The film is scheduled to show this Sunday at the Cecile Goldman Theater in the nation’s capital.
Although Berlin quickly made a name for himself in adult film with his skintight white pants, his trademark shaggy mane and enormous, not-so-shaggy package, no other film has probed deeper into the life of the “Nights in Black Leather” and “That Boy” star.
Directed by Jim Tushinski, the film recounts Berlin's life over the last 60 years, beginning with his birth in wartime Germany and humping, bumping and cruising his way all the way to present-day San Francisco, where Berlin currently lives.
“I was amazed how little one has to do to be picked up by the press,” says the still-boyish Berlin in the film, still wearing the famous pants at 60.
Despite his fame, Berlin was always intensely private, prompting many to refer to him as the Greta Garbo of gay pornography. But the movie tries to get beyond that, and includes scenes from his apartment filled with photographs and painting of himself, a touching account of the death of his partner of 20 years, and several interviews with well-known gay icons who know Berlin like author Armistead Maupin and director John Waters.
“[Watching Berlin walk the street] was like Dinah Shore with a hard-on with that hair,” says Waters in one interview.
