New York:, Feb 11: The infamous adult movie Deep Throat, still banned in many US states, is set to be re-released on the back of a documentary about the 1972 low-budget porn flick that became a mainstream phenomenon.
Las Vegas-based Arrow Productions which owns the copyright to the film that made its star, Linda Lovelace, a householdname, said it was striking remastered prints of the movie that would be ready for release in US cinemas by February 18.
Shot in just six days by a former New York hairdresser, Gerard Damiano, "Deep Throat" cost 25,000 dollars and, in the intervening 33 years, has grossed an estimated 600 million dollars worldwide -- making it the most profitable movie of all time.
On its release, the film was declared obscene by the state of New York and banned in 22 other states, but the official outrage only fuelled public curiosity.
Originally targeted at the male, dirty raincoat brigade, the film suddenly became a must-see for celebrities and trend-setters like Jaqueline Onassis, and led the New York Times to declare the arrival of "porno chic."In the end, the film's title entered the national lexicon thanks to Watergate reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein nicknaming their famous, anonymous source Deep Throat.
Ten of the prints being struck by Arrow will be of the original XXX-rated version, while five others will be edited to earn a modern R rating, allowing access to children under 17 if accompanied by an adult.
Arrow owner Raymond Pistol said he was confident that "Deep Throat" could pass any censors' challenge to its political and literary merit.
"If this film doesn't have political value after being the Gettysburg of the fight between left and right over free speech, then there's not a political film that was ever made," Pistol said.
The re-release was prompted by the buzz surrounding a new documentary "Inside Deep Throat," produced by Brian Grazer whose other credits include such family fare as "Splash," "Apollo 13" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."
"Theater owners had been calling me for years about putting out a print and with all the publicity surrounding the documentary, we thought the time was finally right," Pistol said.
The makers of the documentary insist that their interest in the making of "Deep Throat" owes nothing to prurience, but stems rather from a fascination with the film's cultural impact.
"The sexual revolution was already happening, but hard-core sex hadn't crossed over," director Randy Barbato told the Los Angeles Times. "It became a flashpoint for the commodification of sex. No one knew hardcore could sell so much."
"Inside Deep Throat" got a decent critical reception at the recent Sundance Film Festival and premiered in New York this week. It goes on release here and in three other cities on Friday.
Monday's premiere was followed by a panel discussion that included the well-known Harvard law professor, Alan Dershowitz, who had defended "Deep Throat's" male star Harry Reems against federal obscenity charges.
Reems, now a born-again real estate agent, was originally convicted but had the verdict overturned on appeal.
For all the retro-chic associated with "Deep Throat," the film's history carries a dark underbelly.
Reportedly financed and distributed with the help of organised crime figures, the film was later denounced by Lovelace -- whose real name was Linda Boreman.
In her 1980 autobiography "Ordeal," Boreman said her manager and former husband, Chuck Traynor, had forced her at gunpoint to perform in some of the explicit scenes that made "Deep Throat" so infamous.
"Each time someone watches that movie, they're seeing me being raped," Boreman said in a clip used in Grazer's documentary.
Boreman's attempts to rebuild her life were blighted by medical problems, including a double mastectomy in 1986 -- the result of silicone injections to enhance her breasts -- and a liver transplant the following year.
She died in a car crash in Denver in 2002.
Bureau Report
