Genesis Children

An update on “Genesis Children” and why you can’t find a print of it around!!!

I worked on the film for Bill Byars, the producer, and knew two of the boy actors; Peter Glawson (slightly) and Greg Hill (a lot better).

Although the film was photographed in Europe, post-production was primarily done at the Lyric offices in Los Angeles. When it premiered in the early 1970’s at a theatre in midtown Hollywood it caught the eye of the Los Angeles Police Department who, even in those more open-minded days, looked at the movie not as art – but as child porn.

They swept down on our offices and homes and arrested anyone they could. Byars fled with the boys to Turkey and Iran to avoid prosecution, and I’m told they eventually settled in Australia.

I’ve never determined whether Byars took the film negatives with him when he left, but it makes more sense that the film was found and confiscated as evidence in the police raids and today probably resides somewhere in the depths of a LAPD Property Room, where I’m guessing officers bring it out from time to time for a good laugh, congratulating themselves on a job well done protecting our youth from Hollywood predators.

If you really want to see Genesis Children, perhaps a Freedom Of Information Act request to the LA District Attorney’s office might force them to cough up a print? Good luck!

In the meantime, I ran into Greg Hill in Palm Springs a few years ago, shortly before his death. After appearing in Genesis Children, Greg travelled abroad with its producer, Bill Byars, then returned to the USA where – in his 20s – he became a popular and sought-after fashion model. From his boyhood days in Houston, Greg was an accomplished ‘party boy’, a talent which stood him in great stead for the rest of his life. Once his boyish good looks matured, he easily slid into a second career. He became an accomplished interior designer. Mentored by older, rich men, Greg had a unique talent and flair for decorating, with extremely good taste that made him a favourite of exclusive homeowners in San Francisco.

But, like so many young men with his background, Greg struggled with drugs most of his adult life.

When we last dined together at an outdoor restaurant in Palm Springs, Greg looked prosperous and healthy, but he had contracted AIDS years earlier and was struggling to keep the decease under control. We talked of the ‘old days’. Greg had no regrets, although he hadn’t been in contact with Bill Byars in years. His only concern, he said, was that some short, nude film clips of him and other cast members taken around the same time as Genesis Children were out in circulation and he wasn’t getting paid for them. But, I don’t think he needed the money. Greg was doing well, using his interior design talents updating older homes in Palm Springs. His work was exquisite, and his houses sold for record prices at the time.

That was the last time I saw Greg Hill, driving home from our lunch in his sand-colored BMW (he had a collection of cars by then, mostly 70’s muscle cars) with the sun roof open and his radio blaring. I thought to myself, “Now, there goes a guy who certainly made the best out of the hand that life dealt him.”

CPL