Maybe the strangest recommendation that I have ever made is going to come here because this is a documentary that all young porn starlets should see. Many (if not most) of todays porn actresses have no idea what "Deep Throat" is or of the people that were involved and it would probably enlighten them and make them see that what went on helped open doors to their (so-called) profession. Story is about the making of the most infamous porno movie ever and what those involved had to deal with after the Nixon administration and the FBI decided it was immoral.
*****SPOILER ALERT***** There are interviews with the director Gerard Damiano who had to deal with the mob to get financing since they owned the porno theaters in this country and Harry Reems who starred in it talks of his involvement and how he ended up being an actor and almost going to a federal prison for 5 years after being found guilty of an indecency charge. In old footage and with interviews with family, friends, and co-workers we find out how Linda Lovelace was cast and about her abusive relationship with her then husband Chuck Traynor. Most of the film revolves around how "Deep Throat" became chic and entered the mainstream and why it became the most successful film ever made but it also tells how the FBI went after it with a vengeance by closing theaters and confiscating reels of the film itself.
This is directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato who together also made "Party Monster" and "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" and the two of them have a long resume in both films and television with documentaries. I don't think this is going to go down as one of the better documentaries ever made but it does an admirable job of showing what went on during a very turbulent time in the 1970's and I think most of whatever power this generates comes from the fact that our society is still trying to combat censorship. With the ridiculousness of the FCC trying to take away freedom of speech this film suddenly becomes more pertinent than originally thought with the debate of what's immoral and what's not. This also shows that the question of how much Lovelace was actually abused will probably never be answered because even though there is no question that Traynor was an incredibly controlling jerk no one could really say that she was forced to be in any porn movie. She did seem to come across as someone who had a hard time dealing with her own decisions and painting herself as a victim but at the same time there is a sadness in her life that is easily seen by all viewers. For those of you that lived through that period this will undoubtedly work better than for others but I still think that younger viewers should still see this film and be taught that many people fought hard against the Government so that they couldn't be told what to see and what not to see which is something that still exists today.
*****SPOILER ALERT***** There are interviews with the director Gerard Damiano who had to deal with the mob to get financing since they owned the porno theaters in this country and Harry Reems who starred in it talks of his involvement and how he ended up being an actor and almost going to a federal prison for 5 years after being found guilty of an indecency charge. In old footage and with interviews with family, friends, and co-workers we find out how Linda Lovelace was cast and about her abusive relationship with her then husband Chuck Traynor. Most of the film revolves around how "Deep Throat" became chic and entered the mainstream and why it became the most successful film ever made but it also tells how the FBI went after it with a vengeance by closing theaters and confiscating reels of the film itself.
This is directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato who together also made "Party Monster" and "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" and the two of them have a long resume in both films and television with documentaries. I don't think this is going to go down as one of the better documentaries ever made but it does an admirable job of showing what went on during a very turbulent time in the 1970's and I think most of whatever power this generates comes from the fact that our society is still trying to combat censorship. With the ridiculousness of the FCC trying to take away freedom of speech this film suddenly becomes more pertinent than originally thought with the debate of what's immoral and what's not. This also shows that the question of how much Lovelace was actually abused will probably never be answered because even though there is no question that Traynor was an incredibly controlling jerk no one could really say that she was forced to be in any porn movie. She did seem to come across as someone who had a hard time dealing with her own decisions and painting herself as a victim but at the same time there is a sadness in her life that is easily seen by all viewers. For those of you that lived through that period this will undoubtedly work better than for others but I still think that younger viewers should still see this film and be taught that many people fought hard against the Government so that they couldn't be told what to see and what not to see which is something that still exists today.