The Boston Phoenix went digging into its archives to find out what a young Bill O'Reilly wrote for the alternative weekly back when he served a stint there as a writer in college.

As a Phoenix item notes today:

... his pieces were noticeably lacking in the right-wing fire and brimstone and the general vitriol he is now known for. In fact, his contributions were largely about movies (including this interview with the soon-to-be-honorary-Oscar-ified Eli Wallach).

But the one that really caught our eye was a piece in which O'Reilly watches the classic porno The Devil in Miss Jones and immediately thereafter goes out for sandwiches with the film's director, Gerard Damiano. As totally awesome as that is, it gets even better. While discussing Damiano's involvement in the legendary skin flick, Deep Throat, O'Reilly writes this: “In an interview with Linda Lovelace last November, the performer told me that she was an afterthought for the lead in Deep Throat.”

Whoa. Whoa. Hold it right there Mr. Family Values. So that's not one, but two stories in which O'Reilly interviews personalities in the adult film industry. I guess ol' Bill isn't lying when he says that he started out doing hard journalism (Zing!)

A look at the article itself, published April 30, 1974, finds O'Reilly offering comment on the crowds that gathered for the skin flick, and his own views. Even then he showed a hint of not buying some free speech defense of porn. Here's a sample:

The spectators roared their approval and licked their lips in anticipation of the forbidden pleasures to come. Before anyone could say “prurient interests,” the lights went out and The Devil in Miss Jones appeared on the screen. The mood of the viewers quickly sobered when the all too realistic suicide scene began. Screams of horror filled the room as Miss Jones methodically ended her life by slashing her wrists in a bathtub. More than one person elected to forego the rest of the proceedings and left by the nearest exit. After 60 minutes the film ended and Gerald Damiano once again stepped to the podium. “Did I leave anything out?” he asked.

If there was ever any question concerning the star of the evening, whether it was the film or the producer, it was answered right then as half the audience ignored Damiano's query and filed noisily out the doors.

Those who remained were treated to the usual banalities and well rehearsed answers concerning censorship, the Supreme Court and so on, that a man in Damiano's position must constantly spew forth. To his credit, however, he did field all the questions and gave some candid answers.