Earlier this year the documentary Inside Deep Throat caused a small ruckus when it was released with explicit sex scenes (read my review here). The film examines the seminal (pun sadly intended) porno, Deep Throat, and its impact on the culture, as well as what happened to the people involved. Deep Throat became notorious because of the titular act that starlet Linda Lovelace performed, and then it became a bona fide phenomenon, sending the lights of New York City society to a dingy porn theater in Times Square. The man at the receiving end of Lovelace’s prowess was an actor named Harry Reems.
Now, decades later, Reems’ life is completely different. Lovelace is, unfortunately, dead. With the release of Inside Deep Throat on DVD, I had the chance to speak to Reems on the phone from his home in Park City, Utah.
You can order Inside Deep Throat on DVD through CHUD.com by clicking here. Be aware that there is, for some reason that I don’t get – probably due to Blockbuster Video – an R-rated version of the film on DVD. Skip it.
Q: Looking back now so many years later, do you regret your time in the porn industry?
Reems: Not in the least. My life has had so many different chapters, the worst being a heavy addiction to drugs and alcohol. But had I not been in the movies, which led me to drugs and alcohol, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I am 16 and a half years clean and sober, I have a wonderful wife. I converted to Christianity but I am not born again. And I own and operate a very successful real estate business in Park City Utah. So I have no regrets, and if I could do it again, I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Q: One of the things I find very interesting is that you are one of the, if not only, American put on trial for free speech issues, and yet you don’t get a lot of credit for that.
Reems: Actually it wasn’t a free speech trial, it was an organized crime trial. It was conspiracy to transport and distribute obscene materials. Now, the definition of obscenity is very obscure. It’s a very subjective topic, so no one could ever define local community standards or what is obscene. ‘I may not be able to define it, but I know it when I see it.’ It was a very moral trial. But it was definitely a criminal trial, and specifically trying to catch some members of the Columbo family for their involvement in the industry. Why I was on trial, I still don’t know. Linda Lovelace, Joey Damiano, the director/producer – they were both witnesses against me. I sat in this trial for twelve weeks listening to evidence and hearing FBI agents discussing murder and beatings and money leaving the country – it was obviously a trial against them. I was brought in to give it some ink, to get it some press. To give it some notoriety.
Q: So you were just the celebrity component. It wasn’t a trial about pornography per se.
Reems: It was not a trial about pornography. It was a trial about conspiracy to transport obscene materials. Now granted, the jury had to judge what was obscene, and no one on the jury had ever seen a porn movie. And they weren’t allowed to. If you had seen a porn film, you were not allowed to be a member of the jury.
Q: One of the controversies that exists to this day about Deep Throat is how Linda Lovelace claimed that she was forced to be in the film. Where do you stand on that?
Reems: I was there and there were no guns. There was nobody forcing her. Granted, she had a pimp or a boyfriend or a boyfriend or whatever he was who was very dominating, but she was a submissive. But there was no yelling and screaming and there were no guns. And he was never present during her sex scenes. If you just watch the movie you’ll see she smiled a great deal. And she’s no actress.
Q: The porn industry of today is so different from when you were involved. There are award shows and mandatory STD tests. Do you think that’s for the better? Do you think that people who are in porn today, because it’s more legit, are less likely to end up where you ended up?
Reems: I don’t know whether it’s more legit. Porn is a very special interest genre of film with a very small audience. Now granted, it’s a billion dollar industry. A lot of that has to do with the hotel chains playing these movies in their rooms. That’s where the money is coming from. But I think the industry is itself, and the performers and the filmmakers, more professional. I think there are checks and balances. But I don’t know – I haven’t even watched a porno movie in twenty five or thirty years.
Q: Does being Harry Reems ever help in the real estate business? Do people want to do business with you for the novelty of who you are?
Reems: Absolutely not. The reason I retained the name is that I didn’t want to be perceived as denying the past. So I kept the name. But no, I’m very successful and it’s all because of my knowledge and expertise in real estate.
Q: How did you end up in real estate?
Reems: When I was drunk I found myself in Jamaica, the island of Jamaica, which I visited quite often back in the 60s and 70s. They taught me how to sell time shares back in those days. I knew I was a good salesman, and in Park City you’re either a ski bum or a real estate agent. And I took up skiing too late to be a ski bum.
Q: With Inside Deep Throat there’s a renewed focus on you and that part of history. 
Do you welcome the attention or is this something you’re weathering and you can’t wait for it to be over?
Reems: I wouldn’t say weathering. I didn’t do any press for 20 years. From 1985 to 2005 I was turned down every interview I was offered. My life is different today. I learned through the 12 step program that being a public figure is not healthy for me. It got to me, obviously. It’s not a question of weathering of it, it’s a question of participating in a project that has credibility, that has strong participation by Universal and HBO and two award winning documentary filmmakers. That was a. B, they wanted to tell the story that I wanted to tell. It wasn’t a story about drugs, sex and rock and roll. They wanted to tell a story of redemption.