British movies made in 1968, cut and banned before the November 1971 liberalisation of the Australian censorship system.
Her Private Hell
Directed by Norman J. Warren / 1968 / UK / IMDb
The original theatrical release was censored for a ‘Suitable only for Adults’ rating.
Censored footage
Shane Harrison reports.
BFI Flipside (uk) – DVD – British version
Something Weird Video (us) – VHS – 76:03 (NTSC) – American version
British version – Marisa’s (Lucia Modunio) nudity was filmed with her back to the camera. Paula (Jeanette Wild) writhing topless on the floor during a party scene was completely removed. It also has a less daring take of her walking to her bed for the main sex scene.
American version – An alternate takes reveal Marisa’s breasts. The party scene was left uncut. Paula’s pubic hair is visible as she climbs into bed for the main sex scene. This version runs approximately 6-minutes shorter as non-sex footage was removed to tighten the flow.
The Australian theatrical release used the American print as a starting point. It was then trimmed by the Censorship Board as follows. Times refer to the Something Weird Video VHS and are followed by the times where they should have appeared in the BFI Flipside DVD.
The opening credits play with static views of two naked bodies coupling in the background. The shots are far stronger than what was removed from the central sex scene so presumably, they were cut.
Censored at 43:02 (48:31 BFI) by 00:21 – Paula drops her cover as she climbs into bed revealing a shadowy full frontal.
Censored at 43:57 (48:56 BFI) by 00:45 – Montage of lovemaking.
Censored at 51:02 (56:25 BFI)- The party scene was edited so that Paula strips only to her bra and panties. 00:13 of her removing her bra and dancing topless and 00:15 of her rolling around on the floor were removed. Jazz music plays throughout. There are no noticeable jump cuts in the sound, so presumably more than just the 00:28 was removed to establish seamless continuity.
The Australian daybill received some press coverage as it too had to be modified with a white triangle painted over Paula’s side breast.
Further reading
See also, LOVING FEELING (1968) in this database and the Directed by Norman J. Warren page in the Film Censorship Database No. 1.
Loving Feeling
Directed by Norman J. Warren / 1968 / UK / IMDb
November 1970 / Rated: Banned / Length: 7234 feet / Time: 80:23 / Reason: indecency
December 1970 / Appeal: Against rejection / Length: 7234 feet / Time: 80:23 / Result: Appeal dismissed by Review Board
Post-November 1971 rating
Resubmitted by Roadshow Distributors and passed with an R-rating in November 1972. The print ran 2205.00-meters (80:22).
Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush
Directed by Clive Donner / 1968 / UK / IMDb
The original theatrical release was censored for a ‘Suitable only for Adults’ rating.
Censored footage
Shane Harrison reports.
BFI Flipside (uk) – DVD – 92:47 (PAL) – Unclothed version
HERE WE GO ROUND THE MULBERRY BUSH was filmed in two versions. A scene near the end shows the two main characters skinny-dipping, followed by a naked love scene on the riverbank. The version that played Britain had the swim reduced to a couple of flashes and the love scene played ‘clothed’.
Australia began with the export ‘unclothed version’ that included the long version of the swim and the naked love scene. However, three cuts were then made from this sequence for a ‘Suitable only for Adults’ rating
Censored at 80:08 by 00:05 – Mary (Judy Geeson) removing her top with her breasts shown in close-up.
Censored at 82:27 by 00:29 – Nude love sequence on the riverbank shot from waist up. It resumes when the dog interrupts the tryst.
Censored at 83:10 by 00:13 – Further footage of the naked love scene before the dog interrupts them again.
I am not aware of any dialogue cuts in the Australian version, even though the British X-rated release trimmed other scenes for risqué humour.
The 1970s TV screenings of HERE WE GO ROUND THE MULBERRY BUSH were of the Australian cinema version. It premiered on Channel Ten in late 1973 and later became a staple of Channel Nine’s Midnight-to-Dawn. I had a copy on the Phillips 3/4″ VCR, a format that predates VHS and Betamax.
On Christmas Eve 1988, it screened on TV in Melbourne. The print was the Australian cinema version with all the cuts added back in. The glue and join marks were clearly visible on freeze-frame. How this came to be assembled is a mystery. Despite this, the print looked amazing and was a huge improvement over the previous late 1970s screenings.
If….
Directed by Lindsay Anderson / 1968 / UK / IMDb
The original theatrical release was censored for a ‘Suitable only for Adults’ rating
Censored footage
Shane Harrison reports.
Two scenes were cut.
39:51 – View of a schoolboy licking a nude photo of Angela Dorian (AKA Victoria Vetri) from her 1968 PLAYBOY Playmate Of The Year pictorial.
Censored at 59:41 by 00:10 – The Girl’s (Christine Noonan) pubic hair is briefly shown as Mick (Malcolm McDowell) her wrestle nude on a cafe floor.
The British and American censors expressed problems with an 00:08 scene at 87:52. It showed a long shot of Mrs Kemp (Mary MacLeod) wandering fully nude down a hallway towards the camera. It was eventually agreed that it could remain as long as some brief frontal nudity was removed from the male group shower scene at 42:05. This modification was achieved through frame enlargements and brief cuts. This was the version that was distributed worldwide and was submitted to our Censorship Board. Despite making the two aforementioned trims, they left Mrs Kemp’s nude intact.
Post-November 1971 rating
Resubmitted by Australis Media and passed with an M (Adult themes, Low level violence) rating in June 1995. The videotape ran 112-minutes.
The Magus
Directed by Guy Green / 1968 / UK / IMDb
The original theatrical release was censored for a ‘Suitable only for Adults’ rating.
Censored footage
Shane Harrison reports.
Two sequences were cut.
Censored at 65:27 by 01:28 – Nicholas (Michael Caine) and Anne (Anna Karina) making love. This very coy scene intercuts between them having sex in a bedroom and by a lake bed.
Censored at 109:41 by 00:48 – Footage from a homemade blue movie featuring Lily (Candice Bergen). She gets down on her knees and undoes the stud’s belt As she looks up to the camera from a kneeling position, the censor’s cut suddenly takes us back to a shot of the film’s audience. The trim makes it appear she performed oral sex, but this could not have been further from the truth. In the uncut version, she just starts kissing him, leading to very tame sex. Apart from the bare breast of Candice Bergen’s stand-in, the scene shows little more than what you would get in a soap opera.
Post-November 1971 rating
Resubmitted by CBS/Fox Video and passed with an M-rating in February 1984. The tape ran 117-minutes.