MIAMI — The most profitable movie ever made in South Florida is back in the limelight.
“Deep Throat”, www.deepthroat.com was an X-rated feature filmed in Coconut Grove, Fla., in the early 1970s. Now, it is the subject of a documentary showing nationwide called “Inside Deep Throat.”
“Deep Throat” was filmed in the Coconut Grove home of Sepy Dobronyi. The jungle that “Deep Throat” star Linda Lovelace walked through in the movie belongs to Dobronyi. In the wine cellar where Lovelace has a tabletop encounter in the film, Dobronyi said he has a few dainties tucked away to protect the wine bottles. The doctor’s office scene in which Lovelace and co-star Harry Reems bantered about her sexual dysfunctions was filmed in Dobronyi’s living room.
Later, Frank Sinatra shot mainstream movies there, but the infamous “Deep Throat” was the first. “When they said it was going to be an X-rated movie, what was your reaction?” NBC 6’s Nick Bogert asked Dobronyi. “Can I watch?” Dobronyi replied.
The new documentary “Inside Deep Throat” claims not only that the porn flick made in Miami was the biggest moneymaker per dollar spent in history but that it was a seismic cultural event. “The movie ‘Deep Throat’ ignited a cultural revolution,” producer Brian Grazer said.
“Deep Throat” helped the X-rating meet the mainstream in 1972 and caused controversy in courtrooms across the country, including those in Dade and Broward counties.
“There’s reasonable ground or probable cause to find this film is obscene,” Broward County judge Paul Betty said in June 1973. Lovelace herself appeared at one court proceeding at the Dade County courthouse, causing quite a stir. Although the movie was banned in 23 states, it won in South Florida courts.
The stir over “Deep Throat” only spurred business, making every protest a promotion.
For a movie that excited so much controversy and so many libidos, Dobronyi, a Hungarian-born sculptor, said the filming itself was often boring to watch.
“It was very tiresome,” Dobronyi said. Dobronyi said the crew was a happy one, even Lovelace, who later complained that she had been forced to perform in porn.
“It’s not true — she was very happy, running around naked,” Dobronyi said.
Lovelace earned only $1,200 for a film that grossed mega-millions. Dobronyi said he made even less.
“They didn’t pay my $300 rent for three weeks,” Dobronyi said. “My lawyer wrote them a letter and they never even bothered to answer.”
But, Lovelace wrote in her biography that she gave Dobronyi an X-rated goodbye that he remembers well.
“That was like a bonus at the end,” Dobronyi said.