If I say Atari and add "1978", our readers automatically think of the famous VCS console, better known as Atari 2600. 1978 was the beginning of the end for Atari for many reasons, but if we have to choose something unusual among its activities, it's that the company partially financed an adult film and also enabled a filming location. The film is called "A Cadillac Named Desire", and it featured Sharon Thorpe, one of the stars of the era.
The story tells us that Nolan Bushnell sold Atari to Warner Communications for about $30 million in 1976, a little over $130 million adjusted for inflation. The relationship between Bushnell and Warner was very bad, to the point that everything broke in December 1978 (Warner says they fired him, Bushnell insists he resigned). However, that is just one of many things that happened that year.
"A Cadillac Named Desire"
The writer Cat Despira discovered a very interesting detail while reading the book Atari Inc: Business is Fun. According to what the text presents, Bushnell and Ted Dabney stayed in contact despite their differences, and even talked with Larry Bryan (the third partner from the Syzygy era), who proposed funding something... different: an adult film.
"A Cadillac Named Desire" was written by Oliver Nalreh, a pseudonym for Larry Bryan, and unofficially it has been said that the filming location was none other than Atari's headquarters. Those same data suggest that some company employees participated in the film, mainly during the orgy scenes.
"A Cadillac Named Desire" has as its main star Sharon Thorpe, who entered the XRCO Hall of Fame in 1985. According to the IAFD database, alongside her were Valerie Franklin, Justina Lynn, and Toni Scott, all with a wide presence in the adult film movement of the 70s.
Details like coherence and continuity seem to be lacking in "A Cadillac Named Desire". In other words, it was so bad that its connection to Atari has almost been relegated to the territory of rumors and legends. However, the film exists, and whoever wants to see it for strictly scientific purposes (?) just has to google for a while and it appears.
