Inside Deep Throat Page #5

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

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