American adult movies from 1975 that have been cut or banned in Australia.
The X-rating, for hardcore sex, was introduced in February 1984.
Beach Blanket Bango
Directed by James Bryan / 1975 / USA / IMDb
In August 1977, a 2194.00-meter (79:58) print of BEACH BLANKET BANGO was censored by 27.90-meters (01:01) for an R-rating.
The cuts were made to remove ‘indecency’.
The uncut version contains hardcore sex, so it would appear to be precut before submission.
Lestrig Trading was the applicant.
Banned in Queensland
On 22 April 1978, the censored R-rated version of BEACH BLANKET BANGO was prohibited by the Queensland Films Board of Review.
The distributor was Lestrig Films.
The Bite
Directed by Jerry Denby / 1975 / USA / IMDb
In July 1977, a 1684.30-meter (61:23) print of THE BITE was banned by the Film Censorship Board. The reason given was ‘indecency’.
The running time indicates that it was precut before submission.
An unsuccessful appeal was made to the Films Board of Review in August 1977.
In November 1977, a 1618.20-meter (58:59) ‘reconstructed version’ was passed with an R-rating.
In all cases, Lestrig Trading was the applicant.
VCA X-rated video
In September 1984, an 81-minute tape of THE BITE was passed with an X-rating. It was awarded for sex, which was found to be:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
Visual Communication of Australia (VCA) was the applicant.
Pink Video X-rated & R-rated
In August 1985, a 62-minute tape was passed with an R-rating.
This was followed in November 1985 by a 79-minute tape, which was X-rated. It was awarded for sex, which was found to be:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
In both cases, 14th Mandolin was the applicant. The tapes were released on their Pink Video/Essex Video label.
Christy
Directed by Leonard Kirtman / 1975 / USA / IMDb
In September 1976, a 2199.40-meter (80:10) print of CHRISTY was banned because of ‘indecency’.
A 2037.00-meter (74:15) ‘reconstructed version’ was refused for the same reason in November 1976.
This decision resulted in an unsuccessful appeal to the Films Board of Review in February 1977.
In all cases, Garron Int. Dist. Pty Ltd was the applicant.
Review
Mike reports
Unknown source – 55:07
Christy (Valerie Marron) is a girl who values her sexual freedom above all else. She tells her boyfriend John (Eric Edwards) that she’s not ready to marry, and in between her shifts as a topless dancer she has sex with just about everyone else in the film. Her parents (Andrea True and Marc Stevens) are less than a positive influence and seem to have no sexual boundaries themselves.
The extant version of CHRISTY seems to distantly derive from the Caballero Control Corporation (us) VHS from the early 1980s as most of their releases were cut to around 60 minutes. Despite missing 25-minutes compared to the 1976 Australian submission, the Australian censorship issues are all too clear.
It’s quite likely that after the initial ban, Garron International simply cut the hardcore and resubmitted. But there would still have been major problems:
1. Valerie Marron was around twenty when CHRISTY was made, but the plot is very keen to suggest otherwise. In an early scene we see her masturbating with stuffed toys while behaving in an immature way.
2. Christy is picked up by one of the patrons at the bar and she takes him back to her house. They have sex and after a while her parents burst in and tell the man her age and that he will have to pay $5,000 to avoid them calling the police. Their reaction, after the man has paid up and left, suggests that it has happened before. It is never clarified whether Christy’s father was lying.
3. Christy has a lesbian encounter with another of the topless dancers at the bar.
4. Christy’s friend visits her when she is out so her father offers entertainment her until she returns. Despite objections, he gropes and seduces her then has sex which she starts to enjoy it quite quickly.
5. Her mother talks Christy into having sex and suggests that this is perfectly normal.
6. Her father spanks her bare buttocks for smoking. Her mother arrives and is briefly shocked to see them having sex, before she too joins in.
Just about the only sex scene which the Film Censorship Board would have found acceptable sees her mother seducing a door-to-door lingerie salesman (Harry Reems), although they may have been less impressed by her husband returning home and threatening him with a shotgun.
The director on the Australian submission records Steve Harris, but the extant print shows it was produced and directed by ‘Leo the Lion’, one of the many aliases of Leonard Kirtman.
Who were Garron International?
Garron distributed several American adult films. Several of these, such as LOVE, YOLANDA (1971), also had censorship issues.
In the mid-1970s they tried their hand at producing their own film with Gary Young’s NUTS, BOLTS AND BEDROOM SPRINGS (1975).
This Australian sexploitation comedy was classified with an R-rating in October 1975.
Every Which Way
Directed by Richard Ormsley / 1975 / USA / IMDb
In January 1977, a 2002.00-meter (72:58) print of EVERY WHICH WAY was banned because of ‘indecency’.
Lestrig Trading was the applicant.
Fantasy in Blue
Directed by Richard Kanter / 1975 / USA / IMDb
In February 1976, a 2222.00-meter (81:00) print of FANTASY IN BLUE was banned because of ‘indecency’.
Roadshow Distributors was the applicant.
R-rated for 14th Mandolin
A censored 2007.94-meters (73:11) version received an R-rating in July 1980. The running time indicates that it had been modified before submission.
It was awarded for sex, which was described as being:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
In this case, 14th Mandolin was the applicant. They released it on their King of Video label in the early 1980s.
Banned in Queensland
On 4 March 1981, the censored R-rated version of FANTASY IN BLUE was prohibited by the Queensland Films Board of Review.
The distributor was 14th Mandolin.
Review
Mike reports
Unknown VHS (English with Dutch subtitles) – 78:49 (hardcore version)
Alpha Blue Archives (us) – DVD part of FANTASY IN BLUE AND THE LOST FILMS OF SHARON THORPE – 81:45 (softcore version)
Leon (John Seeman) and Angelique (Sharon Thorpe) are a married couple for whom the spark has gone out of their relationship. On the advice of the local brothel owner (Georgina Spelvin) he decides to take her to a swingers’ orgy to help her lose her inhibitions.
Hardcore and softcore versions of FANTASY IN BLUE exist, and the main difference between them is that in the softcore cut, which runs a couple of minutes longer, the real sex is hidden by camera angles, lighting or body parts. It seems likely it was the softcore edit that was submitted in Australia and it would have had several problems.
1. Early on, Angelique imagines herself with her hands tied above her head and a man tracing a vibrator all over her body. It isn’t made clear whether the tying up was consensual.
2. When husband and wife get to the orgy they observe a very graphic group sex scene. It starts with a woman receiving cunnilingus while performing a headstand and eventually four people are taking part with several changes of positions and partners. This was likely too strong for 1976 but may have been acceptable for the 1981 resubmission.
3. Tanner (Tyler Reynolds) is a guest at the orgy who offers to give Angelique the benefit of his sexual experience. He forces himself on her but she rejects his advances and runs away. He reacts by raping another woman in a complicated scene in which the victim objects and then consents alternately for several minutes.
4. Leon and Angelique drive home from the orgy in separate cars. Just before Angelique is about to set off, a car containing Tanner, Brielle (Joan Devlon) and another orgy member (John Leslie) pulls up and drag her away into the long grass and rape her violently. She begins by screaming and kicking out at them but after a few minutes she stops resisting and begins to smile. It’s implied that this experience improves her relationship with her husband and she flashes back to it with apparent enjoyment on her journey home.
Learning to Love
Directed by Lowell Pickett / USA / 1975 / IMDb
In September 1975, a 943.42-meter (85:58) 16mm print of LEARNING TO LOVE was banned because of ‘indecency’.
A 921.48-meter (83:58) ‘reconstructed version’ lost a further 16.6-meter (01:28) before being awarded an R-rating in February 1976. The cuts were made to remove ‘indecency’.
Garron international was the applicant.
Banned in Queensland
On 11 March 1977, the censored R-rated version of LEARNING TO LOVE was prohibited by the Queensland Films Board of Review.
The distributor was Garron International.
Super R-rated double-bill
In 1978, LEARNING TO LOVE played at the Sundown drive-in in Canberra.
February 11, 1978
– Garron International admat
Should the producer be arrested for obscenity…
He was…LEARNING TO LOVE (not to be confused with LANGUAGE OF LOVE).
This film goes further than any before into the ranks of super R movies.
This film is banned in Australia in its original form but leaves nothing to the imagination.
An adult super R rated movie.
Warning!! Don’t see this if you are easily shocked.
Plus SEXUALITY USA.
Banned in Europe and parts of America.
SEXUALITY USA (1972) had also been banned in Australia in 1974 before being censored the following year.
Promoting the film as having had censorship issues was a technique that Garron International had previously used with LOVE, YOLANDA (1971).
Love, Lust and Violence
aka Hot Line
aka Mafia Girls
Directed by Norbert Meisel / 1975 / USA / IMDb
In February 1980, a 2095.50-meter (76:23) print of LOVE, LUST AND VIOLENCE banned because of sex, which was said to be:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
… and for violence, which was:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
Esquire Films was the applicant.
The running time indicates that it had already been precut before submission.
Pre-cut & R-rated
In March 1983, 14th Mandolin had an 823.00-meter (75:00) 16mm ‘pre-censor cut version’ passed with an R-rating.
It was awarded for sex, which was described as being:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
Retitled & rereleased
In 1983, a videotape of LOVE, LUST AND VIOLENCE was issued as MAFIA GIRLS by Rodox. The tape is listed as Number 425 in the series.
The National Classification Database does not show it as ever receiving an X-rating.
Title No. 3
In the mid-1980s, 14th Mandolin retitled the film again, this time to HOT LINE.
September 1985 saw a 68-minute tape banned due to ‘gratuitous sexual violence’.
It was followed in February 1986 by an R-rated 76-minute tape. The sex was said to be:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
… and the violence:
Frequency: Infrequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
It is unclear if this video was released.
Targeted by the State Police
MAFIA GIRLS could have achieved an X-rating in early 1984; however, the guidelines were continually tightened during that year. This may explain how in September 1985 the Victorian Police came to submit an 89-minute tape and why it was banned due to ‘gratuitous sexual violence’.
Three more submissions followed, one by the NSW Police in November 1985 and two by the Victorian Police in March and August 1986. They were Refused Registration because of ‘gratuitous sexual violence’. All ran 89-minutes, apart from the final one which was 91-minutes.
Love, Lust and (Gratuitous Sexual) Violence
Simon reports.
Something Weird (us) – VHS – 90:16
The actual running time should be slightly shorter, as a couple of scenes are shown twice.
The ‘gratuitous sexual violence’ consists of a two-minute sequence of Lila (Serena) being raped by one of the gangsters. The scene is intercut with her husband, Roger (Al Moore), being beaten by the other gangster.
Surprisingly, the film is not wall-to-wall hardcore and has a relatively ambitious plot. It may explain how 14th Mandolin managed to get it R-rated with only around 15-minutes removed.
Massage Parlor Wife
Directed by Barry J. Spinello / 1975 / USA / IMDb
In July 1975, a 2249.00-meter (81:59) print of MASSAGE PARLOR WIFE banned by the Film Censorship Board.
A censored 2023.60-meters (73.46) version was Refused Registration in October 1976.
In both cases, the reasons for the refusals were listed as ‘indecency’.
Regent Trading Enterprises was the applicant.
Success for 14th Mandolin
A heavily censored 1810.38-meter (65:59) version was finally passed with an R-rating in January 1979. The cuts had reduced the running time by sixteen minutes.
In this case, 14th Mandolin was the applicant.
They went on to release it on their King of Video label in the early 1980s.
Banned K&C Video
In May 1981, K&C Video had an 81-minute tape banned by the Film Censorship Board.
The reason given for the refusal was sex, which was described as being:
Frequency: Infrequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
Special Condition K&C Video
In September 1983, K&C Video had a 73-minute censored version of MASSAGE PARLOR WIFE passed with the Special Condition ‘that this film/tape will not be exhibited in any State in contravention of State’s law relating to the exhibition of films’.
Missing erections?
Chris reports.
Something Weird (us) – VHS – 80:44 (NTSC)
Just over a minute shorter than the 81:59.
This version does not show hardcore, so it is unclear if something was missing. Maybe Harry Novak just cut it down for distribution. However, a couple of erections would have been a target of the Australian censor.
12:00 – Melanie (Serena) pulls the towel back to reveal a brief shot of Mr Edwards’ (Tyler Reynolds) erection.
74:00 – Tom (Steve Rogers) stands naked with an erection and shouts, ‘Tom is here, Tom is ready’.
Is this the same movie?
In July 1984, 14th Mandolin had a 78-minute film called EVERY INCH COUNTS passed with an X-rating.
This was followed in April of 1985 by a censored 66-minute version being awarded an R-rating.
In a video, once available on their YouTube channel, Something Weird’s Mike Vraney is shown visiting the headquarters of Harry Novak’s Box Office International Pictures. At one point, Novak discusses how his movies have sold all over the world. He then pulls out a copy of the Pink Video VHS of EVERY INCH COUNTS and confesses he has no idea which one it is.
Next, he shows the King of Video release of MASSAGE PARLOR WIFE and Starbase Video’s WHAM BAM THANK YOU SPACEMAN (1975).
The National Classification Database entry lists B. Spinello as the Director of EVERY INCH COUNTS. This must be Barry J. Spinello, the Director of MASSAGE PARLOR WIFE. Novak claims EVERY INCH COUNTS is his and Spinello only did one movie for him which indicates they are the same.
Could someone with a copy of the Pink Video release please confirm this?
Banned in Queensland
On 25 May 1985, the censored R-rated version of MASSAGE PARLOR WIFE was prohibited by the Queensland Films Board of Review.
This was the 66-minute EVERY INCH COUNTS release from 14th Mandolin/Pink Video.
The Naughty Victorians
Directed by Robert Sickinger / 1975 / USA / IMDb
In April 1978, a 2268.80-meter (82:42) print of THE NAUGHTY VICTORIANS was banned because of ‘indecency’.
A 2142.70-meter (78:06) ‘reconstructed version’ was submitted in September 1980, but this too was refused. The reason given was sex, which was described as being:
Frequency: Infrequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
In both cases, Regent Trading Enterprises was the applicant.
Review
Mike reports
Unknown VHS – 82:56
Somewhere in Victorian England, Alice (Susan Sloan) calls at the house of Jack (Beerbohn Tree), her fiancé, to break off the engagement. He demonstrates his purpose-built dungeon and sexually assaults her before including her in his torture and rape gang. The film plays as a period drama with a knowing sense of humour, and it’s broadly a comedy. But it’s hard to imagine the Film Censorship Board were especially amused.
Jack handcuffs and binds Alice, whips her, and then suspends her from the ceiling before taking her by force. Although she initially resists, she eventually starts to enjoy it. She helps Jack do the same to the next victim, who also joins the group for the assault and torture of a mother and her daughter. All of the subsequent victims ultimately enjoy the experience. The women do get their revenge on Jack in the last three minutes, but it’s pretty much an afterthought.
It’s hard to imagine how Regent Trading Enterprises ever thought THE NAUGHTY VICTORIANS would pass. Even if the hardcore was removed, which they presumably did in 1980, it would still show extended scenes of assault, beating and humiliation of naked women, and claims explicitly that the victims relish their experiences. No amount of cutting would have changed that.
Oriental Blue
Directed by Bill Milling / 1975 / USA / IMDb
In October 1981, a 2057.50-meter (75:00) ‘pre-censor cut version’ of ORIENTAL BLUE was banned because of sex, which was said to be:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
AZ Associated Theatres was the applicant.
Censored UK pre-cert?
In February 1982, a 59-minute tape, described as a ‘modified version’, was passed with an R-rating. It was awarded for sex and language, which were both described as being:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
Anjohn International was the applicant. This may have been an imported tape, as the running time matches the UK pre-certs released on the Intercity and Poseidon labels.
Second time lucky
In March 1982, AZ Associated Theatres resubmitted the film in a 1841.00-meter (67:06) ‘reconstructed pre-censor cut version’.
It was awarded an R-rating for the same reasons as the February 1982 decision.
Censored videos
A 67-minute tape of ORIENTAL BLUE was passed with an R-rating in July 1984. It was awarded for sex, which was said to be:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
It was submitted by Video Classics, who went on to release it as part of their Movies at Midnight range.
In the mid-1980s, it was rereleased on Palace Vibrant Video.
Review
Mike reports
Vinegar Syndrome (us) – DVD – 84:54
Madame Blue (Peonies Jong) runs a brothel which is a front for a white slavery racket. Women are abducted off the street, sexually abused and prepared for onward transit to wealthy international clients.
The runtime of the first Australian submission of 1981 is consistent with it being a precut version which removed the hardcore sex. It was no doubt banned because of the non-consensual nature of the sex between the abducted women and the brothel clients.
1. An early scene shows Max (Bobby Astyr), a wealthy sex trafficker, being shown around the brothel by Madame Blue. He is allowed to watch through a grille into a room in which a recently kidnapped woman is made to drink an aphrodisiac potion before a lengthy sex scene takes place. She is clearly there against her will, and alternates between appearing aroused and objecting to what is happening as the ‘love juice’ takes effect. Madame Blue eventually joins in with the sex.
2. A similar scene takes place later in which the victim again gives signs of enjoyment and discomfort at different points.
3. Brock (Jamie Gillis), one of Madame Blue’s procurers, picks up a vulnerable woman who has just arrived in the city and has already been robbed. He initiates her into the sex ring by giving her the aphrodisiac and having sex with her. After a while an associate arrives and they both unambiguously rape her. Even in the earlier part of the scene the woman frequently says ‘please don’t’ while at other times appearing to enjoy the experience.
Further reading
For more censored Bill Milling (AKA Philip T. Drexler Jr., AKA Luis F. Antonero, AKA Dexter Eagle), see the database entries for BLONDE VELVET (1976) and TEMPTATIONS (1976).
The Peeper
Producer Harry H. Novak / 1975 / USA / IMDb
In September 1975, a 297.00-meter (10:49) print of THE PEEPER was banned because of ‘indecency’.
Regent Trading Enterprises was the applicant.
Background
THE PEEPER is two deleted scenes taken from A SCREAM IN THE STREETS (1973) aka GIRLS IN THE STREETS. PART 1 features a man spying on a couple having sex in a bedroom while PART 2 shows him watching three lesbians. Harry H. Novak distributed both as shorts.
Both were edited together as an extra on the 2001 Something Weird DVD of WAM BAM THANK YOU SPACEMAN (1975), but separated for the 2021 Severin Films Blu-ray.
It is unclear whether it was PART 1 or 2 that was Refused Registration in Australia. However, the running time of the former is closer to the banned print’s duration. A SCREAM IN THE STREETS (1973), the feature from which they were culled, was subject to heavy cuts before receiving an R-rating in April 1976.
Referral Service
Produced by B. Rogue / 1975 / USA / IMDb
In June 1980, a 504.62-meter (45:59) 16mm print of REFERRAL SERVICE was censored by 18.00-meters (01:38) for an R-rating.
The cuts were made to remove sex, which was said to be:
Frequency: Infrequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
In the R-rated version, it was said to be:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
14th Mandolin, the applicant released it on their King of Video label.