History of Sex in Cinema:
The Greatest and Most Influential
Sexual Films and Scenes
(Illustrated)
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History of Sex in Cinema: |
See also the multi-part Sexual and Erotic Films in Cinema, The Most Controversial Films of All-Time and the Best and Most Memorable Film Kisses of All Time in Cinematic History. Key to Icon Symbol:
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Greatest and Most Influential Erotic / Sexual Films and Scenes (chronological order, by film title) - 1920-1928 Intro | Pre-1920s | 1920-1928 | 1929-1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934-1937 | 1938-1943 | 1944-1946 | 1947-1952 | 1953-1954 | 1955-1957 | 1958-1959 | 1960-1961 | 1962-1963 | 1964 | 1965-1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992-1 | 1992-2 | 1993 | 1994-1 | 1994-2 | 1995-1 | 1995-2 | 1996-1 | 1996-2 | 1997-1 | 1997-2 | 1998-1 | 1998-2 | 1999-1 | 1999-2 | 2000-1 | 2000-2 | 2001-1 | 2001-2 | 2002-1 | 2002-2 | 2003-1 | 2003-2 | 2004-1 | 2004-2 | 2005-1 | 2005-2 | 2006-1 | 2006-2 | 2007-1 | 2007-2 | 2008 | 2009 | |
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Movie Title |
Brief Scene Description |
Example |
Stag or Girlie Films in the 1920s: Jazz Babies
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Young aspiring starlets or contest winners, who felt that Hollywood would be a perfect place for them to be discovered, journeyed there - often ending up stranded and needing assistance to return home, and finding their dreams shattered - a dilemma dramatized in the First National film Ella Cinders (1926) with Colleen Moore; some desperate girls became either high-class whores or resorted to appearing in various stag films to avoid going hungry |  
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Early French adult films (1920's)
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The earliest known adult films began to appear in France in the early 1920's and were known as "risque" or 'stag' films, sold on the black market and viewed mostly in private settings; lesbianism and heterosexual intercourse were the most common subjects (male homosexuality was very rare) |   
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D. W. Griffith's classic, silent melodramatic film starred Lillian Gish in a vivid portrayal as Anna Moore - a young, fragile and innocent country girl in the big city, an ecstatically-infatuated new bride, a betrayed "wife," a bereaved unwed mother, and a matured woman; in the film's plot, Anna was seduced and exploited by callous city playboy Lennox Sanderson (Lowell Sherman) into a sham marriage and then despoiled - the camera faded to black as they went to the bedroom; the duplicitious scoundrel abandoned her and walked out on her when she became pregnant, and the ruined girl bore a nameless, illegitimate baby (that died shortly after birth); later, she was cast out into a fierce winter blizzard (the film's most famous scene) due to having a child out of wedlock, but was saved from ruin and death by country dweller David Bartlett (Richard Barthelmess) | 
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| The Queen of Sheba (1921) | This presumed lost Fox Studios film, an exotic epic by director J. Gordon Edwards, starred Betty Blythe (instead of vamp Theda Bara) as the titular character with the tagline: "The Love Romance of the World's Most Beautiful Woman"; only a few provocative still photos remain of the revealingly-dressed actress - usually scantily-clad, thinly-veiled and mostly bare-breasted |
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The Sheik (1921) |
This was the film with a starring role that brought legendary Latin lover Rudolph Valentino -- the first international (and Hollywood) male sex symbol and the biggest star of the silent era -- to the attention of screen audiences; it was a kitschy Arab desert romance melodrama, with the title character - Arab chieftain Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan, representing seductive passion and forbidden eroticism (often represented by a smile and rolling eyes) opposite free-willed British socialite - Lady Diana Mayo (Agnes Ayers); in their opening conversation in his tent, she asked: "Why have you brought me here?" with his reply: "Are you not woman enough to know?" and then flattery: "Do you know how beautiful you are?"; the 'sheik' came to be used in slang, meaning a man who aggressively wooed women; nowadays, Valentino is best known for his profile on Sheik-brand condom packages |
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This 8-reel silent Danish production was essentially an historical, documentary-style, dramatized narrative about sexually-repressive, misogynistic witch-hunting (the torture and slaughter of innocent women) during the Middle Ages from director Benjamin Christensen (who portrayed the Devil) - the sensationalistic film was banned in some countries and reedited in others due to its controversial content about medieval witchery and superstition; the film contained occasional glimpses of semi-nudity to titillate audiences with erotically-tinged witch lore |
 
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Manslaughter (1922) |
Cecil B. DeMille challenged the limits of screen sexuality in this silent melodrama; as was typical of DeMille's films, he would display sensational scenes of debauchery and then punish the perpetrators in order to have them pay for their sins; in this moralizing film, he provided a flashbacked fantasy sequence depicting the decadence and downfall of Ancient Rome with an orgy scene and a lesbian kiss |
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The Ten Commandments (1923) |
Director Cecil B. DeMille claimed that his films condemned sex and sins of the flesh, although this Biblical tale about Moses contained lots of both, especially in the scene of the Hebrews worshipping the golden calf - the people engaged in a massive orgy (kissing, licking wine off of a woman's leg/foot, etc.); of course, they would soon be punished upon leader Moses' return and subsequent retribution; however, the film was regarded as an allegory of the idolatry of Hollywood (i.e., the worship of false gods) and its controversial behaviors in the early 20s (especially following the Arbuckle scandal/trial) | 
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Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) |
In one of this epic film's amazing two-color Technicolor segments (a triumphant processional scene), two rows of bare-breasted flower girls danced in a pageant/parade as they tossed flowers to the crowds lining the street; furthermore, rear nudity of a male galley slave was glimpsed briefly, and in another early scene, cruel Roman soldiers pulled off a woman's top to expose her breasts once she was thrown to the ground |
  
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The Son of the Sheik (1926) |
The superior follow-up silent adventure/melodramatic romance film to The Sheik (1921) featured the decade's most popular, legendary male screen lover Rudolph Valentino (in his final film before his sudden death in August 1926 following his collapse at the film's NY premiere); he starred in the title dual role as the now-older Sheik and his hot-blooded son Ahmed, who played opposite alluring, kidnapped bejeweled dancer, Yasmin (Vilma Banky); it engendered criticism for being "morally objectionable" for its vengeful rape scene against Yasmin (only suggestively seen by a sequence of wide-eyed, soft-focus close-ups); as he forced himself upon her, he asserted: "For once, your kisses are free!" as he approached her and the screen faded to black |
 
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Films of Independent Producer and Entrepreneur Sam .S. "Steamship" Millard |
Two openly defiant, tawdry exploitation films about brothels, teenage pregnancy, birth control, white slavery, and venereal disease-syphilis (all forbidden topics according to the Hays Office), were circulated as road shows by Millard:
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Flesh and the Devil (1926/1927) |
A glossy, melodramatic, sensual silent film about a bitter and tragic love triangle, from director Clarence Brown - marking the first time John Gilbert co-starred with Greta Garbo; the film was produced in 1926 and released in early 1927; the couple portrayed the tragic protagonists: Leo von Sellenthin (Gilbert) and beautiful "devil" Felicitas von Kletzingk (Garbo) as an impulsive, languorous seductress who threatened the bond between two childhood male friends; with three extended love scenes between the two in-love stars (including elliptical editing to imply sex between them); although clothed, kisses exchanged between real-life lovers Greta Garbo and John Gilbert were lit by only a single flame, exquisitely photographed and very sensual in a shadowy garden scene; reportedly, this was Hollywood's first French (open-mouthed) Kiss on screen |
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Hula (1927) |
Flapper icon Clara Bow, dubbed the "It" girl during the 20s and one of the earliest sex symbols, appeared in this film as Hula Calhoun, a flapper girl raised on a ranch near Hana (Maui) in Hawaii; she was featured nude in a bathing scene, and performed a sexy hula dance (more like the Charleston) |
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It (1927) |
This was appealing sex symbol Clara Bow's most famous, star-making, signature film as the "It" Girl, her first film for Paramount; she took the role of a devil-may-care, quintessential flapper type; she portrayed Betty Lou Spence - a vivacious department store lingerie salesgirl who represented female independence, sexual freedom, Jazz modernity and the modern lifestyle in the Roaring 20s Jazz Age; when she first saw her handsome mustached boss Mr. Cyrus Waltham (Antonio Moreno), she declared: "Sweet Santa Claus, give me him!"; later, in the romantic/melodramatic scene pictured, after receiving her salary check, she closed her boss' PRIVATE office door, sat on his desk, and asked: "Are you mad at me because I slapped you?", then stretched across his entire desk, and sweetly apologized: "I'm sorry but a girl has to do that. You know how those things are! Let's forget it. We've got each other straight now, haven't we?" She then had him profess: "I'm crazy about you" and confessed back: "I love you, too"; furthermore, he promised: "I'll buy you diamonds - clothes - everything you want - ", but then she realized he was buying her off: "What are you trying to do? Offer me one of those left-handed arrangements?" -- as she left his office, she reminded him that being 'crazy' about her wasn't enough: "I suppose that's what you men call love!" |
 
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Metropolis (1927, Ger.) |
In Fritz Lang's masterpiece in the early Eternal Gardens sequence, Freder (Gustav Frohlich), the aristocrat capitalist's son, frolicked with young ladies (wearing sheer and braless blouses) in a grotto; he chased one young lady with a backless tight black top around a circular fountain - when he caught her, he bent her backwards, and pressed towards her for a kiss; later in the film, the mad scientist Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) created a female robot - a double of ethereal nurse Maria (Brigitte Helm); as the evil robotic Maria (Helm also), she performed an erotic, Salome-style, hip-swiveling semi-nude dance ("the dance of the whore of Babylon") at Yoshiwara’s night-club, arousing the lecherous, wide-eyed male audience into a frenzy |
   
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F.W. Murnau's film told the story of the corruptibility of a married country Man (George O'Brien) who fell prey to the seductive wiles of a city vamp and tempting mistress (Margaret Livingston) in an illicit affair, held on the edge of the misty, moonlit marshes; the supernatural spell and erotic charm of the city woman seduced him and he pulled her into his arms for a passionate, fervent kiss - she stole his sanity and soul as she literally pulled him down into the swamp; while being kissed as they sprawled on the grass and she tempted him with a seductive dance, she visualized for him how he should sell his farm, murder his wife, and come to the decadent City; in a later scene after being reconciled with his wife (Janet Gaynor), the couple magically appeared in a flower-blooming country field - and then they suddenly reappeared back within the congested City - and found themselves in the midst of honking city traffic (another rear-projected image) - while still kissing and stopping traffic! |
 
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Wanderer of the West (1927) |
This late 20s silent western, starring First National star Ken Maynard's brother Kermit (billed as Tex Maynard), delivered an early (and common) portrayal of homosexuality (a stereotyped sissy foil to provide contrast with the other more masculine men) in one of its title cards: "Clarence, the clerk - - one of Nature's mistakes in a country where men were men"; it was one in a series of six Maynard oaters released by Rayart |
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Wings (1927) |
This first Best Picture winner (a silent film) was also noted as portraying the first on-screen male-male kiss on the lips during a death scene, when a handsome young soldier John "Jack" Powell (Charles "Buddy" Rogers) placed a lingering fraternal kiss on the mouth of his dying friend David Armstrong (Richard Arlen), with the title card reading: "You - you know there is nothing in the world that means so much to me as your friendship" followed by: "I knew it - - all the time - - " |
  
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Wings (1927)
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In addition, Wings was one of the first mainstream, widely-released films to portray nudity -- in this case, a scandalous, quick glimpse of the breasts of "It" girl star Clara Bow (as "girl next door" and ambulance driver Mary Preston); on leave in Paris during the war with the AEF (American Expeditionary Forces), she was interrupted by two Army military police officers while she undressed (changing from a borrowed dress back into her military uniform, in front of a mirror behind a divider) in a hotel room. Since she was in the same room with drunken, passed out Jack Powell (Charles "Buddy" Rogers) on a nearby bed, they thought she had just had sex with him. They forced her to resign and return to America. The caption card read: "Put your clothes on! You can't get away with this sort of thing in the A.E.F. It's back home for you, sister." |  
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The Mysterious Lady (1928)
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The beautiful and bewitching Greta Garbo provided great sex appeal and numerous love scenes in this MGM, Fred Niblo-directed film | 
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Our Dancing Daughters (1928)
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MGM brought out a loosely-constructed 3-part set of racy films with three young, amoral ('modern') Jazz Age flappers (Joan Crawford, Anita Page, and Dorothy Sebastian) - free and easy single women of the time; all of the films featured premarital love-making and sex, hip flasks and wild parties, hedonistic lifestyles, the latest expensive fashions, and hot Charleston-dancing scenes. The film series included:
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The Wedding March (1928) |
Director Erich Von Stroheim's examination of corrupt pre WWI Vienna included a doomed romance between poor musician's daughter Mitzi (Fay Wray) and young dissolute aristocrat Prince Nicki von Wildeliebe-Rauffenburg (director Erich von Stroheim) - who first met in an extended sequence before a horse procession; the film was most noted for their romantic scene under an apple-blossom tree that dropped its petals; eventually Nicki must marry crippled rich heiress Cecelia Schweisser (Zasu Pitts) for money instead; it was also noted for a decadent risque scene of a drunken celebration and orgy in a brothel |
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The Wind (1928)
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Swedish director Victor Sjöström's last surviving silent film told about a lost and delicate young woman named Letty (Lillian Gish, in her final silent movie) who moved to wind-swept frontier life in Texas where she became isolated in a desert cabin struck by sandstorms; it was filled with sexual metaphors, including semi-incestuous desire, jealousy, seduction, attempted rape by a brutal male attacker, frigidity, virginity, insanity and sexual aversion - a predecessor to Roman Polanski's Repulsion (1965) | 
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Introduction: In the following illustrated compilation are some of the most significant films in the history of sex on the screen. The influential film milestones and their memorable sexual/erotic scenes are thoroughly described. Including portrayals
of sex and/or nudity, these films were often considered quite erotic, groundbreaking,
unique and/or controversial at the time. The following listing of these influential, memorable and classic
sex scenes and films takes into account all of
the available surveys of this type of material, and attempts to provide
an informed, detailed, unranked, chronological (by film title) grouping of the
most influential and groundbreaking films and scenes. Some of the most notorious (or infamous) films are quite
mediocre, usually made as an excuse to display nudity or eroticism of a star performer.
- Milestone Films With Scenes That Were Especially Notorious, Infamous, Controversial, or Scandalous