Tapestry of Passion (1976) Review

Tapestry of Passion (1976) Original Poster

And so we return to the 1970s. The golden era of porn, and today’s review looks at “Tapestry of Passion” from 1976. The first time I got a chance to see this was on an old VHS tape that I found at a video store in Santa Monica. They sold rare wrestling tapes, porn, and non-porn wrestling videos where muscular women wrestled naked men. It didn’t have sex, it was just about wrestling. I guess it’s some sort of fetish. That video store is long gone at this point. “Tapestry of Passion” came out long ago, and it shows. The clothing, the hairstyles, the streets, and a lot of the visual design screams 1970s. However, the film grain looks like a movie that was made for Hollywood, not porn. The first few minutes especially, set up a juxtaposition of art, rather than just throw sex at you. If you didn’t know anything about this movie, or the name, you wouldn’t even realize that it was a porno, until the first real sexual scene, starring one of the most famous individuals in pornography, ever, John Holmes.

Now, if you have seen John Holmes before, you may have remembered him with a mustache and curly hair. Since this was made in 1976, and it was one of the earlier movies that he made, he doesn’t have that signature mustache. He looks very young, tall, and not weathered at all. This must be a movie that was made before he had drug problems. He doesn’t act well, but he goes through the sexual motions that you’d expect, a little lazy, and definitely all of 13 inches long and with a big of girth, impressive for the time, even today, honestly.

“Tapestry of Passion” stars John Holmes, of course, but has a set of good looking women as well. The cast includes, Sharon Thorpe, Lesllie Bovee, Annette Haven, Desiree West, John Leslie, and Mick Jones. It was directed by Alan Colberg, and was produced by the creator of the Wadd character, Bob Chinn. This is filmed, produced, and scored like a Hollywood movie, and it shows. The editing, and some of the way the camera moves, and transitions are like a grindhouse film at times, but with a new remastered version on DVD, this looks even better than I remember.

“Tapestry of Passion” has some interesting sexual scenes. My favorite is the one where the main villain, a dominatrix has a very interesting sexual encounter with a client. The set is cool, and the fantasy of being able to get into a dungeon of this type and actually have a woman perform like this is astounding. I mention that because I’ve been in places like this, and trust me, they do not offer the types of services that you see in this movie. When this villain starts to hurt the main, including biting his penis, he is thrown for a loop, eventually dying in the progress of her movements. It’s an odd, sexually explicit scene, that is just cool acting for me. It’s just porn gold, if you ask me. I don’t know what else to say about it, it’s a favorite sequence of mine. It’s the one thing I’ll remember about this movie, for sure.

Since this is filmed for the big screen, the movie has a lot of transitional elements. There are transitions that feature John walking through the streets, interviewing people, like a real detective. That breaks things up a bit, before sending you into another sex scene. John has the majority of sex in this movie, with a few beautiful, natural women. Their bodies are lean, and he is far larger than you’d think, and when he goes in for the deep push, you get a sense of just how big he was. The women seem to enjoy it, with a lot of passionate movements, and they all take him in as far as he can get in. If you’re a fan of John Holmes, or perhaps are curious about how big his penis was, the remastered version of this movie certainly shows him in his prime, large, and in charge throughout the movie.

Holmes seems to go through the motions, knowing that he has a large penis, and just going through an easy movement through each scene. The women do a lot of the work, but he does offer some sensuality to the mix. Sharon Thorpe and John Leslie put on a good show. Leslie Bovee’s scene with John Holmes definitely got the blood flowing, and the blow job that Desiree West gives Holmes is stunning. She is a beautiful actress, and really had me going when I saw this recently. What a beauty! Holmes has sex in 5 scenes in this movie, and each one is ok at best. The story moves forward fast, as you’d expect, with snippets breaking up the 7 total sex scenes, and the plot ends with Wadd getting his man.

“Tapestry of Passion” is a real porno movie. It is meant to be seen in a movie theater. It looks great on DVD, remastered, and well worth considering. However, you’re going to find that this just feels like a “movie” that needs a bigger screen, not at home. But then again, you can’t really pleasure yourself in public, so perhaps this works well overall. I liked it enough, and am curious to see other Johnny Wadd pictures, but it really isn’t that sexy. It didn’t get me hard, so to speak. I’m a fan of Holmes here, and it’s an interesting juxtaposition to “Boogie Nights” and the notion of large penises in porn. Other than that, meh, it’s not that sexy. At least not for me, at this point in my years. It gets good points for visual design, set design, and a young john Holmes. And extra points for Desiree West’s scene, which is a lovely sensual romp.

I give “Tapestry of Passion” a 3 out of 5.

You can purchase “Tapestry of Passion” via remastered DVD by clicking here. Check it out, it’s quite the little detective porno.

Did you see “Tapestry of Passion”? If so, drop me a line, and let me know what you think.