Censors Suck
Submitted by lukeprog on Thu, 08/19/2004 - 12:13
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- The Bad Seed (1956) - this is one of my favorite movies. I absolutely loved it right up until the tacked-on and stupid ending (well, the third ending, I mean). Later I learned that that final coda was added because some censorship board decided they wanted to show that there was justice for evil. I totally forgive the film for this and ignore the ending whenever I see it.
- Any movie ever edited for TV - I can't stand to watch any edited film on TV, unless it's for the comedy of hearing what 'replacement' words they come up with. And watching the terrible continuity that results from shaving seconds of footage here and there.
- Requiem for a Dream (2000) - this film was 'ruined' by censors only in the sense that it couldn't get a decent theatrical release because Aronofsky chose to release it, unrated and uncut, straight to video. I accidentally rented the edited (R) version once, and you know what the difference was? Less than a second of footage. Apparently, it's okay to show people lubing up a giant dildo (not to mention full-body nudity and thrusting), but you can't show two girls' asses banging against the dildo for less than a second. Who makes these decisions?
- Lolita (1962) - Humbert’s imagination cut, Lolita made older than Kubrik originally intended, all of Lolita's affairs cut, more.
- Dr. No (1962) - When Honey is in the water, her shirt is wet enough to easily see her perky nipples. When she gets out, her shirt is totally dry so you can't see them at all. Censors' work, obviously - cutting out the best parts of a film, once again.
- Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000) - This one is infamous among us animated Batman fans. The censors required a drastic edit of the most important scenes in the movie (thankfully, the original, uncut version was later released).
- Phenomena (1985) - The "Creepers" cut is missing 30 minutes of footage. Since "Phenomena" doesn't make much sense anyway, you can imagine what a hash the censors made of it. Thanks to Cosgrove.
- The Birth of a Nation (1915) - originally banned by the NAACP.
- Ben-Hur (1959) - banned in China.
- The Great Dictator (1940) - banned in Germany.
- Baise Moi (2001) - banned in Australia and France.
- Farewell My Concubine (1993) - banned in China.
- Temptress Moon (1996) - the sequel to Farewell my Concubine, also banned in China.
- The Prince of Egypt (1998) - wow, an innocent childrens film: still, it was banned in Malaysia and the Maldives.
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) - banned by the BBFC.
- Straw Dogs (1971) - banned by the BBFC.
- Last House on the Left (1972) - also banned by the BBFC.
- The King and I (1956) - banned in Thailand.
- The Tin Drum (1979) - banned in the US and Ontario, despite recieving an Academy Award!
- Carnal Knowledge (1971) - strangely enough, banned in Georgia and only Georgia.
- The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) - originally banned in Britain.
- Paths of Glory (1957) - banned in France.
- Peeping Tom (1960) - banned in Britain.
- Triumph of the Will (1934) - amazingly, STILL banned in Germany, after 70 years!!!!
- The Big Blue (1988) - banned in Italy.
- All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) - banned in Germany and Italy.
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) - banned in India.
- Ju Dou (1991) - banned in China despite being oscar-nominated.
- Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) - banned in Norway.
- The Wild One (1954) - banned by the BBFC.
- The Outlaw (1941) - kept out of theaters for several years.
- High School Confidential! (1958) - banned in Finland.
- Jenin Jenin (2002) - banned in Finland.
- Desperate Living (1977) - banned in Britain.
- Escape From Hell (1979) - banned in Britain.
- Fight for Your Life (1979) - also banned in Britain.
- The House on the Edge of the Park (1984) - banned in Britain, then allowed in 2002 with 11 minutes of cuts.
- Ilsa - She Wolf of the SS (1974) - originally banned in Britain.
- Mother's Day (1980) - banned in Britain.
- New York Ripper (1982) - talk about thorough. Not only banned in the UK, but all prints were escorted out of the country!
- Slumber Party Massacre (1982) - banned in Britain.
- Dr. Lamb (1992) - banned in the UK.
- Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (1991) - strangely enough, not banned at all for 8 years, until it was banned in 1999 (in Germany), and still is.
- Kiss Me Kate (1953) - dialogue from the original play changed. Thanks AJDaGreat.
- On the Town (1949) - dialogue from the original play changed. Thanks AJDaGreat.
- American Pie (1999) - censors wouldn't allow the line "Hey Stifler, how's the man chowder?" - even in an NC-17 rated cut! So, "man chowder" was changed to "pale ale." Thanks AJDaGreat.
- Devils on the Doorstep (2000) - not only banned in China, but China stopped the director, Wen Jiang, from working for two full years! Thanks Cosgrove.
Author Comments:
Suggestions HIGHLY welcome. I especially would especially expect there to be a lot of pre-70s films ruined or nearly ruined by strict censorship. Most of the 'banned' movies listed I stole from Greencine's list.
FYI - The unrated Requiem did show in some theaters and was not a straight-to-video release.
I saw the unrated version in the theater, and heck, that was here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I suspect it was the R-rated version that was prepared just for video (particularly for chains such as Blockbuster), but I cannot swear to that.
I also believe the edited version has several small, hardly noticable cuts in several scenes, not just one. For whatever that is worth...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Yeah, I changed my note on Requiem to 'decent theatrical release' because it was shown in some theaters, but could not recieve any kind of unedited 'wide' release.
And, I know the ass-banging shot wasn't the only shot missing, but I still doubt the cut material adds up to much more than a second (but I could be wrong) :-)
I think in the scene where Jennifer Connelly looks at herself in the mirror, the R-rated version digitally adds panties to cover up an area that was previously exposed.
I could think of tons of suggestions for this list. Censorship of musicals-turned-movies from the 40s and 50s was particularly nit-pickingly prudish. In "Kiss Me Kate" (1953), the line "I'd rest a virgin rather" was changed to "I'd rest a maiden rather." In "On the Town" (1949), the line "New York, New York, it's a hell of a town" was changed to "it's a wonderful town."
And according to the IMDB trivia page for "American Pie"...
In the original version, when Stifler drinks the semen-filled beer, Thomas Ian Nicholas' character says "Hey Stifler, how's the man chowder?" However, the MPAA would not allow this line (not even in an NC-17 rated cut), so the line was changed in postproduction to "Hey Stifler, how's the pale ale?"
The "Creepers" cut of Dario Argento's film "Phenomena" is missing like half an hour of footage. Since "Phenomena" doesn't make much sense anyway, you can imagine what a hash the censors made of it.
Speaking of bans... China was so incensed by Jiang Wen's film "Devils on the Doorstep" that they not only banned the film but kept Jiang from working for two years!
And here's a complete list of films banned by the BBFC in the early eighties, commonly referred to as the "video nasties".
In Psycho (1960) some dialogue had to be changed because they didn't want any references to having sex, although at the beginning of the movie we see Marion and her boyfriend in a hotel room, etc. The dialog was Marion: "I'm going to spend the weekend in bed." Texas oilman: "Bed? Only playground that beats Las Vegas." This dialog was later used in the 1998 remake of Psycho.
Extase (1933) For a while in the 1930s, importation of this film into the US was prohibited.
These Three (1936) Because of the lesbian theme of the play, the Hays office refused to allow the original title to be used, nor any mention of it onscreen or in publicity materials. Hence, Lillian Hellman is credited only for original story and screenplay. Despite the changes made for the film because of censorship, nearly all of the dialogue is identical to that in the 1934 play "The Children's Hour", on which this film was based. Lillian Hellman was satisfied with changes she had to make in the play for the film, since she felt the central issue of the play was the malicious result of the gossip rather than the gossip itself.
Nevermind. Just noticed this list is archived...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs