Linda Lovelace for President

Linda Lovelace for President

Promotional publicity poster
Directed by Claudio Guzman
Produced by David Winters
Charles Stroud
Written by Jack S. Margolis
Starring Linda Lovelace
Micky Dolenz
Scatman Crothers
Joe E. Ross
Vaughn Meader
Chuck McCann
Music by Bic Mac & The Truckers
Cinematography Robert Birchall
Edited by Richard Greer
Distributed by General Film Corp.
Release dates
 March 1, 1975 (USA)
Running time
 95 minutes
Country United States of America
Language English

Linda Lovelace for President is a 1975 David Winters comedy film directed by Claudio Guzman and starring Linda Lovelace, who achieved notoriety as the central character in the 1972 most profitable X-rated film of all time Deep Throat.

Plot

A committee of independent U.S. political party leaders have gathered to join forces and select a candidate for the upcoming presidential election. One of the committee members flippantly suggests nominating Linda Lovelace. The committee approaches the porn star, who agrees to be the flag bearer of the newly formed Upright Party. Lovelace’s campaign takes her on a cross-country tour, where she meets voters in stops ranging from crowded big cities to isolated rural towns. Lovelace’s popularity, however, threatens the Washington, D.C., establishment, and her political rivals dispatch a hit man known as The Assassinator to bring a fatal end to the Lovelace campaign.[1]

Production

After the 1972 release of Deep Throat, Linda Lovelace enjoyed a brief flurry of celebrity notoriety while dating David Winters of West Side Story fame, which included appearances at the Academy Awards ceremony with Winters and the opening day of the racing season at Ascot Racecourse plus author credit for two best-selling books that played up on her status as a pornographic icon. By 1974, however, her career stalled. An R-rated sequel to her breakthrough film, Deep Throat Part II, was commercially unsuccessful, and her attempts to establish success as a nightclub singer and stage actress were considered failures. The film Linda Lovelace for President was designed by David Winters to establish the star’s crossover appeal with mainstream moviegoers. Winters came up with the idea for the film after observing the strong positive reaction that college students exhibited towards Linda Lovelace during her speeches at various college campuses.[2]

The film brought in several recognizable actors for guest appearances. Featured in the film were Micky Dolenz of The Monkees, whom Winters knew from the days he directed and choreographed two episodes of The Monkees,[3] as a near-sighted bus driver, Scatman Crothers as a pool hall hustler, Joe E. Ross as a political operative, Vaughn Meader as a preacher who lusts after Lovelace, and Chuck McCann as The Assassinator.[2] However, much of the film played up Lovelace's starring role in Deep Throat with jokey reminders of the X-rated film's oral sex subject matter (i.e., the slogan for the Lovelace campaign is "A vote for Linda is a blow for democracy").[4]

Lovelace’s boyfriend at the time, David Winters, was one of the film’s producers.[5][6][7]

Part of the film was shot on the campus of the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas,[8] and at Swope Park in Kansas City, Missouri.[9]

Reception

Linda Lovelace for President was theatrically released in X-rated, R-rated and PG-rated versions. None of these versions was commercially successful. Linda Lovelace made no further films after this production.

Over the years, bootleg versions of Linda Lovelace for President were released on home video.[10] A commercial DVD version was scheduled for release in August 2008 on the Dark Sky/MPI label.[11]

References

  1. ↑ “Linda Lovelace for President,” New York Times
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Film Threat review
  3. ↑ Lefcowitz, Eric (1990). Monkees Tale. Last Gasp. pp. pp94–95. ISBN 978-0-86719-378-7.
  4. ↑ "Film," New York Press, April 12, 2000
  5. ↑ Weldon, Michael J. (1996). "Linda Lovelace for President". The Psychotronic Video Guide. St. Martin's Press. pp. p334. ISBN 0-312-13149-6.
  6. ↑ Lovelace, Linda (2005). "Section 9, David Winters, Mel Mandel, Marilyn Chambers ch20". Ordeal. McGrady, Mike. Citadel Press. pp. 217, 231. ISBN 978-0-8065-2774-1.
  7. ↑ McNeil, Leggs (2005). The other Hollywood: the uncensored oral history of the porn film industry. Jennifer Osborne, and Peter Pavia. New York: Regan Books. pp. p112. ISBN 0-06-009659-4.
  8. ↑ Lawrence Journal World, 19 May, 2003
  9. ↑ Kansas City Public Library
  10. ↑ "In Defense of 'Linda Lovelace for President'" RetroLowFi.com review
  11. ↑ "Linda Lovelace for President," Video Business Magazine

External links