Several female Quincy House residents tried to prevent the society from showing the pornographic movie, but students voted for Deep Throat by a three-to-one margin. The protesters then went to Harvard administrators, asking that they force the society not to show the movie. But although Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III asked the film society to not show the movie, the administrator refused to ban Deep Throat.

Under orders from a Massachusetts judge, two state detectives attended the first showing of the movie, seized the film reel, confiscated all money taken in for the showing, and arrested two film society members. All charges were eventually dropped, and the students were never prosecuted.

Since that incident, the bluest movie at Harvard has been at the level of The Blues Brothers.

In the past years, however, the movies just ain't what they used to be. "Movies used to rake in the bucks," says Leverett House film society president Michael A. Cohen '86. He says that one reason for the decline in movie attendance may be increased availability of videocassette machines.

Adams House film society president Elizabeth Buckley '87 says she has resorted to pleading to encourage people to attend showings of her society's films.

While film profits may not fund any springbreak trips to Acapulco, not all societies are having a unprofitable season. Csikszentmihalyi says that Dunster House has had a very successful semester, partly because it shows 13 films a semester--one every week--as opposed to the seven or eight per semester put on by the other societies.

Poster Perfect

Dunster film society puts up 250 posters for each movie. However, putting the posters up and having them stay up are two different matters, says Csikszentmihalyi. "Posters put up Thursday morning can be down by Thursday evening," adds Cohen.

Some societies have gone to great lengths to win the Battle of the Poster. Switzer says that once he recruited his roommate to put up posters. Quincy's agent overzealously pasted posters not only on kiosks and bulletin boards, but also on Science Center walls and the backs of chairs in lecture halls. Following his roommate's postering orgy, Switzer received a letter from University Hall threatening to fine the society $25 for repeat offenses.

Harvard buildings are not the only illegal spots society members have found for posters. "The Cambridge cops actually arrested someone last year for putting a poster up on a telephone pole," Switzer says.

But beyond the innate glamour of the industry, two things little known to the man on the street encourage these amateur Loews to enter the world of cinema. "It's the free pizza and free passes to all the house movies," says Gallagher.