Porn Valley- Long before Jenna Jameson became the face of the multibillion-dollar pornography industry, as well as a multimedia empire unto herself, there was an unknown Linda Lovelace in “Deep Throat,” www.xxxdeepthroat.com the little movie that could, and did – until it was banned in 23 states, that is.

The pioneering porn flick’s legend is detailed in the documentary “Inside Deep Throat,” which provides an entertaining, high-energy depiction of the pop-cult zeitgeist in 1972 and the film’s eventual influence. Filmmakers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato offer campy, colorful context and some lively interviews with the people involved in making “Deep Throat.” “No, I don’t think it’s a good movie,” director Jerry Damiano happily admits at his Florida home, tanned and dressed in high-waisted slacks.

And he’s right. “Deep Throat” was shot in six days for $25,000, and it shows. It starred Lovelace as a woman with a peculiar medical condition in the back of her throat, and Harry Reems, a member of the production crew, playing the role of her doctor.

After its premiere in Times Square in June 1972, it became major water-cooler fodder and a must-see, which drew the ire of the Nixon administration and prompted an eventual shutdown of the film. That only made people want to see it more.

“As we say in Israel, it was a mitzvah,” says Screw magazine founder Al Goldstein.

Others interviewed in “Inside Deep Throat” include Ruth Westheimer, Gore Vidal, Erica Jong, Hugh Hefner and Helen Gurley Brown.

But Bailey and Barbato’s reporting is, at times, porous. The figure $600 million is bandied about a great deal. That’s how much “Deep Throat” reportedly grossed, which would make it the most profitable movie of all time. But the filmmakers fail to follow the money trail, maybe because they didn’t know how, maybe because it was impossible.

The idea of an organized crime connection is tossed out there – that the mob helped distribute “Deep Throat” and then sent “checkers” to swing by the theaters where it was playing to shake down the cashiers for half the day’s receipts. But even those dots aren’t connected completely, leaving you to walk away with more questions than answers.

If you’re only in it to have a good time, though, “Inside Deep Throat” comes through.