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.
Summit International Pictures reissued it on VHS around 1989.
Was 14th Mandolin’s release censored?
Matt reports
In 2024, Severin released two versions of THE SCAVENGERS on Blu-ray in the US. The disc contains an unrated cut (104:21) and the US R-rated cut (94:20). The latter, which features less nudity and sex, appears to be the one that was initially banned in Australia.
In the commentary, they discuss how the film was shot in two versions. The unrated version was extended, but it also featured different line readings and alternative angles. Andrew Furtado described receiving a can labelled ‘hot trims’ that contained extra footage to be edited back into five scenes in the film to produce the unrated cut. Alternative footage was shot for an extended version of the party scene (22:00), the gang rape of Faith (Maria Lease) (55:00), the Captain’s (John Bliss) rape of Nancy (Roda Spain) and the gang rape of Nancy (84:00). The fifth scene goes unmentioned.
The US R-rated cut runs 94:20, compared to 91:36 for the Australian R-rated version. It is possible that 14th Mandolin made some precuts before submission. A check of their Box Office Int. video release would confirm if this was the case.
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.
Imported BBFC censorship
On 20 June 2024, a ‘Classics Remastered Home Entertainment Release’ of SOLDIER BLUE received an R18+ (High impact themes, violence and sexual violence).
The classification matrix described,
High impact: themes, violence
Strong impact: nudity
Moderate impact: language
Mild impact: sex
None: drug use
StudioCanal rated the film themselves as an ‘Accredited Classifier Decision’.
On 10 July, the Classification Board revoked the R18+ and replaced it with an MA15+ (Strong themes, violence and sexual violence).
The classification matrix now described,
Strong impact: themes, violence
Moderate impact: nudity
Mild impact: language, sex
None: drug use
July 10, 2024
Themes
The film contains themes dealing with conflict between native Americans and white settlers, including the wholesale slaughter of a Cheyenne village. Related thematic content includes depictions of blood, injury and dismembered bodies.Violence
The film contains violence, including a massacre sequence involving shooting, cannon fire, stabbing, slashing and spearing as well as hand-to-hand combat and explicit and implicit beheadings, dismemberment and impaling, including of young children. The film also contains post-action visuals of burnt and scalped bodies, and a depiction of and verbal references to sexual violence. The violence is, at times, accompanied by blood and injury detail.Sex
The film contains discreet verbal sexual references and a depiction of a post-coital couple.Language
The film contains use of the words, “shit”, “bitch”, “crap”, “bastard”, “ass”, “bloody”, “balls”, “butt”, “hell” and “damn”.Nudity
– More information about the content of this film
The film contains brief full-frontal female nudity, breast nudity and the depiction of naked buttocks.
– Classification Board
The Board are able to revoke and replace a decision made by a classification tool or accredited classifier if they believe they would ‘…have determined a different rating or the consumer advice is misleading, incorrect or grossly inadequate’.
When this occurs, the previous rating disappears from the National Classification Database.
Both submissions ran 243-minutes.
In August, StudioCanal issued it on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD.
Unfortunately, it is reportedly a port of the UK release that censors horse falls and digitally removes an image of a sitting child during the final massacre. Contact us if you own the Australian 2024 DVD, Blu-ray or 4K Ultra HD and can confirm this information.
The BBFC have never passed an uncut version of SOLDIER BLUE. The full censorship history, including the 2024 cuts, can be found at Melon Farmers.
Alternative translation
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.