Adam Film World in 1983: The Magazine – and its Editor Edward S. Sullivan

We look back at the west coast publication Adam Film World in 1983 by posting all the magazine’s issues and remembering editor that year, Edward S. Sullivan.

Ed’s first passion had been true crime, and he’d had a long career prior to Adam Film World covering the subject as a journalist. He was a regular contributor to ‘True Detective’, a magazine started in 1924 that hit its peak in the 1960s, selling millions of copies before being eclipsed by the competing twin forces of cheap paperbacks and television. And he’d been an editor for The Los Angeles Examiner, owned by William Randolph Hearst, regularly highlighting the intersection of Hollywood and crime.

Ed also had a passion for the convergence of true crime and sex. His books ‘Hellbound: The Sadistic Sex Murders Of Harvey Glatman’ and ‘Hollywood Confidential: The True Stories of the Scandals Involving Hollywood’s Top Stars’ are two examples of that passion. And in the mid 1970s, Ed became editor at Pix which, like Adam Film World, was a men’s magazine owned by Knight Publishing. At the same time Ed edited Pix, he was a contributor to Adam Film World, easing into the role of editor by 1983.

In this post, Kent Smith – creator of Adam Film World Guides – shares his memories of Ed. We also include fully digitized copies of each 1983 magazine which include articles on mainstream stars including Jessica Lange, Meryl Streep, Catherine Deneuve, and Barbara Hershey; interviews with adult performers including Aunt Peg, Mai Lin, Harry Reems, and Tigr; and profiles of films including Consenting Adults, Debbie Does Dallas II, and Mascara; and much more.

You can find The Rialto Report’s growing collection of digitized resources by choosing Library in our site menu. 

Click on the covers below to access the full magazines. Due to the fact that the magazines are scanned in high definition, allow time for each page to load. If you are viewing on a phone, view in landscape orientation.

Magazines are fully searchable; use the icon displayed in each magazine to search by keyword.

Publications are being shared here purely for the purpose of research. They should not to be used or reproduced for any commercial gain.

Special thanks to Kent Smith (aka James Avalon).

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Adam Film World in 1983: Editor Edward S. Sullivan

Adult industry write and director Kent Smith (aka James Avalon) remembers Edward S. Sullivan:

Ed Sullivan was a fun, eccentric old man when I met him. I was in my 20s at the time and was hired as assistant editor by Knight Publishing, owner of Adam Film World.

Knight Publishing owned a number of men’s magazines. Adam magazine was one of them – it was a poor man’s Playboy run by Jared Rutter when I started. Then there was Players, also a Playboy knock off but with black women, run by the black writer and culture advocate Joe Nazel Jr. Knight also owned Holloway House, which published black street novels by the likes of Donald Gaines and Iceberg Slim (Robert Beck). Ray Locke, editor of Holloway House, was another author and historian. His paperback “Book of the Navajo” was probably his best seller.

It was a very diverse group of editor/writers working for Knight. As a total novice, I was captivated by them all. I’d read a lot, but here I was working with actual, published writers. I was thrilled to be there.

While most of the editors and contributors were happy to share their wisdom, Ed Sullivan LOVED to talk. He recounted endless stories and anecdotes of his time as a crime editor for Randolph Hearst in San Francisco in the 1930s and 40s. One thing  that did stand out when he discussed the crime writing was his relationship with detectives. Ed said he had a symbiotic relationship with them. Detectives didn’t always have the manpower or resources to investigate all the crimes, so they were more than happy for reporters to do the leg work for them, collect evidence and share it with them, and in return the detectives would give reporters information for their articles.

Ed also told me that when Citizen Kane came out in 1941, William Hearst banned all employees from seeing it. He said anyone who saw it would be fired. That very afternoon, during his lunch break, Ed went to the theater to watch the movie. When he got there just about everyone from the newspaper was inside, which included all the reporters. No one was fired.

Half a year or so after I arrived at Knight, I was promoted to editor and given two photo magazines to put together. I moved to the office next to Ed, but the time for chatting was over. I liked talking to Ed but one of the Knight representatives took me aside and told me NOT to talk with Ed. He said Ed was easily distracted and they needed him to get his work done. But I did ask Ed to write some of the ‘filler’ articles that justified my publications being magazines of sorts. I also bought articles and photos off freelancers, one of which was Bill Rotsler, who I believe recommended to the publisher to promote me to being an editor.

A few months after I became editor, the publisher needed to make some cuts, so he brought me into his office and told me I was being laid off.  He said it was either me or Ed, and he felt that Ed was too old and he couldn’t in good conscience do that to him. So it was me. He basically said, “You’re young and you’ll figure something out.”

Around that same time, Ed got a call from a publisher in Chicago asking him if he knew someone who could do a book about adult films. He recommended me, saying I’d just put together a special issue about the top adult films. I talked with them and got the gig. That’s when I turned to writing the regular handbooks of adult films, which I put together as a freelancer. And I was also getting work as a stills photographer on porn movie sets.

When Knight found out about the first handbook, released by Pocket Books, they asked me to do the first Adam Film World Directory of Adult Films. I put it together and Ed went through it all as a copy editor, making corrections and ensuring it was ready for publication.

As for Ed’s personal life, I knew very little. On several occasions he did mention a sexual relationship with his housekeeper. I also remember he was a big fan of Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales so maybe he had had a kinky, sexual side to him.

I now wish I’d looked more into Ed’s life and career. He definitely had a colorful story.

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Adam Film World: The Complete 1983 Issues

January 1983 (Vol 9, No. 3)
(click on cover to view full magazine)

Contents:

–Summer Lovers: Skin on Skin on Skin -Film reviews including: Woman in Love, Titillation, Foreplay, and Wicked Sensations -Best bets on video tape -Interview with Aunt Peg -Hollywood hotline -Foreign film scene -Erotic film check list

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March 1983 (Vol 9, No. 4)
(click on cover to view full magazine)

Contents:

-T&A jigglers push ‘R’ near ‘X’ -Best bets on video tape -Film reviews including: Undercovers and Taboo II -Interview with Georgina Spelvin -Hollywood hotline -Foreign film scene -Erotic film check list

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April 1983 (Vol 9, No. 5)
(click on cover to view full magazine)

Contents:

-Film reviews including: The Mistress, Body Magic, The Devil in Miss Jones Part II, and Consenting Adults -Eating Raoul with Paul and Mary -Best bets on video -Interview with Harry Reems -Hollywood hotline -Foreign film scene -Erotic film check list

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June 1983 (Vol 9, No. 6)
(click on cover to view full magazine)

Contents:

-Film reviews including: American Desire, Irresistible, and Nurses of the 407 -Frances with Jessica Lange: sexy, sensuous, and schizo -Best bets on video -Interview with Mai Lin -Erotic film check list -Foreign film scene -Hollywood hotline

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July 1983 (Vol 9, No. 7)
(click on cover to view full magazine)

Contents:

-Film reviews including: Up ‘n’ Coming, Mascara, Expose Me Now, and the Oui, Girls -Meryl Streep’s urge to ‘X’ -Best bets on video -Interview with Dorothy Lemay -Erotic film check list -Foreign film scene -Hollywood hotline

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September 1983 (Vol 9, No. 8)
(click on cover to view full magazine)

Contents:

-Film reviews including: Midnight Heat, Debbie Does Dallas II, Puss ‘n’ Boots, and Peepholes -Barbara Hershey’s Horny Poltergeist -Best bets on video -Interview with Tigr -Erotic film check list -Foreign film scene -Hollywood hotline

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October 1983 (Vol 9, No. 9)
(click on cover to view full magazine)

Contents:

-Film reviews including: Between Lovers, Moments of Love, Sexcapades, and Nightlife -Tales of erotic madness -Best bets on video -Interview with Eric Edwards -Erotic film check list -Foreign film scene

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December 1983 (Vol 9, No. 10)
(click on cover to view full magazine)

Contents:

-Film reviews including: Inspirations, Centerfold Celebrities, and In the Pink -Catherine Deneuve’s hunger for Susan Sarandon -Interview with Sharon Mitchell -Erotic film check list –The 7th Annual Erotica Awards -Film World goes to Cannes -Best bets on video -Foreign film scene

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