Carlos Tobalina (filmmaker)

Efrain "Carlos" Tobalina (1925 – March 31, 1989),[1][2] also known as Carlos Tobalina and often credited as Troy Benny,[3][4] was a Peruvian-born filmmaker and actor known for his work on pornographic films. He directed such films as Infrasexum (1969), Jungle Blue (1978), Three Ripening Cherries (1979), Sensual Fire (1980), and Flesh and Bullets (1985). He became the owner of several adult theaters, and was involved in court cases related to obscenity laws. In 1989, he was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head at one of his houses in Los Angeles.

Carlos Tobalina
Born	Efrain Tobalina 1925 Peru
Died	March 31, 1989 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Suicide by gunshot
Occupation	Filmmaker, actor
Years active	1969–1987
Spouse(s)	Maria Pia Palfrader ​ (m. 1964)​
Children	Linda

Early life

Tobalina was born in 1925 in Peru, and emigrated to Brazil and then to the United States in the early 1950s.[1] He arrived in California in 1956, and over the next few years, he worked as both a car salesman at a number of car dealerships and a Spanish-language announcer.[1]

Career

In 1964, Tobalina founded C. Tobalina Productions, Inc., his film company.[1] He made his debut as a film director and actor with the 1969 film Infrasexum. By the autumn of 1971, Tobalina had become the owner of the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles, California after purchasing it for around $300,000.[1][2] Throughout the decade, Tobalina and his wife Maria Pia Palfrader took ownership of a small number of adult theaters, including the X Theater on Hollywood Boulevard and the Star Theater in La Puente.[1]

Obscenity cases

As early as 1969, Tobalina hired lawyers to defend himself and his films from obscenity laws of the time.[1] Infrasexum was brought to court in the state of Colorado on the charge of being "obscene material", but the court ultimately sided with Tobalina. After the case, Tobalina filed a counterclaim against the prosecution, which included the mayor, state attorney general, and governor of Denver.[1] In 1970, a screening of Infrasexum in Birmingham, Alabama resulted in the arrest of a theater manager and a projectionist on account of allegedly violating city ordinances regarding obscene material.[5]

In September 1971, the Los Angeles County Superior Court declared Tobalina guilty of violating a California Penal Code regarding the exhibition of obscene material for screening the 1971 film Januarius.[1] Tobalina then hired lawyer Stanley Fleishman to appeal the ruling; appeals were made to the Los Angeles County appellate court, which upheld the ruling, and the California Supreme Court, which declined to review the case.[1] Fleishman then petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court. By 1973, after an increase in pornography-related court cases similar to those Tobalina was involved in, the U.S. Supreme Court redefined its definition of "obscenity" with the decision Miller v. California, from "utterly without socially redeeming value" to that which lacks "serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value".[1][6]

Personal life

Tobalina married a bookkeeper named Maria Pia Palfrader in 1964, becoming a stepfather to her young daughter Gloria.[1] Two years later, in 1966, he and Maria had a daughter named Linda.[1]

Death

On March 31, 1989, Tobalina's wife Maria found him lying unresponsive in the enclosed back patio of one of his houses in the neighborhood of Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles.[1] He was discovered with a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver in his right hand, and was declared dead from a gunshot wound to the head.[1] He had written a suicide note which explained that he was suffering from terminal liver cancer.[1]

Partial filmography

Year	Film	Director	Writer	Producer	Actor	Notes	Ref(s)
1969	Infrasexum	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		[7]
1970	Double Initiation	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
1975	Marilyn and the Senator	Yes	Yes	Yes
1975	Carnal Haven	Yes	Yes	Yes		credited as Troy Benny
1976	Her Last Fling	Yes	Yes	Executive		as Bruce Van Buren and Troy Benny
1977	The Ultimate Pleasure	Yes	Yes	Executive		as Bruce Van Buren and Troy Benny
1977	Fantastic Orgy	Yes				as Troy Benny
1978	Jungle Blue	Yes				as Troy Benny
1978	Champagne Orgy	Yes			Yes	as Troy Benny
1979	Three Ripening Cherries	Yes				as Troy Benny	[3]
1980	Sensual Fire	Yes	Yes			as Troy Benny	[3]
1981	Undulations	Yes				as Troy Benny
1981	Sexual Heights	Yes				as Troy Benny
1981	Anticipation	Yes				as Troy Benny	[8]
1982	Lust Inferno	Yes				as Troy Benny	[4][9]
1982	Marathon	Yes			Yes	as Troy Benny	[4][9]
1983	My Sinful Life	Yes		Yes	Uncredited	as Troy Benny	[10]
1983	Las Vegas Girls	Yes			Uncredited	as Troy Benny	[10]
1983	Lady Dynamite	Yes			Yes	as Troy Benny
1983	Flesh Pond	Yes			Yes	as Troy Benny	[8]
1985	Flesh and Bullets	Yes	Yes	Yes		as Efrain Tobalina	[11][12]
1986	Super Sex	Yes	Yes			as Troy Benny	[13]
1986	Pulsating Flesh	Yes			Uncredited	as Troy Benny	[13]

References

1. Berg, Nate (May 12, 2016). "Sex, Cash & Suicide: Carlos Tobalina - Carlos Tobalina and His Palisades 'House of Ill Fame'". Palisadian-Post. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
2. Horak, Jan-Christopher; Jarvinen, Lisa; Gunckel, Colin, eds. (2019). Cinema between Latin America and Los Angeles: Origins to 1960. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-1978801257.
3. Pfeiffer, Lee (January 30, 2015). "Review: "Three Ripening Cherries" (1979) and "Sensual Fire" (1980), Retro Erotica Double Feature from Vinegar Syndrome". Cinema Retro. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
4. Pfeiffer, Lee (May 14, 2016). "Review: "Lust Inferno" (1982) and "Marathon" (1982), Retro Erotica Double Feature from Vinegar Syndrome". Cinema Retro. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
5. Asa Lloyd Peoples v. The City of Birmingham, 440 F.2d 1352 (5th Cir. 1971).
6. Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15, 23 (1973).  This article incorporates public domain material from this U.S government document.
7. Pfeiffer, Lee (April 2, 2016). "Review: "Infrasexum" (1969), Retro Erotica from Vinegar Syndrome". Cinema Retro. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
8. "Anticipation / Flesh Pond – Vinegar Syndrome". Vinegar Syndrome. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
9. "Lust Inferno / Marathon – Vinegar Syndrome". Vinegar Syndrome. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
10. "My Sinful Life / Las Vegas Girls – Vinegar Syndrome". Vinegar Syndrome. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
11. "Flesh and Bullets – Vinegar Syndrome". Vinegar Syndrome. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
12. Pfeiffer, Lee (September 26, 2016). "Review: "Flesh and Bullets" (1985) Starring Glenn McKay and Mick Morrow; DVD Special Edition from Vinegar Syndrome". Cinema Retro. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
13. "Pulsating Flesh / Super Sex – Vinegar Syndrome". Vinegar Syndrome. Retrieved January 15, 2020.

External links

• Carlos Tobalina at IMDb