Linda Lovelace for President (initially titled Hot Neon in the UK) is a 1975 American pornographiccomedy film directed by Claudio Guzmán and starring Linda Lovelace, who achieved notoriety as the central character in the most profitable X-rated film of all time, Deep Throat (1972).
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.[2]
After the 1972 release of Deep Throat, Linda Lovelace enjoyed a brief flurry of celebrity notoriety while dating choreographer 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 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 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.[3]
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,[4] 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.[3] 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").[5]
Linda Lovelace for President was theatrically released in X-rated and R-rated versions.[citation needed] Neither was commercially successful and the film was Lovelace's final screen appearance.
Over the years, bootleg versions of Linda Lovelace for President were released on home video.[11] A commercial DVD version was scheduled for release in August 2008 on the Dark Sky/MPI label.[12]
^Lovelace, Linda (2005). "Section 9, David Winters, Mel Mandel, Marilyn Chambers ch20". Ordeal. McGrady, Mike. Citadel Press. pp. 217, 231. ISBN978-0-8065-2774-1.
^McNeil, Leggs (2005). The other Hollywood: the uncensored oral history of the porn film industry. Jennifer Osborne, and Peter Pavia. New York: Regan Books. p. 112. ISBN0-06-009659-4.
