Roller A-Z: Academy

This is the first post in the Roller A-Z. The Roller A-Z’s purpose is to construct a live catalogue of short hardcore 8mm and Super 8mm films that were released in Britain. These were known as ‘rollers’ in Britain’s hardcore porn trade due to the way they would roll when played on a projector. The list is constructed from various sources, including the Kinsey Institute’s archive, the Adult Loop Database, Di Lauro and Rabkin’s book Dirty Movies, the private archives of collectors and police files.

We begin with the label Academy. In a police interview, Anthony Collingbourne admitted to his involvement with Academy. However, this was likely a collaboration with distributor John Darby and  John Lindsay, who could have produced some of the titles listed here. The boxes have a distinctive appearance and the branding printed in a colourful font, but this varies between title. For instance, Cinzano, likely a nod to the popular alcoholic drink, was issued in three different boxes, with one having a tartan masthead (see above); perhaps a reference to Scottish pornographer John Lindsay? Early releases appear to have had a completely different design, with a wallpaper-esque background and the label name presented in a different font (see end of post). Academy has links to other labels, with titles also appearing on Climax, International Films, Leidibird, Orchid Films and Steinle.

Title variants:

Title card:

Alternative box: