Another dead end - need help!

Pancho

Hi guys,

Another mystery daybill:

(Love the incorrect tagline – I think the word they’re after is ‘inSIGHT’ not ‘inSIDE’!). 

Here's what I have so far...

The OFLC database has the following details: the film is only short (62 min), is US in origin, was rated in March 1980 and was produced by A. Mamar. The applicant was Esquire Films which is clearly on the daybill:

Some searching on the credits on the one sheet on eMovieposter show the director and producer as ‘Norbert Meisel’. IMDB has several films listed for Mr. Meisel but none seem to relate to this film. So who is ‘A. Mamar’? Some searching online reveals that a man by the name of ‘Al Mamar’ was the producer of an adult film in 1971 called ‘Hotter Than Hell’. IMDB has this film listed as Mr Mamar’s only film credit.

I have found a reference online showing that 'The Devil Made Me Do It' was showing in Texas in March 1974, giving us some point to reference off.

The IMDB page for ‘Hotter Than Hell’ also shows that a version of the film is 66 minutes long – not too different to the 62 minutes for the AUS release of ‘The Devil Made Me Do It’ when you allow for credits etc. It’s posed online that ‘Al Mamar’ is a pseudonym – Al Mamar in Spanish means ‘to suck’ – very appropriate both for an adult film and for a pretty average movie! There is no entry on IMDB for a 1970s film called ‘The Devil Made Me Do It’ and other films by that title are clearly not this film.

So what about the other credits on the one sheet? Peter Balakoff has numerous films to his name, but again – no film listed that connects to this poster. The two main ‘stars’ – Brigette Giursa and Clenthia Monett – have no IMDB pages and Google results for them all connect back to either the pressbook or the one sheet for ‘The Devil Made Me Do It’ – suggesting that their names are pseudonyms as well. Understandable if you’re making an adult film I guess!

I can’t find any other posters for ‘The Devil Made Me Do It’ or any posters at all for ‘Hotter Than Hell’. There’s a suggestion that ‘Hotter Than Hell’ was also released as ‘The Horny Devils’ but that’s not much more than hearsay – I haven’t seen anything concrete. You can view snippets of ‘Hotter Than Hell’ online, but after watching a minute or two, it’s safe to say that the naked witchcraft sacrifice imagery isn’t going to help on this hunt!

In summary:

 

·         We have a US one sheet for ‘The Devil Made Me Do It’ with seemingly untraceable / incorrect credits. Two of the names mentioned are real film industry people, but no evidence seems to exist to connect them to the film.

·         The US release for ‘The Devil Made Me Do It’ was not later than March 1974.

·         We have a AUS daybill for ‘The Devil Made Me Do It’ with no credits that shares art with the US one sheet and has a producer link (via OFLC) to a 1971 film called ‘Hotter Than Hell’.

·         The run time for the AUS release of ‘The Devil Made Me Do It’ is 62 min, the run time of ‘Hotter Than Hell’ is potentially 66 minutes.

 

So…I have a feeling that the two films may be one and the same but I haven’t been able to get (what I believe) is enough evidence to connect them just yet.

I'd really appreciate any thoughts / feedback / tips.

Thanks team!

John

I have never seen that poster. Maybe Hondo might be able to come up with something.

HONDO

A complete mystery and I believe you have covered the available facts comprehensively.

I haven't anything else to add except viewed from other sources the film is credited as being 1970.

papergatherer

The US pressbook seems to show that the film had an X rating, even though the US OS indicates it was rated R. So maybe a change (or some edits) before its initial release?

Rick

I don't know any info but cool poster

Pancho

These dead end posters are so frustrating! I reckon I have about 10 now that I just cannot identify!

HONDO

 Having a second look into your query Pancho I believe the above poster of Hotter Than Hell ( aka The Immortal Three ) ( 1975 ) is from a completely different film than The Devil Made Me Do It as the cast is completely different. It doesn't help you solve your problem but it at least eliminates Hotter Than Hell as being the same film as The Devil Made Me Do It.

papergatherer

Pancho said:

These dead end posters are so frustrating! I reckon I have about 10 now that I just cannot identify!

Are your others also posters for X rated or "spicy" movies? If so, i can see how dead ends will be hit as many were made and later credited with pseudonym-laced actors, director and even the crew. And when no production company is on any of the paper, it can get even more murky. 

Pancho

Thanks for the info! The mystery continues...

Found this on eMovieposter:

Pancho

papergatherer said:

Pancho said:

These dead end posters are so frustrating! I reckon I have about 10 now that I just cannot identify!

Are your others also posters for X rated or "spicy" movies? If so, i can see how dead ends will be hit as many were made and later credited with pseudonym-laced actors, director and even the crew. And when no production company is on any of the paper, it can get even more murky. 

Yep, they are all adult films. Most are likely European in origin which automatically causes issues with anglicized names and translated titles. Often they were released in Australia years after their initial runs and were often deliberately re-titled so that they couldn't be associated with previous releases! But, the needle in the haystack chase is something all poster fans love! I just continue to be surprised at how posters from the 70s and 80s can essentially be 'lost films'.

Pancho

Okay - I think I have finally have this one sorted! I've been browsing the old Government Gazettes and found these two entries from 1980:





So it would appear that 'The Devil Made Me Do It' and 'Hotter Than Hell' ARE the same movie! 

Always nice to solve a mystery!

HONDO

Great work in solving that one. What I find interesting though is the huge difference in running times, that are listed under submitted lengths, between the 35mm and the 16mm entries. It appears also the 16mm distributors changed the name, for whatever reason and used the title Hotter Than Hell stolen from the other previously mentioned film of the same name with the different cast.