How did Crystal Films find the women to fight

ripher_apart · September 08, 2013, 03:36:42 PM

Hello I often wondered how Crystal Films found the women to fight for thier tapes?

? Was it word of mouth, was it from bars?

Any insight would be appreciated.

REAL CATFIGHT LEAGUE · September 08, 2013, 07:38:53 PM

I heard from some of the prefight interviews that some of the women worked together some at either a bar or strip joint I guess

DavidUK · September 09, 2013, 04:30:45 AM

Would love to know the story behind the meet of Andi and Michelle - that's got to be one of the best catfights of all time

DJP60 · September 10, 2013, 05:10:17 AM

i have also seen "hellfire club" and "den of inquiry" fights. i thought ads were put in local grocery store tabloids,Decatur il, offering money for girls that want to fight. i am a local and Marys interviews gave away too much info so i knew they were local.

Bear · September 10, 2013, 06:38:31 AM

Crystal produced its first fight night format in a basement which they called the Harmony Club. This vid is hard to find. The fights are entertaining, but the setting is almost laughable. The women "fight" / wrestle on one mat which is lain on a concrete floor, there are bricks stacked in one corner and the walls are exposed cement. The audience is vocal but behind the camera. Then they went uptown to the Hellfire Club which was located in NYC. From what I recall, it was an S and M club, but hosted catfights one night per month. Then it was on to the Den. I don't think that the Club and the Den were in the same location, but that's only a guess.

I think DPJ has it right regarding their later fights. Deb and her husband produced them and they reside(d) in Illinois. So, all of the regulars from Mary to Andi to Michelle, etc. would have been from that neck of the woods. An ad in the local tabloid makes sense too. BTW, what was with the Mary interview that you mention? I never heard of. or saw it.

I once posed the Q about finding women to fight on their message board and never really got a straight answer. Perhaps the principals were concerned that I was considering opening a rival operation and didn't want to divulge any trade secrets -- like running an ad. LOL

flapper · September 11, 2013, 12:06:27 AM

They should have had Andi and michelle wear different color lingerie for their fight, instead of both in black. With them being the same size and same color hair, it was hard to tell them apart once they got locked up twisting and turning on the floor. Great fight though.

Bear · September 11, 2013, 05:44:28 AM

They should have had Andi and Michelle fight topless -- PERIOD!

DJP60 · September 11, 2013, 06:11:57 PM

Bear as a follow up,and i forgot which vid mag the interview is in,Mary talks about the bowling alley "spare times" which is in Drecatur Il
and the references to "the avenue" is what we called 23rd? avenue. the main east west street in Decatur IL. i have also not lived there for decades so i hope i am not all wrong.

dww4life · February 07, 2022, 07:13:23 AM

Just watched some old CF videos this past weekend and boy were these catfights intense, especially the ones where the women clearly hated each other.

Quote from: DJP60 on September 10, 2013, 05:10:17 AM
i have also seen "hellfire club" and "den of inquiry" fights. i thought ads were put in local grocery store tabloids,Decatur il, offering money for girls that want to fight. i am a local and Marys interviews gave away too much info so i knew they were local.

In one of Mary's fights they had to hold her back during the interview because she was mad at the other woman for messing with her man. At least that's what they said, but she was clearly pissed and it would've been hard to fake the emotions she was showing. Makes you wonder how they ended up there and what type of agreement they had to go fight on video. I'm sure they got paid good money. They used to charge $60 for their Video Magazine tapes at the time and that was good money in the early 90s.

Do any of you guys remember how you found out about CF and from where did you order your first tape? It had to be by snail mail through either a mailer or a magazine ad. I found DWW tapes through an old pro wrestling illustrated magazine which had leather and lace ad. Once I ordered from them, they sent me a brochure that had DWW videos and a bunch of other stuff like Flamingo wrestling from Florida.

Kateintense · February 07, 2022, 05:02:51 PM

Quote from: sinclairfan on September 11, 2013, 06:19:37 PM
Cary, Illinois is where the old Leather and Lace filmed.

Is it possible that one of you would post a link to the Andi and Michelle fight? I admit I have never bought a clip, but I have watched fights on YouTube. I hear about this fight so much I really want to see it. Thanks

TheRef · February 07, 2022, 06:38:32 PM

Quote from: flapper on September 11, 2013, 12:06:27 AM

They should have had Andi and michelle wear different color lingerie for their fight, instead of both in black. With them being the same size and same color hair, it was hard to tell them apart once they got locked up twisting and turning on the floor. Great fight though.

Difficulty telling who is who? That's maybe the best part. Since people tend to have "a type" it's easy to picture two very similar women locked together with hair in their faces so that you aren't sure who is clawing whose breast or kneeing whose crotch. The wife or the mistress? The current or the ex? Who do you encourage? Who do you REALLY want to win? The mystery makes it even more delicious!

rin753 · February 07, 2022, 08:09:14 PM

Regarding Andi vs Michele. It was a "work." Watch carefully. They really weren't fighting.

But I must admit, no fake fight I've ever seen has convinced more people that it was real. Kudos to the women for accomplishing that.

Bear · February 07, 2022, 09:13:12 PM

Quote from: sinclairfan on February 07, 2022, 08:32:07 PM
Quote from: rin753 on February 07, 2022, 08:09:14 PM

Regarding Andi vs Michele. It was a "work." Watch carefully. They really weren't fighting.

But I must admit, no fake fight I've ever seen has convinced more people that it was real. Kudos to the women for accomplishing that.

I don't think I would quite 100% describe Andi-Michelle as fake.

I think the way I would describe it is that they had a gentleman's/(ladies') agreement to refrain from punching each other in the face.

When that happens, the fight becomes an endurance contest, and Andi got gassed first.

I agree 100%. I've watched this fight many, many times. Crystal allowed the combatants to agree on rules prior to the engagement, and I'm quite sure that the two of them respected each other's fighting ability and didn't want this to turn into a real brawl. So they kept it relatively tame -- more like an intense wrestling match allowing for hairpulling and open fist punches below the shoulders. Still wish that there would have been a re-match.

Soulsville · February 08, 2022, 12:01:19 AM

Some of the earlier Crystal film fights were eye-opening to say the least. Always enjoyed watching Mary, Maylay & Taylor. I wonder what happened to them.

Bear · February 09, 2022, 12:57:16 AM

Quote from: Black_Cat on February 08, 2022, 09:24:38 AM
A lot of people believe that Andi vs Michele is the gold standard.
Not sure about that, since we have seen a lot of new great catfights. I rewatched it recently.
Maybe it was great for its era, when there wasn't a lot of performers and the camera tech to support a better product.

Also correct me if I'm wrong but there is no breast mauling in it? Bummer. Michele was very attractive though!

I would tend to agree with you. The appeal of Andi vs. Michelle was really the two women: both about the same height and weight, both attractive, both well-endowed, both experienced fighters. However, the encounters between Andi and Taylor were far more intense, as were some of Michelle's fights with other women. And all of those other other fights were topless.