American western movies, cut or banned before the November 1971 liberalisation of the Australian censorship system.
Macho Callahan
Directed by Bernard L. Kowalski / 1970 / Mexico – USA / IMDb
Date: 12-1970 / Rated: SOA / Length: 9252 feet / Time: 102:48 / Censored by 01:01 / Reason: violence
Post-November 1971 rating
In 1983, Publishing and Broadcasting Video MACHO CALLAHAN on their Embassy Home Entertainment label. The National Classification Database does not record any entry for this tape.
Rio Lobo
Directed by Howard Hawks / 1970 / USA / IMDb
Date: 04-1971 / Rated: A / Length: 10484 feet / Time: 116:29 / Censored by 00:32 / Reason: violence
Post-November 1971 rating
In February 1984, CBS/Fox Video received an M-rating for a 112-minute tape.
The Scavengers
Directed by Lee Frost / 1970 / USA / IMDb
Date: 07-1971 / Rated: Banned / Length: 8700 feet / Time: 96:40 / Reason: violence and indecency
Post-November 1971 rating
In January 1983, it was resubmitted by 14th Mandolin and passed with an R-rating. The print ran 2513.00-meters (91:36), five minutes shorter than the version that was previously banned.
In February 1984, 14th Mandolin has an 88-minute tape passed with an R-rating. It was released on their Box Office Int. Video label.
Further reading
See also, the Directed by Lee Frost page in the Film Censorship Database No. 1.
Soldier Blue
Directed by Ralph Nelson / 1970 / USA / IMDb
Date: 07-1971 / Rated: A / Length: 10055 feet / Time: 111:43 / Censored by 02:08 / Reason: violence and indecency
Censored footage
Matt reports.
Universal Pictures (au) – 2011 Blu-ray – 115:13 (NTSC)
Includes Studio Canal logo and MPAA R-rating.
The 111:43 running time indicates 03:30 of precutting before submission. The censor then trimmed another 02:08, meaning the theatrical print was missing 05:25.
SOLDIER BLUE is an incredibly violent film and would have required cuts for a ‘Suitable only for Adults’ rating. However, the distributor wanted a lower ‘Not Suitable for Children’.
Three sequences contain violence that would have needed to be censored.
09:00 to 24:00 – The Cheyenne attack and massacre the cavalry. It begins with the flanker being shot in the face and ends with Cresta (Candice Bergen) and Honus (Peter Strauss) looking over the dead bodies.
40:00 to 42:00 – Honus fights one of the Kiowa and knocks him out. The unconscious Kiowa is then stabbed in the chest by another member of his tribe. Presumably, this would have been trimmed.
97:00 to 110:00 – The attack on the Cheyenne village is still shocking and would have been the location of most of the cuts. It includes a child shot in the face, decapitations, rape, full-frontal female nudity, breast slicing, dismembered limbs and the massacre of women and children.
The lost ‘fully uncut’ version
It is hard to believe that the ending of SOLDIER BLUE was initially more violent than the one that is now considered ‘uncut’. Stills of the missing footage do exist. The one below should appear somewhere between 106 and 108 minutes in the Universal Pictures Blu-ray.
Before – During the Cheyenne massacre, Spotted Wolf (Jorge Rivero) pulls Honus from his horse but hesitates to kill him. In the meantime, four soldiers arrive and save Honus. One stabs Spotted Wolf in the chest as the others hold him down. The final shot of the struggle is shown at 106:16.
Censored scene – The soldiers decapitate Spotted Wolf and hold his head above the bloody body. This is one of the shots missing from all ‘uncut’ versions of SOLDIER BLUE.
After – At 108:03, there is a brief shot of a horse riding by. A severed head, that appears to be Spotted Wolf, is attached to the stirrup.
Post-November 1971 rating
In February 1976, it was resubmitted by 20th Century Fox and passed with an M-rating. The print ran 3124.00-meters (113:52).
This is 01:21 shorter than the uncut Blu-ray, which may indicate precuts. At this time, a complete version would have presumably received an R-rating.
VHS releases
Magnetic Video issued it on tape in the early 1980s. Apart from the small M-rating, the cover was the same as the British pre-cert. In that case, it ran 109:34 (PAL) and not the 101-minute a listed on the box. It is unknown what version is on the Australian tape.
In July 1984, Communications and Entertainment received an M-rating for a 110-minute tape. It was released on their Embassy Home Video label.
Don reports.
…Embassy Home Entertainment release(s) were censored of the rape scene [Blu-ray 106:40] and the brief full-frontal shot of the bloodied, hanging Indian woman [Blu-ray 108:07].
In the mid-late 1980s, it was later released by CEL as part of their Starscreen range. It carried the same M-rating and Embassy Home Video logo, so cuts were presumably the same.
There were two ‘no name’ VHS releases that appeared in the late 1990s/early 2000s.
One had an R18+ and no consumer advice on the cover.
The other had an M (Adult themes, Medium level violence).
Neither were reclassified, so the ratings are fake.
DVD & Blu-ray
In 2009 and 2010, Universal Pictures issued SOLDIER BLUE on DVD.
The 110-minute running time indicates they are both PAL. Presumably, both are uncut.
A Blu-ray upgrade in 2011 ran 115:13 (NTSC).
All used the July 1984 M-rating.
Channel Nine screening
Don reports.
I have a censored version that screened [date unknown] on the Nine Network.
It included one strange and oddly non-PC anomaly which certainly puts a different slant on the filmmaker’s intentions. It occurs in the sequence where Cresta returns to the Indian village to deliver the bad news to the Cheyenne and persuade them to leave.
In the DVD and VHS [Blu-ray 92:37], Spotted Wolf’s captioned conversation reads ‘We want no war’. However, in the TV print, it reads, ‘We want war!’.
There Was a Crooked Man…
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz / 1970 / USA / IMDb
Date: 10-1970 / Rated: SOA / Length: 11576 feet / Time: 128:37 / Censored by 00:46 / Reason: violence and indecency
Post-November 1971 rating
In May 1987, Corporate Video received an M-rating for a 119-minute tape. It was most likely released by Warner Home Video.
Two Mules for Sister Sara
Directed by Don Siegel / 1970 / Mexico – USA / IMDb
Date: 06-1970 / Rated: A / Length: 9349 feet / Time: 103:53 / Censored by 02:04 / Reason: violence
Post-November 1971 rating
In August 1993, Cinema International Corporation received an M (Low level violence) rating for a 100-minute tape.
Shoot Out
Directed by Henry Hathaway / 1971 / USA / IMDb
Date: 08-1971 / Rated: SOA / Length: 8514 feet / Time: 94:36 / Censored by 00:31 / Reason: violence
The SOA rating was awarded in August 1971, just before the introduction of the new classification system. The daybill poster shows that it was eventually released with an M-rating.
Valdez Is Coming
Directed by Edwin Sherin / 1971 / USA / IMDb
Date: 06-1971 / Rated: A / Length: 8130 feet / Time: 90:20 / Censored by 00:13 / Reason: indecent language
Post-November 1971 rating
In November 1994, Warner Home Video received an M (Medium level violence) rating for a 91-minute tape.
MGM Home Entertainment Group received the same rating for a DVD in March 2005.
Zachariah
Directed by George Englund / 1971 / USA / IMDb
Date: 05-1971 / Rated: A / Length: 8175 feet / Time: 90:50 / Censored by 00:07 / Reason: indecent language
Post-November 1971 rating
In June 1985, Communications and Entertainment received a PG-rating for a 90-minute tape.