Reeling Back

Her problem could be summed up in the 1965 song lyric: “I can’t get no satisfaction!” Her story, told in the 1972 screen comedy Deep Throat, struck a chord with urban movie audiences open to new cinematic sensations. Written and directed by independent filmmaker Gerard Damiano, the picture told the story of Linda, a young Floridian who is sexually frustrated despite her best efforts. She seeks the help of a sympathetic psychiatrist, and learns that she suffers from an inconvenient mutation — her clitoris is located just above her larynx. The solution to her problem is, of course, frequent fellatio, which she experiences after the doctor hires her as his assistant therapist. Premiered in New York’s World Theatre on this day (June 12) 50 years ago, Deep Throat is remembered as the first shamelessly pornographic movie to achieve mainstream theatrical release in the U.S. Obscenity prosecutions in state and federal courts only served to promote the picture to the public and, according to film historians, an adult film industry was born. Damiano’s feature secured a permanent place in the pop culture when Washington Post Watergate reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein decided to call their confidential informant “Deep Throat.” Few remember, though, that the influential feature was followed by a forgettable 1974 sequel, director Joe Sarno’s Deep Throat Part II.