The Legacy of Director Gerard Damiano
Gerard, Jr. and sister Christar restore their dad's films to glory around the world.
As evidenced by a recent screening of “The Story of Joanna” the films created by erotic auteur Gerard (Deep Throat) Damiano Sr. continue to excite, provoke and disturb. The screening of Joanna was hosted by Gerard Damiano Jr. and his sister Christar. For the past five years the Damiano kids have made the restoration of their father’s films a personal project. Besides restoring these films, they are taking the movies to prestigious European cinema palaces where the work is eagerly awaited and celebrated, enhancing the legacy of their father, the man credited with starting the 70s porno chic era.
My personal history with Gerard Sr. goes back to 1982 when I popped my porn cherry and co-starred with my bestie Annie Sprinkle in the Damiano directed faux documentary “Consenting Adults.” I last saw Gerry in 2008 when Georgina Spelvin (star of The Devil in Miss Jones), Annie and I on the invitation of his children, flew to Fort Meyers to celebrate his 80th birthday. He was spry and still cracking jokes but a stroke took him not long after. I’ve stayed close with Gerard Jr. and Christar and I’ve followed the progress of their passion project, beginning with the 50th anniversary of Deep Throat in 2022 where I participated in a lively talkback. As a result I’ve met lots of young sex workers and erotic entrepreneurs who’ve supported these historic events. I’m proud to take my place as OG whore mom in this ever expanding community and they’ve attended pleasure activist events I’ve organized such as Sex Worker Sunday at Judson Memorial Church, a bastion of social justice and the arts where I am on the board.
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The NYC Joanna screening served as a kick-off to the Damianos’ next European tour. It took place at “Suckadelic Cinema” the creative funky lair of toymaker artist The Sucklord, located in New York’s Chinatown. The Sucklord told me his own family legacy was entwined with adjustable nipple clamps perfected by his mom and pop. I pronounced him a nippo baby.
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Invitees spanned the generations of sexual entertainment- purveyors, performers and fans. Dirty Magazine was represented by editor Ripley Soprano; multi-talented Brynn Michaels aka “Prom_Queef sported a new beau and skin-tight pants she’d knit herself. Model April Flores, performance art producer Caterina Bartha, Anthony Haden-Guest, author and cartoonist, socialite were among the very diversified crowd. Additional chairs were set up as the room filled to capacity. Just before the movie began Christar, decked out in black lace, asked how many of us had actually seen the movie. Only one person had and he had worked on the 4k restoration.
The Story of Joanna was Damiano Sr.’s loosely based version of the French S/M classic Story of O. More recently O has inspired Fifty Shades of Grey and its sequels and prequels. In Story of Joanna tall, dark, handsome Jamie Gillis played Jason the millionaire. Terri Hall had so impressed Gerry with her skill as a ballerina, she won the part of the naive Joanna. The action took place at a sumptuous New Jersey mansion complete with butler Griffin (Zebedy Holt) and maid, Gena (Juliet Graham). Juliet was seated on a sofa in the front row as the evening’s very special guest of honor.
Gerard Jr. welcomed everyone and shared some of the film’s history including the history of those besides his father who were essential to the film’s creation. His knowledge is encylopedic and he could have gone on longer acknowledging the collaborative efforts involved but he knew we were all eager to see the movie which he and Christar had worked so hard to bring to us.
The 4k restoration was exquisite. The colors were rich and lush. There was a depth to the film that made you feel you could live inside it. It was thrilling to see and a throwback to the earlier era of porno chic when it was thought hardcore might actually crossover into mainstream and fulfill the dreams of many of those filmmakers like Damiano who hoped to also break through. But that was not the only throwback. The first sex scene in Joanna was clearly non-consensual. Joanna is taken from behind while she repeats “No, No, No, not like this, no” to an unheeding Jason. She says “no” until overwhelmed with pleasure she says, “Yes, Yes, Yes.” A fantasy that played well in the 70s but is cringe-worthy today. Seeing it reminded me how far we have come in sexual attitudes, etiquette and acceptable behavior.
At the movie’s conclusion the audience was slow to respond to the call for questions or comments, so I raised my hand. I felt someone needed to bring up the scene which I felt was the elephant in the room.
“I testified for freedom of expression in Washington in 1984, that said, I found the rape scene challenging.”
That said, I continued with plenty of reasons to applaud this movie, such as the extended ballet performed for the pleasure of Jason by Joanna and a male partner (Steven Lark). I had been blown away by young Jamie Gillis good looks and reminded those who might not have known of his heart throb status back in the day. I called the movie bold, and with that I gave up the floor to make room for other opinions.
Next, a woman about my age said, “My husband’s first comment was this isn’t porn, this is an art film with hard core sex scenes.” I was glad she had spoken because I felt what she had to say was so important to the artist’s intention. Gerry, always a bit of a philosopher, asked a question through this characters, “What is better... sex that grows out of love or love that grows out of pure sex?” The audience is left to ponder the answer. Following the unexpected success of Deep Throat Gerard Sr. felt empowered to make art, not porn. This is what inspires his children and fascinates a new audience.
Performer and intimacy coordinator April Flores commented on the beautiful props, location, costumes, make-up-Terri Hall as Joanna was swathed in furs, vintage jewels and elaborate gowns. (I had owned a smilar garter belt). Joanna’s eye make-up glistened with diamonds. Besides the de-rigeur girl on girl scene that featured Joanna with tonight’s special guest Juliette as Gena, there was a boy on boy scene with Griffin the butler “relaxing” master Jason at the conclusion of a massage. When the film came out in 1975 that blow job had to be cut from many screenings due to homophobia, but Gerard, Jr. included it in the restoration staying true to the original master/servant concept and the versatility of performers Jamie Gillis and Zebody Colt. Attendee, octogenarian Anthony Haden-Guest remarked how the massage and other offbeat sex scenes actually contributed to the story. In conversation later he did state his personal preference be that women be treated as equals in relationships. People remarked on the care taken in photographing the hardcore action, the extreme close-ups, the slow pace. The director of photography João Fernandes (credited as Harry Flecks) went on to a significant career in mainstream Hollywood. Gerard, Jr. hopes to reunite with him when Joanna screens in Brazil, part of their world tour. The final and best comment came from guest of honor Juliette Graham. She said, “When we were making this movie we didn’t give much thought to whether it would be remembered. We certainly didn’t think anyone would be talking about it fifty years later.” Yet, here we were.
The evening concluded with a presentation by the Sucklord of a work in progress, a town he was building with plastic like leggos. “Here is the movie theater, he said. He updated the marquee from '“Deep Throat ” and adding a tiny poster inside he said “You see they are screening “Story of Joanna.” He placed a tiny audience in seats to represent all of us. He added other shops and buildings then populated the town with weird little characters he had sculpted,formed from his imagination. Sucklord was making his own ideal world, a world that welcomed lust, fun, freaks and curiosity, just as Gerard Damiano Sr. had often envisioned. Sharing these movies and the conversations around them were keeping that vision alive.
Loved this piece! You're SUCH a fine writer. I felt like I was there.