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Adult film locations: ‘Pretty Peaches’ (1978)

Alex de Renzy‘s Pretty Peaches (1978) was one of the first adult films we ever saw – and one of
the very best of the golden age.
It was shot in the summer of 1978 – and we’ve always been curious to know more about the
places where the film was shot… the truck stop which opens the film, the old west gambling
town where the wedding takes place, the spacious house where Hugh (John Leslie) and his
maid (Juliet Anderson) live – and most of all, that public restroom – the scene of one of the
most remarkable scenes in the history of X-rated cinema, the enema administered to Peaches
(Desiree Cousteau).
This summer, 37 years after Pretty Peaches was filmed, The Rialto Report went on a road trip
to see if any of the original locations were still left – and found that sometimes nothing
changes.
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Pretty Peaches

Pretty Peaches stars Desiree Cousteau as Peaches, described as “a daffy carefree female who cheerfully
plunges through life without any worries.” In the film, she has a car accident after attending the wedding
of her father (John Leslie) and is rendered unconscious. Two men find and take advantage of her, before
offering to help her when it becomes apparent that she has amnesia. Peaches resolves to keep smiling
through all the silly schemes and circumstances they come up with.
The movie likely was influenced by Terry Southern and Mason Hoffenberg‘s Candy, itself a homage
to Voltaire‘s Candide.
Cousteau received the Adult Film Association of America Best Actress award in 1978 for her performance
in the movie.
Gas station from opening scene
Pretty Peaches opens with a scene at a gas station – just a half a mile from De Renzy’s home in Novato,
CA.

Pretty
Peaches – opening scene
Rossi’s
Deli, Novato, CA in 2015

The
gas station scene in ‘Pretty Peaches’
The
gas station scene in ‘Pretty Peaches’

Desiree Cousteau in the opening scene of ‘Pretty Peaches’


Desiree Cousteau in the opening scene of ‘Pretty Peaches’

Rossi’s
Deli, Novato, CA in 2015
Old West gambling town
Virginia City in Nevada was the location for the town where the wedding at the beginning of Pretty
Peaches takes place. De Renzy had used the area before – notably in his western Powder Burns (1971).
The town sprang up as a boom town with the 1859 discovery of the Comstock Lode, the first major silver
deposit discovery in the United States, and numerous mines were opened. At the city’s peak of
population in the mid-1860s, it had an estimated 25,000 residents. The mines’ output declined after
1878, and the city declined. As of 2010 Census the population of Virginia City was about 855.

Panoramic view of Virginia City, NV from ‘Pretty Peaches’


Virginia City, NV in 2015

NC
Street, Virginia City, NV from ‘Pretty Peaches’
NC
Street, Virginia City, NV in recent times

Casino and Wedding Chapel


The Silver Queen in Virginia City, Nevada was used in Nevada to film Hugh’s (John Leslie) wedding
scenes.

The saloon was built in the 1870s and offers a bar, slots, a wedding chapel and a second floor of hotel
guest rooms – which are all supposedly haunted by local ghosts.

The wedding room is in the back of the saloon, and is where the pop duo Captain and Tennille got
hitched on November 11, 1975.
The Silver Queen herself can be seen in the form of a 15-ft. tall and 8-ft. wide painting of a lady in an
evening gown decorated with 3,261 “Morgan” silver dollars minted in Carson City. Her belt is fashioned
from 28 twenty-dollar gold pieces, and her choker and bracelets are made from dimes.
John
Leslie outside of the Silver Queen, Virginia City, NV

Desiree Cousteau outside of the Silver Queen, Virginia City, NV


Silver
Queen, Virginia City, NV in recent times

Silver
Queen, Virginia City, NV in recent times
John
Leslie and Flower in the wedding chapel, Silver Queen

Desiree Cousteau in the wedding chapel, Silver Queen


The
Silver Queen wedding chapel in recent times

John
Leslie and Flower at the Silver Queen bar
Silver
Queen bartender from Pretty Peaches

Silver
Queen bar in recent times
Flower
and Desiree Cousteau in the Silver Queen

Pretty Peaches and the Doctor


The scenes where Peaches is accosted by the doctor were all shot at Oakland’s Paramount Theatre.

Dating from 1931, it is recognized as one of the finest remaining examples of Art Deco design in the
United States. After its initial brief blaze of “movie palace” glory in the 1930’s, this remarkable
auditorium suffered three decades of neglect and decline until its rescue by the Oakland Symphony, the
City of Oakland and numerous private donors. The building was purchased by the Board of Directors of
the Oakland Symphony Orchestra Association in 1972. A painstaking and authentic restoration was
completed in 1973 and the theatre was entered in the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1975 the City of Oakland, the present owner, assumed ownership from the Oakland Symphony
Orchestra Association.
The Paramount Theater, Oakland,
CA – which hosts the legend (not Kim Kardashian)
Desiree Cousteau descends to the lower level of the Paramount Theater in Oakland
The Paramount Theater in 2015
Desiree Cousteau in the lower level of the Paramount Theater in Oakland

Desiree Cousteau in the lower level of the Paramount Theater in Oakland


The Paramount Theater in
2015
The Paramount Theater in 2015
Desiree Cousteau and the doctor in the men’s restrooms of the Paramount Theater

Desiree Cousteau and the doctor in the men’s restrooms of the Paramount Theater
Men’s restrooms of the
Paramount Theater in 2015
Desiree Cousteau and the doctor in the men’s restrooms of the Paramount Theater

Desiree Cousteau and the doctor in the men’s restrooms of the Paramount Theater
Men’s restrooms of the
Paramount Theater in 2015
Desiree Cousteau and the doctor in the men’s restrooms of the Paramount Theater
The Rialto Report risks life and
limb taking pictures of men at the urinals for ‘research’ purposes
Inexplicably no mention of ‘Pretty Peaches’

Hugh’s house
De Renzy shot many of the interiors at his home in Novato, CA.

The house often featured in his films; he lived there from the early 1970s to his passing in 2001.
John
Leslie arrives home to be greeted by Juliet Anderson

The
front door of Alex de Renzy’s former home in 2014
Inside
the home, John Leslie and Flower are greeted by Juliet Anderson

Inside
the front door of Alex de Renzy’s former home in 2014

The Screening Room


Alex de Renzy showed many of his films at his theater, the Screening Room at 220 Jones Street in San
Francisco.

This converted storefront opened around 1967 as one of the first theaters in San Francisco that showed
hardcore porn. Initially, the program would consist of 16mm silent loops with a record providing musical
accompaniment, but eventually 16mm full-length features would take off.

In 1968 De Renzy exhibited what was the first full-length hard porn feature, a “documentary” called
“Pornography in Denmark: A New Approach”. This feature, premiered here, grossed $25,000 in its first
week in exhibition (It would eventually gross over $2 million.)

The success of this theater would lead to De Renzy operating other theaters in San Francisco for a time:
North Beach Movie (another storefront theater), Presidio (converting this neighborhood art theater into
a porn house), Centre (a Market Street second-run house converted into hard porn), and briefly the Regal
on Market Street. The Mitchell Brothers started their O’Farrell Theater after seeing how successful the
Screening Room was doing.

Around 2010 it became a sex club named the Power Exchange.

The
site of Alex de Renzy’s Screening Room in 2015
The site of Alex de Renzy’s
Screening Room in 2015

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