UK – THE most infamous and lucrative porn film ever made will make its UK mainstream cinema debut in Hampstead this week.

Deep Throat, www.xxxdeepthroat.com sent shockwaves through the worlds of politics, art, fashion and the law during the 1970s, spawning protests, lawsuits and moral outrage.

It was so controversial it was banned in 23 American states on obscenity charges and until now British audiences have only ever seen it in sex cinemas.

Friday it will be screened at the Everyman Cinema Club, in Holly Bush Vale.

And a straw poll on the streets of Hampstead showed locals are not getting their knickers in a twist about their moment in the sexual limelight.

Artist Lydia Kemeny said: “I remember the controversy over the film back in the 70s but I think pornography is part of living these days.

“It’s regrettable if this sort of thing gets into the hands of children but there’s so much of it around that I don’t think many people will be shocked.

“I would have thought though that people here are broad minded enough and well off enough to have got hold of the film already if that’s what they’re into.”

Gillian McAndrew, from Church Row, said the idea that the screening of Deep Throat in Hampstead would disgust residents was wide of the mark.

“It’s a free world and I cannot see why people living here should be any less likely to be interested in the film than anywhere else,” she said.

“There seems to be an increasing audience for this sort of thing and if people don’t approve they don’t have to go. I think we’re all old enough to make up our own minds.”

Deep Throat stars Linda Lovelace as a sexually frustrated woman whose doctor discovers her clitoris in her throat. She goes on to perform a very particular technique of oral sex on various men.

The controversial film catapulted Ms Lovelace into superstardom. But later she claimed she was forced to perform real life fellatio during filming, sometimes at gunpoint, and became a feminist anti-porn campaigner. Whatever the truth, her performance is credited with bringing porn into the mainstream.

Daniel Broch, managing director of Everyman, said: “This is a rare opportunity to show a film that’s in many ways a cultural phenomenon.

“We are screening it in conjunction with the launch of a new documentary called Inside Deep Throat, which examines the film’s legacy on society. I don’t think the concept of sex is alien to the people of Hampstead.”

Deep Throat is only the second film ever shown in British cinemas to be rated R18 because of its content.

The first was The Good Old Naughty Days, an explicit compilation of restored French blue movies from the 1920s which was released last year.

Those who wish to see Deep Throat must complete free membership forms at Everyman at least 24 hours before the screening.