First, what film with take home the Academy Award for Best Picture of the Year? Will it be “Anora?” “Conclave”? Who else could surprise? One thing to know: the ultimate winner will NOT be an “X-rated” film, but that’s happened before!
Time to celebrate this year’s Academy Awards with the strangest Oscar trivia imaginable: the X-rated kind!
Note: there is nothing NSFW in the story – so don’t worry! It’s a story of the creation of a ratings system – to provide guidance when seeing a movie, and how 13 academy award nominations went to films rated “X”!
Why hello Marlon…Brando is just one of the recognizable Artists who share something unique: there have been THIRTEEN Academy Award nominations associated with X-rated movies!
Talk About An “Adult” Oscar!
The history of the Academy Awards is full of great moments and trivia – and this is one of the most fascinating to me…
Time to look at the biggest awards night of the year in a different way: there was a time when Oscar not only tolerated sex in the movies, they rewarded it with some of the night’s biggest awards!
There have been thirteen Academy Award nominations tied to X-rated movies…it happened in an era when the film industry gave filmmakers the freedom to tell stories in a very adult way – before the “X” rating was stolen by “XXX” films! Let’s look at this fascinating part of Oscar lore…
Here Come The Ratings!
The ratings system for films was created in the late 60’s to help audiences cope with the onslaught of much more “adult” content in film…the sexual revolution was underway, and films like “Bonnie & Clyde” offered up much more provocative content, including films that were much more violent than ever before.
What’s An “M” Rating?
When the Motion Picture Association of America created the ratings system in 1968, there were the following designations: G, M, R, and X.
There was quickly confusion between a movie that was rated “M” for “mature” versus one that was rated “R” for “restricted”, so the “M” rating was quickly changed to “GP” – for “general public”, but that was too close to “G” so it was changed to “PG”, for parental guidance…”PG-13″ was added later, as the heart-ripping scene in “Indiana Jones and the Temple Of Doom” was deemed a bit too harsh for a straight “PG” rating. Make sense?
Soon, America’s greatest filmmakers were taking advantage of these guidelines to make adult films that dealt with the social issues of the day…and with more nudity and sexual content involved…
Oscar’s Only X-Rated Winner!
One film would soon be the first to ever win Best Picture – with an “X” rating! And it is a masterpiece that has stood the test of time! Time to head back to a much different New York City – to meet Joe Buck and Ratso Rizzo – and the iconic phrase:
“I’m walking here! I’m walking here!”
Best Picture Of 1969: “Midnight Cowboy”
The setup to this great film is simple: young, naive Joe Buck heads to New York City to be a male hustler…check out the trailer:
Jon Voight stars as Texas greenhorn Joe Buck – a “stud” who arrives in New York for the first time. Preening himself as a real ‘hustler’, he finds that he is the one getting ‘hustled’ until he teams up with a down-and-outcast named Ratso Rizzo.
And that’s the plot: a country “hick” learns how to survive in the big city, thanks to “Ratso” Rizzo, an amazing performance by Dustin Hoffman, including the legendary line:
“I’m walking here! I’m walking here!”
This is New York City at its grittiest – and to survive, you had to be willing to do ANYTHING. For Ratso, that meant crashing holiday parties to steal the food on the buffet table…and have no shame when caught:
Gretel McAlbertson: Why are you stealing food?
Ratso Rizzo: I was just, uh, noticing that you’re out of salami. I think you oughtta have somebody go over to the delicatessen, you know, bring some more back.
Gretel McAlbertson: Gee, well, you know, it’s free. You don’t have to steal it.
Ratso Rizzo: Well, if it’s free, then I ain’t stealin’.
Dustin Hoffman’s performance as “Ratso” Rizzo is ranked #7 on Premiere Magazine’s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time. It was also an Oscar-nominated performance, along with Voight’s iconic Joe Buck:
Elvis IS Joe Buck!
Here’s some great trivial even with such adult content, it was almost an Elvis movie! According to the great website IMDB, one studio executive sent Director John Schlesinger a memo stating, “If we could clean this up and add a few songs, it could be a great vehicle for Elvis Presley.” HA!
Presley wanted to be taken seriously as an actor, and was interested in the role of Joe Buck. Presley went on instead to do the G-rated “Change of Habit” with Mary Tyler Moore, which bombed!
It is hard to imagine that Elvis would have filmed some of the movie’s tougher scenes.
The film’s cinema verite style and rough content was just what Hollywood was looking for in 1969, and the film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including:
Best Actor Dustin Hoffman
Best Actor Jon Voight
Best Supporting Actress Sylvia Miles
Best Film Editing
“Midnight Cowboy” took home three Academy Awards in 1969, including:
Best Screenplay Waldo Salt
Best Director John Schlesinger
Best Picture Of The Year!
“Midnight Cowboy” is the only X-rated film to ever win Best Picture, but it’s NOT the only one ever nominated! Here’s the other:
Check Out These Provocative Opening Lines!
“There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening. The Korova milkbar sold milk-plus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence.”
Best Picture Nominee 1971: “A Clockwork Orange”
2 years after “Midnight Cowboy” won Best Picture, Stanley Kubrick’s nightmarish vision of the future shocked audiences and captured four Academy Award nominations.
Check out this provocative trailer:
Did you notice the trailer says the film was rated “R”? Well, it was ultimately re-rated later as was “Midnight Cowboy” – but when nominated both were rated “X”!
“A Clockwork Orange” was based on the futuristic novel by Anthony Burgess. In future Britain, charismatic delinquent Alex DeLarge terrorizes respectable society, along with this three “Droogs”…
Once jailed, Alex volunteers for an experimental aversion therapy developed by the government in an effort to solve society’s crime problem… but not all goes to plan. “A Clockwork Orange” is a brilliant movie, but very tough to watch in parts…if you haven’t yet seen it – you really don’t know what you are in for, and you have been warned.
The film was nominated for Best Picture (losing to the equally brilliant “The French Connection”) – and Stanley Kubrick was nominated for Best Director and Best Screenplay – the fourth nomination was for Best Film Editing.
According to IMDB, which always has terrific trivia, the novel’s Author Anthony Burgess originally sold the movie rights to Mick Jagger for $500 when he needed quick cash. Jagger intended to make it with The Rolling Stones as the droogs, but then re-sold the rights.
During the filming of the scene where Alex is forced to watch ultra-violence, star Malcolm McDowell scratched one of his corneas and was temporarily blinded. He also suffered cracked ribs during filming of the humiliation stage show.
McDowell’s next film was the equally brilliant but obscure “O Lucky Man!” – see that film’s “Seinfeld” connection here:
Both “Midnight Cowboy” and “A Clockwork Orange” are brilliant movies that have stood the test of time. As ratings guidelines have loosened, both are now rated “R” – but are the same films as when originally released with an “X”! The last nomination for an X-rated movie came, not for Best Picture, but for the directing and acting in the equally provocative “Last Tango In Paris”.
It is one of the most controversial films ever nominated – check out this moody, atmospheric trailer:
Brilliant Brando!
In the 1970’s, Marlon Brando made some brilliant movies – before he went off the rails in the 80’s…let’s look at his performance in this controversial, erotic drama…
While looking for an apartment, Jeanne, a beautiful young Parisienne, encounters Paul, a mysterious American expatriate mourning his wife’s recent suicide. Instantly drawn to each other, they have a stormy, passionate affair, in which they do not reveal their names to each other.
“Beauty of mine, sit before me. Let me peruse you and remember you… always like this.”
Those words are spoken by Brando to the beautiful young woman he pursues. Maria Schneider stars with Brando, and she is captivating as the young woman lost in this anonymous love affair…
Bernardo Bertolucci was nominated for Best Director (he eventually won the Award for “The Last Emperor” in 1987, which also won for Best Picture), and Marlon Brando was nominated for Best Actor.
This nomination was just three years after Brando stunned Hollywood by winning Best Actor for “The Godfather” – and sending Sasheen Littlefeather up to reject the award, based on America’s inhumane treatment of American Indians.
Much later in her life, Schneider would make many charges about how she felt violated in the filming of the movie…sadly, she lived a troubled life, and had many negative things to say about the experience of making the movie.
After the film’s release in Europe, director Bernardo Bertolucci, producer Alberto Grimaldi, Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider were all indicted by a court in Bologna, Italy for making the film under the term “ultalitarian pornography”.
They were all acquitted of the charge – but Bertolucci lost his civil rights (including his right to vote) for five years.
So Whatever Happened To The Good Old “X”?
Now, back to the “X” rating. When the designation was originally created, the Motion Picture Association of America didn’t bother to copyright it – as it had with the other ratings designations. With no registered trademark, the “X” could legally be self-applied to any film — a loophole pornography happily exploited. For example, the notorious 1972 film “Deep Throat” gave itself a tongue-in-cheek “X,” and many other adult films followed suit.
Movies Go “XXX”!
Soon after “Deep Throat” took ownership of the “X” rating, films like “Debbie Does Dallas” boasted a self-designated rating of “XXX”, promising three times the adult material! Look at the rating box with the extra “X’s” added!
While the completely self-imposed “XXX” rating quickly became a marketing tool for the adult film industry, the damage was done to the singular “X”. An “X” rating became synonymous with “hardcore,” and movie theaters stopped showing them. That led to companies making sure their films landed with an “R” rating.
Which leads to….
“Say Hello To My Little Friend!”
That’s Al Pacino shooting up the screen in the 1983 classic “Scarface!”
I love this film, but guess what? It received an “X” rating when released – for violence!
Director Brian DePalma fought with the MPAA board, re-cut the film many times before finally getting an “R” rating – but then released the “X” rated version anyway!
See that wild story here!
“X” ratings were deemed commercial suicide, and that rating actually led to a lawsuit for this film:
In 1990, Spanish director Pedro Almodovar filed a civil suit over the X-rating given to “Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!” Almodovar lost his lawsuit, but the MPAA soon after created the trademarked “NC-17” rating, which is still little used.
There have never been any additional “X” rated films nominated for an Academy Award, as the designation has gone away…but before I wrap, let me take eyou back to the “revolution” that led to the ratings system:
This terrific book tells the story of the 5 films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar in 1967, and how they spelled the beginning of a movie “revolution” in America…
“In The Heat Of The Night” won the Academy Award for Bet Picture that year, and was a provocative movie that helped create the ratings board. See more about this terrific book here:
Back to “Scarface”: the film quickly became a cultural phenomenon – leading to this hilariously entertaining mashup of many films, including “Scarface”, that all used nightclub scenes!
Click here to see the video:
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Let me know your thoughts on Oscar’s X-rated past!
Categories: 70's Cinema, Academy Awards, Action Films, Art, Awards, Cult Movies, Film Fight Club, Film Noir, Great Films, Grindhouse, Hollywood, Movies, Obscure Movies, Pop Culture, Talent/Celebrities, True Hollywood Mystery
johnrieber 
I never saw clockwork orange but saw it on or in time magazine and announced at my family dinner that I’d like to see it. imagine their shocked reaction to this, as I was just 13 and really had no desire to see it, but wanted to sound cool. loved midnight cowboy, bonnie and clyde, scarface, and in the heat of the night! forgot about the ‘x’ era
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Hilarious story about Clockwork! It’s far too rough for many, but a brilliant film and indictment of our society as well…thanks for the comment!
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Sugar! ‘My time’ movies 🙂 ! Loved ‘Midnight Cowboy’ and ‘Scarface’ and ‘In the Heat of the Night’ . . . was bored by ‘Last Tango in Paris’ together with husband dear . . , Would like ‘Conclave’ to win, but under the current real life circumstances that may not happen . . . ?
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Strangely, perhaps MORE likely for “Conclave” as real life headlines call more attention to the timelines of it! As it won the BAFTA and the Screen Actors Guild award here for “best cast”, it has become the underdog-turned-slight favorite but who knows fully what’s on Oscar’s mind! Thanks for the comment!
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Have just read the latest here in Oz on Monday morning. You are probably right . . ,. as I am a non-practicing Lutheran with Buddhist views I am not emotionally involved, but have always like Ralph Fiennes, so 🙂 !!!
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Wasn’t “I’m walking here, I’m walking here” improvised too. A real cabbie messed up the scene and that’s how Dustin responded? Crazy because that is the scene that you think of first when you think about that movie!!!!
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Great point, thanks for reminding me of that! I have a new book on the making of the film and it’s next up for me to read!
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My favorite of the movies mentioned was A Clockwork Orange…..I think this year Conclave will get the nod. Just a feeling chuq
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For once, I have actually seen all the films featured. Good article, John.
Best wishes, Pete.
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