How Women in Love's nude wrestling scene romped past the 1960s censors | Movies

September 2024 · 3 minute read
This article is more than 12 years old

How Women in Love's nude wrestling scene romped past the 1960s censors

This article is more than 12 years oldSecret letters released by the British Board of Film Classification reveal how film-making shed its innocence over the past century

The controversial nude wrestling scene in the 1969 film Women in Love was passed for release only as the result of a secret pact between the then British Board of Film Censors and director Ken Russell, it has been revealed in archive correspondence released by the BBFC.

More than 40 years after Oliver Reed and Alan Bates writhed naked by the fireplace – the first time that many viewers had seen full frontal nudity in British cinemas – it has emerged that Russell was in cahoots with the chief censor, John Trevelyan, to ensure the scene did not have to be cut. He and producer Larry Kramer offered to take Trevelyan out to lunch and keep him involved at every stage of the creative process: eventually, Kramer offered to dim the lighting during the controversial scene after Trevelyan expressed concern that its homosexual overtones be "handled discreetly" and said he was worried about "clearly visible genitals".

So pleased were Russell and Kramer at the helpful attitude of the censor that the producer was moved to write a letter expressing their gratitude. "Dear John, can I say how grateful Ken and I are for your understanding help throughout these past months," he wrote. Trevelyan's level-headed approach is clear from his own earlier letter, in which he told the film-makers: "We all think it's a brilliant film and are taking this into account in our judgement of it."

The exchange has been revealed after thousands of letters between film-makers and censors over the past century were made public for the first time. They offer a fascinating picture of the shifting moral landscape of Britain from the early 1900s to the early 1990s.

In the 1950s, the BBFC saw fit to impose an outright ban on 1953 Marlon Brando vehicle The Wild One, which they feared would stir up trouble among the UK's youthful teddy boys. "We are unable to issue a certificate for this spectacle of unbridled hooliganism," the censors said. The film remained banned for 14 years, but these days carries a PG certificate.

Later that decade a "naturist" film named Garden of Eden, which was shot at a real nudist park, was banned outright. "I think Garden of Eden would provoke very noisy reactions at tough cinemas like the Elephant," wrote the censor to the film-makers in 1954. "There are some unconsciously funny nudes. Especially one young lady with peculiar glutial muscles." Four years later the censor reconsidered its decision and allowed the film to be released with an "A" certificate, marking the board's new light-fingered approach.

In the 1980s the censors worried over the high levels of violence in Rambo III. The film was released in the wake of the Hungerford massacre with an 18 certificate after cuts were made. The two previous films in the series had received a 15. "Public disquiet is at a height," said the censor, whose office had recently been renamed the British Board of Film Classification. "It is naive to believe that we can always act without regard to political realities. Indeed, I would go further and argue that it's irresponsible."

The published correspondence only runs as far as 1991 because the BBFC has imposed a 20-year rolling embargo on its written archives. A BBC programme on the documents, Timeshift: Dear Censor, the Secret Archive of the British Board of Film Classification, was screened last night on BBC4 and can be viewed via iPlayer.

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