One of the reasons why I like JAV. There is a lot of kissing, not just in GG scenes. Plus Japan seems often a lot more focused on exuding actual eroticism and atmosphere. There are of course exceptions and certain genres won't really feature it for obvious reasons (rape and molestation titles for example), but it's still pretty common. A lot of Western porn feels simply very mechanical to me.
Just discovered this thread and since his name has been brought up multiple times here, I felt I could give a somewhat informed "2 cents" on who Manuel Ferrara has had great chemistry with over the years having been a decade+ old avid watcher and collector of his movies--in case anyone is interested or may want to purchase his DVDs on this basis. I've ranked the girls (wife not included) by tiers in descending order of quality of chemistry, as I feel a purely numerical ranking is too hard to quantify and come up with:
Superior tier: Angela White (all-time greatest porn pairing in history in my opinion--perhaps even greater than Rocco and Moana Pozzi from the early 90s; highly recommend everyone watch her one and only vaginal creampie scene from Angela Volume 3, and their sex-tape-style scene from Raw 32)
Phenomenal tier: Karlee Grey (not even my favorite performer, but I'm just calling it how I see it; their scenes from Raw 24, Raw 28, and Raw 32 are good places to start)
Amazing tier: Katsuni, Kristina Rose, Mia Rose, Liza Del Sierra, Veronica Avluv, Zoe Voss, Kissa Sins
(In terms of pure passion and chemistry, the above pairings will deliver some of the best, most genuine scenes you'll see in pretty much all porn)
Great tier: Belladonna, Tori Black, Abella Danger, Phoenix Marie, Samantha Ryan, Elena Koshka, Mia Malkova
Really good tier: Anikka Albrite, Ava Addams, Avy Scott, Angel Dark, Tiffany Mynx, Jynx Maze, Malena Nazionale
Notable tier: Ivy Lebelle, Keisha Grey, Gina Valentina, Gianna Dior, Summer Brielle, Rita Rush, Lena Paul, Kendra Sunderland, Giselle Palmer, Katie St. Ives, Brandi Love
Finally, I would recommend those who are looking for genuine, unscripted, unchoreographed (*cough* Vixen, Tushy, Blacked *cough*) sex with good consistent chemistry to check out Manuel's Raw series. That's just about as close to good quality "real sex" as you're going to get in porn in my humble opinion.
I agree completely with your comments. I turned to lesbian porn to get away from all the humilation and "fuck to just fuck" scenes with little or no emotion in the scene other than them having a job to do. Kissing is a big indicator and I find that lebian scenes are a good indication of "chemistry" between performers.
I'm a long time porn fan (all the way back to theater days) and I love some of the old stuff. Wish they could be remastered into HD to enhance their entertainment value.
I woud add a few scenes to your Golden Age list just off the top of my head: Suzanne McBain and John Leslie in Anna Obsessed Leslie Boven and John Holmes in Eruption Veronica Hart and Dave Ruby or Roy Stuart in American Desire Janey Robbins and Herschel Savage in Tower of Power And no list of Golden Age scenes can leave out Kay Parker and Jack Wrangler in the original Taboo.