Cut: The Unseen Cinema

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This picture is a mock-up in Life magazine in 1946 (copyright in the photograph, A. L. Schafer) of the Hollywood Code of the time, listing the Ten Commandments of Thou Shalt Not Show This in the cinema.

Cut

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Lorrimer

© Lorrimer Publishing Limited 1975 First Published in 1975 by Lorrimer Publishing Limited, 4 7 Dean Street London W1 in association with Futura Publications Limited 49 Poland Street London W1 ISBN 0-85647-058-9

Production and Design by Jack Pia Ltd. Neal Street London WC2H 9PJ

55

Cover: JWA Designs This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

The publishers would like gratefully to acknowledge the help of the following organisations and people in providing the posters and other promotional material used in this book: S.F. Films, Fox-Rank, MGM, EMI, Columbia-Warner, United Artists, Allied Artists, Paramount, Universal MCA, RKO General Inc., First National, Cinema International Corporation, Hammer, the Cinema Bookshop, AlP, Contemporary Films, British Lion, Hemdale, Intercontinental Films, the stills and information departments of the National Film Archives, the British Film Institute, Titan International, Don Getz, Al Reuter, Brian Mcllmail and Martin Jones:

Erratum: page 7 9 Juliet Mills, not Hayley Mills, was the star of

Avanti.

CfJIIIelll$

llle llrsl st1/Joltige pt1ge 1 politics tlnd 11111/tlllon pt1ge 24 In retret/1 P•ge SIJ cut on fllolence pt1ge 88

tlcltnowletlgements Grati.tude can only be given for the making of this book to those 'Nho have directly or indirectly caused the censorship of films or sequences from them. So this book is affectionately dedicated: To the public, which often will not pay to see a good film. -To the film financiers, who often will not pay to make a good film. -

-To the directors, who often fight for the film they want, and to hell with the audience. -To the stars, who wish to protect their performance at the cost of all other performers- and the film. -To the distributors, who ·won't show what they won't show, ·without giving any reason. -To the official censors, who have seen and scissored more bad movies (and a few good ones) than the human eye can bear. -To all, in fact, ·who have CUT� what we have not been allowed to view. -To them, THE UNSEEN CINEMA!

7

The creation or the world was the first sabotage. Why so, Cioran once asked?

t h ig h and hidden hair. The arts them­ sekes m oc k ed the censorship. Toulouse­

Because its creation destroyed the possi­

Lautrec's

bil i ty or all other wodds which could be made on t h i s particular pla net. The creation of a fi l m is also a sabotage. It prewnts anoth e r film being made on the same subject ;Jt uses up on its budget the monev which could ha\'e made other

number

were perhaps the most suggesti\·e, danc­

films; it i� completed in a form which is

ing with skirts hiked high abo\·e black

often unsatisfactorv to fi.nancier, director, . dis t ributor and au dience. The final print of' a film is its first censorship, because it e li m ina te s all othe1 possible versions of that film at tha t time. As the old Holly­ \\'ood saying goes, the only positive thing about a fi.ln1 is a negatiYe. In the labora­

stockings and bare thighs,

tories lies the unkindest cut of all, the

Because I've got a pussy cat

·

las t chance. Thus censorshi p in the cinema began

\\'ith th e creation of the cinema in the 1890s. Fo1· all th at was o·eated by Edison and the L u m i e re Brothers was a machine \\'hich could mO\·e the pictures of the habits

and

inhibitions

fi·iend

Ibels

drew

a

whole

or L'Assielle au Beurre on the

Cafe Concerts of Paris. It was subtitled 'Censorship' and it proYed how far the singers c o u ld get away with their risky mate1·ial. T h e English Machinson Sisters

with a live

pussy-cat held in the fold of the skirt and with a chorus which went: 'Nould you give me the tip of it, tip of it, tip of it Would you give me the tip of it, tip of it, tip of it Because I've got a pussy cat ·who hasn't eaten that, that, that! Ibels took great delight in stamping the words of the song with Passed By The Censor. Toulouse-Lautrec did, in fact, do the cover of

The

1895,

lvfntngraph Moving Picture

of their time.

Bonk

in

days

other illustrations the Serpentine Dance

consisted chieHy of the music hall, while

of Loie Fuller. This dance of the whirling

Victoi·ian

veils above an apparently naked body

entertainment

Popular

still

those

photography

recorded

chiefly Yiews of the streets and various female beauties. The music hall already

hac! its censors in France and in England,

of

which featured

among

took its inspiration from Salome, but the transparency of the veils was much helped by

backlighting from the new

\\'here the Lord Chamberlain was offi­ · cially the judge of indecency in the

electrical lamps in the theatres. It was

were something of a joke. The climax

name of Fatima, which was the hit of

theatre.

In Paris, howeYer, the censors

or the can-can, for instance, was the high kick followed by the shrieking splits; as the girls wore nothing under their long petticoats,

there '\·vas always a flash of

another performance of the Serpentine Dance by Loie Fuller's sister under the Chicago's

Columbian

Exposition

in

18 93; this actually led to the first overt act of censorship in the United States, ·when a peep-show

version of it was

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10

Loie Fuller' s dance is t aken from The Motograph Moving Picture Book of 1 89 5 .

censored 111 1907 by superimposing para l l el l i nes across t h e p r i nt so that t he patrons cou l d only see a navel undulat i ng between bars, a son or S i ng­ S i ng m i d r i ff s t r i p show. In fact, desp i te the real i sm o f the first fi l m shows o f Edison a n d t h e Lumiere B ro thers - t ra i ns a rr i v i n g a n d workers leav i n g factories - the early ci nema evol ved out of the magi c t r icks of Mel ies, who certa i nly knew t he va l ue o f a l i ne of chorus girls even on a Tri p to the M oo n , a n d o u t of t h e p o p u l a r post - cards a n d peep shows o f the t i me . F o r t h e first ci nemas were l i t t l e more t h a n penny arcades fi l l ed ,.,•ith What The Bllller Saw mach i nes . The fi l m s were a series o f cel l u l o i d i mages or p o s t cards w h i ch fl i cked over rap i dly and gave t h e i l lu s i o n o f act i o n - usua l l y of a woma n undres s i nod \\·;1 � h i � prol i x i t Y . n o t h i � pcr n T � i t Y . H e co� t t oo m uch a n d ,,·a � cl i t n i n;t t ed a s a d i rect or. That \1·a s a l so E i senst ei n ' s problem \1·hen h e ca me t o work i n H o l l v\1·ood . A t Erst h e fel l l o u ! o f t h e H a vs o i l i cc i n h i s c h o i ce o f a s ub j ect , D rei ser' s A n A merican Traged_r . A n d \1· h en he ro u n d a gro up of' pri \·a t e ba ckers t o s upport h i m , led by t he ra d i ca l n o\·cl i s t S i n cl a i r Le\1· i s , h e p l a yed S t ro h ei m , s h oo t i ng Q!1e Viva . \ 1 exico l endlessly so u t h o r t he border, a n d o f fend­ i ng t he mora l i t y o f h i s p u r i t a n American prod ucers by s h owi n g "·omen w i t h na ked b rea s t s a n d pseudo- rel i g i o u s b l a sp he­ mous scenes i ncl u d i n g a t raves t y o r a cruci fixi o n . H e was n o t a l l owed to ed i t t he fma l vers i o n o r h i s l i l m , a n d t hree vers i o ns have been i s s ued from h i s mater i a l , wi t h o t her vers i o n s poss i b l e to fol low from o t h e r ci neastes. The cu t t i ng

37

room I S t h e final censors h i p o r t h e director. The s t u d i o svs ' t em worl d - wi d e d i d , i ndeed , t r i umph over t he ob sess i o n s o r t h e d i rect ors, excep t where pervers i t y wa s enco ura ged , a s i n Wei mar Germa ny. There the a rt i s t i c s uccess o r The Cabinet of D r . Caliga ri l ed w a t h orough port raya l o r most h uman pervers i o n s a n d ral l i es a n d murders i n s u c h mast erp i eces a s t h e M abuse f i l m s ( ba n ned b y some Amer i ca n sta t e boards ror port rayi n g a na rchy) , Waxworks , Pandora '.s Box . The Th reejJenn;· Opera ( ban ned i n Fra n ce a s s u bvers i,·e) ,

and such m i nor p i eces a s t h e homo­ sex ual A .H a n \ Girlhood a n d the transves -

t i t e Prince Von Pappenheim . Lo u i se B rooks, w h o p layed the t ease 1n America n comed ies, was t ra n s rormed b y Pabst i n t o o n e o r t he most ero t i c crea t ures ever t o h a u nt t he scree n , w h i l e i n a c u r i o u s re­ versa l , t h e America n von S t ernberg wa s i mport ed t o d i rect a n d make M arl ene D i et rich i n t o the a rcherype o f " the ma n ­ degra d i n g woma n . W h i l e bot h B rooks a n d D i et r i c h never s t r i pped, t he i r s u g ­ ges t i o n o r e v i I wa s so t o t a l t ha t t h e fi I m s were u s ua l ly c u t o r b a n ned t o t he l i m i t ed screen i n g o r f i l m soci et ies. The only t ru l y ero r i c revo l t o r t h e ci nema l a y i n t h a t o u t b urst o r gen i us k n own a s t h e S u rrea l i st C i nema . Fol l ow-

Marlene Dietrich degrades Emil Jennings in The Blue A ngel ( 1930).

38

The razor slashes the eyeball i n Un Chien A ndalou ( 1928).

i ng Rene C l a i r ' s p i oneer i n g Entr 'acte , B u iiucl ' s Un Chien A n dalou a n d L'Age d 'O r showed sexual \'iole nce a n d sa\'agery o n screen t h a t w a s censored i n 1nost c o u n ­

t r i es um i l recent t i mes. The razor - s l a s h of an eyeba l l , t h e a n drogyne' s wa l k i ng­ st ick p i ck i ng a t t he se\'ered wri s t , t h e agony o f b l oody l o\'e a n d t he suck i ng o f hands, t h e succes s i o n o f raw images pro­ d uced by B ui'luel s t i l l d i s t urb and s hock a fter forty years, more t ha n any o f t h ose of his i m i tators i ncl ud i ng J a dorows k i . H e first showed t h e v i olence o f sex , t h e o u t rage of sex wi t h i n a bourgeo i s sociery. Surrea l i s t C i nema gave us t he n i gh t ma re i mages o f our era . The assa u l t o f the S u rrea l i s t f i l m - maker� wa s l i m i ted by sma l l d i s t r i b u t i o n , l ow budget s a n d mass i n d i fference. The ci nema a u d i ences preferred the con\'en ­ t ions of their t i me. I n Fra nce, t he bri l l i a n t

a n d i n\'enuw· Abel Ga nce, "·ho \\·a s ca pa b l e o r t h e ea rl y d i s t ort i o n s o r La Folie rle D r . Tuhf a n d or· t h e s p l i t screen o r lapoko n , \\·as reduced t o com-cn t i o n a l bare- brea s t ed orgy p i ct ures i n t h e I t a l i a n m o d e s u c h a s Lucrez.. i a Bmgia . Fa scism in I t a l y, i n deed , h a d brough t a p u r i t a n i n fl uence t o t h e ci nema o u t s i d e t he h i s t o r i ca l specta cl e, where s l a w · - g i r l s \\·ere s t i l l a l l owed t o fla u n t w h a t t hev h a d . The G rea t D epres s i o n , h o ;,-c\·er, b ro u g h t o t h er res u l t s i n t h e U n i t ed S t a t es, \\·here t he H ays Code t ook a bea t i ng r ·rom 1 he new sex goddesses a nc\ choreo­ gra p h ers . The ri se ol" Garbo and H a r l m,· i n t h e i r sa t i n s ugges t i o n s kep t t h e sma l l t O\\·n censors t o t h e i r ha cb,·ork, a s i n t h e massa ge seq uence i n H a r l < )\\· ' s Plalin u /11 Blon de ( 1 9 3 l ) . Yet t he i ncrea s i n g excesses of· t h e O t h er CTO\\·c \ - p u J J i ng genre, t he h o rror f i l m , bega n t o a t t ra ct a l a rger ·

39

The hands paw at the woman's breasts and she suddenly becomes naked in Un Chien A ndalou.

The lover sucks at his own hands, his beloved sucks at his hands . . . and at the toe of the marble statue in L'Age d'Or (1930).

40

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CC l l S O l "� h i p .

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Toe!

B rO\m i n � . h a d �o n e t o o l � 1 r , p ro�rcss i n g l i· o m s u b j ec t s s u c h a s a n a r m le s s k n i l c ­ t h rO\n'l' a n d g o o d - b a d S i a m e s e Tw i n s t o Frenk1 , t h e o n e i n d i s p u t a b le m a s t erp i ece

o l ' t h e ci r c u s c i n e m a . I t s t r u e a n d p o n ra \';d

a ffect i ng

o l ' t h e c lc l 'o n n e d a n d m i dget

c i r c u s p e r fo r m ers wa s k i l le d "·o r l d"' i de 1 ) \·

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Sig11 of the

Cm.11 ( 1 9 3 2 ) co u l d get " ''·a y w i t h C l a u d e t t e C o l b e r t i n h er b a t h o l · a s s e s ' m i l k a n d t h e n ca r - n a k e d

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m e n a ced w i t h

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h ; J \' i n � a d d i t i o n s "· h e n re i � s u e d i n I In

t k l l \ T rs i o n .

942.

t h e A m e r i ca n a i r - force

d r o p p ed l ca l lc t s on R o m e , ,,· h i lc C t h e Ia �t -,; t l >O t a ge .

Walter Huston fights for t h e right as the youn g reformer and awaits h i s assassination as the President in D . W. Griffith' s A braham Lincoln ( 1930).

50

As the Secon d Worl d Wa r l a rgely dest royed the et h i ca l code and a s s u m p ­ t i ons o r Europe a n d to a lesser degree o ! · t h e U n i ted S t ar es, so t he s l o,,· eros i o n o f t he H o l lywood Code bega n . There \\·a s a ba t t le about t he a d u l t ery a n d m u rder i n The Pn.llman A lway1 Ring1 Twice , b u t t h e fil m wa s made. A n d \\·hen H o\\'a rd H ughes put out a n u t ra geous p u b l ici t y

ca mpa i gn for J a ne R ussel l i n The O ut law a n d t he B reen o rfice revoked i t s sea l o f a p p rova l , H ughes s t i l l d i s t ri b u t ed t h e p i ct ure i n 1 9 4 6 a n d packed i n t h e a u d i ­ ences , especi a l l y w h e n a j udge decla red t ha t t h e brea s t s or J a n e ' h u n g over the p i ct u re l i ke a t h u nderstorm sp rea d over a l a n d scape . ' War h a d broken clown t h e o l d barr i ers a nt\ m o n ey cal led i n t he n ew c h a n ge. A rt er t h e s h o t s o f na ked g i r l s raped a n d ca rved t o p i eces by t h e Gennan army in A na t ol e L i tvak' s The Battle of R ussia, a n d t h e rea l i sm or t h e t ort ure sequences in t h e new I t a l i a n wave o r war f i l m s s uch as Paisan and Rome , Open C i t)' , t h e documen t a ry o r l i re seemed s t ronger t h a n t he et h i cs or escap i s m . T here wa s a l so t h e ma t t er o r m i l l i ons or Amer i ca n troops experiencing E u ropea n a n d As i a n ma n ners a n d women . The rea l i sm or the l ove scenes p l a yed by Gerard P h i l i pe in Le DiabLe a u Corps m i g h t s t i l l be sci ssored i n t he A n gl o - Saxon

Jane Russell lounges with a suggestive revolver i n this poster from The Outlaw ( 1946). It i s interesting to see the similar l ayout of the B ond poster in Thunderball (1965). In twenty years, male nudity had become possible.

The torture of Manfredi, from Rome, Open City ( 1945). Its sickening realism was to influence two other films of soldiers and partisans and torture sequences . . .

Godard' s Le Petit Soldat (1961) and Pontecorvo' s film, Battle of A lgiers ( 1966) - both of which were banned in France.

52

The beach kiss in From Here to Eternity (1953). There were two scenes scissored from the picture by studio chief Harry Cohn, but only of Montgomery C lift thinking the attackers at Pearl H arbour were Germans and composing a blues on his bugle.

count ries ; b u t r h ey wou l d i n fl uence t he ramous beach l ove scene t h a t was a l a n d ­ mark o r t h e America n ci nema i n 1 9 5 3 , Deborah Kerr ' s gra p p l e "·i t h t h e surr a n d B urt Lanca s t er i n From Here t n Eternity, appropri a t el y a war p i c t ure. Some Bri t i s h movies l i ke B righton Roell might be hacked by t h e America n censor

CHA R CHAPLI featuring M A R T H A R AV E lsobel Elsom· Marilyn Nash · Robert lewis ...

Written and Oireded

�

CHAR L E S C H A P LI N

b eca use or t h e col d sed uct i o n bv P i n k i e o r t h e girl w i t n ess o r t h e crime ; b u t i n genera l t h e largest o u t cry o r t h e i m ­ med i a t e postwar yea rs wa s a ga i n st t he ' u npa t r i o t i c' C h a r l es C h a p l i n . A pa ter­ n i t y s u i t and a M a nn Acr cha rge brought a ga i n s t him ca used r i p p l e s o r a n Arb u c k l e ­ ty p e w i t ch - h u nr , \\·h i l e h e c h o s e w s h a ke

53

H ollywood' s gol d d u s t off h i s feet a ft er mal\n'g", the b\ner ana nloc\:..\ ng; .\l o n .l i e m Verdnux "·i t h i ts i m p l i ca t i o n t h a t p r i , ·a t c m u rders were n o t h i n g b e s i d e \\·a r ma s ­ sacres , u s i n g t h e t errible l i ne. ' M i l l i ons sa nct i fy ! ' The refusal o f t he America n and B ri t i s h d i s t ri b u t ors t o s h o\\' t h i s f i l m ll'idely ca used i t s d fcct iYe suppres s i o n ou t s i de Fra nce. T h e I tal ian ci nema wa s as o u t spoken about sex a s about t o rt u re, and t he n ca r ­ ra pe o f ' S i !Y a n a M a gn a n o by Vi t t or i o Gassma n i n Billa Rice i n 19-+9 "·a s para 1 Sophia Loren first appeared i n a silly extravaganza called Era Lui, Si, Si.

Loren also played in such undistingui shed epics as Madame and Hollywood failures such as Boy on a Dolphin before reaching stardom and keeping herself covered for the censor.

54

M artine Carol did not bother about the asses' milk i n Sins of the Borg ias. l e l cc l i n s h ock bv t h e e l o p em e n t o l · t h e m a rr i ed

I ngri d

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b u t o r s , i t p row·d m o re o r a da m p � q u i b t h a n a v o lc a n o . B er gm a n h er � c l r \,·a � c o l d ­ s h o u l derecl { ( ) r m a n v \Ta r� 1 ( ) 1 · h e r b e ­ haviour - and l()r t he flop o r t he f i l m ­ a n d i t t o o k h er ;1 d ec;H k o l · p la v i 1 1 g good \\·omen a ga i n to re - e\ t < t b l i \ h h t T\e l r i l l t h e a n n a b o r m o ra l i t Y a n d t h e l l l < l \ \ d i � t r i b u ­ l i O n C I I "C U ! l � . i\ l ore \\T I T

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Jeanne Moreau also began as a mere hi storical figure. t he

plot,

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! "o l l o \\H I i n Fra nce, \\· h er e :\ L m i n e C a r o l

a s fo d d e r {'o r t h e 1 i o n s o r da n g l i n g f i · o m c r o s s e s b e ca m e m ys t er i o u s l Y c l o t h ed o r

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fo r h o m e v i e\,· i n g , i t

s h o o t a l e s s t o r r i d \ T rs i o n o r seq u e n ces

. . . but she remained a creature of her time who denied time, as can be seen in thi shower sequence from the recent de Broca film, Chere Louise. •

The American and the European version of the bed sequence from Cry Toug h.

for t h e a rea s of hean- cemors h i p , s uch as America n t elevi s i o n , S pa i n and S o u t h A fr i ca . H o l ] y,,·ood i t sel f a ccep ted t h e i dea of a d o u b l e wrs i o n a n d doub le ,·i s i o n ' t o get a l i t t le more m i l ea ge o u t o f " i t i n E urope . ' I n a fa mous seq uence i n Crr To ugh , a E l m a b o u t j uven i l e del i nq uency set i n t h e ea r l y E ft i es, t he Amer i ca n pro­ d ucers got L i n da C r i s t a ! t o s t r i p off lor t h e bed scene for E urop e, a n d t o p l a v i t cl o t hed lor home co n s u m p t i o n . W h a t \\'a s especi a l l y l ud i crous a b o u t t h e Ameri ­ ca n vers i o n o f t he scene \\'