Adult movies from the UK that have been cut or banned in Australia.
The Porn Brokers
Directed by John Lindsay / 1973 / UK / IMDb
In March 1974, a 2708.00-meter (98:43) print of THE PORN BROKERS was passed with an R-rating. To achieve this, Consolidated Exhibitors had to remove 30.48-meters (01:06) of footage.
The Censorship Board had demanded the cuts because of ‘indecency’.
Re-rating & video release
A ‘reduced version’ of THE PORN BROKERS was next classified in October 1982. This time, Blake Films had a 2633.28-meter (95:59) print passed with an R-rating.
The reason given for the rating was sex, which was described as being:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Justified
It is unclear if this was for a theatrical reissue. Blake Films were one of the companies behind Palace Vibrant Video, so this submission may have been related to that release.
In February 1984, Blake Films had a 96-minute videotape of THE PORN BROKERS passed with an R-rating. It was awarded for the same reasons as the October 1982 submission.
It was released on tape by Palace Vibrant Video with a running time of 94:54.
If the original March 1974 submission of 2708.00-meter is converted to 25fps, then that running time would be 94:46. This indicates that the Australian VHS is either complete or minimally censored.
Original vs. X-rated re-cut
Mike reports.
Palace Vibrant Video (Aus.) – 94:54
X-rated version (US) – 76:42
These two versions of THE PORNBROKERS are very different and contain footage that is exclusive to each. I believe the Palace Vibrant Video release should be considered the original British version, while the X-rated version appears to have been prepared later by an American distributor.
An exact side-by-side comparison would be extremely difficult, so instead, here are some observations.
PVV – Has the full credits.
X-rated – Missing most of the credits that are shown being printed out by a typewriter.
PVV – Only shows a handful of hardcore stills, and the filmed sex is softcore. However, there is some graphic female masturbation footage.
X-rated – Contains non-stop hardcore. This is either film or still shots. It also includes bestiality stills of a woman and a horse.
PVV -Contains an interview with UK artist Nicholas Treadwell.
X-rated – Missing.
PVV – Missing.
X-rated – A hardcore scene with two men and a girl on a park bench. This looks like it was filmed in the US, as one of the actors appears to be Jamie Gillis.
PVV – The making of John Lindsay’s WET DREAM short runs for approximately 30-minutes.
X-rated – Shortens it considerably, but does include hardcore footage.
PVV – Longer Lasse Braun interview.
X-rated – Shortened and audio cuts.
PVV – Much longer interview with Dutch pornographer Joop Wilhelmus.
X-rated – Shortened.
PVV – Joop Wilhelmus, ‘…the same child of mine can sit in front of a television set at seven o’clock in the evening, and see the seven o’clock news, and see how in Vietnam, the Americans are destroying a people, you know, a very poor people, in any disgusting way you can imagine, and even some ways you can’t imagine’.
X-rated – Audio cut has been made to remove Joop Wilhelmus saying, ‘…how in Vietnam, the Americans are destroying a people, you know, a…’.
PVV – Joop Wilhelmus continuing talking about how the Scandinavian countries were the first to oppose the Vietnam war.
X-rated – Missing.
THE PORNBROKERS is an interesting snapshot of the early 1970s European sex industry. Of the two versions, the PVV one is the more interesting. It contains longer interview footage and extended shots of locations such as the Copenhagen and Hamburg red-light districts. As mentioned, they are edited completely differently, so analysing what was censored from the PVV version would be very difficult.
In April 1973, the BBFC banned THE PORNBROKERS in the UK. It was only passed with an X-rating in 1977 after being censored down to only 58:40. I do not believe this was ever released on tape, so the Australian VHS may be the closest thing there is to viewing the full version.
Naughty
Directed by Stanley Long / 1974 / UK / IMDb
In March 1975, a 2276.00-meter (82:58) print of NAUGHTY was censored by 108.00-meters (03:56) for an R-rating. The cuts were made to remove ‘indecency’.
MGM BEF Film Distributors were the applicant.
Video release
NAUGHTY was released on tape in the early 1980s by Video Classics.
It is unclear if this was the censored theatrical version.
Possible cuts
Simon reports.
Showbox Home Entertainment [uk] – DVD – 80:02 (PAL)
This release appears to have been censored by 00:14 by the British censor, as the running time is the same as the 1997 VHS submission by Medusa Communications.
NAUGHTY! – A REPORT ON PORNOGRAPHY AND EROTICA is an enjoyable look at pornography from Victorian times up until the early 1970s. It contains the usual silly scenes but includes enough interviews and location shots of the red light areas of London and Amsterdam to keep it interesting.
I will attempt to identify where the four minutes came from that the Australian censor removed.
Two very brief shots stand out because they show stills of hardcore sex. At 38:50, a visit to a Soho sex shop shows the covers of such hardcore magazines as UNISEX and KEYHOLE. This is followed at 63:00 by Jim Haynes being interviewed about SUCK, THE FIRST EUROPEAN SEX PAPER while it is open on a page showing a blowjob.
The rest of the sex is softcore, so the majority of the censorship would have been carried out on some or all of these scenes.
At 12:30, during a profile of Amsterdam’s Wet Dream Film Festival, parts of the German cartoon SCHNEEFLITTCHEN HINTER DEN SIEBEN BERGEN TEIL 1 is shown, as well as brief clips of other sex films. This is followed by sex in ancient Greece (20:00), a Victorian sex scene (29:30 and 32:00), and Henry Hayler posing for photos with his wife (42:00).
John (THE PORN BROKERS) Lindsay appears at 49:00 while filming SEX AFTER SCHOOL (1971). This is followed by sex with a Victorian prostitute (58:00), a group sex scene (60:30) and a naked female being whipped by a female dominatrix (67:00).
Finally, the scene at 28:30 where a Victorian gent approaches a child prostitute may also have been targeted. Although, the fact that it was not removed from the British 18-certificate DVD indicates it is not terribly problematic.
Lay-by Lovers
aka Pick-Up
Produced by Mistral Film / 197? / UK
In September 1979, a 60.96-meter silent 8mm loop titled LAY-BY LOVERS was banned because of ‘indecency’.
The Censorship Board list it as running 10-minutes.
Venus Enterprises was the applicant.
According to the Adult Loop Database, this was originally released by Mistral as PICK-UP and reissued by Blue Movies as LAY-BY LOVERS.
Look No Staples Vol. 1
Produced by Club Video / 1979 / UK / Pre-cert
In February 1982, a 60-minute tape of LOOK NO STAPLES VOL. 1 was banned because of sex, which was said to be:
Frequency: Infrequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
Videocraft was the applicant.
This appears to be an import of the 1980 UK pre-cert release, which was Club Video’s answer to the Electric Blue series.
Look No Staples Vol. 2
Produced by Club Video / 1980 / UK / Pre-cert
In February 1982, a 60-minute tape of LOOK NO STAPLES VOL. 2 was banned because of sex, which was said to be:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
Videocraft was the applicant.
This appears to be an import of the 1980 UK pre-cert release, which was Club Video’s answer to the Electric Blue series.
