Last American Virgin

By Brian Abrams

The year 1982 proved to be a landmark year for genre films, producing sci-fi favorites E.T., Blade Runner (Picture: 1) , and Tron; horror hits Poltergeist and Creepshow; and ultra-violent fantasies on the order of Conan the Barbarian (Picture: 1) and The Road Warrior.

Most importantly to Mr. Skin, though, was that the summer of '82 was book-ended by teen-sex-comedy milestones Porky's (Picture: 1 - 2) and Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Picture: 1) . Smack dab in between those two releases came The Last American Virgin (Picture: 1) .

Virgin was not a theatrical blockbuster, but-thanks to home video, cable TV, and a shock ending that's hard to believe even once you see it-it rapidly grew into an enduring cult wonder.

The story of Virgin begins with the Lemon Popsicle film series, a cycle of 1950s-set high-school farces made in Israel that became worldwide hits throughout the '70s.

Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, Israeli cousins who founded exploitation powerhouse Canon Films, adapted Lemon Popsicle in the form of The Last American Virgin. Canon even hired original director Boaz Davidson to make the movie.

Virgin's plot follows three high-school hornballs-Gary (Lawrence Monoson), Rick (Steve Antin), and David, a.k.a. "The Big Apple" (Joe Rubbo)-through the misadventures of a high-school year in California. Our heroes contract crabs from a hooker, fall in love with the new beauty in town (Diane Franklin) (Picture: 1) , get nagged by a nerdy girl (Kimmy Robertson), get a random hussy (Tessa Richarde) (Picture: 1) topless at Gary's parents' house, take turns with a Latina sexpot named Carmela (Louisa Moritz) (Picture: 1) , and-in one of the most amazingly jarring homoerotic segments ever filmed-measure each others' erections in the locker room to discover that the class dork, Victor (Brian Peck), takes the gold with a sufficient nine-and-a-half inches.

Eli Roth, creator of the Hostel (Picture: 1) series, champions The Last American Virgin as "a film at the very apex of its genre... It's the most underrated teen comedy ever made."

It's fitting that a maker of torture-filled horror grotesqueries would be so enamored of Virgin. As journalist Jonathan Rosenbaum once said of the notorious climax: "Not until Se7en would a movie pay-off be so stomach turning."

In addition, complicated psychosexual dynamics bubble up throughout Virgin, a fact that may or may not be related to three of the movie's stars-Monoson, Antin, and Peck-having subsequently, in real life, come out of the closet.

Recently, MrSkin.com rounded up cast principals Steve Antin, Joe Rubbo, Louisa Moritz, Kimmy Robertson, Tessa Richarde, and Brian Peck. Some had more to say than others; others (Diane Franklin, Lawrence Monoson) chose not to participate at all. For them, The Last American Virgin apparently says it all.

Joe Rubbo, on his sex scene with Louisa Moritz.

I was seventeen; she was in her thirties. She knew I was scared shitless, so she was cool about it. They tell you it's a closed set, but there were still eight or nine people there. They say, "Take your robes off." Then you're naked. To this day everybody always asks me, "Did you have a hard-on?" Are you kidding me? I couldn't even find it.

Kimmy Robertson, on the high-maintenance ways of co-star Lawrence Monoson.

He fussed over everything. He would take his makeup off in between scenes. In the car scene when we were kissing, he cut my lip because he never kissed anyone before. He was awkward like that.

I used to hang with him. That was the last day of shooting. I had my retainer made by my orthodontist-he had to make one special that I could blow bubbles with, because Boaz wanted me to blow bubbles-and lost it that day. He was awkward like that.

So we get to the scene where Lawrence is putting junk on my back. He couldn't remember to talk and put the stuff on my back and he's pushing me really hard, and, if you notice, I'm like jerking back. He'd never do in a fingering exercise. He's no guitar player, let me tell you that.

I used to hang with him after [shooting] the movie was over. I saw my only porn movie ever, Insatiable, when I was in bed with Lawrence watching it. He was eighteen, I was twenty-nine. We were dressed under the covers. I think he was trying to figure out who he was... I think I asked him if he wanted a blow job, he said no.

Brian Peck, on getting his penis measured in the locker room.

It's actually twelve-and-a-half inches, but for the movie we said it was shorter. Right after they yelled cut, I actually turned around and knocked the cameraman unconscious. Everyone else had stuffed their tighty-whities with dowel rods.

I've had many people over the years ask me, "Hey, was the director gay?" "Naw," I would say, "he's just Israeli." If you do watch the movie closely, though-the guys, the clothes, the boners-it's oddly gay.

We probably had fifteen or twenty extras in that one scene. Boaz literally rolled camera for four or five minutes while we all walked up to Lawrence and Joe, pulling down our underwear, showing our asses. I promise you there's a lot of unused footage of guys' naked asses.

Rubbo, on the gayness of the locker-room scene and underground whoring.

We felt that way about it, when we were doing it. But, in Europe and Israel, I guess it's not like that. They put sticks in everyone's pants and made them look like boners. I remember the props people making sticks.

When we were doing that scene where we banged that hooker, we were down in a basement of an abandoned restaurant. There were rats in there. They sent exterminators on the day of the shoot, and, during filming, you could hear the rats screaming and dying. It scared the shit out of me.

Tessa Richarde, on her "accidental" nude scene.

I didn't read the fine print. The director said, "Look, you signed a contract. You have to." I was na? back then, but, once I realized I signed, I heard you could be sued if you don't follow through. I don't really remember. I think people said it's not a big deal.

I was embarrassed for a while, but I justified it by saying to myself, "I'm an actress, the scene called for it." Years later, I realized I wasn't doing anything that lewd. Now I look back on it and I just laugh.

Louisa Moritz, on both her nude scenes with Rubbo: one in Virgin, the other in Hot Chili.

[The crew member] just threw us the towels, and that was it. Joe was very heavy. We had a towel, but he was going over the sides of it. He was over the limit. In Hot Chili, I was in a freezer. It was ice cold, and I was coming out between pieces of cows hanging. Oh my god. I'd much rather have had Joe smothering me.

Rubbo, on the chumminess of the cast.

We all became very close when we made the movie. Diane was bubbly, really a good girl. We were all seventeen, eighteen years old, and it was new to all of us. She didn't mind taking her clothes off. There were no dressing rooms or anything, and there she was, taking her clothes off. I couldn't believe it.

I thought I could act. I never went to acting school, but I was always the class clown. Boaz really helped me out a lot. He took me to the side and said, "It's about the girl and guy, but, when you hit the screen, you're gonna get all the laughs."

Antin, on his love scene with Diane Franklin.

I had made out with a lot of girls back then, even though I was pretty much gay at that point. I wasn't out publicly yet, and I had a lot of experience with women, so I had no problem kissing a girl. I made out with girls in high school and throughout my career. I wasn't one of those gay guys who're uncomfortable with it.

Robertson, on her sole career nude scene in Bad Manners (Picture: 1) , her tattoos, and shitting where you eat.

My pubic hair is not that color anymore. Look how dark it is! But that dark triangle was the style at the time, but now it's lighter so I'm right in style. When Joe Bob Briggs reviewed the movie, he said, "And Kimmy's itty bitty titties were the star of the movie." I thought that was nice.

I have a tattoo and some butterflies that go around to the front to some cherry blossoms. The reason I did it is because, when I get out of the shower, I see the same body. I wanted something else to look at.

I had sex with the assistant director on the movie because he was cute. I mean, David Duchovny was, because I met him on Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead. Usually, when you're an actor, you meet someone on the set and have sex with them. That's what we do, right?

Peck, on the teenage hangout malt shop, where shooting went into the late hours.

It was on Beverly Boulevard at a place called Bird's, a fast food fried chicken restaurant. They made it look hip like a teen hangout. I remember the night a crew member offered the cast cocaine to keep us awake. It was late at night, and I guess he thought we were getting a little sluggish. I myself did not take him up on it. I would tell you if I did. But how quintessential 1981: "Hey, have some coke and we'll film all night!"

Richarde, on the house-party scene where the boys gave out bunk blow.

It was Arm & Hammer Baking Soda, and it gave me such a headache. We tried not to snort it, but it didn't look real. Not that I'm a method actress, but, oh, I'd never do that today.

Rubbo, recalling his brief fortune and glory.

I made, like, $20,000 up front and then got about $15,000 a month in residuals from cable TV. I lived off the fat of the land for a while-working at a nightclub as a doorman in New York, just doing nothing. My family started our own business. I got married, had three kids, and then divorced. But you know how that goes: just like Virgin, it's the facts of life.