Private Lessons
Dir Alan Myerson / 1981 / USA
A rich 15 year old boy (the actor was 18) has a relationship with his 25 year old housekeeper, EMANUELLE'S Sylvia Kristal. Due to its theme, this title has had a long history with the censors.
The first recorded submission comes from August 1981. Star Video submitted a 86min videotape that was Refused Registration by the Censorship Board. The reason given was 'Sexual Exploitation of a Minor'.
November 1981 saw Sunn Classic Productions again receive a Refused Registration. The problem for the 2370.60mtr (86m 39s) print was once more 'Sexual Exploitation of a Minor'. An appeal to the Review Board was upheld in December 1981, and the film remained banned.
Here is how CINEMA PAPERS SAW it at the time.
"Private Lessons, the inane banning of
which was reported in the previous issue went to appeal in December, but
the Films Board of Review rejected the film. Australia, it seems, is about
the only country that won't be seeing this film.
Sunn Classics went away and censored the film down to 2323mtr (84m 54s). It proved to be to of no avail, the 'Reduced Version' was Refused Registration in May 1982, again for 'Sexual Exploitation of a Minor'. It was finally passed, in July 1982, with an R rating awarded for 'Adult Concepts'. This third submission ran 2112.11mtr (77m 12s) and was described as the 'Producer's Reduced Version'. This heavily censored print didn't prevent the Censorship Board from insisting on another 0.5mtr (2sec) of cuts before the R was awarded. This final snip of the scissors was for; you've guessed it, 'Sexual Exploitation of a Minor'. It was this censored version that went on to be released theatrically in Australia. The 77m 12s cut print was issued later in the year on video by Rigby-CIC VIdeo.
In February 1984 it became law for all videotapes to be classified. The censors began the slow task of reviewing all the titles that had been released up until that time. They finally got to the old Rigby-CIC VIdeo release of PRIVATE LESSONS in November 1984. It was confirmed as an R for 'Sexual Allusions'.
It would be over twenty years before the film was again out before the censors. September 2005 saw Umbrella Entertainment have a VHS rated R18+ (Adult Themes). The DVD was released in January 2006. The fact that Umbrella submitted the film on VHS maybe provides a clue to what version they eventually released. The running time of the full screen DVD is 77m 12s, exactly the same as the old Rigby-CIC VIdeo released twenty-three years earlier. It looks like Umbrella decided to play it very safe this title. Perhaps they sensed that the intervening years had not made it any easier for the subject matter to pass the censors.
So what is censored from the VHS and DVD releases that we have seen in Australia? Surprisingly, it is not easy to ascertain for a film that is supposedly missing nearly ten minutes of footage. This may have something to do with the print being the Producer's Reduced Version. Here is a rundown of the scenes that may have been a problem and subjected to cuts.
22min approx: Ms Mallow undresses in front of Philly. This scene does not seem cut, but is the most obvious place for the often-mentioned full frontal nudity.
30min approx: Philly shares a bath with Ms Mallow. There is possibly a brief cut (the missing 2sec?) after Ms Mallow says, "I'll wash your shoulders". Philly then smiles nervously. It seems slightly cut between this, and the next front on shot where Ms Mallow kisses Philly on the cheek.
39min approx: Philly and Ms Mallow arrive home and are going to have sex for the first time. The scene ends after Philly leaves the room when he senses Ms Mallow does not love him. Nothing seems cut here.
48min approx: Ms Mallow and Philly have sex for the first time. This scene has definitely been modified as none of the sex is shown. Philly shouting, "Ms Mallow are you okay" plays out over a slow motion pan over the bedroom floor. The footage seems to have been deliberately slowed to mask a cut.
73min approx: Ms Mallow and Philly say goodbye. The scene ends with them collapsing on the bed together. Nothing seems cut here.
The IMDb makes a mention of a TV version that removes the opening credits scene of the couple in the car, and of Philly sharing a bath with Ms Mallow. This is not the version we have on DVD and VHS.
In February 2006, Artisan released a 25th Anniversary DVD in the US. Reviews mention that a couple of scenes of full frontal nudity have been optically fogged. Note that our version contains no full frontal nudity at all.
Also released in February 2006 was the UK DVD on the Cinema Club label. Like Australia, the film has always had problems with the British censors. So it is not surprising that that the DVD is also cut.
From Melon Farmers.
Cuts were made in several scenes under the Protection of Children Act. Basically
every shot where you could see Kristel's nudity and the boy in the same shot was
removed. The scenes affected were the striptease, the bath scene and the two sex
scenes. In the storyline the boy was meant to be 15 years old
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Entertainment DVD 77m 12s |
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