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All Things Film Censorship Related in Australia

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  •              dedeposter said:
    Great research as always, I don't know where you get the time.
    Thank you.

     Actually in this case the material was added separately at various times over the last twelve months or so, and just stored in the Leave A Comment area until finally revealed today .

                                                                               
  • Although they were advertising abbreviated ratings, you don't see many slides using them. Most just have the regular triangle / circle as per posters. I do have some from the 1950s with (G) / (A).








  • This censorship slide that I posted on the previous page has the same wording, but varying very slightly in presentation.
  • Ves has that blacked out slide. Example of (G).


  • I love the Horror classification,


    Peter
  • I am thinking that possibly the Cinderella slide originated from being used in New Zealand.
  • I love the Horror classification,
    A soon outdated classification that was kept in the system unused  for decades.  
  • I know of one X rated Aussie poster, although it is listed as R18+ on classification.gov. I wonder who can name it?
    At first I thought Cinderella was NZ, but I've since changed my mind. 
  • edited June 2023
    Mark said:
    I know of one X rated Aussie poster, although it is listed as R18+ on classification.gov. I wonder who can name it?
    Tomb Of Ligeia ( 1964 ) released in Australia in the early 1970's is the only title that comes to mind, but it isn't this one due to many reasons including the time factor involved and a printing error.

                                                                                                         I am very interested in hearing the name of the film  in the future..  To the best of my knowledge, for theatrical release films none were classified with a X certificate.
  • HONDO said:
    I am thinking that possibly the Cinderella slide originated from being used in New Zealand.
    Mark said:
    At first I thought Cinderella was NZ, but I've since changed my mind. 
    The absence of a For General Exhibition in a triangle rating that was used in the 1950's appearing on the Cinderella slide, and the ( G ) rating wording has to have me thinking that New Zealand usage was the case.

    Like many other queries here on the forum I imagine we will never know for sure the history of the slide.
  • Great info, thanks. Damn, our censors were tough back in the day.
  • Exploitation collectors will know the X rated daybill. They printed two versions, one R, other X. I have both of them here.
    Cinderella is Aussie slide. I know where it came from, and anyone can confirm that just by looking at the two censorship slides! They didn't create them for no reason. As far as I am aware, they never used parentheses ( ) on NZ slides. 
    As a side note, 100% of the items I sell are sourced locally. I never buy anything from overseas. 
  • Mark said:
    Cinderella is Aussie slide. I know where it came from, and anyone can confirm that just by looking at the two censorship slides! They didn't create them for no reason. As far as I am aware, they never used parentheses ( ) on NZ slides. 
    As a side note, 100% of the items I sell are sourced locally. I never buy anything from overseas. 
    O.k. you have put a good case forward for the slide being Australian. This is the only then Australian slide that I have sighted using G in  parentheses. Are you aware of any other examples?

    The Poor Cow  Australian slide is interesting in the fact that is it rated ( A ), which is  Not Suitable For Children, when in fact the film was classified by the Australian censor as being Suitable Only For Adults. 



    The following Dead Of Night Australian slide with a Suitable Only For Adults classification on it, and this is the usual way this classification appeared on slides.

     

  • edited June 2023
    Probably have about 10 - 15 slides with the abbreviated ratings. Below is one I'm selling, so the pic is easy for me to access. Not unusual to find slides with no rating at all. Back in the day they were all single screen cinemas, or perhaps the odd twin. There weren't multiplexes like today. Aussie slides are very rare compared to daybills etc. Only 1 or 2 would have gone out to each cinema, and they don't turn up in lots of 1000s, as posters do.
    Wish I could produce a (H) rated slide, but that is something I have never seen.
    Now back to the elusive X rated Aussie daybill. Who can name the film?




  • Mark said:

    Now back to the elusive X rated Aussie daybill. Who can name the film?

    Not my area of knowledge. I would image Pancho would most likely have the two daybills in question, thus knowing the name of the film in question..
  • Black Alleycats had a X rating. I have the daybill
  • And to think I had these two images all along stored away in separate poster folders. I would have noticed the X rating poster in it's day , then apparently just forgot about it.


     
    The Black Alleycats ( aka The Black Alley Cats )  ( 1973 ) was classified on 35mm by the Australian filn censor on 1 January 1980 and, allocated an R18+ certificate,

    The above red daybill would be the officially printed poster produced and issued  for the  film's theatrical release here in Australia.


     
    Now to address the green X rated version. Two samples  above of the daybill printed with this rating appearing on them. The second image would indicate that this poster was used at a screening of some description at some time or another.

    I will attempt to look into this matter a little further and attempt to see if I can find out any more details regarding the X ratng.
  • Good job by Rick.
    One thing I've noticed about dated posters is that they rarely align with the actual release. Often they're from years later, which is an indication of how the industry operated in this country. 

  •  ( Everyones )

    Post 1948 advertising  with a Suitable Only For Adults non Horror film classification.  This rating does not appear on the two earlier posted lantern slides.
  • edited June 2023
    Australian Classification

    Restricted categories for adult films

    Classification marking - Restricted X18 Square

    Restricted (X 18+)

    X 18+ films are restricted to adults. This classification is a special and legally-restricted category due to sexually explicit content including actual sexual intercourse or other sexual activity between consenting adults. only available for sale or hire in the ACT and some parts of the NT.

    ( classification.gov.au )


  • My thinking regarding the two different censorship classified rating Australian daybills printed for The Black Alleycats is as follows.

    In January 1 ,1980  the film was classified as being R18+ by the Australian censor. The red daybill version with the official rating  was printed by MAPS.

    The green daybill version, also printed by MAPS was I believe an attempt to push the envelope by using more incorrect information in the aim to gain attention for the film, and thus possibly create some controversy, that is a always a good way to attract audiences to the cinemas.

    The green X rated version is minus the Blake Films distributor's credit that appears on the red version.  Perhaps then Blake Films didn't want their name to be connected  with this information deceiving poster. 

    Remember the controversy that surrounded Basic Instinct in 1992. This R rated film did huge business at the Australian box office partly due to the wide publicity that the film gained.  

    Any alternative views on this subject would be welcomed.

    Finally I will mention just in case what I am about to include next may be raised. Perhaps the film's X rated green poster was used in the ACT and some parts of the NT for home video release promotion.. I have ruled this out though as this particular film doesn't appear to be the genre of film to have been considered for an X rating classification. Additionally the film was never banned in Australia before receiving the R certificate.

    All the preceding information, and my arguments put forth have me firmly believing the green daybill's X rated classification  was just a publicity ploy devised by Blake Films to create interest in the film..   
  • That all sounds very plausible, I think the bounds of publicity were quite often stretched to make films more salacious than they probably were.


    Peter
  • HONDO said:

     ( Everyones )

    Post 1948 advertising  with a Suitable Only For Adults non Horror film classification.  This rating does not appear on the two earlier posted lantern slides.
    I reckon the Suitable only for adults belongs to the H classification...its just way it fits in the ad
  •    theartofmovieposters said:
    HONDO said:

     ( Everyones )

    Post 1948 advertising  with a Suitable Only For Adults non Horror film classification.  This rating does not appear on the two earlier posted lantern slides.
    I reckon the Suitable only for adults belongs to the H classification...its just way it fits in the ad

    Of course it is. Why didn't I see that.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
  • edited June 2023
    HONDO said:
       theartofmovieposters said:
    HONDO said:

     ( Everyones )

    Post 1948 advertising  with a Suitable Only For Adults non Horror film classification.  This rating does not appear on the two earlier posted lantern slides.
    I reckon the Suitable only for adults belongs to the H classification...its just way it fits in the ad

    Of course it is. Why didn't I see that.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        


    In my defense though, all Suitable Only For Adults slides and posters that I am aware of had censorship advertising applied in this Suitable only For adults full written form No single letter or grouping of letters ever used, except at times in newspaper advertisements, with an example of this appearing below..

     ( Trove )
  • I admit, I was not up to speed on all the abbreviated ratings, so until this info was posted, was mostly news to me!

  • HONDO said:
    The following just confirms how much Australian film sensors disliked  horror films .In 1958 the Australian Commonwealth film censor rejected 13 features, with twelve of these being horror films, while cuts were made on  225 films, mainly on account of excessive violence.

    My unofficial obtained records list only ten Australian banned films in 1958, with eight listed as being horror films.

     Did any of the remainIng five unknown horror films perhaps include  I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, I Was A Teenage Werewolf, The Cyclops and Attack Of The Fifty Foot Woman? It would certainly be interesting to know.

            



    Attack Of The Fifty Ft. Woman did secure a release in New Zealand though.

    I am unsure of the other three previously listed titles, although they most likely were released in N.Z. Difficult to find out as the N.Z. distributor's printed  bare bones posters such as the above and are hard to locate material on.

     The majority of the cheap AIP and Allied Artists  companies horror, science fiction and other the teen aimed  titles such as Speed Crazy didn't make it to Australia, either due to being banned here, or in some cases they were most likely rejected due to being of inferior quality or subject matter. Take a look at some of the Roiger Corman films and you will see why.
  • edited July 2023

      ( IMDb )
    The Love God? 1969 U.S.A. lobby card used in Australia. The censorship stamp applied is the outdated pre 1948 version that was discontinued twenty one years previously. The censorship rating should have course have been Not suitable for children.


  •  

    Tropic Of Cancer ( 1970 )  Australian daybill poster, and a U.S.A. insert poster.

    The film was initially refused classification in Australia in 1972, but later granted an R certificate. 

    Tropic Of Cancer was  classified with an X certificate rating in the U.S.A. The film could be seen by anyone over 17 years of age there. In Australia though the age having to being 18 to be admitted in to see the film.

    The Australian film distributor really exploited the R certificate and the content of the film with it's advertising..
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