DEEP INSIDE PARK CITY REAL ESTATE
The enterprising and publicity-savvy filmmaking duo of Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato have an entertaining Web site up for their Sundance entry Inside Deep Throat, a Brian Grazer-produced doc on the infamous porn film (number 50 on Filmmaker magazine’s “50 Most Important Independent Films” list almost a decade ago) that will hit theaters this spring. The directors post a blog on the site as well as some interesting links, the most fascinating of which is this link to local Park City paper The Park Record. Titled “Sundance documentary reveals local’s role in Deep Throat,” the article is a portrait of local realtor Harry Reems. Yes, that Harry Reems. “He changed his life but not his name,” the article says about the male lead in the most famous porn film of all times who now turns over condos in Park City.
Quoted in the article, Barbato points out that Reems, who was only paid $100 for his work in the film, is something of a “free speech hero” as it was he who was charged with “distributing obscene material” — the only actor ever charged that way — and who testified during the film’s winning obscenity trial in Memphis.
Reems moved to Park City in 1986 — “a low-bottom alcoholic, a blackout drinker,” he says — and after a run-in one night with Park City police joined the Park City Community Church, kicked booze, and married a local woman. The article says the producers flew Reems and his wife to L.A. recently to see the new documentary. “I am very impressed with it,” Reems is quoted as saying. “The story is not the Harry Reems story, it is about Deep Throat and its effect on our culture.”