For the most part, it seems as if the film is reasonably faithful to the recorded facts in terms of its depiction of the broader historical outline, and whilst such things as dialogue and character nuances can never be 100% true to life, many of the major narrative elements in the film are indeed quite close to reality. For example:
Jim (Emilio Estevez) did murder Artie (Charlie Sheen) at night during a storm.
Jim did leave film school prior to graduating, and did set up an independent porn production company in a warehouse with some friends, with the initial intention of earning enough money to make legitimate films.
Jim did ask Artie to come into the porn business. Artie had no interest at first, but Jim persuaded him that there was a lot of money to be made, and convinced him to invest in opening the O'Farrell Theatre.
Artie did come up with the concept for both Behind the Green Door (1972) and Sodom and Gomorrah: The Last Seven Days (1975). It was also his idea to make the transition from showing porn films to staging live sex shows after Sodom and Gomorrah failed at the box office.
Artie's first wife, Meredith (Megan Ward) did do orgasm voiceovers for some of the early Mitchell brothers' films.
The Mitchell brothers were in and out of court multiple times over the years (in fact they were indicted more times than was Larry Flynt).
Michael Kennedy (Geoffrey Blake) was a real lawyer who specialized in cases pertaining to the right to freedom of speech. As is mentioned in the film, Kennedy really was Tim Leary and Huey Newton's lawyer.
Marilyn Chambers (Tracy Hutson) really did think she was auditioning for a bowling movie when she misheard the casting director asking her is she wanted a "balling or a non-balling role." Upon realizing that it was a sex film, she was in the process of walking out of the audition, when Artie saw her from his upstairs office, raced down to her, and begged her to be in the film. Additionally, she really did demand a percentage of the gross (the first female porn star to do so).
Artie did direct one set-up on Behind the Green Door, but upon watching the rushes, the film was completely black, and Jim took over directing the project (although ultimately, the brothers were credited as co-directors).
The night of the premier of Behind the Green Door, the print was almost late arriving at the theatre, and the third reel really was incorrectly spooled first.
Marilyn Chambers really was the model for a washing up powder called Ivory Snow (Angel White in the film), and she really did appear on the box holding a baby. Upon finding out, the Mitchell brothers did began to use the situation as an advertising tool.
The Mitchell brothers did face off against the mob due to the fact that the mob had made illegal copies of Behind the Green Door, and were distributing it all over the country without the brothers' permission. In the subsequent court case, the FBI really did support the brothers.
The death of JR Mitchell (Terry O'Quinn) had a profound effect on both brothers, especially Artie.
After the O'Farrell Theatre was shut down by the city of San Francisco, the brothers really did put up a marquis saying "For show times call Mayor Feinstein" (also, although it is not shown in the film, they initially included Feinstein's home telephone number on the marquis).
Jim did leave San Francisco and stay with Meredith to go cold turkey.
Artie did almost drown himself and the children (although in reality they were surfing at the time).
The night of his death, Artie did apparently make multiple calls threatening to kill numerous people (including Jim, Meredith and Karen (Nicole de Boer)). However, this claim is somewhat in dispute (see below).
Jim did fire multiple rounds in Artie's house into inanimate objects prior to shooting Artie. In total, he fired 17 rounds; 3 hit Artie, 14 were fired at random around the house.
However, despite the apparent accuracy of many of the major plot points, the film has engendered some controversy as to its veracity, or lack thereof. Jim Mitchell himself denounced both David McCumber's X-Rated (the book on which Rated X was based) and John Hubner's Bottom Feeders: From Free Love to Hard Core (another book on the same subject). He also refused to participate in the making of Rated X.
Additionally, Artie Mitchell's son has also spoken out against both the books and the film, arguing that the depiction of Artie is fundamentally wrong, and that their narratives are nothing more than fabricated stories: Jim never wanted his brother to get rehabilitation. That was simply the defense he used at his trial. Jim was not supportive while Art spent eleven of his last days going cold turkey sober, trying his best to tackle his alcoholism on his own. Art's oldest child personally implored Jim to help the family do an intervention to get Art help. Jim declined, saying it'd be "a pain" to do because of their infamous reputation. Murder it seems was a better option to him [...] Jim Mitchell killed a man who was loved by all who knew him. Jim Mitchell was already a rich and powerful man, powerful enough to get away with murder, but he wanted more. Our father had six children, ages 8 thru 20, at the time he died. Our Uncle has never tried to explain to any of us why he took our father from us, because it is obvious why he did it [...] He gave our father an unearned terrible reputation in an attempt to justify his homicidal act. The books X-Rated and Bottom Feeders and the movie Rated X are essentially fiction. Very few people know the truth and those who do have either been keeping it a secret for Jim's sake or do not want to exploit our family. We would like to keep our lives private, but if the public must know, we would prefer that they know the truth. Don't believe the lies that you see on television and read in the paper. I was watching A&E the other night and I got sick when I heard a man say, "Artie would have found it humorous that Jim got away with murder." Our father was a very humorous man but this situation is far from funny. Jim Mitchell was not looking out for his brother the night that he shot and killed him. Jim Mitchell is a heartless, Mafioso want-to-be, greedy, sick man. He not only "killed the party when he killed Artie" he killed our father and best friend, broke our hearts and destroyed our family [...] Art didn't call Jim's house and leave answering machine messages threatening to kill Jim before Jim decided to kill Art first. Jim's wife, Lisa, didn't erase the messages by mistake that night. There were never any messages.
Jim (Emilio Estevez) did murder Artie (Charlie Sheen) at night during a storm.
Jim did leave film school prior to graduating, and did set up an independent porn production company in a warehouse with some friends, with the initial intention of earning enough money to make legitimate films.
Jim did ask Artie to come into the porn business. Artie had no interest at first, but Jim persuaded him that there was a lot of money to be made, and convinced him to invest in opening the O'Farrell Theatre.
Artie did come up with the concept for both Behind the Green Door (1972) and Sodom and Gomorrah: The Last Seven Days (1975). It was also his idea to make the transition from showing porn films to staging live sex shows after Sodom and Gomorrah failed at the box office.
Artie's first wife, Meredith (Megan Ward) did do orgasm voiceovers for some of the early Mitchell brothers' films.
The Mitchell brothers were in and out of court multiple times over the years (in fact they were indicted more times than was Larry Flynt).
Michael Kennedy (Geoffrey Blake) was a real lawyer who specialized in cases pertaining to the right to freedom of speech. As is mentioned in the film, Kennedy really was Tim Leary and Huey Newton's lawyer.
Marilyn Chambers (Tracy Hutson) really did think she was auditioning for a bowling movie when she misheard the casting director asking her is she wanted a "balling or a non-balling role." Upon realizing that it was a sex film, she was in the process of walking out of the audition, when Artie saw her from his upstairs office, raced down to her, and begged her to be in the film. Additionally, she really did demand a percentage of the gross (the first female porn star to do so).
Artie did direct one set-up on Behind the Green Door, but upon watching the rushes, the film was completely black, and Jim took over directing the project (although ultimately, the brothers were credited as co-directors).
The night of the premier of Behind the Green Door, the print was almost late arriving at the theatre, and the third reel really was incorrectly spooled first.
Marilyn Chambers really was the model for a washing up powder called Ivory Snow (Angel White in the film), and she really did appear on the box holding a baby. Upon finding out, the Mitchell brothers did began to use the situation as an advertising tool.
The Mitchell brothers did face off against the mob due to the fact that the mob had made illegal copies of Behind the Green Door, and were distributing it all over the country without the brothers' permission. In the subsequent court case, the FBI really did support the brothers.
The death of JR Mitchell (Terry O'Quinn) had a profound effect on both brothers, especially Artie.
After the O'Farrell Theatre was shut down by the city of San Francisco, the brothers really did put up a marquis saying "For show times call Mayor Feinstein" (also, although it is not shown in the film, they initially included Feinstein's home telephone number on the marquis).
Jim did leave San Francisco and stay with Meredith to go cold turkey.
Artie did almost drown himself and the children (although in reality they were surfing at the time).
The night of his death, Artie did apparently make multiple calls threatening to kill numerous people (including Jim, Meredith and Karen (Nicole de Boer)). However, this claim is somewhat in dispute (see below).
Jim did fire multiple rounds in Artie's house into inanimate objects prior to shooting Artie. In total, he fired 17 rounds; 3 hit Artie, 14 were fired at random around the house.
However, despite the apparent accuracy of many of the major plot points, the film has engendered some controversy as to its veracity, or lack thereof. Jim Mitchell himself denounced both David McCumber's X-Rated (the book on which Rated X was based) and John Hubner's Bottom Feeders: From Free Love to Hard Core (another book on the same subject). He also refused to participate in the making of Rated X.
Additionally, Artie Mitchell's son has also spoken out against both the books and the film, arguing that the depiction of Artie is fundamentally wrong, and that their narratives are nothing more than fabricated stories: Jim never wanted his brother to get rehabilitation. That was simply the defense he used at his trial. Jim was not supportive while Art spent eleven of his last days going cold turkey sober, trying his best to tackle his alcoholism on his own. Art's oldest child personally implored Jim to help the family do an intervention to get Art help. Jim declined, saying it'd be "a pain" to do because of their infamous reputation. Murder it seems was a better option to him [...] Jim Mitchell killed a man who was loved by all who knew him. Jim Mitchell was already a rich and powerful man, powerful enough to get away with murder, but he wanted more. Our father had six children, ages 8 thru 20, at the time he died. Our Uncle has never tried to explain to any of us why he took our father from us, because it is obvious why he did it [...] He gave our father an unearned terrible reputation in an attempt to justify his homicidal act. The books X-Rated and Bottom Feeders and the movie Rated X are essentially fiction. Very few people know the truth and those who do have either been keeping it a secret for Jim's sake or do not want to exploit our family. We would like to keep our lives private, but if the public must know, we would prefer that they know the truth. Don't believe the lies that you see on television and read in the paper. I was watching A&E the other night and I got sick when I heard a man say, "Artie would have found it humorous that Jim got away with murder." Our father was a very humorous man but this situation is far from funny. Jim Mitchell was not looking out for his brother the night that he shot and killed him. Jim Mitchell is a heartless, Mafioso want-to-be, greedy, sick man. He not only "killed the party when he killed Artie" he killed our father and best friend, broke our hearts and destroyed our family [...] Art didn't call Jim's house and leave answering machine messages threatening to kill Jim before Jim decided to kill Art first. Jim's wife, Lisa, didn't erase the messages by mistake that night. There were never any messages.
Throughout the course of the film, both Jim and Artie call one another Bob numerous times, and during the making of Sodom and Gomorrah, they both have chairs marked 'Bob.' At Artie's wedding to Meredith, he and Jim are asked what is the significance of this, and Artie explains "It's our old man's middle man", to which Meredith replies "So?" Jim then answers "And that's all you need to know." Nothing more is said about it for the duration of the film, and the actual reason as to why they call one another Bob is never explained.
When the brothers first go to see Michael Kennedy, Jim is sitting at the desk, and Artie is examining the clippings on the wall. At one point Artie turns and says "You're Tim Leary's lawyer [...] and Huey Newton?"
Dr. Timothy Leary was a writer, psychologist and advocate of psychedelic drugs. An icon among the free love movement of the 1960s, he championed LSD, arguing that the drug had many benefits for those who took it. He had multiple run-ins with the law, and served several terms behind bars from 1965 onwards.
Huey Newton was the co-founder of the Black Panther Party and an outspoken advocate of Black Power. In 1967, he was accused of murdering a policeman. Ultimately convicted of voluntary manslaughter, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. However, in 1970, the California Appellate Court reversed the conviction and ordered a new trial. After two subsequent mistrials, the case was dropped and Newton went free.
Dr. Timothy Leary was a writer, psychologist and advocate of psychedelic drugs. An icon among the free love movement of the 1960s, he championed LSD, arguing that the drug had many benefits for those who took it. He had multiple run-ins with the law, and served several terms behind bars from 1965 onwards.
Huey Newton was the co-founder of the Black Panther Party and an outspoken advocate of Black Power. In 1967, he was accused of murdering a policeman. Ultimately convicted of voluntary manslaughter, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. However, in 1970, the California Appellate Court reversed the conviction and ordered a new trial. After two subsequent mistrials, the case was dropped and Newton went free.
According to director Emilio Estevez on the DVD commentary track: "The end was actually an accident. It happened on the mixing stage, we had a sound cutout and I thought "Wow, that's pretty chilling, we should utilize that." It just leaves the audience so cold, it's so unsettling, and so I felt that that was really the best way to go out with the film."
The R1 US Unrated DVD, released by Showtime in 2001, contains the following special features:
Feature length audio commentary with actor/director Emilio Estevez and actor Charlie Sheen
A 15 minute interview with porn actress Marilyn Chambers
A 5 minute interview with San Francisco Assistant DA Bernard Walters
Filmographies for Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, Marilyn Chambers, Artie Mitchell and Jim Mitchell
Photo Gallery
Feature length audio commentary with actor/director Emilio Estevez and actor Charlie Sheen
A 15 minute interview with porn actress Marilyn Chambers
A 5 minute interview with San Francisco Assistant DA Bernard Walters
Filmographies for Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, Marilyn Chambers, Artie Mitchell and Jim Mitchell
Photo Gallery
No it is not.
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