Inside Deep Throat

INSIDE DEEP THROAT (Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, 2005)

The 1972 porn film DEEP THROAT and the cultural maelstrom it set in motion are revisited in the documentary INSIDE DEEP THROAT. Co-directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato talk to key players involved with the film and the controversy over it, including director Gerard Damiano, star Harry Reems, and those who fought the film in the legal system. Hugh Hefner, Larry Flynt, Camille Paglia, and Erica Jong are among the usual suspects who comment about sex, the media, and censorship. DEEP THROAT is said to be the most profitable film in movie history, an unverifiable claim at best, but it left an impact on the culture and the law.

Although the film’s First Amendment debate is overly familiar by now, the energy of INSIDE DEEP THROAT’S direction and editing adds the needed verve to the story behind the dirty movie. The documentary works best when exploring how DEEP THROAT came to be and what led it to become a financial success and cultural lightning rod. Because the argument tends to be one-sided, INSIDE DEEP THROAT is on less sure footing in propping up the porno as an artistic statement or valuable expression of modern sexuality. Damiano, DEEP THROAT’S director, concedes that his film isn’t any good, and the clips on view in the doc support his opinion. Not acknowledging DEEP THROAT as a political hot potato would have been unwise, but placing more emphasis on what it represents detracts from the intrigue of the participants’ stories. As an afterthought we learn that Harry Reems is now a Christian, a turn the filmmakers don’t explore. While flawed, INSIDE DEEP THROAT is a consistently entertaining look at a major battle in the culture wars still being fought today.

Grade: B-

(Review first aired on the March 1, 2005 NOW PLAYING)