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Jim Holliday

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All Forums > The Feature Side > The Feature Side Forum Page 49 > Jim Holliday
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Wodgers
Member

414 Posts
7/04
Posted - Dec 10 2006 : 5:46AM
Do you know what made late Jim Holliday the official preeminent porn historian?

A few years back, VCA would label him the ultimate expert, from whom one would expect top-notch commentaries, stories etc...
Was it just a business thing (he was working with VCA as a director so perhaps the cognoscenti thing was just a niche) or was he really the cream of the crop for a particular reason?

Just curious

Edited by - wodgers on Dec 10 2006


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joplinfantasy
Member

92 Posts
11/05
Posted - Dec 10 2006 : 9:01AM
Holliday published two books, "The Top 100 X-Rated Films of All Time" and "Only the Best", which discussed his choices for best classic films. I question many of his choices (SERENA: AN ADULT FAIRY TALE?? STORMY?? DEVIL'S ECSTASY?? ORIENTAL BLUE??), but overall it's a good introduction to the genre for newcomers and required for anyone who wants to fill the gaps in their classics viewing.

Holliday seems to be a self-proclaimed expert, and everyone in the industry sort of went along with it. He was definitely well-liked and does know his stuff, but according to a very surprising discussion on another forum a few years ago, he owes his success to a lot of people who helped him with his research and books who he quickly tossed aside once he was done with him.

My issue with Holliday is that he calls other writers and historians "idiots", "pinheads", etc. if they get some facts wrong. Yet he gets the years wrong on several of the films in his books, as well as a few cast misidentifications and omissions. He also claims that his book is the undisputed record for the best of the period, but there is definitely room for revision and/or improvement.

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Wodgers
Member

414 Posts
7/04
Posted - Dec 10 2006 : 9:17AM
Thanks joplinfantasy
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TheLoneGunman
Member

400 Posts
10/03
Posted - Dec 11 2006 : 10:51AM
Adult DVD Empire has a long and interesting interview with Jim from 2000...he basically got his "knowledge" working in a porn movie house and watching tons of movies there (between 1977 and 1982). He claims to have watched about 6000 different movies during that time:

Jim Holliday Interview


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Roads To Moscow
Dianic

Wicked Pictures,Vouyer Media, Axel Braun Productions, Marc Dorcel, JoyBear Pictures, abbywinters.com
1390 Posts
7/05
Posted - Dec 11 2006 : 2:03PM
 
Wodgers
Member

414 Posts
7/04
Posted - Dec 12 2006 : 3:36PM
Thanks for the link
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Roads To Moscow
Dianic

Wicked Pictures,Vouyer Media, Axel Braun Productions, Marc Dorcel, JoyBear Pictures, abbywinters.com
1390 Posts
7/05
Posted - Dec 12 2006 : 3:49PM
Prior to his tenure at VCA, Jim hosted the "Only The Best" series for Cal Vista.

Fuck, I'm old. :-(

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mapofhawaii
Senior Member

1050 Posts
3/06
Posted - Dec 16 2006 : 11:17AM
He also directed a lot of films for VCA, and did commentaries on older classics with Jill Kelly. The two seemed to be really good friends. You could see how his health was declining over the years. I also liked his commentaries for his own films, for which he wisely had some of the girls in the flick on the commentary as well. Other directors should do this.

Edited by - mapofhawaii on 12/16/2006 11:18:36 AM

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