Austrian movies, cut and banned before the November 1971 liberalisation of the Australian censorship system.
The Fountain of Love
Directed by Ernst Hofbauer / 1966 / Austria / IMDb
The original theatrical release was censored for a ‘Suitable only for Adults’ rating.
Censored footage
Shane Harrison reports.
MCP Sound & Media (de) – DVD – As DIE LIEBESQUELLE
This very innocent Austrian sex comedy was released in Australia in late 1968 and played at various theatres and drive-ins over the following year. Numerous views of nudity were censored, which was ironic given these were exactly what the film marketed itself on. However, enough was left in to account for its popularity.
Censored at 17:53 by 00:13 – View of a woman removing her bra and panties.
Censored at 18:16 by 00:03 – Further view as boyfriend greets her.
Censored at 33:28 by 00:22 – Discrete side view of a topless woman walking to her bed hoping to entice her husband.
Censored at 37:48 by 00:06 – Close up of woman skinny-dipping, her breasts bouncing out of the water.
Censored at 38:17 by 00:05 – Another close-up.
Censored at 40:26 by 00:02 – A quick cut removed from a long shot side view of a naked woman walking to a pond. The walk was left in but a flash of pubic hair was removed.
Censored at 41:02 by 00:09 – Nude woman walking behind foliage, flashing a few subliminal frontals.
The following series of cuts were made to tone down a nude swimming scene involving the local woman of the village. The cuts were to topless close-ups of the skinny dippers.
Censored at 70:20 by 00:12, 70:43 by 00:05, 71:05 by 00:04, 71:13 by 00:03, 71:23 by 00:04 and 71:29 by 00:07. A few long shots remained to provide continuity and box office gold.
THE FOUNTAIN OF LOVE was the title that Harry Novak released it as in America. The credit sequence featured a naked woman bathing under a waterfall. In Australia’s censored print this sequence was left uncut and showed more than remained in the rest of the film. In the German DVD, the credit scene shows a close-up view of a running brook without a nude to be seen. A quick take from the bathing scene appears later in the film so the full sequence was indeed shot. I do not know why the footage was absent in the German release and if the changes were made by Harry Novak.
Australian distributors started to deal with blatant sexploitation around 1965 with the importation of sexy Italian Mondo films. However, any nudity was usually cut. These documentaries were soon followed by imports of sexploitation comedies and dramas.
The demand for niche films grew as the nightly news on TV left newsreel theatres without a market. These theatrettes were not built for screening major releases, so cheap exploitation and later sexploitation quickly became a profitable focus. However, because of Australian censorship, it was always a case of selling the smell rather than the steak itself.
Sweet Sins of Sexy Susan
Directed by Franz Antel / 1967 / Austria – Hungary – France – Italy / IMDb
The original theatrical release was censored for a ‘Suitable only for Adults’ rating.
Censored footage
Shane Harrison reports.
Rex (uk) – VHS – 86:03
The film begins suddenly, so some pre-title studio identification may be missing.
This tepid 1967 sexploitation title was the first of five SEXY SUSAN films, the nudity quota of which was upped exponentially with each entry. They began playing Australian ex-newsreel theatrettes in 1969.
There may be more, but the following footage was missing from the theatrical release.
Censored at 03:19 by 00:10 approx. – View of naked blonde, with a towel held in front (but shown naked from behind) being chased through the tavern. She trips and flashes her breasts as she briefly drops her towel.
Censored at 03:38 – The same blonde is chased through the village. Various views of her were removed.
Censored at 24:57 by 00:15 – Caroline (Pascale Petit) stripping for her bath.
Censored at 26:50 by 00:05 – Side-view of a naked Caroline standing while washing herself.
Censored at 56:53 – Side-view footage of Suzanne (Teri Tordai) running topless into her lover’s arms. The topless part runs for a few seconds but I think the cut was longer to mask the edit.
Censored at 66:04 by 00:06 – A topless Caroline in bed turning the light off.