A number of volumes of the ELECTRIC BLUE adult video magazine were cut or banned in Australia.
Electric Blue 001
Directed by Adam Cole / 1979 / UK / IMDb
In January 1980, a 59m tape of ELECTRIC BLUE 001 was banned because of sex, which was found to be:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
The following month, an unsuccessful appeal was made to the Films Board of Review.
Electric Blue Australasia censored the tape by a reported three-minutes and received an R-rating in March 1980. It was awarded for sex, which was described as being:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
The exact running time was 58:06.
June 1980
Another interesting censorship decision is that relating to ELECTRIC BLUE, a one-hour video tape put out by the owners of Men Only and Club International magazines in Britain. The tape consists of edited highlights of car crashes at Indianapolis, a short film by David Hamilton, interviews in the street conducted by Fiona Richmond and two segments on naked women.The first sequence (13mins) is a semi-dramatic episode of a centrefold-type girl as she becomes erotically aroused by the school papers she is marking. The other segment is of housewives as they move about in their houses naked. These sequences are reputably photographed by either husbands or boyfriends.
Electric Blue is the first attempt by a men’s magazine publishers to put a magazine on video. Playboy for example is preparing to put out monthly, one-hour specials on cable television in the U.S. and Penthouse is said to be considering doing the same.
Given that video and cable television will continue to expand, the future of publications on tape seems to be considerable. The Tasmanian Film Corporation for example has been examining the idea, though presumably with less ‘adult’ type projects.
ELECTRIC BLUE was submitted to the Commonwealth Censor in January 1980 but was banned for sexual explicitness. This is surprising as it is well short of being a ‘blue movie’. The overseas marketing of ELECTRIC BLUE has in fact been based on the tape’s ‘social acceptability’.
The Australian distributor then went to the Film Board of Review, but the appeal was turned down. Several cuts were unofficially suggested and the videotape was re-edited. The tape still runs 59mins as sections of the tape were re-used to fill-in the three minutes of deletions.
– Cinema Papers No. 27
It is unclear how different the Australian ELECTRIC BLUE 001 is to the original British version. The segment in which Fiona Richmond presents clips from three films has been changed to show trailers for the Video Classics releases of CASE OF THE SMILING STIFFS (1973), FANTASM (1976), and THE STUD (1978).
The ELECTRIC BLUE tapes were released by Scripglow Ltd and distributed by Video Classics.
In February 1984, a 59-minute tape of ELECTRIC BLUE 001 was passed with an R-rating. The sex was found to be:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
Electric Blue Australasia was the applicant.
Further reading
ELECTRIC BLUE 001 contains David Hamilton Grant’s adult animation SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN PERVERTS (1973). This had to be cut in April 1974 before the Censorship Board would award it an R-rating. It runs for 10:09 on the tape.
See the separate entry in our Film Censorship Database No. 1 for more information about this title.
Electric Blue 002
Directed by Adam Cole / 1980 / UK / IMDb
In July 1980, a 59:13 ‘revised version’ of ELECTRIC BLUE 002 was passed with an R-rating.
The reason given for the deletions was sex, which was described as being:
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
Electric Blue Australasia was the applicant.
In November 1981, L & M Imports had a 60-minute videotape Refused Registration because of sex, which was said to be:
Frequency: Infrequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
This appears to have been an import of the UK pre-cert tape, which ran 59:42.
In February 1984, a 59-minute tape of ELECTRIC BLUE 002 was passed with an R-rating. The sex was found to be:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
The applicant was again Electric Blue Australasia.
Nude Wives Special
aka Electric Blue: Nude Wives Special
Produced by Electric Blue / 1980 / UK / Pre-cert
In August 1980, a 30-minute tape of NUDE WIVES SPECIAL was banned because of sex that was said to be:
Frequency: Infrequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
Electric Blue Australasia was the applicant.
A 55:40 videotape titled ELECTRIC BLUE: NUDE WIVES SPECIAL was released in the UK in 1981. Despite being 25-minutes longer, we presume this was somehow related to the Australian tape.
Electric Blue 005
Directed by Adam Cole / 1981 / UK / IMDb
In July 1981, a 60-minute ‘reconstructed version’ of ELECTRIC BLUE 005 passed with an R-rating. It was awarded for sex, which was found to be:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
Electric Blue Australasia was the applicant.
The actual running time of the Australian tape was 57:02, while the UK version ran 60:07.
Electric Blue 006
Directed by Adam Cole / 1981 / UK / IMDb
In September 1981, a 60-minute tape of ELECTRIC BLUE 006 was Refused Registration. The reason was sex, which was said to be:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
A revised 54:28 tape was passed with an R-rating in December 1981. The reason given for the deletions was sex and language, which were described as:
Frequency: Infrequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
Electric Blue Australasia was the applicant.
In July 1983, ELECTRIC BLUE 006 was Refused Registration for a second time. The reason was once again sex, which was described as being:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
J. Woodforde was the applicant. The 58-minute tape may have been an import of the UK pre-cert.
Electric Blue 008
Directed by Adam Cole / 1982 / UK / IMDb
In May 1982, had a 58-minute version of ELECTRIC BLUE 008 was Refused Registration.
The reason given for the ban was sex, which was described as:
Frequency: Infrequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous
A 54-minute reconstructed version was eventually passed with an R-rating in July 1982. Interestingly, the Australian ex-rental tape that we viewed ran 58:41. The original British pre-cert ran 58:10.
Electric Blue Australasia was the applicant.
Electric Blue 15
Directed by Vic Marchant / 1984 / UK / Pre-cert
In November 1984, an edited 60-minute tape of ELECTRIC BLUE 15 passed with an R-rating. The actual running time was 57:29.
The following month another 60-minute version was passed with the newly introduced X-rating.
In both cases, Video Classics was the applicant.