The adult movies of Peter Perry Jr. that have been cut or banned in Australia. He directed some of these under the name Arthur P. Stootsberry.
See also, TEENAGE OUTLAWS aka MONDO MOD (1967) in the Film Censorship Database No. 2.
The Notorious Daughter of Fanny Hill
Directed by Peter Perry Jr. / 1966 / USA / IMDb
In November 1972, a 2008.02-meter (73:11) print of THE NOTORIOUS DAUGHTER OF FANNY HILL was banned because of ‘indecency’.
A 1871.47-meter (68:13) ‘reconstructed version’ was passed with an R-rating in July 1973.
Regent Trading Enterprises was the applicant.
Video release
In the early 1980s, K&C Video released THE NOTORIOUS DAUGHTER OF FANNY HILL on tape.
Shane Harrison reports.
The nudity was included but the tame sex scenes were censored. Presumably, the source of K&C’s print was the R-rated theatrical version.
DVD release
In September 2005, a double-bill DVD of THE NOTORIOUS DAUGHTER OF FANNY HILL and THE HEAD MISTRESS (1968) was passed with an R18+ (High level sex scenes; High level violence; High level themes) rating.
Siren Visual Entertainment released it as part of their Something Weird range.
The Secret Sex Lives of Romeo and Juliet
Directed by Peter Perry Jr. / 1969 / USA / IMDb
In May 1971, a 3600-feet (100:00) 16mm print of THE SECRET SEX LIVES OF ROMEO AND JULIET was banned because of ‘indecency’.
At the time, the highest rating available was SOA (Suitable only for Adults), which was equivalent to the M-rating.
Cut & refused
Following the introduction of the R-rating, Lyra Films resubmitted it in a heavily censored 1678.22-meter (61:10) version. This too was banned because of ‘indecency’ in September 1972.
It was finally passed with an R-rating in December 1974. The 1042.00-meter (94:57) 16mm print was released theatrically by Regent Trading Enterprises.
Banned in Queensland
On 11 February 1977, the censored R-rated version of THE SECRET SEX LIVES OF ROMEO AND JULIET was prohibited by the Queensland Films Board of Review.
The distributor was Regent Trading Enterprises.
Home viewing
K&C Video issued THE SECRET SEX LIVES OF ROMEO AND JULIET on tape in the early 1980s.
Please e-mail us if you can confirm if this was the uncut or censored R-rated theatrical version.
The Notorious Cleopatra
Directed by Peter Perry Jr. / 1970 / USA / IMDb
In September 1974, a 2441.00-meter (88:59) print of THE NOTORIOUS CLEOPATRA was banned because of ‘indecency’.
Filmways was the applicant.
Filmways Bob Ward on softcore & hardcore
December 1974
CP: Could we talk a little about censorship? Censorship at the moment seems almost at a standstill. On the one hand we have the federal organization which seems to be allowing soft-core films through, and is indeed leaning towards medium-core. The major distributors and exhibitors seem to be saying, “Go any further, let in hard-core, and we’ll lose our system of uniform censorship. The states will retrieve their federal delegations of the censorship power.” Yet Queensland in fact has already done this and has banned EROTIC ADVENTURES OF ZORRO, SEX AIDS [AND HOW TO USE THEM] etc.Filmways has obvious moneyspinners like NOTORIOUS CLEOPATRA still banned, but is on record as saying it doesn’t think DEEP THROAT or DEVIL IN MISS JONES should get through. What is Filmways’ present attitude?
WARD: Our attitude is this: we feel that the film industry is an industry to entertain. Now whether it be artistically entertaining or commercially entertaining is quite separate. But we feel that the industry as a whole can’t afford to accept DEEP THROAT, MISS JONES, BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR and films like this. On the other hand there are movies like PANORAMA BLUE, and though I saw only 15 minutes of it, I didn’t find it objectionable. I think by and large the censor is being realistic, but things are fairly unpredictable in this area at the moment.
CP: Do you think censorship decisions should be based on precedent, in other words if film A shows a man ejaculating and is passed, then films B and C with a man ejaculating should also be passed?
WARD: I don’t think so because a hard-core film with a man ejaculating can be very different to an artistic film of a man ejaculating. I think this is the whole problem with censorship. Where do you draw the line? How can you draw a line? I am relatively happy with the composition of the Censorship Board and Board of Review at the moment.
CP: Have Filmways got any other films that they consider sufficiently artistic to be unsuitable for the Star or the Albany, but which are encountering censorship problems?
WARD: No. We do have NOTORIOUS CLEOPATRA, COUNTRY CUZZINS and THE SINFUL DWARF from Harry Novak banned. They are probably a little bit above the Star, probably Roma material.
CP: Is Filmways fighting these decisions?
WARD: Not really, what can you do to fight? LANGUAGE OF LOVE was an intelligent medical film that you can fight on appeal constructively, but these?
– Robert Ward, Dendy Filmways
– Cinema Papers No. 4
Filmways theatrical
A version of THE NOTORIOUS CLEOPATRA was eventually passed with an R-rating and was released by Filmways.
The running time is unknown, as there is no record of this in the National Classification Database.
Starbase release
In June 1981, K&C Video had an 86-minute tape passed with an R-rating. It was awarded for sex, which was described as being:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
The tape was issued on K&C’s Starbase Video label.
Problem footage?
Matt reports.
Something Weird Video (us) – 2002 DVD – 87:28
No noticeable cuts, even though it is 01:30 shorter than the September 1974 submission.
84:00 – A Roman soldier forces himself onto Cleopatra (Loray White). She protests, but eventually have sex.
The rest of THE NOTORIOUS CLEOPATRA is standard softcore, with many naked women, but no fully naked men.
