“There comes a time in your life when you’ve got to confess to yourself: You’re never gonna make Citizen Kane. You’re never gonna get the girl. Tonight’s not your Night and if you ever had a Night, it happened a long time ago and you blew your wad. All you can really hope for is to get a big footnote in a book somewhere. The credits roll. The curtain drops. And that’s that.” – J.X. Williams

The Big Footnote profiles the life and work of J.X. Williams, the self-proclaimed “King of the Cults”. Though J.X. languishes in obscurity today, his films influenced a generation of A-List directors who gained the recognition he so coveted yet miserably failed to achieve.

This documentary reconstructs the colorful life of J.X. from his days as a youthful Communist blacklistee to mob-financed pornographer to European art-film impresario to embittered alcoholic to savvy international “consultant”.

The Big Footnote also uncovers footage from numerous J.X. productions that have been lost for decades, including the prototypical mafia flick “Peep Show” and the ultimate film maudite, “The Virigin Sacrifice”.

"Creating a unique body of work from a heady ferment of crime, drugs, politics and porn, J.X. Williams was either a mad genius or a mob stooge. Rediscovery of his films will help cinema historians decide. He could very well be the Missing Link in the secret history of mid-20th century America." -- Eddie Muller, Programmer, San Francisco Film Noir Festival

Note: We are currently looking for former cast and crew members of films by J.X. Williams. If you have worked with J.X. Williams and would like to participate in this project, please contact noellawrence@sprintmail.com.
Mr. Williams has also posted a personal statement in relation to the project.