Sex in Cinema: Greatest and Most Influential Erotic / Sexual Films and Scenes

Sex in Cinema: In the following collection, excerpted from the Mini-History of Sex in the Cinema at this site, here are some of the most significant milestones, and most influential and memorable sexual/erotic scenes and films on the big screen through cinematic history. Most of these films, with portrayals of sex and/or nudity, were considered quite erotic, groundbreaking, unique and/or controversial at the time.

Sex in Cinema: In the following collection, excerpted from the Mini-History of Sex in the Cinema at this site, here are some of the most significant milestones, and most influential and memorable sexual/erotic scenes and films on the big screen through cinematic history. Most of these films, with portrayals of sex and/or nudity, were considered quite erotic, groundbreaking, unique and/or controversial at the time. HISTORY OF SEX IN CINEMA - INDEX (chronological by film title) Intro \| Part 1 \| Part 2 \| Part 3 \| Part 4 \| Part 5 \| Part 6 \| Part 7 \| Part 8 \| Part 9 \| Part 10 \| Part 11 \| Part 12 \| Part 13 \| Part 14 \| Part 15 \| Part 16 \| Part 17 \| Part 18 \| Part 19 \| Part 20 \| Part 21 \| Part 22 \| Part 23 \| Part 24 \| Part 25 \| Part 26 \| Part 27 \| Part 28 \| Part 29 \| Part 30 \| Part 31 \| Part 32 \| Part 33 \| Part 34 \| Part 35 \| Part 36 \| Part 37 \| Part 38 \| Part 39 \| Part 40 \| Part 41 \| Part 42 \| Part 43 \| Part 44 \| Part 45 \| Part 46 \| Part 47 \| Part 48 \| Part 49 \| Part 50 \|
Sex in Cinema: Part 11 Greatest and Most Influential Erotic / Sexual Films and Scenes (chronological by film title) Milestone Films With Scenes That Were Especially Notorious, Infamous, Controversial, or Scandalous
Movie Title	Brief Scene Description	Example
From Here to Eternity (1953)	Fred Zinnemann's military drama was based on James Jones' hefty, 859-page smoldering 1951 novel of the same name (although altered to some degree), but still retained ground-breaking subjects including prostitution, adultery, military injustice, brutality, corruption, alcohol abuse, racism and murder; it became most famous for its bathing-suited, entwined beach embrace and forbidden kissing between rugged Army Sergeant Warden (Burt Lancaster) and adulterous Army Captain's wife Karen Holmes (Deborah Kerr) in the churning Hawaiian waves that covered them, on a summer night on a deserted sandy beach; subplots involved a 'social club' with hostesses (employee Alma Burke, or "Lorene" played by 'against-type' wholesome actress Donna Reed) frequented by young enlisted man Robert Prewitt (Montgomery Clift)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)	This Howard Hawks musical film starred two of the era's most notorious sex symbols: Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe, portraying two golddiggers on a cruise ship; they sang and danced the opening number Two Little Girls From Little Rock wearing glittering red and white costumes - with a blue background; one of the film's lines: "The one you call daddy ain't your pa" was censored and changed to: "Men are the same way everywhere"; there was also a notorious choreographed song/dance scene of sexy Russell in an athletic gym filled with disinterested male body-builders as she sang Anyone Here For Love: "Ain't there anyone here for love?", strutted down a row of exercising athletes and asked: "Doubles, anyone?...(the) court's free!...Doesn't anyone wanna play?" [This scene was referenced in singer Olivia Newton-John's popular Let's Get Physical music video]
Glen or Glenda? (1953) (aka I Changed My Sex, I Led Two Lives, The Transvestite, or He or She)	Oft-maligned auteur Ed Wood's best 'worst' cult film of all time (his directorial debut film) was this low-budget, semi-autobiographical docu-drama production about cross-dressing (transvestism) and transexuality (identifying with one's opposite birth gender); Wood himself (with the screen name of Daniel Davis) starred as the title character - a transvestite struggling with his addiction to angora cloth, and an aged Bela Lugosi as the narrator (credited as "The Scientist"); this film was designed to capitalize on the recent headlines about the late 1952 male-to-female sex reassignment surgery of Christine Jorgensen; the film's tagline proclaimed: "I Changed My Sex!" with the additional: "What Am I...Male or Female!, The Strange Case of a 'Man' Who Changed His SEX!"
The Moon is Blue (1953)	This daring sex farce comedy was the first studio-produced film from Hollywood that was released without an approved code seal from the Production Code Administration; it was deliberately made as a test case by its director Otto Preminger, and subsequently rated condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency for vulgarity, in part because of its offensive use of prohibited words such as "virgin," "seduce," "pregnant," and "mistress" in the dialogue; it was also criticized for its "unacceptably light attitude toward seduction, illicit sex, chastity, and virginity"; the young and curious heroine Patty O'Neill (Maggie McNamara) asked successful older architect Donald Gresham (William Holden): "But don't you think it's better for a girl to be preoccupied with sex than occupied?"; despite its lack of a seal of approval and the controversy, it proved to be a major hit film (grossing $6 million)
Niagara (1953)	This film-noir was advertised as "Niagara and Marilyn Monroe: The two most electrifying sights in the world!" with a poster also proclaiming: "A raging torrent of emotion that even nature can't control!"; 26 year-old Marilyn starred as Rose Loomis, a voluptuous and sexy woman (advertised as a "tantalizing temptress whose kisses fired men's souls!") plotting to kill her depressed husband George (Joseph Cotten) while engaged in an affair; the most memorable scenes featured Marilyn's naked appearance in bed, her sexy walking (filmed from the rear) in a form-fitting dress, and her flaunting appearance in a red dress at an outdoor party; one of the film's provocative conversations with her husband follows: (George: "You smell like a dimestore. I know what that means." Rose: "Sure. I'm meeting somebody. Just anybody handy as long as he's a man...Anybody suits me, take your pick")
First issue of Playboy (December, 1953)	Though not a film, Marilyn Monroe's appearance in the first issue of Hugh Hefner's Playboy magazine was a landmark moment for sex in film, in that one of the biggest sex symbols in film history voluntarily appeared nude in a nationally-distributed magazine; it would be a major influence in the loosening of morals in the film industry, although it brought calls for censorship, and catapulted Monroe to superstardom as a sex goddess and icon; the magazine would begin to feature various film stars and celebrities in states of undress, and showcase their performances in films, as well as chronicle the development of sex in cinema
Striporama (1953), Varietease (1954), and Teaserama (1955)	Cult icon and black-haired pin-up Queen Bettie Page starred in this "burlesque trilogy" of vintage erotica (with little if any nudity) about the naughty and tawdry world of stripping and comedy - these were her only three feature films; Lili St. Cyr joined Page in the first two films, and the final film (pictured) featured Page with red-haired statuesque stripper Tempest Storm; the last two films were produced and directed by photographer and mail order blue movie-maker Irving Klaw
Carmen Jones (1954)	Daring, risk-taking director Otto Preminger's film of passion and obsession starred Oscar-nominated Dorothy Dandridge in a career-defining role as the carnal, red-hot, free-spirited title character, often seen wearing a prominent, low cut black top and red dress; for her role in this film, Dandridge was the first black woman to be nominated in the category of Best Actress; in this musical adapted from Bizet's opera, the radiantly-beautiful parachute making-factory worker Carmen stole military corporal Joe (Harry Belafonte) from his virtuous, hometown girlfriend Cindy Lou (Olga James) to satisfy her lustful purposes, with violent tragedy after their ill-fated affair declined
The French Line (1954)	After Howard Hughes' earlier conflict with the Production Code over his sexy western The Outlaw (1943), he ran into further difficulties over using busty starlet Jane Russell again in this light-weight musical comedy film set on a ship bound ultimately for Gay Paree; this Technicolored RKO film was released without a seal of approval, and declared 'unfit' for audiences and 'condemned' by the Catholic Legion of Decency; Russell starred as Mary 'Mame' Carson, a Texas oil heiress looking for a husband who would love her - and not only for her money; the film was originally made in 3-D, and came with a suggestive RKO tagline: "J.R. in 3-D -- It'll knock both your eyes out"; the most controversial scenes, often excised, were the opening 'bubble of excitement' bath scene, and the bump-and-grind (performed tongue-in-cheek) dance number "Lookin' for Trouble" at the film's conclusion with Jane in a revealing, sparkling, silver-beaded black, bikini-like costume (with strategically-placed cut-outs)
The Garden of Eden (1954)	By claiming to be an 'educational' naturism documentary, this 90-minute film by Hollywood 'B' movie director Max Nosseck, skirted the anti-nudity film restrictions of its time; it was the first naturist film shot in color and the first nudist camp film since the 1930s, with a dubious plot about gorgeous young widow Susan Lattimore (Jamie O'Hara) who fled to a nudist camp with her six year-old daughter Joan to escape an evil father-in-law; it featured lush outdoor Everglades photography and an elaborate romantic dream sequence, as well as the requisite volley-ball games, swimming, and water-skiing in the nude; it faced legal battles and was banned as obscene (or "indecent") after its controversial release - until 1955 when a NY judge ruled in its favor that nudism in itself (in existing nudist camps) was not obscene, and in 1957 when the Supreme Court also ruled in favor of nudity in the Roth decision
Johnny Guitar (1954)	Director Nicholas Ray's unconventional, bizarre, off-beat cult Western has sometimes been called a 'lesbian western', because it reversed traditional gender roles; it starred Joan Crawford as a mannish, strong-willed, drag-queen-looking, deserted Arizona saloon-owner named Vienna, and Mercedes McCambridge as bull-dyke rancher Emma Small - the blood-lusting, mean-spirited, sexually-repressed leader of intolerant 'good guy' vigilantes; in one scene, Vienna commented about unscrupulous outlaw Dancin’ Kid's (Scott Brady) effect on Emma: "He makes her feel like a woman and that scares her"); the gun-toting Vienna often wore a black shirt, a string tie around her collar, pants, and boots and was described by her saloonkeeper Sam (Robert Osterloh) as masculine: "Never seen a woman who was more a man. She thinks like one, acts like one, and sometimes makes me feel like I’m not."
Rear Window (1954)	Hitchcock's voyeuristic thriller implicated its audience as 'Peeping Tom' viewers of apartment neighbors - sharing in the voyeuristic surveillance by the film's protagonist: a photographer L.B. "Jeff" Jefferies (James Stewart) with a cast on his broken leg (symbolic of his impotence) and a 'phallic' telephoto camera to peer at his Greenwich Village neighbors; he demonstrated his lack of commitment and avoidance of commitment to beautiful and sexy fiancee -- society girl Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly) -- even though she appeared elegantly dressed and like a beautiful apparition when he awoke - she kissed him, and later emerged in his doorway wearing an elegant white silk nightgown - a "preview of coming attractions" for an intimate evening/sleep-over
How to Be Very, Very Popular (1955)	Sheree North, an attempted carbon-copy blonde replacement for Marilyn Monroe, starred in this comedy after the unwilling blonde star walked off and refused to do this picture for Fox; in one of its more talked-about sequences, North stripped off her gray graduation gown and performed a rock and roll dance to "Shake, Rattle & Roll"
Love is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)	Lovers Jennifer Jones (as beautiful widowed Eurasian doctor Han Suyin) and William Holden (as American newsman Mark Elliott) in Hong Kong joined their two cigarettes together as a symbol (his burning cigarette lit hers, symbolic of the sexual consummation of their love -- and sublimation of their passion) as the Oscar-winning title tune swelled in the background, after she told him: "There's nothing stronger in the world than gentleness"
Monika: Story of a Bad Girl (1955)	Legendary exploitation distributor Kroger Babb, after purchasing the rights to Ingmar Bergman's Summer With Monika (1953, Swe.) (aka Sommaren med Monika), cut out approximately 30 minutes of the film, dubbed it into English, replaced the musical score with a jazzy one by Les Baxter, and renamed it to ready the film for the drive-in circuit; it was one of the first foreign-language films that made its nudity a major selling point for US audiences, and helped create the stereotype that Swedish women were sexually liberated; Babb sensationalized the repackaged film with racy advertisements and taglines such as: "She’s 19—and Naughty but Nice!", "Everybody’s Talking About Monika!", and "The Devil Controls Her By Radar!" (for its one controversial scene of nudity and love-making); the film featured the brief idyllic romance between a young couple: Harry (Lars Ekborg) and Monika (18-year-old Harriet Andersson)
Picnic (1955)	Joshua Logan's widescreen version of William Inge's Pulitzer Prize-winning play included a slow "mating" dance sequence (to the tune of "Moonglow") between handsome, sexy drifter Hal Carter (William Holden) and Madge Owens (Kim Novak), filmed in one-take with a circling camera under colorful Japanese lanterns on a boat dock landing at night, during a Labor Day weekend