##[Crime Of The Century
by Supertramp playing]
# Now they're planning
the crime of the century #
# Well what will it be? #
# Read all about their schemes
and adventuring #
# It's well worth a fee ##
We are living
in a glorious time,
a time of great conflict
to be sure.
(male newsreader 1)
Today, a nationwide crackdown
was underway...
(male newsreader 2)
...eight men were arrested
from...
(male newsreader 3)
...hardcore
pornographic pictures.
(Gerard Damiano)
On one side of the coin
are those in favor
of absolutely no censorship.
[crowd clamoring]
On the other hand,
there are those who advocate
the government dictating to us
what we should see,
read, and hear.
(newsreader 1)
... they say it all started
with the sex film Deep Throat.
##[Spill the Wine
by Eric Burdon & WAR playing]
(Waters)
I saw Deep Throat in New York
when it first came out.
(Larry Flynt)
People were lined up
for at least three blocks.
# I was once out strolling
one very hot summer's day #
Oh, yeah, there was
a screening in some
psychoanalyst's apartment
and everybody
watched and smoked dope.
Oh, yeah.
# I dreamed I was
in a Hollywood movie #
# That I was the star
of the movie #
# This really blew my mind #
(Dr. Westheimer)
I thought, "Fantastic.
"This is going to change
the climate
"of talking about
issues of sexuality
in these United States."
# Spill the wine
and take that pearl ##
(Dick Cavett)
I'm one of the handful
of people who never saw it.
I didn't intend to not see it.
[clattering]
Perhaps you could
arrange for me to see it.
Now.
[machine humming]
[projector whirring]
(Camille Paglia)
Deep Throat was
an epochal moment
in the history
of modern sexuality.
It is the first time
that respectable
middle-class women
went to porn theaters.
It really broke down,
uh, traditional codes
of--of decorum.
(Hugh Hefner)
Linda Lovelace,
and conversations,
and jokes about Deep Throat,
appeared
on network television.
If the film
became mainstream,
conversation about it
became truly mainstream.
It's kind of
a strange country, isn't it?
Judges can see Deep Throat,
but they can't listen
to those tapes.
[audience laughing]
(Hefner)
I think the major thing
that set, uh,
Deep Throat apart was,
it had a gimmick.
Ah! Ah--ah!
Well, there it is,
you little bugger,
there it is.
What?
Your clitoris, it's deep down
in the bottom of your throat.
[crying]
The clitoris
hidden in the throat
was something
you could talk about
and laugh about.
It's better than having
no clitoris at all.
[sobbing]
That's easy
for you to say.
Suppose your balls
were in your ear.
(Bill Maher)
I was 19 when I saw it.
I don't think I had found
where the clitoris really was.
So I think the idea
that it was misplaced
on the human body
was lost on me.
I--I was looking for
the original site.
It was a giggle.
And the worst thing
to be said about us,
as Americans,
is that we'll sell
our souls for a giggle.
Listen, uh, we have
the problem solved.
All we have to do now
is find the solution.
[sobbing]
Like what?
Like deep throat.
Deep what?
Throat.
Have you ever taken
a penis all the way down
to the bottom
of your throat?
It was a badge of
the new freedom.
[projector whirring]
Have you been
to the experience
of paying to go
in a porno theater
[woman moaning]
and see a woman
give a blowjob
in a movie theater
in your community?
That was very, very new.
Something that's hard
for people today to imagine,
how liberating that was.
Or--or terrible, depending on
what you believe in.
It's a floodtide of
filth that's engulfed
the minds and
hearts and souls
of America like
nothing else ever has.
We have smut all over the face
of this country now
because we are letting
those immoral people
have their way
in our country.
Deep Throat succeeded
commercially at least in part
because the government
went after it.
The government became
the driving force
behind the public relations.
(old lady)
I just saw it and I liked it.
I liked it. I wanted to see
a dirty picture
and that's what I saw.
But I want the right
to see that picture.
I don't want somebody
telling me that I can't
see a dirty picture.
Deep Throat attacks
the very core of our being.
(Linda Lovelace)
Every time someone
watches that movie,
they're watching me
being raped.
Do I belong in jail
for five years
for acting in Deep Throat?
Deep Throat now
has had a phenomenal success
going on
for two-and-a-half years,
and it's only
because it's being hassled.
(female reporter)
Do you think
it's a good movie?
No, I don't think
it's a good movie.
I'm takin' a walk,
Mrs. Brown.
I am doing fine, dear,
thank you.
[birds chirping]
##[Brand New Key
by Melanie playing]
# I rode my bicycle
past your window last night #
# I roller-skated
to your door at daylight #
# It almost seems
like you're avoiding me #
These are some pictures
or posters from some
of the films I've done.
# Well, I got a brand new pair
of roller-skates #
# You got a brand new key #
Aren't they kind of cute?
# I think that we should
get together #
A picture of Gerard, my son,
when he was a lot younger,
and my daughter
when she was younger.
# You got something for me #
(Dennis Hopper)
Long before Deep Throat,
Damiano was a family man.
He and his wife
ran a beauty salon
in Queens, New York.
# Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah ##
(Damiano)
I enjoyed being a hairdresser
because I always
could relate to women.
After you got to know
the woman,
especially when you
worked on them weekly,
you start to get into history
about "we went to the movies"
and "he did this and I did..."
And realize that most--
most of the women
were very unhappy
in their relationship
with the person that
they were married to
and supposedly
in love with.
After 40 years of marriage,
you know, you can get
tired of the good old
in and out.
You--you got to be intimate.
It was almost like a priest.
I mean, l--I don't wanna say
I was a priest,
but it was almost like--
it was almost like
a confessor.
(Hopper)
The confessions Damiano heard
in his salon,
made him realize he
was on the frontlines
of a sexual revolution.
(Hefner)
We grew up in a time
in which sex itself
was largely taboo.
When I was a kid,
young people didn't even know
where babies came from.
(Cavett)
I'd love to know.
If I watch
the rest of this program,
will I know the answer?
Gore Vidal would be very good
on the subject.
You must take into account
how ignorant people are.
Particularly our countrymen,
who have never taken
a course in biology,
never read a book.
Do you know anything
about the facts of life?
Not very much,
I'm afraid.
(Hopper)
The facts of life
and sexual morality in general
were forbidden topics.
But as all that changed,
issues about sexuality
began to divide society.
(old man)
Artificial contraception
is wrong.
Evil.
(Norman Mailer)
People were experimenting.
They were looking
for new kinds of lives.
They were looking to break out
of all the old molds.
(Al Goldstein)
And we knew
the American public were tired
of words like "coitus. "
They wanted words,
like "fuck,"
and "suck," and "eat my cunt."
I think the more that
filth is thrown at Americans
the less favored it becomes.
They're depicting sex
in a very filthy way.
(John Waters)
Jackie Kennedy
went to see that.
The next week,
the gross doubled.
I--I don't mind
seeing sex in a-- in a movie
just for its own sake
because I think that's one
of the, you know,
more interesting
human emotions.
(Erica Jong)
Sex was in movies.
Sex was on TV.
Sex came out of the closet.
(Damiano)
You had to be there.
You had to be there.
I'm thrilled
that I was there.
And thank God
I had a camera with me.
(Hopper)
As the sexual revolution
swept through society,
people took sides
in a culture war
that was gathering steam.
Gerry Damiano
joined the fray by swapping
his blow dryer
for a movie camera.
(Damiano)
I loved film.
I--I always did.
The only thing you could make
was sex films.
Uh, that was the only thing
you were allowed to make
and you made them
at a low budget.
Doing hardcore films
in those days, the early '70s,
was very much
like summer stock.
It was like,
"Daddy has a barn,
let's do a show."
[giggling]
Oh, my!
Oh!
[crowing]
It--it was the only choice
we had.
Till 24 years old
without,
you know, uh, uh,
what do you call it, uh,
a track record, you know.
And these things
were so inexpensive.
Okay, what I want now is
some of your ass,
all right?
(Ron Wertheim)
I meant business.
I approached those films as if
I was Luc Godard
or somebody, you know.
And just wiggle it
towards us.
I want to fill up
with your ass.
You're always
after my ass.
Keep wigglin'.
That's where I met
half of the people
that I became
acquainted with.
We were all working
for nothing.
Well, one of
Gerry's motivations
was to get laid.
Really. And he did.
[laughing]
(Andrea True)
You could make a living
if you were a filmmaker,
making these films.
Quite a number of people
became legitimate
Hollywood directors
out of the porn industry.
I mean, for a while there,
it was kinda like
the entry level job
that you would do.
Uh, you would
work on-- on porn.
I'm... I--I certainly
worked on them.
I'm not gonna say
which ones,
but l--I was around it.
(Damiano)
All of sudden, there was
a new word.
It was called "filmmaker. "
You became
an independent filmmaker.
We were actually doing it
[chuckling]
and we couldn't believe it.
We couldn't believe it,
and thank God there was,
there was such
a thing as sex.
(Hopper)
There was sex,
but at the time,
the only way to put
hardcore sex
on the screen legally,
was in sex education films.
My name is
Dr. Morris Rosengarden.
(Wes Craven)
They would show sexual scenes,
but they couldn't be accused
of pornography
because it had
an educational value.
(doctor)
Some men
find their wives' buttocks
very stimulating visually.
We needed a father figure
for almost everything.
(doctor)
This may be uncomfortable
for the obese
or older couples.
(Damiano)
Why did you need a doctor
to tell you it was okay?
And I said,
"Hey, instead of
discussing not doing it,
Iet's do it
and don't even discuss it."
There's nothing
to be ashamed of.
[siren blaring]
(Hopper)
But there was plenty
to be afraid of.
In addition to
running the risk of arrest
and incarceration,
the criminal underworld
virtually controlled
the production of pornography.
(Mailer)
There was something exciting
about it.
It--it lived in some,
uh, mid-world
between crime and art
and it was adventurous.
(True)
Young people today
would be in it for the money
whereas in the old days,
it was for the rebellion.
(Craven)
Frankly, everybody
in one way or another
was connected to that business
because psychologically,
socially, it was happening.
(Harry Reems)
You know, it was part
of a social movement
at the time.
Anybody who took chances
in breaking the social mores
of the time,
was considered a hero.
(Damiano)
I believed in it.
I believed that it was
about time to say
that sex
is a beautiful thing,
the human body is
a beautiful thing,
and you really
shouldn't be ashamed of it.
(Hopper)
Securing financial backing
from partners
with underworld connections,
Damiano raised
enough money to shoot
a hardcore sex feature.
It was going to be called
The Doctor Makes a House Call.
Then Damiano met his muse,
Linda Lovelace,
and everything changed.
To me, I always looked at her
as the girl next door.
(Hopper)
Before she became world-famous
as Linda Lovelace,
Linda Boreman
dreamt of opening
a clothing boutique
until she met Chuck Traynor.
(Patsy Carroll)
I guess he was an escape
for her.
She was not comfortable
living in her parents' home.
And he took her away
from that.
But things
started getting strange.
Linda told me
that she had quit smoking,
and I said,
"Well, how did you do it,
how did you quit?"
She said that
Chuck had hypnotized her.
She said every time
she tried to have a cigarette,
that she would hiccup.
I'm like, "Oh, well, okay."
(Hopper)
Within a year,
they were married.
I curse the day that
she ever met
Chuck Traynor.
Unfortunately, he died
before I could kill him,
so lucky for him.
Then I lost contact
and her mother told me that
uh, they're living in New York
and he's doing
documentary films,
and I thought,
"How nice, how exciting."
[camera whirring]
(Damiano)
Chuck had come to my office
and I needed a scene
for another film.
He says, "Well,
Linda can do something."
You know, she...
There was no name for it.
He says,
"She gives head very well."
I said,
"Well, that's wonderful."
So we set up with her
and an actor
to do a--a bit
for another film.
And when I saw
what she could do,
I says, "Stop the cameras."
[camera whirring]
All I could think about was
what she was doing
was so unique
that I could build
a whole film around it.
Making a motion picture
specifically about
that sexual act,
I--I found very daring
and very courageous.
(Damiano)
The first thing that came
to my mind was--was the title
of Deep, Deep Throat.
Because something happened
deep down in--in her throat.
What? The clitoris
is in her throat?
Gerry, you can't do this.
[chuckling]
You can't do this.
It's absurd, it's silly.
Nobody will believe it.
I thought it was,
[stammering]
you know,
absurd. I did.
Believe it or not,
some people said,
"What is this, a medical film?
What are you gonna do?
With doctors?"
I said, "No. No."
Somebody said it should be
The Sword Swallower.
I said, "No, no. Deep Throat,
believe me, it'll work.
It'll work."
And, uh,
[chuckling]
I'm glad I didn't change it
to The Sword Swallower.
I, kind of,
had the whole thing
in--in my head driving over
the 59th Street Bridge.
That weekend,
I wrote the script
and we--we were ready
to do it.
And I spoke to
my production manager,
Ronnie Wertheim.
The phone rang.
It was Gerry. All excited.
And I told him to bring
all our cast and crew
down to Florida.
We're going to make the film.
(Wertheim)
I just called, uh,
Harry Reems.
He came as
a production assistant.
He wasn't even supposed
to be in the film.
(Reems)
When we got to Florida,
we all checked into
this, uh, motel,
I think it was called
The Voyager.
(Wertheim)
As we pulled in,
we saw Linda Lovelace
Iying on the lawn with her...
You know what her
pussycat's name was?
Adolf Hitler.
He had a mustache like that.
We came from New York
with the promise of
having locations.
(Camp)
To me, it was nothing.
I thought nothing of it.
I thought it was just
a--a piece of shit film.
Probably one of
the worst porno movies
ever made.
He's nuts.
Lenny Camp was nuts.
He was one of
the guys that were lining up
everything for us.
And, uh, we got nothing.
If it wasn't for us,
this guy would look like
a piece of shit,
which he really is.
The only thing that saved us,
I said, "Wait a minute,
"we're at The Voyager Motel,
let's go back and shoot
what we were supposed to do
here in the pool. "
From that moment on,
everybody was
location hunting.
One of the locations
that we shot at
down in Florida,
was at this, uh,
home in Coconut Grove
that was owned by a guy
who called himself a count.
He's not a count.
He's a horseshit count.
He is no count,
he's fucking Sepy Dobronyi.
And God knows
if that's his real name.
When we came,
they had this elaborate,
elaborate, elaborate
wine cellar.
Should we go
to the wine cellar?
(interviewer)
Yes.
# Yeah, Oh, yeah,
Oh, yeah #
# Yeah, Oh, yeah,
Oh, yeah #
# Yeah, Oh, yeah,
Oh, yeah ##
[Sepy speaking]
If it was planned,
it would not have
been as exciting,
'cause we were just rushing
from one place to another.
(Helen)
You all right?
Yeah, I'm fine,
what makes you say that?
You,
the way you're acting.
(Damiano)
In the very beginning,
there were no
porno actors and actresses.
So everybody
had to be taught.
The actors are all shit.
Not--not taught
in the sense of taught.
Taught how to be natural.
Sex,
it makes me feel sort of
tingly all over.
And then...
(Helen)
And then what?
Nothing.
I mean, there should be
more to sex
than a lot of little tingles.
There should be
bells ringing,
dams bursting,
bombs going off, something.
Do you want to get off
or do you want
to wreck a city?
Helen, please, be serious.
Gerry knew nothing about it.
He knew nothing about acting,
he knew nothing about, um...
He knew nothing.
He knew nothing.
But as a swinger himself,
he had a feel
for how to get people
in a sexual mood.
# Do you wanna touch me? #
# Do you wanna touch me?
Do you wanna touch me? Yeah ##
The really important thing
was Harry Reems.
I couldn't find
anybody in Florida
that could even come close
to doing the role.
So at one point,
I fired him off the crew,
[chuckling]
and hired him as the lead,
and thank God he was there,
because l--I don't know
of anybody
that could have even
come close to doing
the job that he did,
as--as the wacky doctor.
I want to hear bells.
Bells?
Bombs.
Bombs?
And dams bursting.
The rockets' red glare.
No, he's not an actor,
he knows that.
Bombs bursting
in air.
# Gave proof through the night
that our flag
was still there ##
He--he would get an erection
at the sound
of the camera motor.
That explains a lot.
You know, l--l, uh,
I never had a problem
um, getting an erection.
# Oh, yeah, Oh, yeah,
Oh, yeah ##
(Damiano)
Linda had the hots
for Harry Reems.
And the morning
we were gonna do
the deep throat scene,
she came to me
and she was very upset,
and she says,
"Chuck is--is--is so jealous
of Harry Reems
that I don't think
I can do a good job. "
Chuck was a member
of our crew.
Production manager
sent him to...
Uh, we said
we're running out of film.
So he went to Miami
to buy film
when we shot the scene,
Linda was completely relaxed,
and she did a marvelous job.
Uh, when I saw her do that,
yes, it is kind of amazing.
Kind of amazing.
It really is.
Surprised?
I was flabbergasted.
I had no idea.
[Seby speaking]
(Linda Williams)
This was the moment
that heterosexual film
became interested in blowjobs.
I mean, it's not that
fellatio didn't exist.
Certainly, you see
fellatio in stag films.
Um, but you don't
get this fellatio
as figured as
the be-all and end-all,
as the absolute pleasure.
(Hefner)
The thing that
you have to remember
about fellatio is,
historically, it had
been considered illegal
and referred to
as the abominable,
detestable crimes
against nature.
Deep throat was not a term
that my girlfriends and l
really knew anything about.
Most of us had never
even heard of oral sex
or how to perform it.
And people
who wouldn't have dreamed
of going near
that sort of matter
in the '40s and '50s,
and certainly in the '30s,
because that was dirty,
that was low sex,
that was dreadful,
began to see it
as an enrichment.
And I'll just mention
that ejaculate,
I've always known,
was good for the complexion.
[chuckling]
It's full of babies,
its--it's full of protein,
it's full of, uh, plasma.
And to rub it
all over your face
and neck and chest,
a lot of women know that
that's a good thing to do,
not for him but for you.
(Hopper)
Gerry returned to New York
to edit his film.
But there was still
one thing he needed.
A mind-blowing
cinematic female orgasm;
proof of the success
of Linda's quest
for sexual satisfaction.
People didn't
understand that women,
uh, could have as much--
feel as much pleasure
as men did.
Somehow, nobody ever
acknowledged
there was such a thing
as an orgasm for a woman.
That was all male stuff.
(Williams)
It is harder to show
female pleasure.
It's harder to show
female pleasure,
and to believe
that it's actually happening.
That's why I wanted
to show it.
(Damiano)
I went to the film archives
in--in Washington
and got footage of a rocket
and then did
subliminal cutting
with--with the rocket
and--and Linda,
back and forth.
[rumbling]
(Jong)
This is a male fantasy
that says;
"l like to have
my cock sucked.
I really get off on it,
therefore she must, too."
I think that was
a hell of a shot.
[fireworks exploding]
Look, men want to believe
that the clitoris
is in a woman's throat.
Because if they believe
that the clitoris
is in a woman's throat,
then they can believe
that by thrusting
their penis
into a woman's mouth,
she gets as much pleasure
as they do.
Guess what? It's not true.
Uh, you know,
l--I guess, uh,
Deep Throat opened up
a--a, uh, a can of worms.
# Get down, get down,
get down, get down #
When hardcore pornography
is permitted
to corrupt the minds
of children,
then the time has come
for new moral leadership
to make itself felt
in America.
[crowd applauding]
(Hopper)
Before Deep Throat
was even shot,
politics and pornography
were on a collision course.
In 1968,
the government launched
a scientific commission
to determine if pornography
really was harmful.
# Jungle Boogie #
# Jungle Boogie,
Get it on #
[machine beeping]
[moaning]
# Get it on ##
(Howard Smith)
Well, today, the final results
were published.
The presidential commission
recommended doing away
with most of the laws
that cover pornography,
because they don't
seem to be doing much good,
and because pornography
doesn't seem to do much harm
to the adult mind.
(Georgina Spelvin)
For one brief shining moment,
it did look like
society was going to become
a little more adult
about their sexuality.
(Hopper)
But committee member
Charles Keating,
appointed by President Nixon,
fought to dismiss
the findings.
Obscenity does indeed effect.
The effect it has
is detrimental to society.
Charles Keating was
a notorious censorship bug.
Later on, of course,
we discovered he was
a good deal more.
He was a swindler
and went to prison.
The president said today,
"So long as I am
in the White House,
"there will be no relaxation
of the national effort
to control
and eliminate smut. "
(Hopper)
Then Nixon persuaded
the Senate
to reject the report,
suppressing its findings.
Everybody forgot about
the President's commission
on pornography,
because they--they
didn't come out
with the answer
they were looking for.
Instead, Nixon got reelected,
after being declared
politically dead,
and the forces of repression
came in,
in a huge, huge way.
(Gore Vidal)
He knew all the buttons
to press.
Sodomy...
[crowd clamoring]
[exclaiming]
I mean, everybody starts
to vibrate like a gong.
We lie about human sexuality,
because we're taught
to lie about everything.
When you have a nation
that totally lies,
then you have
no reality.
(Hopper)
The message was clear;
Cleaning up porn
was good politics.
And what better place to start
than Times Square,
the nation's capital of sleaze
and the site
of Deep Throat's premiere
in June 1972.
(Judge Tyler)
A good many
of the so-called perverts
are attracted to 42nd Street
and we've had complaints.
# Superfly ##
[siren blaring]
(Goldstein)
Suddenly, I see a movie
that knocks my socks off.
And here's
the wonderful thing:
This film, Deep Throat,
is funny.
And Linda's a wonderful,
wonderful cocksucker.
God, I wish my wives
could suck dick like that.
And I give it 100 points
on the Peter-Meter.
"Peter" means
how many hard-ons do I get.
Now it would take
to get me hard,
but then I'm virile and young
and I get many hard-ons.
New Yorkers greet it
with the same
enthusiasm as I did.
It was a joy.
As we say in lsrael,
it was a mitzvah.
I have the privilege
of announcing
the formation of
the Times Square
Development Council.
(Hopper)
Deep Throat
was the perfect target
for New York's campaign
to clean up porn
and the police moved in.
[projector whirring]
(John Gorman)
I first became aware
of Deep Throat
when it was, uh,
it was advertised
in the papers.
It was the talk of the office,
you know, "Look at this."
(Waters)
Being in the industry,
so to speak,
we all ran out to see it.
It was stunning.
The cinematography,
for a porno movie,
was very good.
The movie was funny.
It had the kind of lines
in it, uh, that were amusing.
Mind if I smoke
while you're eating?
No, not at all.
It was definitely
a change of pace,
definitely
a change of pace.
We knew that this was, uh,
this was something different.
# Love, love is strange ##
(Hefner)
I think they picked
on Deep Throat
because it was
the highest profile.
If they could, uh,
successfully prosecute
Deep Throat,
uh, then they felt that
the other prosecutions
would be easier.
(Hopper)
Not once, not twice,
but three times
the police raided Deep Throat,
staging their final raid
for the cameras.
[people chattering]
(Herb Kassner)
This was political.
If nobody records the arrest,
then nobody will know
that they are doing their job
in fighting sin.
Do you--you consider
what you're running
pornographic, sir?
If it was pornographic,
they could prosecute
in a diligent, proper manner.
They wouldn't have to
come around in hoards of 50
and take signs
out of windows
and act like
the Gestapo of old.
This theater that had not done
$5,000 a week in 20 years,
was running
virtually 20 hours a day.
It never stopped running.
The owners really couldn't
afford to shut it down.
They didn't want
to shut it down.
And so, uh, there--there was
going to be a trial.
[gavel pounding]
(Hopper)
Deep Throat's defense
produced expert witnesses
to argue that the film was
more enlightening
than merely obscene.
[witness speaking]
(Hopper)
But the prosecution countered
that this sexual satisfaction
was dangerous to women
because Deep Throat emphasized
the wrong kind of orgasm;
the clitoral orgasm.
(William Purcell)
I remember that the judge
hadn't heard the term.
And, uh,
so he expressed surprise
and asked the question,
"What's that?"
(doctor)
Here, just outside and above
the vaginal opening
[echoing]
is the clitoris.
[prosecution speaking]
[doctor's voice echoing]
The clitoris.
He should have been
sitting in my classes
because he would have
heard me say loud and clear
that let's get away
from that idea,
which still
some people have,
that, uh,
a vaginal orgasm
is, um, more satisfying
for a woman
than a clitoral orgasm.
No such thing.
(Helen Brown)
At that time, a real orgasm
could only happen
if you were with a man
and his penis
was inside of you
and that was total,
utter nonsense, of course.
Sex is not only for penises.
Uh, sex is something
for women.
[doctor's voice echoing]
The clitoris.
(doctor)
This tiny organ,
about the size and shape
of a garden pea,
is the seat
of sexuality in women.
I think the judge
learned a lot during the trial
as l... Look,
l--I certainly did myself.
(Hopper)
As the judge retired
to consider his verdict,
ticket sales almost doubled,
prompting a young reporter
from the New York Times
to write an article
that would give the film
mainstream legitimacy.
(Ralph Blumenthal)
I remember
writing the article.
Uh, the--the headline
was "Porno chic. "
[chuckling]
I wrote it on a typewriter.
People look
at the Times as a validator.
And they see,
if--if the Times can
write about Deep Throat,
well, then it must be safe
in some way.
(Hopper)
The week the article
hit the stands,
the film's box office soared
as people rushed
to see the film
in record numbers.
(male reporter)
Approximately how many people
have seen Deep Throat?
Approximately
have been in to see the film.
(reporter)
Are you looking forward
to this movie?
Yes, I am.
People from Central Park West
and Fifth Avenue
and Park Avenue
wanted to go down and see it
and go slumming.
(Xaviera Hollander)
There was a private showing.
Before I knew what happened,
there was, like,
group sex happening,
left, right, and center.
(patron)
Since this is supposed to be
it of its genre,
and since it's had this piece
in the New York Times,
I might as well see it
if it's going.
(reporter)
What are you expecting to see?
Well, uh,
you might close me down if l
said what I was going to say.
It took porn out of the realm
of the forbidden.
Why, there's nothing wrong
with a normal man
going to
a pornographic movie.
Normal, all right,
but why were you there?
You would see
movie stars there.
You would see
society people there.
I went to see Deep Throat
because I'm fond
of animal pictures.
[audience laughing]
I thought it was
about giraffes.
of the people there
are asthmatics.
What do you mean,
asthmatics?
'Cause all I could hear
was...
[panting]
[audience laughing]
People weren't jerking off
when, you know, I don't know
who's sitting next
to Angela Lansbury.
Oh, I'm just picking her out,
but--but basically,
because she'd just
put a damper on things.
What did you say the name of
that movie was?
Uh, Deep Threat.
You'd better hurry up
before you miss the opening
'cause you don't
wanna miss the opening.
In the opening, Linda...
[screaming]
[audience laughing]
(Hopper)
Deep Throat was so successful
that it turned Linda Lovelace
from an unknown
into a celebrity
and poster-child
for the new porn chic.
I made $1, 200
for Deep Throat.
(reporter)
And that's all?
[chuckling]
Yeah.
What about...
I'm, you know, now I'm known,
so it's okay.
(Barbara Boreman)
It was about 11;00 at night
and we were
watching television.
And we saw this
theater and it said,
you know, Linda Lovelace,
Deep Throat
or whatever it was.
And, uh, I said,
"Oh, disgusting.
Absolutely disgusting."
A girlfriend of mine
called and said,
"Pick up Playboy Magazine.
If that's not Linda,
I'll eat the magazine."
So I stopped, I picked it up,
'cause it wasn't allowed
in my house.
And I opened it up
and I read it
and I said, "Oh, my God."
And I knew then, it was--
it was our Linda.
That was difficult for me,
to see the movie.
[clicking]
[crowd cheering]
When we got home,
I threw myself across the bed
and started bawling.
I was crying like, l'd, um,
Iike I just found out
someone I loved had died.
And, uh,
and it wasn't, um...
It wasn't just, uh, you know,
a sleazy little film on a--
on a small screen
with a bunch of guys
in trench coats there.
I mean, there were,
society was there.
I didn't know how
Linda was going to be
able to deal with that.
(Boreman)
The next time I spoke to her,
she said, "I'm sorry,
"l didn't want you to know,
'cause I knew you'd be upset
or you'd be angry."
I said, "I'm not angry
'cause I don't know
who Linda Lovelace is.
I only know who you are."
[camera clicking]
The pornographic film
Deep Throat
has become
one of the most popular
and profitable blue movies
of all time.
Today, a Manhattan
criminal court judge
ruled the film obscene,
and ordered it removed
from theaters
in New York City.
[Judge Tyler reading]
A Sodom and Gomorrah
gone wild before the fire.
(Kassner)
He believed he was writing
for posterity.
Now you and I know,
in retrospect,
that he accomplished
absolutely nothing.
[Judge Tyler reading]
I readily perform
the operation
by finding
the defendant guilty
as charged.
[projector whirring]
I still think
what the World Theatre did
on its marquee
was better than what he wrote
in his opinion.
"Throat cut, world mourns. "
It's a picture
that'll never die.
I mean, we'll all die,
but Deep Throat won't die.
[chuckling]
(Hopper)
Shutting Deep Throat down
in New York
only spurred
audiences' interest
across the country.
Wherever it opened,
authorities scrambled
to shut it down.
(man)
This trash that's being shown
on our movie screens
across the country.
There isn't any question
in my mind that it's obscene.
[woman speaking]
(Hopper)
By the mid '70s, Deep Throat
had been tried
in more than 32 cities...
[woman speaking]
...and was ultimately banned
in 23 states.
Violation of the law.
It's a simple thing.
[siren blaring]
It's obscene as hell to me.
(man)
Hmm.
(Hopper)
Ordered to stop the spread
of Deep Throat,
the FBI stepped in.
They began with the arrest
of Gerry Damiano.
The first question
the prosecutor asked me:
Did I know what--
what affiliation
m-my partners had?
And I said as far as I know,
he's a Roman Catholic.
All of a sudden,
I'm--I'm part of the mob.
No. I was--
I was never a mob.
(Blumenthal)
There were originally
three partners
who made the movie.
His two partners came to him,
Damiano told me,
and told him
they were buying him out.
And I said to him
that didn't sound
like a very good, uh, deal,
uh, when you're
a one-third partner
of a project
that is just, you know,
bringing in
bucket-loads of money
and you're suddenly
cut out of the deal.
Uh, why didn't he object?
And he rolled his eyes
and he wouldn't say anymore.
And the--the only thing
he told me was he didn't want
his legs broken.
No, it was easier for me
to--to say:
"l--I don't,
I don't want to have
anything to do with it."
It was easier.
It was a lot easier.
It was, kind of a--
it was, kind of a--
a thing I could not
have won.
That's about as far as
I could go with it.
(Hopper)
Damiano wasn't alone.
Across the country,
theater owners discovered
exhibiting Deep Throat
also meant
running with the mob.
One day,
I pick up the New York Times,
and in it,
it says it is very chic
to see Deep Throat.
So that gave me an idea
to see if I can get
the picture for Florida.
Luckily,
I knew one of the men
that was connected
with the picture.
And I didn't think
it could run in Florida.
And so,
I was given the picture
for a very reasonable amount.
I never would have
dreamt of opening
that picture anywheres
if it wasn't for that article.
(Terry)
If we don't get sued,
it will be a miracle.
Terry, please, Terry.
It's almost over.
I think it's enough.
Cut. Finished.
It's almost over.
It's enough.
It's almost over.
I--I think
it's enough already.
You don't realize
how people pick up
on things.
What are they
picking up on, Terry?
They're picking up on things
in Miami Beach.
You--you just said
they do bad things.
They could
call you up on this.
(Terry)
Come on, Artie,
don't be stupid.
You're a grown man.
Cut.
Terry.
##[Dragging the Line
by Tommy James playing]
# Making a living
the old, hard way #
# Taking and giving
my day by day #
# I dig the snow and rain
and bright sunshine #
(Bill Kelly)
My name is Bill Kelly.
# Draggin' the line ##
The reason there were
so many more
obscenity cases
after 1972
was because I went out
and looked for 'em.
I knew it was a gamble
because of New York
having problems with the city,
that it was on trial.
(Arthur Sommer)
I opened the picture
and the next thing I knew
we had lines
around the corner.
There must have been,
I'm guessing 100 or 150 people
in line when they opened.
Every fucking FBl agent
in the country
was sitting in the audience.
Kelly was there
and everything else.
(Kelly)
You walked into the theater.
There's just a,
sort of a bent-nosed,
middle-aged guy
with a very rough voice.
He says, "$5. "
So I gave him $5 and said:
"Where is the ticket?"
He said,
"No tickets, just go on in."
The movie started
and about 50 of them
got up and said:
"It's a sex picture,
get me out! Get me out!
It's a sex picture,
I can't stand it."
(Kelly)
Not only was it a violation
of the obscenity law
of the United States,
it was also
a highly organized
crime enterprise.
(Kelly)
I didn't know
who the Peraino gang was
at that time.
But I soon found out
when I started investigating
that they were heavyweights
out of New York.
They were part of
the Colombo family operation
who had moved
to Fort Lauderdale area.
I haven't seen them
since l--I left.
And I want to make sure
l--I don't get a phone call
or get a knock on the door
that they want to talk to me.
Because I've been
away from them for 30 years.
And l--l--I'd like it
to be that way.
(Terry)
This is-- this is shit
as far as I'm concerned.
Excuse my language
but I can't stand it.
He can tell you things,
your hair would
stand up on your heads.
I didn't mention
any of those things,
Terry.
What?
I didn't mention any of them.
I don't-- I don't
want you to.
I didn't.
We haven't heard
in 32 years.
Thank God.
So, how do you know?
I don't know
if they're living.
They could be dead,
Terry.
(Hopper)
In its second year of release,
Deep Throat was still
number 11 on the charts.
It's a dirty movie.
Look, try to look at it
as a satire of
contemporary sexual mores
with lots of
redeeming social values.
(Hopper)
Porn chic was all the rage.
Films like Damiano's
The Devil in Miss Jones
and Behind the Green Door
followed on the heels
of Deep Throat's
unprecedented success,
giving Hollywood films
a run for their money.
(Peter Bart)
The studios were in shambles
in the early '70s.
There's this movie out there,
everyone's going to see it.
How does that affect you
and the pictures
you should be making?
(Lovelace)
I've been the first one
to go down the path.
I'd like to see, uh,
legitimate films
and so-called
pornographic films
merge together.
I think the two industries
have got to merge together.
(Lovelace)
Thank you for making me
the first woman president
to go down in history.
(Bart)
They were shooting porn films
on the lot at Paramount.
This is a little known fact.
So Paramount became sort of
confiscated by
the porn industry.
(reporter)
Do you see yourself
as a pioneer?
(Damiano)
No.
If it's left alone,
within a year,
sex will just blend itself
into film.
It's inevitable.
The only thing
that's uncertain
is--is the time it will take.
(Hopper)
But the merger of hardcore
and movies never happened.
Instead, the Supreme Court,
packed with
made a radical change
to the obscenity law
in June 1973.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court
authorized wider restrictions
on the exhibition
and sale of obscenity.
(male announcer)
The recent Supreme Court
decision
gave local officials the right
to decide for themselves
what is pornographic
without having to be guided
by a national standard.
[police siren wailing]
(Mudd)
Here in New York City today,
vice squad police
began cracking down
on pornography.
[police sirens
continue wailing]
(reporter)
Linda, as you may know,
the Supreme Court recently,
uh, handed down
a, uh,
decision on pornography.
I don't think
anybody should
regulate anything.
I think it should be, uh,
I don't believe in censorship.
I don't believe in
anything that they are doing.
But how far can you extend
individual rights
before you hit, uh,
the state of anarchy?
Uh, I really... I don't know.
Have you ever
thought about that?
No. I don't know what's
the state of ana-anarchy.
Well, it's...
That's when everyone does
precisely what he pleases
and, uh,
society has no rules.
At that point,
you've reached anarchy.
Uh, I don't know
about that,
to be honest with you.
I just don't believe
in censorship.
I don't...
That's taking away
your freedom.
That's taking away
your individual right
to make up your own mind
for things.
The last person
that started censorship
was Adolf Hitler.
And look
what happened there.
(Hopper)
Meanwhile,
the FBI was closing in
on Deep Throat
and its distribution.
They pinpointed
the Perainos' headquarters
in Fort Lauderdale
and placed them
under surveillance.
(Kelly)
One day,
I get a telephone call
from a confidential source
who will remain anonymous.
And he says to me, uh;
"We've got so much cash
that we are having trouble
"physically moving about
the office
because the money
is gettin' in the way. "
I said, "How much you got?"
He said, "l don't know.
We don't even
count it anymore."
I said, "You don't count it?"
He said, "No."
I said, "What do you do?"
He said, "We weigh it."
(Hopper)
To get around the law
the mob set up
its own distribution system
of checkers and sweepers
who traveled the country
delivering prints
and collecting the money
from theaters.
At a certain time every day,
the checker or the sweeper
would go to the manager
of the particular theater,
and he would say,
"Our take is 50 percent.
"And we want it now, in cash.
Give us the money now,
or else."
(Peter Manouse)
I was on my way
down to Nashville.
And the reason
I went to Nashville
was I wanted to buy
these Goo Goo candy bars.
# Goo Goo, chew it,
taste it, sweet milk #
(Manouse)
I was gonna buy
a bunch of them
and just, you know,
market them
and see if
I could get it going.
Well, on Saturday night,
I decided I'd just go out.
And I met a couple of guys
from New Jersey.
They were a couple of
ltalian guys.
I happen to be a Greek,
so ltalians and Greeks
are like cousins.
# I gotta have a Goo Goo,
how 'bout you?
Goo Goo ##
They wanted me
to go to work for 'em
uh, baby-sitting
Deep Throat.
And they sent me over to
the Lamar Theater in Memphis.
And that's where it all began.
And as people walked in,
I would count 'em in.
Then I would go down
through the theater crowd
and I would count the number
of people in the theater
with a little clicker.
You know,
those little things.
A checker. That's what I was.
(Manouse)
I--I was just a
simple checker. I had no power
I had no rank, nothing.
I was just an employee.
Nobody was hurt.
And, uh,
the only ones that got hurt
was, uh, one of our checkers
in New Orleans.
Uh, he had $60,000
and he disappeared.
The money disappeared
and they found his body in
the back of a pickup truck.
(Shipley)
A theater manager
refused to pay.
And the next thing I know,
I heard
the theater burned down.
I'm not saying
they would do somethin'.
But I did have a Colt.45
with the hammer back
in my belt.
They had people
that--that would do things.
Was it any kind of, uh,
an organized crime?
Well,
is every ltalian
[stammers]
a criminal?
Is every ltalian a gangster?
I don't think so.
You know, some ltalians
have actually opened up
ltalian restaurants
[laughing]
and done very well with them.
(Sommer)
I've met
some mafia men in my life.
They won't threaten you
in any way.
But if you do
something dishonest,
most of the times,
they don't give you
a second chance.
(interviewer)
So why did you walk away
from it yourself?
Because I was told to.
Rather, my wife was told
that I should
Ieave.
And no money in the world
is worth
just worrying about something.
[door opening]
That's my wife.
(Terry)
Artie, again?
(Sommer)
Now, Terry.
Are you enjoying this?
[footsteps approaching]
Damn it.
You're some kind of nut.
(Sommer)
Okay. They're finished,
Terry, all right?
(Hopper)
Finally, after three years
of FBI investigation,
the government launched one of
the most ambitious
obscenity trials ever mounted.
Designed to nail Deep Throat
and all pornographic films
once and for all.
(Bruce Kramer)
I think this case was
a case of prosecution
that was directed,
orchestrated,
uh, from Washington, D.C.
(Hopper)
All told, 1 17 people
were charged with conspiracy;
from the distributor
to the projectionist.
And one man,
the government intended to
make an example of.
The director had immunity.
The star had immunity,
but the actor did not.
The theory was,
if you prosecuted the star
then nobody would ever
wanna make a film like this.
And you could drive
the industry out of business.
(Kramer)
Harry Reems was paid $250
to appear in Deep Throat.
He had no control,
no say, no input
with what the final version
of this film was gonna be
or whether it was gonna be
distributed interstate,
intrastate, intergalactic.
It's impressive,
for the first time
in the history
of the United States
an artist has ever been
brought to trial
by the government.
(reporter)
All of the trials
have been prosecuted
by a young assistant
US attorney
named Larry Parrish,
a lay Protestant preacher
who has been quoted as saying
he'd rather get smut off
the streets of Memphis
than dope.
Larry Parrish is the...
About one of the finest people
I've ever known
in my entire life.
(Kelly)
Fine guy.
And on top of that
he's, uh,
he's movie star quality.
(Damiano)
First of all,
he was very tall.
And I hate tall people.
Uh...
But he was also
very arrogant.
If you're gonna dance,
you need to pay the piper.
And, uh, I'm the piper.
You've got to be accountable
under the law.
It was like
when some people know
that they have
the answer to everything
and everybody else
is--is--is--is totally wrong.
It was purely and simply
a matter of law enforcement.
And I guess if there was
any passion in it for me,
it was that, um,
these are laws
that had not been enforced.
And I knew of no reason
why they should
not be enforced.
(Hopper)
To make his case,
Larry Parrish invoked
a highly unusual use
of the conspiracy laws.
The government explained
their conspiracy theory
in the terms of a train.
(Kramer)
That if the train starts
in Los Angeles
and you get on in Los Angeles,
and you ride to Denver
and get off,
but the train continues
on to Memphis,
you are legally responsible
for the entire journey.
And if you're responsible
for everything
that takes place,
you have unlimited liability.
This was a very creative use
of the law of conspiracy
and prosecutors
should never be creative.
That's not their job.
If my mother
had been involved,
she would
have been indicted.
I will promise you that.
Uh, she wasn't.
When you tell artists,
bad artists or good artists,
that they cannot experiment
in certain avenues,
you are taking away
the basic freedoms
of every American.
For some reason, though,
it was as if
he is involved in art.
And so art is protected.
Well, not by the definition
of the Supreme Court.
(Reems)
Maybe I'm disgusting
in some peoples' eyes.
Maybe others are bored by me.
But there are no laws against
acting in these films.
(Parrish)
And the actors
and the actresses,
I really hesitate
to call them that.
They are prostitutes
and whoremongers
[laughing]
on the screen.
I'm sorry,
that's just all they are.
And, uh...
Uh, they...
They don't even believe
that there is any law.
How do you communicate
to those persons
that this is against the law?
I face five years in jail.
Do I belong in jail
for five years
for acting in Deep Throat,
which is not
in violation of the law?
(Kramer)
If seeing this motion picture
as many times as
Larry Parrish has seen it
has not corrupted him,
or made him into a sex addict,
than I think
that's, uh, proof positive
that these films do not have
a deleterious effect
on the human being.
I'm sitting here right now
trying to draw some images up
from Deep Throat.
To be honest about it, uh,
do I feel that I'm worse off
because of it?
Yes, I do.
Uh, I can't get images
out of my mind
that I have seen.
I have told people
I'm not a eunuch.
I-I'm a regular
red-blooded American male.
And, uh,
and those images
I wish were not there.
(Kramer)
We had a lot of eye contact
with the jury.
I think the jury
was very sympathetic
to Harry.
And there was
a palpable change
in the jury's reaction
to Harry
after seeing him in the film.
(Parrish)
That was one of the amusing
times in the trial.
He sat over in a, uh,
in a corner by himself,
sort of hoverin'
and wouldn't look at
the jurors,
and they were all
staring at him.
[sighs]
I felt as though
my life was being
taken away from me.
And that I was
being depicted, characterized
as something evil,
a demon.
(Hopper)
After a two-month trial,
the jury took just five hours
to return
a unanimously guilty verdict.
(Roy Cohn)
The substance of what you say,
in effect,
is you were the little man
who wasn't there.
But the fact
of the matter is,
you deliberately
and knowingly
committed a long series
of immoral, revolting,
obscene acts.
You might have found it
obscene, and immoral,
and distasteful,
and disgusting.
Others don't.
The acts you performed on film
are acts that would be crimes
if they were performed
on the street
or someplace else.
No. They are wonderful
celebrations of life.
They're called sex,
Mr. Cohn.
You just can't cloak yourself
with the American flag
because you don't fit
the image.
You talk as though
the Bill of Rights
was created just for you.
(Hopper)
For the first time
in US history,
an actor had been convicted
for merely playing a part.
And Harry Reems
faced five years in jail.
(Tony Bill)
It did not bode well
for the future
of any kind of aesthetic
or artistic expression
in this country,
in any of the arts,
much less this poor guy
who, you know,
suddenly finds himself
being made a scapegoat.
All in the interest of
a basically moral crusade.
(Alan Dershowitz)
What was behind
the case in Memphis
was the religious right.
This is the first
real incarnation
of trying to apply
their conception of morality
to all of America.
(Hopper)
In response,
Hollywood was quick
to mobilize and defend
Harry Reems,
positioning itself as
an opposing cultural force.
[all chattering]
(reporter)
Professionals in the arts
may not find Deep Throat,
as such,
a piece of art
worth defending.
But they are worried about
the threat of
being arrested later on
for what
they write or act in today.
It's a censorship issue.
My overall concern
is the basic, uh, infringement
on the rights
of the First Amendment.
That's probably why
I came to his defense,
knowing that
Beatty and Nicholson did.
That's how
I make all my decisions.
I said,
"Alan, am--am--am l
gonna be convicted?
"Am I going to do
prison time?"
And his response was:
"lf the Republicans
are reelected,
you're going to jail.
If the Democrats are elected,
you're going to be set free."
(Hopper)
While Harry fought for
his freedom,
the architect of
the moral crusade
in the first place
was no longer in office
to savor his triumph.
I shall resign the Presidency
effective at noon tomorrow.
##[More More More
by Andrea True playing]
(Hopper)
And his undoing
had also been Deep Throat,
the nickname for
the secret Watergate source.
(Bernstein)
There's an expression
in journalism
called "deep background"
which means that
the information cannot be used
in the newspaper
with any kind of
hint of attribution.
Deep Throat, deep background.
You know, it's sort of a...
# But if you want to know
how I really feel #
(Hopper)
Its national nightmare over,
the nation got down.
# Get the action goin' #
# How do you like it?
How do you like it? #
The time was right
for a porno star
to be a pop star.
Who would have
ever thought?
# How do you like it? #
(True)
More, more, more.
How do you like it,
how do you like it?
# How do you like it? ##
That's it. That's all of it.
It gets repeated
and repeated and repeated.
It means nothing.
##[Keep It Coming Love
by K.C. and The Sunshine Band
playing]
# Keep it coming, love #
# Don't stop it now,
don't stop it, no #
# Don't stop it now,
don't stop #
# Keep it coming, love,
Keep it coming, love #
# Don't stop it now,
don't stop it, no #
# Don't stop it now,
don't stop it #
# Don't let
your well run dry #
# Don't stop it now #
# Keep it coming, love ##
(Walter Cronkite)
A year ago,
a Memphis federal court
convicted actor Harry Reems
on obscenity charges
in connection with his role
in the film Deep Throat.
Today, a US District Judge
in Memphis overturned
that conviction,
saying that
the actor's activities
took place before
the 1973 Supreme Court
obscenity ruling.
(Reems)
Now that my name
was--was pretty recognizable,
I moved to LA,
thinking that
certainly somebody
would come along and say:
"Well,
there's a sellable name."
Allan Carr had produced
and directed films,
uh, for Paramount.
And he called me one day
and said,
"I'd like you
to play the role
of the high school coach
in the movie Grease. "
I was excited that
I was given an opportunity.
Then about two
or three weeks
before principal
photography began,
Paramount Pictures
removed me from the cast.
That they didn't feel
as though I belonged
in a mainstream
motion picture.
And the lights went on
for me.
I had branded myself
and, uh, given myself
a certain stigma.
I just started
to drink every night,
Iooking for an escape,
Iooking for a little bit
of lightheartedness.
And, you know,
it just led me into
a terrible, terrible disease
of alcoholism
and drug addiction.
What are you doin'?
An antidote.
I'm mixing an antidote.
(Reems)
I remember
the last movies I was on,
I couldn't even walk.
I mean, literally,
they had to carry me to a seat
and I'd shoot
the whole motion picture
sitting in a seat,
delivering lines, drunk.
I was so drunk
and so drugged up at the time
that I couldn't do
sex scenes.
Oh, my head.
They'd carry me off the set
and somebody would get me home
and I'd drink some more
and they'd pick me up
and take me back the next day.
It's all a blur.
It's all a blur.
I lost my home.
I lost my career.
I lost my friends,
and ended up, literally,
panhandling in the streets
on Sunset Boulevard.
(Hopper)
Harry's personal defeat
in the face of
his First Amendment triumph
reflected the way
society was changing.
(woman)
Get lost!
(all)
Freedom! Freedom!
(Paglia)
Culture took
a reactionary turn
after what seemed like
we were on, uh, heading
toward a climax of
the sexual revolution
that we never
actually, uh, attained.
[all chanting]
(Dershowitz)
In the 1970s,
the worst censors
in the country
suddenly became the feminists.
[all shouting]
(woman 1)
The so-called
sexual revolution
in this country
has not been liberating
for women.
(woman 2)
It's the way that pornography
invades the popular culture...
(woman 3)
It's becoming increasingly
socially acceptable.
[all chattering]
(Brownmiller)
The role that
you have selected for women
is degrading to women
because you choose to see
women as sex objects
not as full human beings.
Well, obviously--
Hold on. The day that--
[audience applauding]
Obviously--
I haven't finished.
The day that you are willing
to come out here
with a cottontail
attached to your rear end...
[audience applauding]
(Hefner)
When the women's movement
began to attack sex in general
and men in general,
[laughs]
I was--
I was at a loss for words
because these were
our partners
in a revolution
to really change
uh, sexual values.
(Hefner)
I'm more in sympathy
than perhaps, uh, you know,
the girls realize--
(Brownmiller)
Women.
I'm sorry.
Yes. I'm 35.
(Hefner)
Than the ladies realize.
I use "girls" referring to
women of all ages.
(Brownmiller)
You should stop.
If you want to
be called a boy.
I see. Okay. Um...
[audience laughing]
The idea was
to convince people
that there were good, sound,
feminist, humanitarian reasons
to be against pornography.
(Hopper)
Women Against Pornography
found a surprising ally
in America's most famous
porn star; Linda Lovelace,
who had retired
from the spotlight
and was now
a mother and housewife.
(Donahue)
Linda Lovelace is, uh, here.
The book is titled,
uh, Ordeal.
And I'll tell you,
this book is a very, uh,
explicit recounting
of what happened to you.
I felt it was important to let
everything out
that happened to me.
I literally became a prisoner
of Mr. Traynor's.
I wasn't permitted to go to
the bathroom by myself.
I was never allowed
out of his eyesight.
If he took a shower,
I had to take a shower
with him.
If I did have
any kind of communication
with my friends or my family,
he was on the extension
with a.45
or an M-16
semi-automatic machine gun
pointed at me.
And there are those who say
you can see the bruises
on her in the film.
You tell me if the bruises
are visible in the film.
(Tom Snyder)
How did Linda Lovelace and
Gloria Steinem join forces?
How did the two of you
get together?
(Gloria Steinem)
I saw Linda
on the Phil Donahue Show.
And she was
being questioned by Phil,
who I think is usually
a more sensitive questioner
than he was this time,
uh, and by the audience,
with enormous disbelief.
And I still find it
very hard to believe
that you have become
a changed person.
I had always heard
that to be hypnotized,
you had to be willing.
Is there something about
the way you were raised,
in your view,
that made you
vulnerable to this?
And yet
she was still being asked,
uh, what in her background
had led her to become
essentially a hostage.
(Snyder)
What did lead you
to become a hostage,
if we can-- if we can now
ask the question?
Does it go back beyond that
to your childhood,
that you were
a susceptible person?
No.
See now what you're doing,
you're doing what--what
made me so angry.
You know,
because we don't say
to the hostages in lran:
"What in your-- what in
your background led you
to--to be in that embassy?"
Yeah.
(Snyder)
The situations are not
nearly comparable.
(Steinem)
They are. It's force.
(Damiano)
Linda needed somebody
to tell her what to do.
And as long as
she had somebody
telling her what to do,
she--she was happy.
So when she
made the movie,
she was happy
making the movie.
After the movie,
somebody said,
"Hey, you shouldn't have
made that movie."
So she became unhappy
about making the movie,
which wasn't true.
She was very happy
about making the movie.
(Hopper)
Linda's new fame as
a crusader against pornography
culminated with her testimony
before the Meese Commission
in 1986.
(Lovelace)
My ordeal still goes on.
The film Deep Throat
still shows
and virtually every time
someone watches that movie,
they're watching me
being raped.
(Hopper)
Once again,
the government had set out
to determine
the effect of pornography.
This time,
instead of relying on
scientific data,
they relied on
personal testimony
to prove that pornography
was a social evil.
Well, the other day
my 8-year-old son said to me:
"Mommy,
if this country is so great,
how come people
are still hurting you?"
(Jon Lewis)
It's sort of like
the Oprah Show.
It's, um, much more anecdotal.
Much less professional.
So what Nixon starts
in the '60s and '70s
by stacking the court,
Reagan finishes
with the Meese report.
(reporter)
In its most controversial
finding,
the commission concludes
there is a relationship
between violence
and pornography.
The commission conducted
no scientific studies.
(Hopper)
Finally,
after decades of struggle,
politics triumphed over
pornography.
But the victory was hollow.
The success of Deep Throat
created enormous demand
for hardcore,
that new technology
could now satisfy
and avoid all regulation.
The phenomenal sales of
home videocassette machines
have opened up a new market
for erotic films.
It's a market
that barely existed
a couple of years ago.
But today,
available for play
in these machines
are hardcore pornography.
Gerry Damiano,
I think, really thought
that porn was going to
merge into, kind of,
Hollywood films.
(Annie Sprinkle)
That porn movies
were gonna just get
bigger and bigger budgets
and become more like
feature films
with hardcore sex.
Looked like it was going to
burst itself into something,
into an art form.
That didn't happen.
In fact,
just the opposite happened.
Instead, it dwindled in-into
a mediocre commodity.
(Damiano)
With the advent of
the video camera,
it got to be so easy
to--to shoot X-rated video
that ev-everybody could do it.
And then, the only ones
that did it
were the ones that could do it
cheaper and cheaper,
for less and less
and less money.
(Damiano)
They were--
they were nothing.
It was just
one sex scene after another.
And it--it sort of
killed itself.
I couldn't make
that kind of film.
Because there was--
there was no reason to.
It became a--
it became a factory.
It was over.
You didn't need
filmmakers anymore.
[seagulls cawing]
(Hopper)
As the adult industry grew,
it neither needed
the rebel filmmaker
who had pioneered it
nor heeded
the feminist protest
against it.
So finding herself redundant,
Linda Lovelace
moved with her family
to Denver
to try and start a new life.
(Lindsay)
Um, that's Mom at her desk.
Uh, she was the manager
of the mailroom.
She was proud of her new desk.
Um...
They fired her
when they found out about LL.
It happened a lot.
(Lovelace)
You know, I've lost two jobs
because of the name
Linda Lovelace.
And, uh,
that-that's kind of...
That hurts.
You know,
I was always defending myself
after, what, 25 years.
I don't have to do that
too much anymore.
So I've decided
it's time for me
to do what I can
to earn an income
from, uh, the abuse that
I went through from the name.
(Hopper)
Broke and out of work,
Linda returned to the world
she had once condemned.
(Lovelace)
You know, I think it's kind of
nice looking sexy
and--and still
looking attractive at 51.
So, I didn't feel
there was anything wrong
with doing it.
Many feminists
who have written,
you know, books...
And they're always using
the name Linda Lovelace,
and what happened to me.
I don't get
any royalties from that.
And it doesn't take much
to keep me happy.
You know?
I get to be with
my grandchildren,
around my children,
and that's my joy.
She died penniless.
Didn't have a dime.
Didn't have a dime.
(Boreman)
And they all got rich.
They all got
their hands in the pocket.
(woman)
Fuck me harder,
harder, harder.
(Mailer)
Sex is a force,
it's a force like lava.
And there haven't been
too many successful
engineering projects
about diverting
the flow of lava.
Did I ever see
the movie Deep Throat?
No.
Should l?
No. That's with, um,
that lady who died.
What's her name?
No, I have not seen it.
Deep Throat forged
the sexual revolution
for good or bad.
(Waters)
It led to the porno business.
Linda Lovelace turned it,
and Deep Throat turned it,
into an industry.
And like it or hate it,
that's what she's gonna be
remembered for, forever.
(Bart)
Porn really does have
a yucky feel to it today.
Part of it, I think,
that was lost is this,
a certain innocence.
For that brief moment,
porn was part of
discovery, curiosity,
change.
Today it's different.
(Jong)
What happened
was that a very cynical
pornography industry
came in on the heels
of the First Amendment
and began coining money
hand over fist.
(Mailer)
So, it changed the nature
of--of pornographic sex,
from art to money.
Money is not interested in
the little alleys
of endeavor--
of artistic endeavor.
It wants the main highway.
[cars honking]
(Cavett)
It's a really dramatic fact
that we have gone
from people staring up
at a marquee
and thinking
"What can deep throat mean?
Surely not
what I'm thinking"
to kids who don't
consider it sex.
(Charles Keating)
They perverted it
instead of improving it.
They took a beautiful thing
that God gave mankind,
and they perverted it.
And the results are obvious.
All you have to do
is look around.
(Hopper)
Deep Throat's
legacy goes beyond
the sexually saturated culture
that surrounds us today
and reaches back to
the beginnings
of a culture war
that divides us
as never before.
(Hopper)
Deep Throat was less about
the joys of oral sex
than it was about the freedom
to speak out against shame
and hypocrisy.
(reporter 1)
The FCC has fined
(reporter 2)
Congress is also
cracking down...
(reporter 3)
Three Supreme Court justices
are expected to retire
over the next four years.
(reporter 1)
Each of these 169...
[reporters chattering]
(Parrish)
Today, there are people
in the Department of Justice
in high places,
sympathetic with
obscenity laws.
I think today
the climate is
even more ripe
for vigorous enforcement
of obscenity laws.
Now if we could get
these terrorists to go away
[Parrish laughs]
and quit taking up
so much time of the,
uh, of
the Department of Justice...
All right?
(interviewer)
Thank you.
You're welcome.
##[Reflections of My Life
by Marmalade playing]
# The changing of sunlight #
# To moonlight #
# Reflections of my life #
# Oh, how they fill my eyes #
# The greetings #
# Of people in trouble #
# Reflections of my life #
# Oh, how they fill my mind #
# All my sorrows #
# Sad tomorrows #
# Take me back #
# To my own home #
# All my cryings,
All my cryings #
# Feel I'm dying, dying #
# Take me back #
# To my own home #
# All my sorrows #
# Sad tomorrows #
(Sommer)
To this day,
people ask me to see
Deep Throat.
And they all, you know...
When they refer to Artie,
you know,
he has a deep throat, so.
They say,
"You know the guy with
the deep throat, you know?
"He's the one that did
Deep Throat. "
We always have to emphasize
that we didn't do it,
you know.
We just distributed it.
Because, he wouldn't...
I don't think he would...
Would you ever do that?
I wouldn't know how.
I knew it!
But if you did know how,
would you do it?
You have to think
about that?
[laughing]
Hey.
# All my sorrows #
# Sad tomorrows #
# Take me back #
# To my own home #
Okay.
Are we finished?
# All my sorrows ##
# Now I'm gonna tell you #
# The way it has to be #
# And if you pay attention #
# I'm sure that you will see #
# Just relax your muscles #
# And once
you've hit that spot #
# Keep right on pushin' #
# Then give it
all you've got #
# Now we've found
your tinkler #
# The solution
is quite clear #
# For if we both
can hit it now #
# The bells
you'll surely hear ##
(Lovelace)
Helen, there's got to be
more to life
[echoing]
than screwing around.
I mean,
there should be more to sex
[echoing]
than a lot of little tingles.
There should be bells ringing,
dams bursting,
bombs going off, something.
(Dr. Young)
Find the solution.
Like what?
Like deep throat.
[echoing]
Deep throat.
[echoing]
Deep throat.
Dr. Young.
[echoing]
Deep throat.
Dr. Young
[echoing]
Deep throat.
[echoing]
Deep throat.
[Lovelace echoing]
Oh, Dr. Young.