* (Louisiana edition), March 14, 1975, p. 3. https://archive.org/details/louisianaunitedm1975unit
[^10]: "Dougherty's Movie Boycott," Catholic Historical Research Center, Philadelphia, February 6, 2019, citing Cardinal Dougherty, "Letter to Priests of the Archdiocese," May 25, 1934, and Frederick Lane, *The Decency Wars* (2006), p. 90. https://chrc-phila.org/doughertys-movie-boycott/
[^11]: Athenaeum of Philadelphia, *Philadelphia Architects and Buildings,* "Bandbox Theatre," 20-22 E. Armat St. ("Seating capacity: 499"). https://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/pj_display.cfm/8266
[^12]: Article on Cinema 16 and city licensing under Mayor James H. J. Tate's administration, *The Distant Drummer,* no. 65, December 25, 1969 to January 1, 1970, p. 8, Temple University Libraries, Special Collections Research Center. https://digital.library.temple.edu/digital/collection/p16002coll34/id/473
[^13]: "[...] bogus $180,000 in Bucks raid," *The Morning Call* (Allentown), December 11, 1974, p. 5. https://www.newspapers.com/image/275702319/
[^14]: "Phony Bill Suspects Held," Associated Press, *Gloucester County Times* (Woodbury, N.J.), December 11, 1974, p. 2. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1105967385/
[^15]: Smith, Jim. "Fugitive's Luck Runs Out With 4-Year Jail Sentence," *Philadelphia Daily News,* April 27, 1985, p. 8. https://www.newspapers.com/image/185948055/

132
90 - MISC/The Erotic Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig.md
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@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ tags:
- RCHorsch
- Philadelphia
- OrganizedCrime
- SamTheBarber
- MatureFilms
summary: "1973 pornographic feature shot in Philadelphia by Ray Hoersch, later R.C. Horsch, and John Butterworth, which Horsch said was financed by the Philadelphia bar owner Salvatore La Russa."
location: "Philadelphia, Pennsylvania"
relations:
@ -17,35 +19,139 @@ relations:
with: "[[R.C. Horsch]]"
reverse: true
role: "writer and director"
start: 1973
fn: 1
- type: participant_in
with: "[[John Butterworth]]"
reverse: true
role: "co-director"
start: 1973
fn: 1
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Georgina Spelvin]]"
reverse: true
role: "performer"
start: 1973
fn: 1
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Tina Russell]]"
reverse: true
role: "performer"
start: 1973
fn: 1
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Darby Lloyd Rains]]"
reverse: true
role: "performer"
start: 1973
fn: 1
- type: funded
with: "[[Salvatore La Russa]]"
reverse: true
role: "financier, per Horsch's 2026 account"
start: 1973
fn: 2
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Sam Lake]]"
reverse: true
role: "distributor, per Horsch's 2026 account"
start: 1973
fn: 12
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Robert Sumner]]"
reverse: true
role: "distributor, Mature Films, per Take One"
start: 1973
fn: 13
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Mature Pictures]]"
reverse: true
role: "distributor"
start: 1973
fn: 13
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Helen Madigan]]"
reverse: true
role: "performer"
start: 1973
fn: 1
created: 2026-09-23
updated: 2026-10-15
---
*The Erotic Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig* is a pornographic feature shot in [[Philadelphia]] in February 1973 by Ray Hoersch, later known as [[R.C. Horsch]], and [[John Butterworth]], whom Horsch described as a news cameraman for [[KYW-TV]]. It featured the New York performers [[Georgina Spelvin]], [[Tina Russell]], [[Darby Lloyd Rains]], and [[Helen Madigan]] and depicts rape, bondage, urination, and sex with a character presented as a schoolgirl.[^1][^2]
*The Erotic Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig* is a pornographic feature shot in [[Philadelphia]] in February 1973 by Ray Hoersch, later known as [[R.C. Horsch]], and [[John Butterworth]], whom Horsch described as a news cameraman for [[KYW-TV]]. It featured the New York performers [[Georgina Spelvin]], [[Tina Russell]], [[Darby Lloyd Rains]], and [[Helen Madigan]] and depicts rape, bondage, urination, and sex with a character presented as a schoolgirl.[^1][^2][^3][^4]
### Production
Horsch said that the budget was a little over 20,000 dollars, of which 60 to 70 percent came from [[Salvatore La Russa|Salvatore "Sam the Barber" La Russa]], who ran the Bag of Nails bar at 13th and Locust Streets, "money that he had laying around in a shoebox behind the bar. We're talking about organized crime." He said the film was shot in the house of his girlfriend, the wife of a Philadelphia assistant district attorney, and that a hospital scene was shot in the emergency room of the [[Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania]] under permission obtained for a student film; his later website gave the emergency room as [[Hahnemann University Hospital|Hahnemann Hospital]]'s and the house as the Chestnut Hill home of a local assistant district attorney, and listed further locations at the Bag of Nails and on a vintage [[SEPTA]] trolley. The same website credited Paul Taylor as the lead, "Barney," and an actress billed as Any Mathieu or Any Hunter.[^1][^3][^4]
Horsch said that the project began as an idea rather than a script. "It was more like, look at us, we're making a movie than the actual content of the movie."[^2] He said the budget was "just a little over $20,000," and that 60 to 70 percent of it came from [[Salvatore La Russa|Salvatore "Sam the Barber" La Russa]], who ran the [[Bag of Nails]] bar at 13th and Locust Streets. In Horsch's account, La Russa put up "some extra money that he had laying around in a shoebox behind the bar. We're talking about organized crime."[^2] The podcast's 2013 introduction said the film was "funded by Sam the Barbarossa of the Philly Mob."[^1]
Horsch said the camera was a 16-millimeter Eclair, that the negative went to New York for processing, and that "There was not a color lab in Philadelphia at the time."[^5] An April 1, 1971 classified advertisement in *The Distant Drummer*, a Philadelphia underground newspaper, sought "ACTRESS WANTED for work in conjunction with [[American Film Institute]] project" and gave the contact as "Ray Hoersch, Filmmakers of America."[^6] Horsch said the film was "almost made up as we went along." The schoolgirl character came late in the shoot: "Tina Russell became available and, gee, what can we do with her?"[^7] The film's website commentary lists the cast as including Paul Taylor as the lead, "Barney," and an actress billed as Any Mathieu or Any Hunter.[^8]
In a 2013 interview Horsch said that he made [[Black Mass (1975 film)|Black Mass]] with the proceeds of this film and "a couple of the other films": "I took the money I made from Erotic Memoirs and a couple of the other films, and I made this unfortunate Black Mass film." He said that the film lost its money and left him in a deep depression.[^9]
### Locations
Horsch's 2026 account places the emergency room scene at "the emergency room at the [[Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania|University of Pennsylvania hospital]] on a Sunday evening," shot under permission "to film a little scene from a student film."[^4] The website commentary instead gives the scene as the "actual [[Hahnemann University Hospital|Hahnemann Hospital]] emergency waiting room." The same page says the principal location was "the Chestnut Hill home of a local Assistant District Attorney," and adds the "infamous Locust Street 'Bag of Nails' go-go bar" and "a vintage [[SEPTA]] trolley" as further locations.[^8]
### Premiere
Horsch said that the premiere was at the [[1812 Theater]] on Chestnut Street, which he called "a mainstream theater," and that his girlfriend at the time was "the wife of one of the district attorneys," at whose house the film was shot. He said that "all kinds of people from the [[Philadelphia District Attorney's Office]] came" to the premiere, under a searchlight outside. He said the audience "kind of loved it" and "accepted it as a comedy."[^10] The *Inquirer* gives the premiere year as 1973 and the theater as the 1812 Theater on Chestnut Street.[^3] The website says the premiere was "attended by many city dignitaries who gave it an actual standing ovation."[^8]
Horsch said that in adult theaters the film was "never really accepted as a comedy," and "never accepted as a porn film." He said that [[Al Goldstein]] reviewed it in [[Screw (magazine)|Screw]] and that "the sex in male chauvinist pig is disgusting."[^11] The website commentary attributes the same review to *Penthouse*.[^8]
### Distribution
Horsch said that staff of the [[Philadelphia District Attorney's Office]] attended the premiere at the 1812 Theater on Chestnut Street, that La Russa arranged distribution through Philadelphia organized crime, and that the film was sold to the distributor [[Sam Lake]] for 50,000 dollars; his website described Lake's company as Mature Pictures, Inc.[^1][^4] The trade magazine *Take One* reported in the spring of 1973 that "Bob Sumner's Mature Films in New York followed up Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig (starring Ms. Spelvin) with High Rise."[^5] The *[[Boxoffice (magazine)|Boxoffice]]* booking guide of February 1974 listed "Erotic Memoirs/Male Chauvinist Pig," a sex drama of 75 minutes, from the distributor Mature, with a date of October 15, 1973.[^6] The distributor named by Horsch, Lake's company Mature Pictures, Inc., appears in the New York registry as an inactive corporation with the alternate name Mature Pictures Incorporated, its status listed as dissolution by proclamation or annulment of authority.[^7] *Take One,* in its March-April 1973 issue, named "the Mitchells, Mature Films, etc." among "the few who are in the business in a highly visible way."[^8] The media historian [[Peter Alilunas]] describes Mature Pictures as the company of [[Robert Sumner]], with Sam Lake also at the company.[^9] Horsch said that the film reached number 42 on a national chart; his website gave number 38.[^3][^4] [[Al Goldstein]] wrote in *[[Screw (magazine)|Screw]]* that the sex in it was disgusting.[^2][^4] La Russa died of a heart attack in 1996.[^10]
Horsch said that the film was made "without any thought whatsoever concerning distribution," and that theater chains were "controlled by certain political groups." He said the contact with [[Sam Lake]] "was arranged through the mafia in Philadelphia, through Sam the barber," and that the film was "Sold to Sam for exactly $50,000."[^12] He said that Lake "was always complaining that it didn't make any money," and that "Sam ended up making four or five million dollars from the film," adding "I don't know how true it was or not."[^12] The website commentary says the film was "Distributed by the legendary Sam Lake (Mature Pictures, Inc.)" and that it "achieved #38 in the nationwide Billboard" chart, where Horsch's 2026 account gives number 42.[^8][^12]
The trade magazine [[Take One]] reported in the spring of 1973 that "Bob Sumner's Mature Films in New York followed up Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig (starring Ms. Spelvin) with High Rise."[^13] In the same March-April 1973 article, John Morthland wrote that pornography "operates on the fringes of legality, and that area has always been ripe for organized crime, which started calling on various exhibitors around the country to offer 'protection' within a couple of weeks" of the Supreme Court's obscenity ruling, and named "the Mitchells, Mature Films, etc." among "the few who are in the business in a highly visible way."[^14] The *[[Boxoffice (magazine)|Boxoffice]]* booking guide of February 1974 listed "Erotic Memoirs/Male Chauvinist Pig," a sex drama of 75 minutes, from the distributor Mature, with a date of October 15, 1973.[^15]
### Mature Pictures
The media historian [[Peter Alilunas]] describes [[Robert Sumner]] as the president of Mature Pictures in New York, who premiered *[[Deep Throat (film)|Deep Throat]]* at the [[World Theater]] in 1972 and in spring 1977 put the company's library on videotape under the Quality X label, with the first thirty cassettes sold at the East World Theater. By October 1978, Alilunas writes, [[Arthur Morowitz]]'s Sweetheart's Home Video Center stores carried Quality X tapes from Sumner, and in 1979 Mature Pictures released [[Gerard Damiano]]'s *People* and *Misbehavin'* to theaters and on video at once. In a note drawn from the cinematographer [[Larry Revene]], Alilunas places Sam Lake "at Mature Pictures" with Sumner as producer, and links Lake to [[Howard Farber]] and Morowitz's [[Distribpix]].[^16]
The New York registry lists a domestic business corporation named Mature Pictures, Inc. as inactive, with the alternate name Mature Pictures Incorporated and the status "Dissolution By Proclamation / Annulment Of Authority" and a registered address in care of the law firm Kassner & Detsky at 350 Fifth Avenue.[^17] In *Walt Disney Productions v. Mature Pictures Corp.* (Southern District of New York, No. 75 Civ. 394, decided February 14, 1975), Judge Kevin Thomas Duffy granted [[The Walt Disney Company|Walt Disney Productions]] and the Walt Disney Music Company a preliminary injunction over the use of the "Mickey Mouse March" in a film titled *The Life and Times of the Happy Hooker* or *The Life and Times of Xaviera*. Kassner & Detsky, by Seymour S. Detsky, appeared for the defendants Mature Pictures Corp. and Robert Sumner.[^18]
Deep Throat opened on June 12, 1972 at the New Mature World Theater, which was owned by [[Mature Enterprises]], a New York company charged in August 1972 with promoting obscene material; its trial began in December 1972, and Judge [[Joel J. Tyler]] fined it 100,000 dollars, later reduced on appeal.[^19] The match between Mature Enterprises and the later Mature Pictures rests on the shared name and the shared trade.
### Salvatore La Russa
The Inquirer's 2026 coverage describes La Russa as a "Philly tavern owner and mob associate" and says he "helped Raymond produce The Erotic Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig." A second article of August 4, 2026 describes him as a nightclub owner and friend of [[Nicodemo Scarfo]] and says the film "was financed by" him.[^3][^20] La Russa died of a heart attack in 1996.[^20][^21][^22] The Philadelphia Daily News obituary of August 20, 1996 says that he began opening "bust-out bars" in the early 1960s in the red-light district of 13th and Locust Streets, among them the Phone Booth, the [[HMS Pinafore]] and the [[ZuZu Club]], and that his dozen after-hours clubs and bars led to several arrests for liquor-code violations. It describes him as having opened clubs at 13th and Locust in the 1960s and on South Street in the 1970s. The Inquirer obituary of August 21, 1996 says that on one occasion Scarfo used La Russa's house in [[Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania|Whitemarsh]] for a mob initiation ceremony.[^21][^22]
A 1974 report by the [[Pennsylvania Crime Commission]] on police corruption in Philadelphia described an officer who passed word of an anticipated raid to La Russa, the owner of the Sugar Shack, which was not raided.[^23] The same report describes La Russa as the manager of the [[Why Not Lounge]], owned by [[Irvin Goltzer]], and says that La Russa "also negotiated the payoffs" to uniformed officers. It quotes La Russa advising Goltzer to pay, or "they will bust the joint."[^24] In a recorded conversation, an officer told Goltzer, "I always understood that Sam the Barber [LaRussa] ran the place," and Goltzer replied, "He works for me."[^25] In another passage the officer said, "I took a couple of Sammy the Barber's joints. I took the Bag O'Nails."[^26] The report also describes a month in which Goltzer and La Russa ran the Brass Monkey, a former bust-out operation at 1227 Walnut Street, at the request of its owner.[^27]
The Crime Commission's 1990 report on organized crime lists La Russa with prior arrests for liquor law violations at "bust-out bars" he operated around 13th and Locust Streets in Philadelphia.[^28]
### Later references
The Inquirer's coverage of August 2, 2026 reproduces an advertisement from a 1974 edition of the paper for a screening of the film.[^3] The same coverage reports that investigators examining the 2026 missing-women inquiry at [[Olney, Philadelphia|Olney]] were reviewing Horsch's films and novels for clues.[^3]
### Footnotes
[^1]: West, Ashley. "Unknowing Ray Horsch, Episode 2: Performance," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 172, September 20, 2026, audio. https://www.therialtoreport.com/2026/09/20/ray-horsch-3/
[^2]: "How a pornographer's violent fantasies blurred fact and fiction as cops searched Olney house for missing women," *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* August 2, 2026. https://www.inquirer.com/news/a/raymond-eugene-horsch-olney-philadelphia-missing-women-history-20260802.html
[^3]: West, Ashley. "Ray Horsch: Sociopathic Villain," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 27, December 15, 2013. Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20260520094947/https://www.therialtoreport.com/2013/12/15/ray-horsch/
[^4]: Horsch, R.C. [Commentary on *The Erotic Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig*] and "Art Beat" interview of 1997, eroto.com, archived November 5, 2016. http://web.archive.org/web/20161105022433/http://eroto.com:80/commentary/64-mcp-commentary
[^5]: Morthland, John. "Porn Films: An In-Depth Report," *Take One,* vol. 3, no. 6 (March-April 1973), pp. 11-15. https://archive.org/details/take-one-1973-03
[^6]: "Boxoffice Bookinguide," *Boxoffice* (Canadian edition), February 4, 1974. https://archive.org/details/boxoffice-canadian-1974-02-04
[^7]: "MATURE PICTURES, INC.," New York (US) entity, status "Inactive," "Dissolution By Proclamation / Annulment Of Authority," previously known as "MATURE PICTURES INCORPORATED." OpenCorporates. https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_ny/248644
[^8]: Morthland, John. "Porn Films: An In-Depth Report," *Take One,* vol. 3, no. 6 (March-April 1973), p. 15 ("the Mitchells, Mature Films, etc."). https://archive.org/details/take-one-1973-03
[^9]: Alilunas, Peter. *Smutty Little Movies: The Creation and Regulation of Adult Video* (Oakland: University of California Press, 2016), pp. 74 and 255 n. 77.
[^10]: "Five takeaways from Philly missing women mystery connected to Raymond and Eugene Horsch," *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* August 4, 2026. https://www.inquirer.com/news/raymond-eugene-horsch-olney-missing-women-20260804.html
[^1]: West, Ashley. "Ray Horsch: Sociopathic Villain," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 27, December 15, 2013, introduction at 00:29 to 01:33 (audio preserved in a Wayback Machine capture of March 31, 2019). https://web.archive.org/web/20190331064614/http://traffic.libsyn.com/therialtoreport/27_Rialto_Report_027_-_Ray_Horsch__Sociopathic_Villain.mp3 Text archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20260520094947/https://www.therialtoreport.com/2013/12/15/ray-horsch/
[^2]: West, Ashley. "Unknowing Ray Horsch, Episode 2: Performance," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 172, September 20, 2026, audio transcript at 20:01 to 21:07 (republishing interviews recorded in 2013). https://www.therialtoreport.com/2026/09/20/ray-horsch-3/
[^3]: "How a pornographer's violent fantasies blurred fact and fiction as cops searched Olney house for missing women," *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* August 2, 2026. https://www.inquirer.com/news/a/raymond-eugene-horsch-olney-philadelphia-missing-women-history-20260802.html
[^4]: West, "Unknowing Ray Horsch, Episode 2," audio transcript at 23:50 to 24:31 (emergency room scene and the film's contents). https://www.therialtoreport.com/2026/09/20/ray-horsch-3/
[^5]: West, "Unknowing Ray Horsch, Episode 2," audio transcript at 21:15 to 21:42 (camera and processing). https://www.therialtoreport.com/2026/09/20/ray-horsch-3/
[^6]: Classified advertisement, "Jobs," *The Distant Drummer* (Thursday's Drummer), no. 131, April 1, 1971. Temple University Libraries, Special Collections Research Center. https://digital.library.temple.edu/digital/collection/p16002coll34/id/2597
[^7]: West, "Unknowing Ray Horsch, Episode 2," audio transcript at 22:52 to 23:38 (making the film and casting the schoolgirl role). https://www.therialtoreport.com/2026/09/20/ray-horsch-3/
[^8]: "Commentary: Male Chauvinist Pig" and "Art Beat" interview of 1997, eroto.com, archived November 5, 2016. Horsch's own website; the credits, locations, reviewer and chart figure are his claims. http://web.archive.org/web/20161105022433/http://eroto.com:80/commentary/64-mcp-commentary
[^9]: West, Ashley. "Ray Horsch: Sociopathic Villain," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 27, December 15, 2013, audio at 46:22 to 46:45 (audio preserved in a Wayback Machine capture of March 31, 2019). https://web.archive.org/web/20190331064614/http://traffic.libsyn.com/therialtoreport/27_Rialto_Report_027_-_Ray_Horsch__Sociopathic_Villain.mp3
[^10]: West, "Unknowing Ray Horsch, Episode 2," audio transcript at 24:55 to 25:27 (premiere, the girlfriend's husband, and the district attorney's office). https://www.therialtoreport.com/2026/09/20/ray-horsch-3/
[^11]: West, "Unknowing Ray Horsch, Episode 2," audio transcript at 25:27 to 26:40 (audience reaction and the Goldstein review, as Horsch recalled it). https://www.therialtoreport.com/2026/09/20/ray-horsch-3/
[^12]: West, "Unknowing Ray Horsch, Episode 2," audio transcript at 28:35 to 29:49 (distribution, sale price, chart position and receipts, as Horsch recalled them; his account of Lake's earnings is marked by him as uncertain). https://www.therialtoreport.com/2026/09/20/ray-horsch-3/
[^13]: Morthland, John. "Porn Films: An In-Depth Report," *Take One,* vol. 3, no. 6 (March-April 1973), p. 16. https://archive.org/details/take-one-1973-03
[^14]: Morthland, "Porn Films: An In-Depth Report," *Take One,* vol. 3, no. 6 (March-April 1973), p. 17. https://archive.org/details/take-one-1973-03
[^15]: "Boxoffice Bookinguide," *Boxoffice* (Canadian edition), February 4, 1974, entry "Erotic Memoirs/Male Chauvinist Pig" (running time 75 minutes, distributor "Mature," date 10-15-73). https://archive.org/details/boxoffice-canadian-1974-02-04
[^16]: Alilunas, Peter. *Smutty Little Movies: The Creation and Regulation of Adult Video* (Oakland: University of California Press, 2016), pp. 74, 75 and 77, and p. 255 n. 77 (note citing Alilunas's email correspondence with Larry Revene, December 26, 2012).
[^17]: "MATURE PICTURES, INC.," New York (US) entity no. 248644, domestic business corporation, status "Inactive," "Dissolution By Proclamation / Annulment Of Authority," previously known as "MATURE PICTURES INCORPORATED," registered address "%KASSNER & DETSKY, 350 FIFTH AVE., NEW YORK." OpenCorporates. https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_ny/248644
[^18]: *Walt Disney Productions v. Mature Pictures Corp.*, 389 F. Supp. 1397 (S.D.N.Y. 1975) (No. 75 Civ. 394, Duffy, J., February 14, 1975; counsel Kassner & Detsky, Seymour S. Detsky, for defendants Mature Pictures Corp. and Robert Sumner). https://static.case.law/f-supp/389/cases/1397-01.json
[^19]: Boston Globe, obituary of Judge Joel J. Tyler, January 16, 2012. The obituary reports the opening of Deep Throat at the New Mature World Theater on June 12, 1972, charges filed in August 1972 against Mature Enterprises for promotion of obscene material, the company's ownership of the theater, a trial beginning in December 1972, and a fine of 100,000 dollars later reduced on appeal. https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2012/01/16/joel-tyler-judge-deep-throat-case/hbiQ0keQ0VW0y26CY035SL/story.html
[^20]: "Five takeaways from Philly missing women mystery connected to Raymond and Eugene Horsch," *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* August 4, 2026. https://www.inquirer.com/news/raymond-eugene-horsch-olney-missing-women-20260804.html
[^21]: Caparella, Kitty. "Heart Attack Claims 'Sam The Barber'," *Philadelphia Daily News,* August 20, 1996 (Wayback copy). https://web.archive.org/web/2015id_/http://articles.philly.com/1996-08-20/news/25645508_1_heart-transplant-heart-attack-mob
[^22]: Anastasia, George. "Salvatore Larussa, 58, Friend Of Mob Figures," *Philadelphia Inquirer,* August 21, 1996 (Wayback copy). https://web.archive.org/web/20150928205738id_/http://articles.philly.com/1996-08-21/news/25645305_1_nicodemo-little-nicky-scarfo-grand-jury-mob-activities
[^23]: Pennsylvania Crime Commission, *Report on Police Corruption and the Quality of Law Enforcement in Philadelphia* (1974), p. 108 (officer's conversation with Goltzer about an anticipated raid on liquor establishments serving minors). https://archive.org/details/reportonpoliceco00penn
[^24]: Pennsylvania Crime Commission, *Report on Police Corruption and the Quality of Law Enforcement in Philadelphia* (1974), pp. 112-113 (La Russa as Goltzer's manager, p. 112; "also negotiated the payoffs" and "they will bust the joint," p. 113). https://archive.org/details/reportonpoliceco00penn
[^25]: Pennsylvania Crime Commission, *Report on Police Corruption and the Quality of Law Enforcement in Philadelphia* (1974), p. 114 (taped conversation between Goltzer and an officer, quoted in the report). https://archive.org/details/reportonpoliceco00penn
[^26]: Pennsylvania Crime Commission, *Report on Police Corruption and the Quality of Law Enforcement in Philadelphia* (1974), p. 117 (officer's account of earlier payments). https://archive.org/details/reportonpoliceco00penn
[^27]: Pennsylvania Crime Commission, *Report on Police Corruption and the Quality of Law Enforcement in Philadelphia* (1974), p. 124 (the Brass Monkey, run as a bust-out by Irvin Goltzer and Sam LaRussa). https://archive.org/details/reportonpoliceco00penn
[^28]: Pennsylvania Crime Commission, *Organized Crime in Pennsylvania: A Decade of Change, 1990 Report* (1991), p. 159 (entry for Salvatore LaRussa, also known as "Sam the Barber"). https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/133208NCJRS.pdf