COPENHAGEN, Denmark [www.xbiz.com reports ] Adult/mainstream distributor Another World Entertainment has released the German-language “White Fire” version of infamous ‘70s adult film “The Italian Stallion,” starring mainstream star Sylvester Stallone.
Redigitized and remastered to DVD from an original print, the title hits U.S. stores yesterday.
According to Another World, the DVD features seldom-seen sequences of Stallone performing hardcore penetration and cum-shots in a scene with co-star Henrietta Holm.
Following on the heels of recent remakes of Stallone’s classic mainstream films, Another World spokesperson Nick Barbano said, “After successful Rocky and Rambo sequels, Stallone ought to complete a hat-trick with a big-budget wham-bam tour-de-force hardcore sequel to ‘Italian Stallion.’”
Barbano is also the author of a short history of the film, which comes in a booklet that is packaged with the DVD.
There is much controversy surrounding “Italian Stallion” and several different versions of the movie are available to the consumer. There are contradictory accounts of how the film came into being and whether or not Stallone actually gave a hardcore performance.
Several sources suggest that the film was originally produced under the title “Party at Kitty and Stud’s” and was shot as a hardcore film in 1970, when Stallone was still an up-and-coming young actor. Various accounts say that he received $200 for his role in the film. The film never received theatrical release.
In 1976, with the success of Stallone’s “Rocky,” sources say the original film was re-edited and re-released as “The Italian Stallion.”
Currently, Bryanston Distributors (the mainstream division of adult distributor Arrow) has rights to the U.S. version of the “Italian Stallion,” which it re-released last year in partnership with distributor Cinema Epoch as part of the “Grindhouse Sexplotation” series. This version of the film has also been screened at several midnight movie venues and is featured on its own MySpace page.
According to Bryanston Distributor owner Paul Interlandi, www.xxxdeepthroat.com he has seen a German version of the film, but is convinced that the hardcore portions that he saw were actually spliced from a different movie, even to the extent that performer Ron Jeremy could be seen in several scenes and that the dialogue did not match with the original film.
Interlandi told XBIZ that he is not certain what he saw is the same as the “White Fire” version now being distributed by Another World.
Barbano, who is also a producer for the adult division of European production company Zentropa and is the author of “The World’s 25 Hottest Porn Stars,” said he was surprised when he viewed the contents of the DVD.
“To my knowledge, no one has ever made a thorough investigation into the background of this important film,” Barbano told XBIZ. “Certainly, most of the statements about the film’s history that pop up in reviews are mere speculation.”
“I hope the German print of ‘White Fire’ which Another World Entertainment has included as a bonus disc accompanying ‘Italian Stallion’ offers an important piece of the puzzle,” Barbano added.
“The funny thing is that I received the bonus test discs from AWE without knowing exactly what was on its. My surprise and delight when I placed the bonus test disc in my DVD-player and saw what it contained was considerable,” he said.
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