Episode 9: Arthur J. Bressan, Jr.'s DADDY DEAREST (1984)

Cruising the Movies

What better way to wrap up the year than with a beautiful work of gay adult cinema from a still-underappreciated director? This month, Liz and KJ cover Arthur J. Bressan, Jr.’s DADDY DEAREST—an adult film about the making of an adult film that’s just as dreamlike and wistful as is relentlessly horny. DADDY DEAREST isn’t Bressan’s most famous work—nowhere near as famous as his San Francisco adult films PASSING STRANGERS and FORBIDDEN LETTERS, the foundational documentary GAY USA, the controversial ABUSE, nor his crossover masterpiece BUDDIES—but it truly showcases Bressan’s daring storytelling, clever cinematography, thoughtful editing, and spot-on casting. In this episode, we go through what we love about both Bressan and this film in particular: his love of film history; his talent for blending multiple realities, and his brilliance for representing unbridled desire and pleasure on film.

We are screening DADDY DEAREST at the IFC Center on Monday, December 9, at 7pm, in a brand-new 2K restoration by Altered Innocence and the Bressan Project. If you love what you see and also live in New York City, make sure to also check out Adam Baran’s Narrow Rooms series at Anthology Film Archives, where he will be screening another underrated Bressan feature, JUICE, on Saturday, December 14th.