The adult movies of Carlos Tobalina that have been cut or banned in Australia. He directed some of these under the names John Kirkland or Troy Benny.
The X-rating, for hardcore sex, was introduced in February 1984.
Infrasexum
Directed by Carlos Tobalina / 1969 / USA / IMDb
In January 1977, a 2441.27-meter (88:59) print of INFRASEXUM was censored by 62.70-meters (02:17) for an R-rating. The cuts were made to remove ‘indecency’.
Lestrig Trading (aka Lestrig Films) was the applicant.
R-rated & censored
In July 1979, 14th Mandolin had a 1924.00-meter (70:08) modified version passed with an R-rating. It’s unclear why they submitted such a short print.
It was released on their King of Video label in the early 1980s.
Review
Mike reports
Vinegar Syndrome (us) – DVD – 87:13
Peter (Eroff Lynn) is going through a midlife crisis provoked by no longer being able to perform sexually with his wife. He hands over his company to some trusted employees and sends his wife a letter telling her that he will be away for some time. After winning a fortune in Las Vegas casinos, he heads to Los Angeles where, along with his new friend Carlos (Carlos Tobalina), he tries to regain his lost libido while making friends with hippies, smoking pot and becoming an artist.
The 02:07 of cuts mandated by the Film Censorship Board in 1977 were likely from these two scenes.
Scene 1 – Abduction & Murder
Two thugs try to steal Peter’s money. Their plan is to abduct a woman off the street and take her to their house. They then call Peter over and tell him that unless he pays up they will rape the woman.
41:19 – 42:06: One of the thugs gets carried away and after sexually molesting the woman he stabs her repeatedly in the back and kills her. She is naked at the time and her body is covered in blood.
42:18 – 42:39: The same thug shows his associate what he’s done by waving the woman’s intestines around quite graphically.
43:48 – 44:15: The two thugs carry the woman’s bloody naked corpse to their garden where they plan to bury her. The camera focuses on the woman’s nudity during this scene and there are a few close-ups.
44:42 – 44:56: We see some more close shots of the woman’s corpse and this time the camera zooms into her crotch.
Scene 2 – Carlos performs
Peter is unable to perform with a woman and calls over his friend Carlos to take his place.
64:19 – 65:17: Carlos has extremely enthusiastic softcore sex with the woman involving vigorous thrusting and a few close-ups. The more explicit parts of this scene may have needed to be cut.
Refinements in Love
aka Love, Sweat and Tears
aka Refinements of Love
Directed by Carlos Tobalina / 1971 / USA / IMDb
In November 1974, a 2350.00-meter (85:39) print of REFINEMENTS IN LOVE was banned because of ‘indecency’.
An unsuccessful appeal was made to the Films Board of Review in February 1975.
Lyra Films was the applicant.
25-minutes removed
In August 1979, a precensored 1729.30-meter (63:02) print was again banned because of ‘indecency’.
An R-rating was awarded to a 1673.28 (60:59) ‘reconstructed version ‘in October 1979.
14th Mandolin made both submissions under the title REFINEMENTS OF LOVE. Advertisements list this as being released on their King of Video label.
Retitled & X-rated
The X-rating was introduced in February 1984, which allowed hardcore sex to be classified in Australia.
In July of that year, an 85-minute tape of REFINEMENTS IN LOVE was passed with such a rating. It was awarded for sex, which was found to be:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
14th Mandolin released it as LOVE, SWEAT AND TEARS on their Pink Video label.
Uncut Pink Video
Matt reports.
Impulse Pictures (us) – 2007 DVD – 88:20 (NTSC)
The running time indicates Pink Video’s PAL tape was uncut. The film includes a large amount of hardcore footage, which would explain why it needed nearly half an hour of cuts for the 1979 R-rating.
Pornography in Hollywood
aka The Blue Box
Directed by Carlos Tobalina / 1972 / IMDb
In September 1980, a 1857.90-meter (67:43) print of PORNOGRAPHY IN HOLLYWOOD was banned because of sex. It was said to be:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
A 1543.60-meter (56:16) ‘reconstructed version’ was also banned in November 1980. The sex was now only found to be:
Frequency: Infrequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
The film was finally passed with an R-rating in February 1981. This ‘second reconstructed version’ ran 1509.95-meter (55:02). The sex had been further reduced to be:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
In all cases, 14th Mandolin was the applicant.
It was released on their King of Video label in the early 1980s.
Retitled rerelease
In the mid-1980s, 14th Mandolin retitled PORNOGRAPHY IN HOLLYWOOD to THE BLUE BOX and issued it on their Pink Video label.
The National Classification Database does not contain an entry for this release.
Review
Mike reports
Unknown source – 65:07
Interviewer George Berkeley questions a range of experts, religious believers and members of the public from the Los Angeles area about their views on pornography. Some of what they are referring to is acted out on screen.
PORNOGRAPHY IN HOLLYWOOD makes a relatively serious attempt to be a documentary about sex for most of its running time. The interviewer makes a definite effort to engage with the participants and doesn’t ask salacious questions. The sex footage is quite brief and not obviously gratuitous, and pornography is discussed in a political and sociological context. The film even begins with some talking heads sitting round a table discussing sexual freedom in the manner of LANGUAGE OF LOVE (1969). It’s also quite progressive compared to similar films of the time in that it focuses on gay pornography too and there is a section also on a church with a gay congregation.
It doesn’t quite convince, however, as there are also interviews with directors Carlos Tobalina and Eric Jeffrey Haims which mainly act as an opportunity for them to plug their recent films – I AM CURIOUS TAHITI (1970) and 101 ACTS OF LOVE (1971) respectively. Haims tries to convince us that his is a purely educational film, which the Australian Film Censorship Board presumably disagreed with having banned it in 1976. The main element which makes the viewer doubt the filmmakers’ intentions is an 8-minute hardcore sex scene at the end which we’re told is shot on the set of a porn film. No attempt is made to contextualise this scene at all.
Aside from that final scene, the other hardcore moments in the film are a brief gay sex scene and some footage we’re shown of George Berkeley’s visit to a sex shop in which we see some fairly graphic magazine covers.
It seems that 14th Mandolin initially submitted the complete version of PORNOGRAPHY IN HOLLYWOOD and after the ban, cut the hardcore but that too was banned. The further material they needed to cut to achieve an R-rating may have been to a scene in which Berkeley is interviewing a group of people. One of the participants says that he thinks youngsters should be encouraged to see their parents having sex (‘no doors on bedrooms and bathrooms’) and that the age of consent should be reduced to the ‘age of sexual awakening’. He then talks about some of the fantasies he had at a younger age.
Swinging Senators
Directed by Carlos Tobalina / 1975 / USA / IMDb
In December 1976, a 3503.00-meter (127:41) print of SWINGING SENATORS was banned because of ‘indecency’.
Lestrig Trading (AKA Lestrig Films) was the applicant.
Review
Mike reports
Vinegar Syndrome (us) – DVD as MARILYN AND THE SENATOR – 128:55
Marilyn Right (Nina Fause) is a CIA operative who is desperate to have a baby, and chooses a senator (William Margold) to be the father. He is reluctant at first but is persuaded when she offers him $10,000 to seal the deal.
SWINGING SENATORS is a hardcore film but that only takes up around ten minutes of the running time. The reason is that the plot requires the senator to have problems impregnating Marilyn due to him frequently going limp during sex. So many of these scenes start but then peter out quite quickly. Aside from the hardcore it’s hard to imagine that the Film Censorship Board had any issues with other content, so it’s rather surprising that Lestrig Films didn’t try resubmitting a softcore edit.
SWINGING SENATORS may not be one of the better films of its genre, but it’s definitely one of the longest. It’s the second longest US porn film of the 1970s, only surpassed by THE LIGHT FROM THE SECOND STORY WINDOW (1973). It’s not clear why it lasts over two hours as it could easily have told its story in 80 minutes. It is he only porn film I’ve seen from that era which includes an ‘Intermission’ title card at the halfway point.
Sensual Fire
Directed by Carlos Tobalina / 1979 / USA / IMDb
In January 1982, a 2345.80 (85:30) ‘pre-censor cut version’ of SENSUAL FIRE was banned because of sex, which was said to be:
Frequency: Infrequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
A 2276.00 (82:58) ‘reconstructed pre-censor cut version’ was trimmed by a further 6.00-meters (00:13) before being awarded an R-rating in July 1982. The extra trims were made to remove sex, which was said to be:
Frequency: Infrequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
…while the sex in the R-rated version was:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
In both cases, AZ Associated Theatres was the applicant.
Palace Vibrant VHS
In January 1986, an 83-minute tape was passed with an R-rating. It was awarded for the same reasons as the July 1982 classification. Presumably, this was a precensored version.
The applicant, Palace Home Video, released it on their Vibrant Video label.
Review
Mike reports
Vinegar Syndrome (us) – DVD – 90:33
Roy (Jamie Gillis) and Laura (Jesie St James) are a happily married couple, at least until Laura’s daughter Teena (Dorothy LeMay) moves in. Roy then spends the rest of the film lusting after Teena. Although Dorothy LeMay was 25 at the time, Teena is made to seem much younger. Roy tries to overcome his fixation by seeking medical advice, but his doctor merely advises him to find a similar girl at Madame Rose’s brothel. Eventually Roy encourages Teena to attend a masqued ball which he attends in disguise and has sex with her without her knowing.
t seems that the first Australian submission was precut to remove the hardcore. The further cuts before an R-rating was awarded likely involved removing the stronger moments from a number of sex scenes. One candidate would be an early in the film when Teena arrives at the house and starts vigorously masturbating with a vibrator. This is softcore but still quite graphic. Another would be a later scene in which she makes love to a female friend and Roy, who is watching through a spyhole, imagines himself joining in.
SENSUAL FIRE has often been claimed as an inspiration for the much better known and similarly themed TABOO (1980), but this seems not to be correct. Despite SENSUAL FIRE being labelled as a 1979 film by IMDb, it has a copyright date of 1980 and only debuted theatrically in the US on April 25th 1980. TABOO had already been playing in cinemas since early March.