We recently featured cinemtographer João Fernandes‘ (aka Harry Flecks) first interview in 50 years. Due to the great response we had to it, we’re pleased to showcase a selection of rare and unseen photographs from his scrapbooks – covering a career that spanned 1960s New York sexploitation films, 1970s hard core movies, and finally Hollywood success in the 1980s and 1990s.
The above photograph shows João on the set of The Story of Joanna (1975).
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João Fernandes (and Harry Flecks) at work
João, with friend Ron Wertheim (late 1960s)
João, with Ron Wertheim (left) (late 1960s)
João, with Don Walters (late 1960s)
João, with Ron Wertheim
João (early 1970s)
Gerard Damiano, Ron Wertheim, and João (1974)
João, on the set of The Story of Joanna (1975)
João, with Armand Weston (left)
João, with Richard Pacheco (courtesy Gordon Archives)
João takes his place in the ill-feted biplane, for The Comeback Trail shoot (1982) – listen to to the podcast for the full story…
The remains of the biplane after the accident on The Comeback Trail shoot (1982)
Victor Petrashevic cradles João’s head after the biplane accident
João, at work in the Philippines
João at the center of the action
João, with the director who gave him his mainstream break, Joe Zito
The legendary action star. Posing with Chuck Norris in 1988.
João, in the Philippines with producer (and brother of Chuck) Aaron Norris (1988)
João, with Dolph Lundgren on the set of Red Scorpion (1988)
João, with Suzanne Somers on the set of Seduced By Evil (1994)
João, on the set of The Road to Galveston (1996) with Tess Harper and Piper Laurie
The talented, charismatic and unforgettable legend of the silver screen (posing here with Charlton Heston in 1998).
João, on the set of Gideon (1998) – Shirley Jones, Charlton Heston, and Barbara Bain
Great pics, particularly the sweltering Philippines shots.
Talent, like João’s, should be the reason to hire. Working in the adult industry should not be a factor.
Just when you thought you’d reached heaven, the Rialto Report takes you to Nirvana!
Lovely seeing those shots. I worked with Joao a few times. He was a low-key, very nice guy. Incidentally, THE COMEBACK TRAIL, which I wrote, was filmed in 1970/71. Since it took forever to come out (and at that, only briefly), the long delay probably resulted in Joao mis-remembering the shoot dates.
Joao mentions “Expose Me Lovely” being inspired by a detective film that was shot entirely from the point of view of the detective. That film was called “The Lady In The Lake” with Robert Montgomery.