Deep Throat Turns 50

To this day there has never been another porn film that has been so widely accepted, more talked about or gone more mainstream than Deep Throat. Like David to Goliath, she did war with the censors, the religious right, even a presidency (Nixon) and won. Five decades later, Deep Throat has not only survived, she’s thrived.

Like an older woman, Deep Throat at 50, just seems to get sexier. Originally released on June 12, 1972, and directed by the late Gerard Damiano Sr., Damiano Films is honoring her birthday with a limited world tour where she’ll splash across the big screen once again. Gerard Damiano Jr. and his daughter will be along for the ride to answer Q&As on how one little irreverent, naughty film not only changed how people viewed sex but altered the movie industry forever.

Damiano told Icon vs Icon: “We have succeeded in preserving our father’s best-known film in a complete 4K restoration so that it can be shared not only with his old fans but with new generations. We are excited to present Deep Throat as a theatrical experience, the way it was originally shown, and add-in person talk backs to discuss its impact then, and its relevancy today.”

Made for an astounding, paltry $25,000, Deep Throat has earned more than $600 million dollars in box office worldwide, making it arguably the most profitable film of all time in terms of ROI (according to the 2005 documentary – Inside Deep Throat). The flick, which has a good deal of humor in it, centers on a young woman who just can’t seem to get her rocks off. She visits a suspect therapist who examines her and discovers her pleasure center is not in her nether regions, but in her throat! After that, hijinks ensue as she seeks a way to tickle her esophageal erotic zone. Linda Lovelace who played the lead, became a star overnight (and probably the best-known porn star of all time). Ironically, she ended up biting the hand that fed her – becoming an anti-porn advocate before her untimely death from a traffic accident at the age of 53.

One of the most controversial films ever made, Deep Throat still creates buzz, and garners a lot of love for having a hand in putting the kibosh on movie censorship. After the Hays Code (an abhorrent set of regulations forced on films) was demolished in 1968, the MPAA rating system stepped in. As reported by The Wow Report – the MPAA hadn’t trademarked the term “X” so movie theatres owners hijacked it as a marketing tool. It wasn’t long before XX and XXX flicks showed up.

That’s when Nixon (who had his own little relationship with Deep Throat – Watergate anyone?) started cracking down with help from the “Citizens for Decent Literature” – a conservative Christian movement who aligned themselves with the Republican party and attempted to control what people could and could not see. Hmmm… things haven’t changed that much, have they? We’d kicked the Hays Code to the curb, but like a whack-a-mole, “decency” folks just kept popping up to ruin everyone’s fun.

Then came Deep Throat. TA DA!

When it was released, people saw it in droves to send the government a message. This was America! No one was going to dictate that they couldn’t watch porn – long live XXX!

And that’s why Deep Throat after 50 years keeps on ticking. Because it’s relevant. Unfortunately, we’re still fighting the same battles with people who think it’s their duty to push their twisted moral compass on others. So, Happy Birthday Deep Throat, it’s good to see you back in the theatres again to rile up some uptight folks and remind everyone the adult industry is here to stay.

Image by Nataliya Vaitkevich from Pexels.