14 replies to this topic

[Dr.Carl Mortner]

I've talked to a couple of people who were around in the '60s and some of them have told me that - in some places - children were not admitted to see Goldfinger (keep in mind this is before the MPAA ratings system was in place). I've also heard that it was censored in some places, particularly Jill Masterson's scene in the (golden) nude. Is this true?

I can imagine Goldfinger pushed some boundaries of sex and violence back in 1964. Let's do a tally of some things that might have been shocking back in 1964:

-Death by electrocution (twice!).
-Death by suffocation.
-Nudity, albeit tame compared to what you see in movies now.
-Death by bowler hat.
-Possible spinal injury by ejector seat.
-A hero who uses women as human shields.
-Implied lesbianism.
-A spectacularly promiscuous hero.

I think the MPAA ratings system was the thing that has hurt the Bond movies the most. Back in the early-'60s the Bond movies pushed the limits of sex and violence, but ever since then they have had to work within PG- and PG-13 boundaries.

And yes, I am well aware that Goldfinger was rated PG immediately upon its first post-MPAA code release. Keep in mind that things changed a LOT from 1964 to 1970.

[Turn]

I don't know about GF, but the Vatican put out a warning to people not to go see Dr. No. I'm sure the early Bonds had their share of people who thought they were too racy for the time, but not enough to keep people from flocking to them in droves.

People were still cautious when they came to television and ABC put out the infamous warning "Although this James Bond movie has been edited for television, viewer discretion is advised." So somebody out there thinks Bond could be a bad influence.

[zencat]

When the GF was shown on ABC the entire pre-titles sequence was cut. The movie just started at the title sequence.

[Turn]

Yeah. I remember the GF thing and was totally shocked. They cut the entire gypsy camp sequence out of FRWL too among other crimes.

One of the weirder ones I thought was in TB when they cut Bond's line "Wait til you get to my teeth." after Domino says "What sharp little eyes you've got." I know that line would have started me on a downhill slide in life had I heard it.

[zencat]

Originally posted by Turn
They cut the entire gypsy camp sequence out of FRWL too among other crimes.

Oh, gosh, yes, I remeber this as well. FRWL without the gyspy camp sequence is like, well, "listing to The Beatles without earmuffs!"

[ChandlerBing]

Then of course they totally rearranged the opening of You Only Live Twice and I have heard on other sites of what they did to OHMSS. Un-believable. Some one should have lost their job over that. That's just wrong. That's just crazy.

[King Crimson]

Since Gert Frobe was a Nazi in WWll, they banned the film in Israel. But after a family said he hid them from the Storm Troopers, the movie played again.

[Dr.Carl Mortner]

You have to give ABC credit for the OHMSS debacle - they were trying to lend some epic scope to a movie that may have otherwise fell into complete obscurity. Those two-nighter ABC Bond presentations were real events - I'll never forget the schoolyard excitement over the FYEO two-parter back in the mid-'80s.

[zencat]

I split the OHMSS discussion into it's own thread. Sorry Dr.Carl Mortner. I didn't get yours in time. I copied it as a quote over to the new thread. Could figure out how to split off just one post.

[Dr.Carl Mortner]

Appreciate that, Zencat:).

[Fawn]

There were admittedly some bits in GF that left a bad taste in my mouth; the judo-throwing-that-leads-into-sex scene with Miss Galore was particularly bothersome. Oh yeah, we all know that the winner of the physical contest gets to have his way with the loser...also, violence is a turn-on. (??!!?!?!) I can understand not letting kids see that. While it was relatively innocent in the film, in today's hypersensitive world is smacks unpleasantly of physical abuse and intimidation used to get someone into bed.

That said, it's the parent's choice, really.

[Dr.Carl Mortner]

"While it was relatively innocent in the film, in today's hypersensitive world is smacks unpleasantly of physical abuse and intimidation used to get someone into bed."

I wonder what people thought about that scene back in the day; even though what Bond did bordered on rape, no one seems to mention it. Was this kind of sexual intimidation that common back then that no one even batted an eyelash?

[Fawn]

I don't know that it was common, but it was certainly accepted. But I have to point out that violence continues to be eroticized in the same way today, perhaps even more explicitly. Consider the way Elektra treats Bond as she slowly attempts to choke him in TWINE, almost as if it were a sexual experience. And I hardly have to bring up GE's Xenia Onatopp, do I? Notice any differences between those and GF? Yeah: the women are the predators. IMHO, that doesn't really make it a whole lot more acceptable. But okay...

[kevrichardson]

Originally posted by King Crimson
Since Gert Frobe was a Nazi in WWll, they banned the film in Israel. But after a family said he hid them from the Storm Troopers, the movie played again.

I wonder why people labled German actors who lived in Germany during that time . Not every one was a National Socıalıst .

[killkenny kid]

I can tell you my mother felt it was a forbidden movie. I was 8 years old and she didn't talk to dad for 2 days because he took me to see it. I didn't know it at the time. But, this movie changed the way I felt about movies forever.