10 Movies That Became Controversial Before Initial Release

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AnonymousAnonymous
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30 Jun 2020, 2:43 pm

Do you agree with this list?

(BTW, there are trailers with every film mentioned.)

https://listverse.com/2020/06/28/top-10-movies-that-caused-controversy-before-release/


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Fnord
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30 Jun 2020, 6:49 pm

There are many more movies that were controversial before they were released.  Take "The Moon is Blue" (released in 1953), for example.  The plot synopsis goes something like this: "Two aging playboys are both after the same attractive young woman, but she fends them off by claiming that she plans to remain a virgin until her wedding night.  Both men determine to find a way around her objections.  Much hilarity ensues."

On July 13, 1951, the office of MPAA censor Joseph Breen contacted F. Hugh Herbert (the screenwriter) and advised him his screenplay was in violation of the Motion Picture Production Code because of its "light and gay treatment of the subject of illicit sex and seduction".  On December 26, Otto Preminger (the producer and director) submitted a revised draft of the script which, due to numerous lines of dialogue exhibiting "an unacceptably light attitude towards seduction, illicit sex, chastity, and virginity", was rejected on January 2, 1952.  On January 6, Preminger and Herbert advised the Breen office they disagreed with its decision and would film the screenplay without further changes.

United Artists decided to release the film without the seal of approval, initially in major urban markets where they hoped its success would encourage exhibitors in rural areas to book the film.  The film premiered for an "adults only" audience at the Woods Theatre in Chicago on June 22 and opened in one theater in San Francisco on June 25.  One small mid-western town only showed the movie to men and women separately.  On June 30, Variety reported three major nationwide theater chains were willing to exhibit the film, and it went into general release on July 8.  (In its year-end report, Variety said the film had ranked #15 at the box office with a gross of $3.5 million.)

Theaters in many small towns in the United States would not show the film to men and women together, restricting audiences to men only or to women only.  It was banned in Jersey City, New Jersey as "indecent and obscene".  Kansas, Ohio, and Maryland also banned the film, and Preminger and United Artists decided to bring suit in a Maryland court.  On December 7, 1953, Judge Herman Moser reversed the State Censor Board.  In his ruling, he called the film "a light comedy telling a tale of wide-eyed, brash, puppy-like innocence"  Preminger and U.A. then appealed in Kansas, but the Supreme Court of Kansas upheld the state board of review's decision to ban the film.  Determined to win, the director and studio took their case to the Supreme Court of the United States, which overturned the finding of the Kansas Supreme Court on October 24, 1955 (Holmby v. Vaughn).

In later years, the film was the focus of the M*A*S*H episode, "The Moon Is Not Blue", in which the characters, having heard about the controversy surrounding it, attempt to get a copy shipped to their mobile hospital in Korea.  When they finally acquire a copy, Hawkeye is outraged and declares that he's never seen a cleaner movie in his life.  The film actually was released in the closing days of the Korean War.

Source:
This Wikipedia Article.


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ASPartOfMe
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30 Jun 2020, 8:15 pm

Spike Lee "Do The Right Thing".
Coming out at a time of high racial tension in New York City a lot of people thought that blacks would imitate a scene in the movie and riot.

"Showgirls" - Now considered a camp classic it was criticized by feminists for glorifying objectification of women


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AnonymousAnonymous
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02 Jul 2020, 3:11 pm

"Do The Right Thing"

I think this will forever be a classic in part because of its timely themes that are relevant even to this day. My family and I have seen this and it does hold up even by today's standards

To be clear, I put some of these titles in bold as an indication that I have never watched them, but will take an opportunity to at some point.

The Last Temptation Of Christ

A Clockwork Orange

Freaks

Crash (1996 film by David Cronenberg, not to be confused with the 2005 film of the same name)



AnonymousAnonymous
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03 Jul 2020, 4:47 pm

AnonymousAnonymous wrote:
"Do The Right Thing"

I think this will forever be a classic in part because of its timely themes that are relevant even to this day. My family and I have seen this and it does hold up even by today's standards

To be clear, I put some of these titles in bold as an indication that I have never watched them, but will take an opportunity to at some point.

The Last Temptation Of Christ

A Clockwork Orange

Freaks


Crash (1996 film by David Cronenberg, not to be confused with the 2005 film of the same name)


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