NEW YORK — Alfred Sole, who directed the controversial 1972 adult film “Deep Sleep” — which was investigated by the FBI in its attempt to shut down the nascent adult industry — and then went on to have a successful mainstream career, has passed away at 78.
Sole died on Feb. 14 at his home in Salt Lake City, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The Rialto Report has long championed “Deep Sleep” — Sole’s directorial debut — and re-released over the weekend a lengthy interview with the accomplished filmmaker and production designer, as well as a short film about the making of his pioneering X-rated title and its convoluted legal aftermath.
According to the introduction to the Rialto Report podcast, when Sole decided to make “Deep Sleep,” he “didn’t know much about adult films or the industry, so he shot it in his hometown of Paterson, New Jersey and using a cast and crew made up of friends and family members. This meant that the local lawyer, banker, policeman, high school teachers, funeral home director, the mayor’s wife, even Alfred’s wife and his mother were part of the filmmaking group. It seemed like everyone in Paterson knew someone who was involved in the making of ‘Deep Sleep.’”
And so, the introduction continued, “predictably when it came out, it was a smash hit in New Jersey, with long lines of people breaking box office records trying to get into the theaters to see it. But not everyone was impressed. And what followed was one of the most remarkable and notorious prosecutions of an adult film in American history. First the filmmakers were indicted on a state basis under an ancient anti-fornication statute, and then on a federal level for interstate transportation of pornography. Suddenly Alfred Sole found himself at the center of a storm. He was under attack both from the law and from everyone who’d helped him make the film in the first place.”
Later on, after being forced to pay off a hefty fine to have the case dismissed, Sole found success in Hollywood, and eventually directed the cult horror classic “Alice, Sweet Alice” (1976), wrote for several TV thrillers, and was production designer for popular shows like “Veronica Mars” (from 2004-07), “Castle” (2009-16) and “MacGyver” (2017-19).
“I’m so saddened by the loss of someone I was fortunate enough to call my friend these past 15 years,” wrote the Rialto Report’s Ashley West. “I’m grateful that so much of his creative output is available for audiences to appreciate. And I will keep doing all I can for the story of Alfred Sole and ‘Deep Sleep’ to reach as many people as possible.”
