The pioneering adult film, Deep Throat, was shot and released 50 years ago.
Over the course of 2022, The Rialto Report will re-visit and report on new and unpublished aspects and consequences of ‘Deep Throat’.
The scene was south Florida, and it was Super Bowl Sunday, January 16th, 1972. The local Miami Dolphins were playing, and so the streets of the city were deserted, meaning it was a perfect time to make a film when you didn’t exactly want to draw attention to what you were doing.
The filmmakers were a group of New Yorkers who’d made the 1,300-mile trip south to film an explicit sex film. Nothing special was expected. After all, this was a time when no one was sure quite just how legal this was.
It was a reasonably ambitious production for the standards of an X-rated shoot. This film had a plot, a script, its own musical soundtrack, and was being made by a crew who had some experience. The film’s budget was rumored to have come from the mob, but given that it was enough for them to travel down to Florida for the week in the middle of a cold New York winter, who needed to ask questions?
What happened next is history: ‘Deep Throat’ was the porn film that went mainstream. It became a genuine sensation, one of the most profitable films – of any kind – ever made, costing a few thousand dollars and bringing in a whopping three hundred million, five hundred million, six hundred million dollars. You take your pick. No one knows for sure.
But ‘Deep Throat’ was more than just a runaway financial success. It had a genuine cultural impact, responsible for ushering in the era known as “porno chic,” middle-class respectable types getting hardcore about hardcore. For a short while, you couldn’t escape it. The New York Times featured long articles about it, Johnny Carson and Bob Hope made jokes about it, and the crowds of people who lined up to buy tickets included Truman Capote and Jackie Kennedy Onassis. When the Watergate story broke, the biggest political scandal of the 20th century, it seemed normal that one of the protagonists was given a nickname taken from the film’s title.
Not bad for a film about a sexually frustrated woman, whose psychiatrist discovers that her clitoris is located in her throat, and so offers to help hone her oral sex skills.
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Deep Throat @ 50
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Gerard Damiano – The Director Before he passed he away in 2008, Gerard Damiano spoke about his life before ‘Deep Throat’ – as well as his experience making ‘Deep Throat’. |
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Linda Lovelace – The Actress The Rialto Report uncovers a brief, lost moment in the history of adult film – when Linda Lovelace posed for legendary fashion photographer, Milton Greene. |
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Harry Reems – The Actor Harry Reems only ever spoke once about his early years in the adult film industry – to The Rialto Report, shortly before his death in 2013. |
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Dolly Sharp – The Supporting Actress The mystery behind the mysterious Deep Throat’s Dolly Sharp is finally revealed – and her sensational story is revealed by The Rialto Report. The podcast series > The article > The movie > |
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João Fernandes – The Cinematographer The enigmatic cameraman who shot ‘Deep Throat’ gives his only interview about his adult film career. Plus: João’s scrapbooks > |
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Anthony Battista – The Distributor One of the original distributors of ‘Deep Throat’ gives a rare interview about his turbulent experience with the mob… and the law. |
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Chuck Traynor – The Svengali Who was Chuck Traynor, the enigmatic and shadowy figure behind Linda Lovelace and ‘Deep Throat’? The podcast series: Part 1 > Part 2 > Part 3 > Part 4 > |
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Deep Throat: The Podcast We look at the making of the film ‘Deep Throat’ – and are joined by Gerard Damiano Jr, and Eric Danville, author of ‘The Complete Linda Lovelace.’ |
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Deep Throat: The Locations We go on a road trip to find all the original locations used in the landmark adult film ‘Deep Throat’ (1972) – and arrive just in time… |
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Declassified! FBI Deep Throat Files: Anatomy of an Investigation Recently obtained declassified FBI documents for an investigation concerning the suspected interstate transportation of the film Deep Throat in 1973-74. |
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Harry Reems – The Leading Man The journalist Tony Crawley interviewed Harry Reems at the height of his career, and published it in Game magazine in 1975. |
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Harry Reems and the ghosts of Memphis We re-visit the ‘Deep Throat’ trial in Memphis in 1976, and the significant effect that is had on the life of its male star, Harry Reems. |
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Damiano After ‘Deep Throat’ Two years after ‘Deep Throat’, Gerard Damiano made Memories Within Miss Aggie (1974) – a film that couldn’t have been more different. |
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Deep Throat – The Books An extract from the unpublished biography of the film’s director, Gerard Damiano, plus four books about the film – and Bill O’Reilly. |
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‘Lovelace’ – The Movie Gerard Damiano Jr, son of the director of ‘Deep Throat’, reviews ‘Lovelace’ (2013) starring Amanda Seyfried. |
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