American adult movies from 1978 that have been cut or banned in Australia.
The X-rating, for hardcore sex, was introduced in February 1984.
Carnal Games
Directed by Ralph Lander / 1978 / USA / IMDb
In August 1981, a 1456.80-meter (53:06) ‘pre-censor cut version’ of CARNAL GAMES was banned because of sex, which was said to be:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium [possible error, maybe ‘High’]
Purpose: Gratuitous
…and for ‘sexual cruelty’.
A 1261.78-meter (45:59) ‘reconstructed version’ was passed with an R-rating in October 1981. The sex was described as being:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
In both cases, AZ Associated Film Distributors was the applicant.
Erotic Adventures of Candy
Directed by Gail Palmer / 1978 / USA / IMDb
In June 1981, a 2193.20-meter (79:57) print of EROTIC ADVENTURES OF CANDY was banned because of sex, which was said to be:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
It was refused for a second time in November 1981, in a 2042.60-meter (74:27) ‘reconstructed version’. Despite over five minutes of cuts, the level of sex was still described as being the same as the initial submission.
A ‘second reconstructed version’ running 1951.65-meter (71:08) lost a further 07.00-meter (00:15) before being awarded an R-rating in May 1982. The censored sex was said to be:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
…while the R-rated version was:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
In all cases, Cinerama Films was the applicant.
Censored Playaround Video
In December 1985, a heavily cut 63-minute tape of EROTIC ADVENTURES OF CANDY was passed with an R-rating. The level of sex was the same as the May 1982 submission.
Communications and Entertainment, the applicant, released it on their Playaround Video label as part of a double-bill with NIGHTDREAMS (1981).
Further reading
For more censored Gail Palmer, see the database entry for CANDY GOES TO HOLLYWOOD (1979).
Fairy Tales
Directed by Harry Hurwitz / 1978 / USA / IMDb
In August 1978, a 2112.00-meter (76:59) ‘pre-censor cut version’ of FAIRY TALES was passed with an R-rating.
Seven Keys Films was the applicant.
Banned on video
An 85-minute import videotape was banned in April 1979 because of ‘indecency’. It was submitted by Videobrain.
R-rated tapes
Video Classics released FAIRYTALES in the early 1980s as part of their Movies at Midnight series. It is unknown if this was the complete version.
In August 1985, an 81-minute tape was passed with an R-rating. It was awarded for sex, which was described as being:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
Seven Keys Video were the applicant.
Review
Mike reports
Full Moon Pictures (us) – DVD – 81:50
The Prince (Don Sparks) is nearing his 21st birthday and needs to find a bride or risk losing his kingdom. Sleeping Beauty (Linnea Quigley) is the only woman who will satisfy him so he sets out to find her. Along the way he meets Little Bo Peep (Angela Aames), Snow White (Anne Gaybis) and her Seven Dwarves, the Frog Prince (Lee Arries) and the Old Woman who lives in a shoe, who has turned it into a house of ill repute.
FAIRY TALES is a very tame softcore comedy in which most of the fun is in seeing adult versions of fairy tale characters. There is a fair bit of female nudity, no male nudity, and very little sexual activity. It seems very surprising at first sight that Seven Keys cut it by around five minutes before its 1978 submission. However, they were probably right to do so given that the full version was banned on video by the Film Censorship Board the following year.
The only way of making sense of the cuts is if the following scenes were deemed problematic.
1. The Prince arrives at the shoe and is directed to a room in which a song and dance number is being performed. Three naked women are holding whips and behind them are three women and three men wearing loincloths who are handcuffed to the wall. The musical number is titled ‘It’s amusing to be abusing’. Examples of lyrics include ‘It’s when we love a man sincerely, that we will beat him so severely’ and ‘They turn ashen when we keep lashin’. However, this is not meant to be taken seriously and the whips are never used. This scene lasts 01:50.
2. A peeping tom (Moose Carlson) arrives at the shoe and is allowed to peek through the keyhole into a room in which a fairly tame softcore orgy is taking place. There is nothing impactful about this scene aside from the number of participants and we return to it several times later. The total length of the orgy footage is 03:27.
Further reading
For more censored Harry Hurwitz (AKA Harry Tampa), see the database entry for AUDITIONS (1978).
One Last Score
aka Pure Taste of Joy
Directed by Robert Gold / 1978 / USA / IMDb
In February 1981, a 1506.00-meter (54:53) print of ONE LAST SCORE was censored by 8.50-meters (00:19) 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 censored R-rated version, it was found to be:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
14th Mandolin released it theatrically and on their King of Video label.
Retitled hardcore version
The X-rating was introduced in February 1984. In July of that year, a 64-minute version of ONE LAST SCORE was retitled PURE TASTE OF JOY and passed with this new classification.
It was awarded for sex, which was found to be:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
14th Mandolin released it on their Pink Video label.
Review
Mike reports
Alpha Blue Archives (us) – DVD – 66:44
Al (Gordon Wilson) and Amy (Susan McBain) have a troubled relationship. He is a compulsive gambler whose losses have put them severely in debt. She stands by him to the extent of working as a hooker to prop up their finances. Her long-lost, vengeful husband reappears and is intent on winning her back. Will Al manage to win his last big bet before Amy’s husband brings an end to his lucky streak?
The hardcore in ONE LAST SCORE is nothing special and it seems that the filmmakers were more intent on telling their story and getting the betting terminology right. So although sex scenes happen from time to time they rarely have much connection to the plot.
It’s fair to assume that 14th Mandolin cut the hardcore before submission. The Board’s additional 00:19 of cuts would have likely been to a scene involving a man and two women, who appear to have no relation to anything that’s happened before, having sex on a waterbed. While the man is thrusting into one of the women, the other women goes to the bathroom sink and fills a hot water bottle which has a hose attachment. She sticks the hose up the other woman’s posterior. With the hardcore elements removed from that scene, the length of time that the hose is in view would be 00:18 to 00:20.
The King of Video sleeve for ONE LAST SCORE is an interesting example of how exploitation films were marketed. The main image shows a dark-haired man and a blond-haired woman, who both appear in the film but never in that position. She also never wears the bow in her hair which can be seen in the main image. The woman on the tape sticker is Farrah Fawcett.
The Other Side of Julie
Directed by Anthony Riverton / 1978 / USA / IMDb
In September 1978, a 2122.40-meter (77:22) print of THE OTHER SIDE OF JULIE was banned because of ‘indecency’.
G.H. Photography was the applicant.
Banned on video
In October 1981, an 83-minute tape was banned because of sex, which was said to be:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
Videolink was the applicant.
Review
Mike reports
Cal Vista (us) – VHS – 89:05
Mike (John Leslie) is a respectable married man by day but a gigolo by night. His modus operandi is to chat up women in bars with the line, ‘Do you believe in reincarnation because I think we were lovers in a previous life?’ before going home with them, having sex and stealing their jewellery. He returns it to them if it is fake, apologises, and lies that he only stole it because his mother needs money for an operation. All goes well until he picks-up an older woman who happens to be his wife’s Aunt Isabel (Jackie O’Neill). She keeps him as a sexual slave for three weeks and insists he escort her to a swingers’ orgy.
His wife Julie (Suzannah French) does indeed have two sides to her character in that she alternates between being sexually prudish and adventurous. We see the her latter side early on when her husband is too tired to have sex and she goes into the bathroom and graphically penetrates herself with a wine bottle. But this is really a sub-plot.
THE OTHER SIDE OF JULIE is hardcore and there are many very intense sex scenes, most of which don’t last especially long. They only run 12 to 13 minutes overall, and it’s likely they were removed by G.H. Photography before the 1978 submission. But even a softcore edit would have stood no chance with the Film Censorship Board. The sex scenes are extremely strong and vigorous and feature many close-ups of sexual organs. They also involve frequent changes of positions and on a couple of occasions are even seen twice due them being reflected in a mirror. They are intercut with each other, and the swingers’ orgy which Mike is taken to is also extremely explicit.
It’s no surprise that no attempt was made to cut the softcore version and resubmit as probably 20 plus minutes would have needed to be removed for an R-rating.
The Senator’s Daughter
Directed by Don Flowers / 1978 / USA / IMDb
In November 1981, a 65-minute tape of THE SENATOR’S DAUGHTER was banned because of sex, which was said to be:
Frequency: Infrequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
Videolink was the applicant. This may have been an import of the UK pre-cert released by Cal Vista.
Pre-X video release
Tabu Video released THE SENATOR’S DAUGHTER on tape around 1983. The cover claimed that it ran 80-minutes and was X-rated. There is no evidence that it was ever classified by the Censorship Board.
Official X-rated video
In January 1991, a 69-minute tape was passed with an X (Contains sexually explicit material) rating.
Capital Duplicators was the applicant.
Review
Mike reports
Alpha Blue Archives (us) – VHS – 71:48
The senator (Berk Hopley) sends his daughter (Lesllie Bovee) on a top-secret political mission during the course of which she is kidnapped by a criminal organisation and taken to their hideout. John Galt (John Holmes) is an adult film actor who has recently been involved in a car accident in which he lost an eye, an arm, a leg and his penis. The accident was caused by his losing concentration while being given a blowjob by a female passenger and she swallowed the penis on impact. Now fully recovered, all of his lost body parts, including the penis, have been replaced by bionic ones and he is recruited to track down and rescue the daughter.
THE SENATOR’S DAUGHTER is clearly a parody of the popular TV series THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN and is played largely for comedy. Nevertheless, there would have been a few problematic moments for the Film Censorship Board which undoubtedly caused the 1981 ban, which was presumably already missing the hardcore sex.
1. 01:24 to 04:24: The daughter is chloroformed and kidnapped by the gang and taken to their lair. While being held in place by two henchmen, the chief villain strips and rapes her. This is softcore but still quite graphic.
2. 54:04 to 54:12: After gaining access to the criminal organisation’s compound, John receives oral sex from one of the female conspirators. His bionic penis can apparently fire bullets and while thrusting into her mouth he shoots and kills her. No detail is seen but this is indicated by a gunshot on the soundtrack and the woman collapsing on the floor.
3. The sex in THE SENATOR’S DAUGHTER is fairly restrained, but there are still quite a number of vaginal close-ups which might have caused issues for the Board.
The Capital Duplicators VHS release of 1991 looks to be a few minutes short of the complete version so it’s possible that the capture and rape of the senator’s daughter might have been precut.
Sensual Encounters of Every Kind
Directed by Richard Kanter / 1978 / USA / IMDb
In April 1980, a 2112.40-meter (77:00) print of SENSUAL ENCOUNTERS OF EVERY KIND was banned because of sex, which was found to be:
Frequency: Infrequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
A 1944.70-meter (70:53) ‘reconstructed version’ was refused for the same reason in October 1980.
A ‘second reconstructed version’ was finally passed with an R-rating in April 1981. The sex in this 1478.06-meter (53:52) print was now found to be:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
In all cases, Filmways Australasia Distributors were the applicant.
Review
Mike reports
Vinegar Syndrome (US) – DVD – 76:12
A centuries old talisman, originally sanctified by horny priests and witches, has survived into modern times. It acts as the ultimate aphrodisiac and the owner, who can only benefit from it only once, is guaranteed great sexual fortune. We see the graphic experiences of five of its owners.
SENSUAL ENCOUNTERS OF EVERY KIND is a hardcore film, and it would seem that the original submission by Filmways Australasia was of the complete version. It’s no surprise that the Film Censorship Board had serious problems with that version that went way beyond the unsimulated sex.
In the first scenario, the talisman is possessed by Dee Dee Blake (Lesllie Bovee) who employs a team of gardeners (John Galt, Rick Lutze and Mike Ranger) to work at her house. She flashes her vagina at them while they’re working and they respond by chasing her, ripping off her clothes, then taking her into the house and raping her. After a while the gang rape turns into consensual group sex when she starts smiling and romantic music plays on the soundtrack. This scene goes on for 9-10 minutes. Simply removing the chase, capture and forced sex wouldn’t have been sufficient as there is a dialogue exchange afterwards in which the rapists say how exciting they found the experience because they didn’t know if she would call the police.
In the second scenario, the talisman has passed to Abby (Georgina Spelvin) who is an older women and a French tutor to a teenage boy and girl (Chris Cassidy and Monique Cardin). They have no interest in learning about French culture and instead read to her from a pornographic novel titled THE GENTLE RAPE about a teenage boy who has carnal thoughts about his teacher before raping her. Inspired by this, Chris Cassidy’s character strips and sexually assaults her. She resists initially but then starts to enjoy what turns into a fairly graphic threesome. This scene lasts 13 minutes.
The third scenario concerns a senator who takes a break from meetings to have sex with his secretary Laura (Serena). This is fairly tame until he produces his collection of oversized dildos and vibrators which he uses on his secretary, sometimes two at a time.
The fourth vignette is about Coach Davis (John Leslie) who seduces two of his female pupils in the gym. There’s a very graphic threesome on a weights bench and a follow up sex scene in a sauna which has added impact because it plays in slow motion.
It’s no surprise at all that the Board required 24 minutes of cuts and they could well have demanded more. It isn’t clear why Filmways Australasia only cut 6 minutes before their second submission as that wouldn’t have been enough to remove the hardcore sex let alone the sexual violence.
Slaves of Pleasure
Directed by Shaun Costello / 1978 / USA / IMDb
In February 1981, a 1310.74-meter (47:46) ‘pre-censor cut’ of SLAVES OF PLEASURE was passed with an R-rating. The sex was described as being:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
This print appears to have lost nearly half its running time, as the IMDb lists 83-minutes for the uncut version.
AZ Associated Theatres was the applicant.
Review
Mike reports
9th Avenue Exploitation (us) – DVD as SLAVE OF PLEASURE – 84:22
Eileen Anselm (Roseanne Farrow) is having a very bad day. Not only is her husband Richard (Shaun Costello) cheating on her with her best friend Barbara (C.J. Laing), but she’s just been abducted by a criminal organisation which specialises in the white slave trade and intends to traffic her to the Middle East. The gang have developed a new drug which both incapacitates victims and also makes them sexually voracious.
AZ Associated Theatres cut SLAVES OF PLEASURE by 36-37 minutes before submitting it to the Film Censorship Board and this wasn’t in any way an overreaction.
There are two sex scenes early on in which Richard has sex with Eileen and then Barbara. After being edited to remove the hardcore, these would have been the only sex sequences remaining in the cut version. The rest of the sexual activity involves members of the criminal gang including Henri Picard (Jamie Gillis) having explicit sex with drugged and delirious victims.
One scene, which would have presumably been removed completely, occurs at the end. It turns out that Barbara has arranged for Eileen to be captured by the gang so that Richard will pay more attention to her. When he doesn’t, she goes to the gang headquarters and demands they release Eileen, instead they decide to torture Barbara. Barbara is seen naked and handcuffed to the ceiling and is sexually assaulted by two naked men after one of them has spent several minutes whipping her. This produces red marks on her body and some blood. She is slapped around some more and has clamps applied to her nipples. Meanwhile another woman is seen being raped by two men who are penetrating her at the same time.
The cut version of SLAVES OF PLEASURE would have featured a fair amount of dialogue about women being drugged into having sex but little if any material showing sexual slavery.