The life story of HUSTLER Publisher Larry Flynt is, without question, a remarkable one. His rise from humble beginnings in Kentucky to becoming the head of a pornographic empire and one of the First Amendment’s fiercest champions—all while fighting numerous legal battles—is an inspiring American tale seemingly tailor-made for the big screen.
In 1996, Flynt’s amazing life story got the Hollywood treatment with The People vs. Larry Flynt, which starred Harrelson as Flynt, Courtney Love as Althea Flynt and Edward Norton as Flynt’s attorney, Alan Isaacman. (Flynt himself had a cameo in the film, as Judge Morrissey, the Cincinnati jurist presiding over one of Flynt’s court cases.) Renowned director Milos Forman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Amadeus) helmed the film.
In its December 1996 issue, HUSTLER went behind the scenes with the film’s screenwriters and cast members to get their take on the film’s subject, and the impact that they hoped the film would have.
