# X-rated films of the late 1960s , or R-rated after X denoted porno films **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 11, 2022, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-rated-films-of-the-late-1960s-or-r-rated-after-x-denoted-porno-films/967776 "2022-07-11T17:46:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roger\_That](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roger_that/32/8505_2.png) [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-rated-films-of-the-late-1960s-or-r-rated-after-x-denoted-porno-films/967776/1 "2022-07-11T17:46:16Z")
I’m writing an article about those films of the late 60s and early 70s that featured explicit (or very suggestive) sex scenes, where actors were at least partially nude but totally and plainly engaged in sex acts on screen, sometimes using raw language that wouldn’t have been thinkable (either the nudity or the swearing) only a few years before. Which films exemplify this sudden trend in moviemaking best? I’ve got Midnight Cowboy and Klute so far, but there may be better examples. No porno films–I’m thinking of major Hollywood productions that were impossible to imagine in 1960 but were common by the early 1970s., ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-rated-films-of-the-late-1960s-or-r-rated-after-x-denoted-porno-films/967776/2 "2022-07-11T17:52:18Z")
_Last Tango in Paris_ (1972) would be a strong example: it featured an Oscar-winning actor (Marlon Brando, though he had been in a low spot of his career in the late '60s and early '70s, until _The Godfather_ came out, that same year), and was written and directed by a highly-regarded filmmaker (Bernardo Bertolucci). It was distributed by a major Hollywood studio, United Artists. It was controversial, as it featured highly raw sexual content, and got an X rating in the U.S. Both Brando and Bertolucci received Academy Award nominations for the film. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-rated-films-of-the-late-1960s-or-r-rated-after-x-denoted-porno-films/967776/3 "2022-07-11T17:53:21Z")
A Clockwork Orange? ---
**Author:** ![Roger\_That](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roger_that/32/8505_2.png) [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-rated-films-of-the-late-1960s-or-r-rated-after-x-denoted-porno-films/967776/4 "2022-07-11T18:04:30Z")
Yeah, Last Tango is perfect. Probably the archetype of what I want, thanks. Others? Maybe even earlier than Last Tango? ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-rated-films-of-the-late-1960s-or-r-rated-after-x-denoted-porno-films/967776/5 "2022-07-11T18:07:04Z")
Caligula? Maybe too late (IIRC it was from the early 80s) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-rated-films-of-the-late-1960s-or-r-rated-after-x-denoted-porno-films/967776/6 "2022-07-11T18:08:55Z")
You may find the Wikipedia article on the Motion Picture Production Code (a.k.a. the Hays Code) enlightening, particularly the section on its decline in the 1960s. Technically, it was the Hays Code which discouraged major U.S. studios from creating and releasing films like _Urban Cowboy_ and _Last Tango in Paris_. When it was replaced, in 1968, by the new MPAA code and ratings, it made it possible to create and market more explicit films in the U.S. > **[Hays Code | Decline](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Production_Code#Decline)** > > Hollywood continued to work within the confines of the Production Code throughout the late 1940s and 1950s, but during this time, the film industry was faced with very serious competitive threats. The first threat came from television, a new technology that did not require Americans to leave their houses to see motion pictures. Hollywood needed to offer the public something it could not get on television, which itself was under an even more restrictive censorship code. > In addition to the threat ... ---
**Author:** ![Roger\_That](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roger_that/32/8505_2.png) [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-rated-films-of-the-late-1960s-or-r-rated-after-x-denoted-porno-films/967776/7 "2022-07-11T18:11:46Z")
definitely too late. I’m really looking for the pioneering movies of this type, the ones that shocked older moviegoers. The Graduate was, for me, another of these films, even though it was a little coy in its technique. The famous shot cutting from Hoffman in bed with Bancroft to him in the pool was more implicit than explicit, but they were plainly supposed to be having sex in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-rated-films-of-the-late-1960s-or-r-rated-after-x-denoted-porno-films/967776/8 "2022-07-11T18:14:55Z")
> [@Limmin](#): > > Caligula? > > Maybe too late (IIRC it was from the early 80s) 1979, but yes, it was a bit of a different time by that point. That film was definitely an interesting case; the producer, Bob Guccione (publisher of _Penthouse_ magazine), got a bunch of legitimate actors involved in the main production (including John Gielgud, Peter O’Toole, and Helen Mirren), and then added in additional, hardcore sex scenes (using Penthouse Pets as actresses) which he shot during post-production. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-rated-films-of-the-late-1960s-or-r-rated-after-x-denoted-porno-films/967776/9 "2022-07-11T18:17:22Z")
> [@Roger\_That](#): > > Maybe even earlier than Last Tango? No title specified but there was presumably at least one: “The letter X stands for a kiss, X marks the spot or a movie we can’t see.” - Dolly in _The Family Circus_, 19 February 1972 – nine months before _Last Tango_ was anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-rated-films-of-the-late-1960s-or-r-rated-after-x-denoted-porno-films/967776/10 "2022-07-11T18:20:32Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > “The letter X stands for a kiss, X marks the spot or a movie we can’t see.” - Dolly in _The Family Circus_, 19 February 1972 – nine months before _Last Tango_ was anywhere. Well, the X rating had been around since the introduction of the MPAA ratings system in 1968. Both _Midnight Cowboy_ (1969) and _A Clockwork Orange_ (1971) had been released to U.S. theaters with an X rating prior to that comic strip; I have no idea if other mainstream X-rated films had also come out during that same period. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-rated-films-of-the-late-1960s-or-r-rated-after-x-denoted-porno-films/967776/11 "2022-07-11T18:22:26Z")
_Fritz the Cat_ (1972)? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-rated-films-of-the-late-1960s-or-r-rated-after-x-denoted-porno-films/967776/12 "2022-07-11T18:30:16Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > _Fritz the Cat_ (1972) An X-rated cartoon starring the voice of [Skip “Fargo North” Hinnant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Electric_Company) likely would have been the subject of that _Family Circus_ panel. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-rated-films-of-the-late-1960s-or-r-rated-after-x-denoted-porno-films/967776/13 "2022-07-11T18:35:03Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > An X-rated cartoon starring the voice of [Skip “Fargo North” Hinnant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Electric_Company) likely would have been the subject of that _Family Circus_ panel. Though, the Family Circus cartoon you quoted was from February of '72, and the [Wikipedia entry on _Fritz the Cat_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_the_Cat_(film)) indicates that the film was released in April of that year (and a limited release, at that). Edit: though, it appears that there was a preview of a portion of the film, which was reviewed in _Rolling Stone_ in November of '71. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-rated-films-of-the-late-1960s-or-r-rated-after-x-denoted-porno-films/967776/14 "2022-07-11T18:35:57Z")
Deleted upon noticing edit. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-rated-films-of-the-late-1960s-or-r-rated-after-x-denoted-porno-films/967776/15 "2022-07-11T18:40:16Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > The Wikipedia article also indicates that it entered production in 1970. True enough, but I have no idea how widely-known the development of an indie film, by a relatively unknown creator, would have been at that time. FWIW, the character of Fritz was created by cartoonist R. Crumb in the 1960s, and featured in his underground comix, but again, I’m not sure how widely-known any of that would have been, either. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-rated-films-of-the-late-1960s-or-r-rated-after-x-denoted-porno-films/967776/16 "2022-07-11T18:45:21Z")
_I am a Curious (Yellow)_ (1967, released in U.S., 1969) and _I am a Curious (Blue)_ (1968, released in U.S. 1970) – Basically, the same film with some minor changes - not Hollywood films, but certainly influential on them (as was, to a lesser extent, _Ekstase_, 1933, released in U.S, 1936). _If…._ (1968, released in U.S., 1969) _Beyond the Valley of the Dolls_ (1970) _Performance_ (1970) ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-rated-films-of-the-late-1960s-or-r-rated-after-x-denoted-porno-films/967776/17 "2022-07-11T18:45:22Z")
How about _Don’t Look Now_? Came out in 1973 and featured an extremely realistic sex scene between Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie. According to IMDB, the sex scene was the first thing they filmed and was apparently gruelling to get done but Nicholas Roeg, the director, wanted to get it out of the way lol. Anyway, it left a definite impression on me when I saw it as a teenager. > **[Don't Look Now (1973) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069995/reference/)** > > Don't Look Now (1973) Reference View ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-rated-films-of-the-late-1960s-or-r-rated-after-x-denoted-porno-films/967776/18 "2022-07-11T18:48:32Z")
_Cry Uncle_ has quite a bit of explicit sex, including inadvertent necrophilia. I don’t know if it was actually X-rated. It was a comedy and more bawdy than just about any other film. The director later went on to direct _Rocky_ and _The Karate Kid_. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-rated-films-of-the-late-1960s-or-r-rated-after-x-denoted-porno-films/967776/19 "2022-07-11T19:06:27Z")
Another film from that period, which I just remembered, is _[Straw Dogs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_Dogs_(1971_film))_ (1971), directed by Sam Peckinpah, and starring Dustin Hoffman. It features two violent rape scenes (and is, generally, a very violent film); apparently, the studio edited down the first rape scene for the film’s U.S. release, in order to get an R rating (instead of an X) from the MPAA. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-rated-films-of-the-late-1960s-or-r-rated-after-x-denoted-porno-films/967776/20 "2022-07-11T19:12:13Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > According to IMDB, the sex scene was the first thing they filmed and was apparently gruelling to get done but Nicholas Roeg, the director, wanted to get it out of the way lol. Makes sense. Sometimes actors get cold feet about nudity or sex scenes, and if you’ve already put in all the time and effort to film the rest of the movie, that leaves the director in a difficult spot: You either recast the movie and re-shoot everything, re-write the script to cut out the explicit scenes, or do something like using body doubles in the explicit scene and hope nobody notices. If you do the explicit scene first, and actors back out, then you haven’t wasted any time and cast new actors until you get someone who will do it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-rated-films-of-the-late-1960s-or-r-rated-after-x-denoted-porno-films/967776.md?page=2)