Adult Film Locations 8: Debbie Does Dallas (1978)

One of the best known of the so-called ‘Golden Age of Porn‘ films ‘Debbie Does Dallas‘ was made in New York nearly 40 years ago.

When it was first released in late 1978, it had a hugely successful theatrical run before going on to sell 50,000 copies on videotape and becoming the most successful video release of a porn film at the time.

This summer The Rialto Report re-visited two of the main locations in Brooklyn; the Pratt Institute where the library scenes were shot, and Brooklyn College where the sports field scenes took place.

Of course The Rialto Report’s April Hall was on hand to re-enact some of the scenes.

Please use the interactive slider below to see the locations in 1978 and in 2016.

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The plot of ‘Debbie does Dallas‘ focuses on a team of cheerleaders attempting to earn enough money to send title character Debbie to try out for the famous ‘Texas Cowgirls’ squad in Dallas. The fictional name ‘Texas Cowgirls’ was a take on the real-life Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders who were very popular at the time.

The film was produced, directed and written by David Buckley (using the nom-de-porn Jim Clark), under his company Schoolday Productions, Inc. David Buckley had formed a film distribution and production company in 1974 with his two brothers, Jim (co-founder of Screw magazine with Al Goldstein) and Frederick, who had distributed ‘Flesh Gordon‘ (1974) and the Italian sex-arthouse hit, ‘Bambina‘ (1974).

Whereas many adult film producers of the era were quick to distance themselves from any links to organized crime, the Buckleys were quick to recognize their debt to the mob – who booked their films into theaters throughout the country.

In a newspaper interview from 1975, David Buckley asserted, “We’re very pro-mafia around here.” Jim Buckley spelled out some of the reasons for their preference: “Mafia guys keep their word. When they make a deal, they stick with it, and they pay you upfront. We’ve been waiting eight months for $10,000 that a major theater chain owes us. Nobody in the mafia owes us money.”

When we interviewed Al Goldstein, he remembered how Mickey Zafferano had been instrumental in helping distribute ‘Debbie Does Dallas’.

Part of the huge success of ‘Debbie Does Dallas’ is attributed to the publicity it attracted at the time – due to the well-known locations that Buckley used, and also a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by the Dallas Cowboys football team.

‘Debbie Does Dallas’ also made a star out of the lead actress, Bambi Woods. The Rialto Report tracked down Bambi Woods recently but has not been able to secure an interview as of yet. We live in hope.

Bambi Woods as ‘Debbie Benton’

1. Debbie Does Dallas – Pratt Institute

Pratt Institute is a private, nonsectarian, non-profit institution of higher learning located in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. It originated in 1887 with programs primarily in engineering, architecture, and fine arts.

Over the years, the campus has been used in a number of film such as ‘Jacob’s Ladder‘ (1990), Robert De Niro‘s ‘The Good Shepherd‘ (2006), and many episodes of ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit‘. Even The music video for Billy Joel’s song ‘The Longest Time’ was filmed in its entirety at Pratt Institute in 1984.

However none of these shots caused anywhere near the uproar that resulted from when ‘Debbie Does Dallas’ was shot there on Independence Day, 1978. According to Joseph Azzinaro, a vice president at Pratt at the time, the college authorities were tricked into letting the filmmakers use the library for a hard core sex scene when it was closed for the holiday.

“They told us they wanted to make an educational film on the library – how it is operated, how the reference library works, and so on”, Azzinaro said. “It took us by surprise and naturally we’re terribly embarrassed.”

Asked if he had seen the film, Azzinaro admitted he had been to the theater to watch it, but added, “Technically I’d have to admit that they made a professional movie, but the contents are not to my taste.”

Merle Michaels and Jake Teague

Jake Teague as ‘Mr. Biddle’

Merle Michaels in ‘Debbie Does Dallas’ in 1978 – and The Rialto Report’s April Hall in 2016

The Pratt Institute library in 1978 – and unchanged in 2016

Merle Michaels in ‘Debbie Does Dallas’ in 1978 – and The Rialto Report’s April Hall in 2016

Merle Michaels and Jake Teague

Herschel Savage in ‘Debbie Does Dallas’ in 1978 – and The Rialto Report’s April Hall in 2016

Jake Teague, Herschel Savage and Merle Michaels

Merle Michaels as ‘Donna’

2. Debbie Does Dallas – Brooklyn College

Pratt Institute was not the only group offended by ‘Debbie Does Dallas’.

The marquee of the Pussycat Cinema, the Manhattan theater which premiered the film, claimed that the film’s star, Bambi Woods was an “X-Dallas Cowgirl” – alluding to the famed cheerleaders of the Dallas Cowboy’s football team. Suzanne Mitchell, director of the Dallas cheerleaders, issued an immediate statement denying that Woods had ever been a member.

Worse was to follow.

The Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders brought a legal case against Schoolday Productions, Inc. and the Pussycat Cinema arguing that their uniforms were mimicked by the film’s producers and used in advertising.

Mitchell appeared in court and described how she became ill and wanted to cry when she saw the film. She showed an example of the Dallas cheerleader uniforms, and said that, “After feeling a little sick, I came to the realization that these people had no right to do this. This was our uniform, our property and they had stolen it from us.”

The defense argued that uniforms were strictly ‘functional’ items, but the court found that “if the design of an item is non-functional and has acquired secondary meaning, the design may become a trademark even if the item itself is functional.”

The Pussycat Cinema was enjoined from showing the film under the Lanham Act which relates to trademarks. In affirming the district court’s decision in favor of the Cheerleaders, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit described the movie as “a gross and revolting sex film”.