The Rialto Report’s Ashley West recently joined Veronica Hart, Larry Revene, Rick Marx, and Heather Drain on Mike White’s Projection Booth podcast to discuss Chuck Vincent’s 1981 adult film Roommates – as well as the film that inspired it, and another film that ‘Roommates’ inspired.
‘Roommates’ tells the tale of a trio of women trying to make their way in New York City. The film stars Samantha Fox as Billie, a former prostitute trying to make it in the straight world, Kelly Nichols as Sherry, a model from California with a drug problem, and Veronica Hart (aka Jane Hamilton), as Joan, an aspiring actress from the Midwest.
You can listen to the podcast here.
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Roommates (1981) articles and publicity
Chuck Vincent
Larry Revene shoots Jack Wrangler and Samantha Fox in ‘Roommates’ (1981)
Adult Cinema Review – March 1982:
Porn Stars magazine – March 1982:
Adam Film World – July 1982:
Superstars of Sex magazine – September 1982:
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My favorite adult movie – covered by my favorite website! Awesome.
mine too. this is going to be epic. thanks rialto report
Thank you Mark!
Good to hear someone who knows what they’re actually knows what they’re talking about – and Ashley (and Mike and Heather) provide some incisive analysis.
Excellent collaboration!
I’ve listened to the whole nearly three hours twice already and probably will again. It was a very pleasant surprise to hear Ashley as one of the three participants and it’s great that you’re sharing it here.
I saw the movie in NYC in April 1982 in the first week of its original run at the Quad–hitched a ride with a friend from college into the city. I was the movie critic for the campus newpaper and had hoped my review of the movie would run in the last issue I contributed to before graduation. I treated it as if it were a regular release and graded it as such…as an overall movie, it’s basically a mid-grade soap opera marked by some excellent performances, especially Samantha Fox’s and Veronica Hart’s. Of course, somewhere between the copyeditor’s desk and pasteup the next Monday, it vanished…so that mission collapsed, but the movie has stayed with me all these years. I absolutely devoured this podcast.
Among the topics discussed is a special edition, which Distribpix has been promising for years. In fact, there’s interview footage on YouTube featuring Veronica and Kelly Nichols that’s now seven or eight years old. I hope it comes to pass.
A solid gold start to the NY, what a movie and what a great podcast! Wishing you all a great 2019 and looking forward to another year of Rialto Report greatness.
Thank you Gary – happy new year!
What a wonderful podcast on one of my favorite movies. Hearing from one of the stars, the writer, and the cameraman was informative.
Wow, Ashley! You never cease to amaze me with you pertinent knowledge of adult films. Your comments and input on this interview were excellent! Thanks for sharing this podcast!
As for ROOMMATES itself, let me just say that I agree with Jim Holiday’s review of the movie that you, Ashley, mentioned in the interview.
There has to be adult movies in the past that had great sex scenes, as well as, a decent story line and good acting. This lacked, at least, one of the three.
Thank you TM – I greatly appreciate your feedback.
Finally! I have been waiting for this, the best picture of this period, to be covered and it is a treat to hear such an extensive coverage.
A statement that can often be heard being mouthed by many Before-the-camera and behind-the-cam Adult Film talents is how sure many of them when entering the business in its Golden Era were sure both the mainstram and the x-rated Film worlds would eventually blend…every time I hear or read such comment, the image that immediately comes to my mind is Chuck Vincent´s ROOMMATES>
Thanks for the link -what a pleasure it was listening to West get together with White, Drain and the unsung brains behind many movies, Rick Marx for such a cool conversation.
Oh, and did I say I could listen to both Hamilton and Revene do commentaries on their past five supermarket visits and not get bored with it for a New York minute (hey, I´m not giving ya any ideas, alright)?
Wow – So much data to mine & assimilate…and talk about interesting side bars: I can’t wait to see The Best of Everything (Robert Evans & Joan Crawford in the SAME movie ?!?!) There were more than a couple fascinating rabbit holes to go down, not the least was the reference to “JFK’s Pimp” aka Harry Allen Towers:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Alan_Towers
: I can’t wait to see The Best of Everything (Robert Evans & Joan Crawford in the SAME movie ?!?!)
Don’t expect too much. Robert Evans was a helluva bad actor.
I think he even admits to it in his now famous autobiography.
ROOMMATES is one of the finest adult feature films ever made. It has lost none of its sizzle over the decades. There is literally not a wasted drop when it comes to this gem. Samantha turned in a performance hot as a solar flare. Time to watch it again! E.
I can remember watching this film many years ago and being completely mesmerized by the production! I’m very happy to hear that Roommates is coming out on BluRay, especially since I can’t think of any porn production that has ever come out on BluRay! I personally would LOVE to see a channel like HBO do their own rendering of this film! I would stay tuned for that!