Inside Deep Throat (NC-17) [HD]

Back when screen porn was innocent fun
If you're old enough to have seen DEEP THROAT when it was first released in 1972, then the documentary INSIDE DEEP THROAT will perhaps be a rewarding trip down Nostalgia Lane (assuming your memory cells weren't fried by all the sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll of the 60s).

DEEP THROAT was the first porn film exhibited in public theaters, and the first to be viewed openly by mixed couples, undoubtedly elbowing out the raincoat crowd. It was produced for $25,000; to date, it's grossed $600 million, and is the most profitable, independently produced film of all time. Oh, and it's centerpiece attraction was actress Linda Lovelace fellating a goofy doctor character, played by Harry Reems, who's diagnosed Linda's character as having her clitoris in her throat. Do you get the naughty picture?

This film is a montage of archival footage from the era liberally sprinkled with interviews with the principals - producer Gerard Damiano, Lovelace, and Reems - and many others,...

A plea for the end to censorship.
Culled from over 800 hours of interviews into a feature-length documentary and narrated by Dennis Hopper, this really is a magnificent look at the cultural impact of the most successful porno film in history. To date the film has grossed over $600 million and still counting. And let's not even discuss the revenue generated for video pirates!

The film contains on-screen interviews (new and archive) with a whole range of people such as John Waters, Harry Reems, Gerard Damiano, Norman Mailer, Larry Flynt, Warren Beatty, Georgina Spelvin, Jack Nicholson, Linda Lovelace, Hugh Hefner, Xaviera Hollander, Gore Vidal, Camille Paglia, Al Goldstein, etc. Even Wes Craven comes along and confesses that he directed hardcore porno films to break into legitimate Hollywood fare.

This is a brave and timely piece that explores the issues of censorship and the right of the artist to express their views. And to think that the decision banning the film in theatres still stands. It has...

An interesting documentary that places DEEP THROAT in historical context
Whether one likes or dislikes the legacy of DEEP THROAT, there is simply no question that it is a film that for good or ill had a significant impact on American culture. To this day it remains one of only two or three porn films that the vast majority of Americans can identify by name. This interesting documentary certainly does not attempt to make a case for DEEP THROAT as a work of art and does not try to argue that it is more than what it is: a smut film. The focus instead is more on the overall cultural impact of the film and the fate of the major participants in its making and distribution. It also attempts to use the film as a measure of where the United States was in the late sixties and where it is today. It is also, I should add, a quite funny film.

That DEEP THROAT spawned major changes in American life is beyond debate. The debate comes over whether that is a good or bad thing. What has always amazed me is the widespread popularity of porn movies in...

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