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 29 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
The Beach Girls (1982)	This silly, R-rated comedy of the early 80s (with a subplot about drugs) was typical of "drive-in" type films; it exhibited numerous sexual innuendoes and slapstick as an excuse to glimpse the nudity (called T & A shots) of the two party girls, blonde Ginger (Val Kline) and brown-haired Ducky (Playboy Playmate Jeana Tomasina); it also included various other scenes such as spying on nude sunbathers, half-naked chicken-fights at a pool party, topless sunning on a boat deck, and a sexy dope-smoking sauna scene
The Beastmaster (1982)	TV's Charlie's Angels star (for one season) and future That '70s Show cast member Tanya Roberts starred in this fantasy sword and sorcery adventure, a revered B cult film, as sexy slave girl Kiri - often viewed in nude swimming scenes; her appearance was soon followed by a Playboy cover and nude pictorial in the October 1982 issue to publicize her role; see also her similar starring role in the Tarzan-like Sheena (1984)
Butterfly (1982) and The Lonely Lady (1983)	Writer-director Matt Cimber adapted his trashy film from James M. Cain's 1947 potboiler novel - a love story which was tauted with this tagline: "From the author who gave you "The Postman Always Rings Twice"..."Double Indemnity"..."Mildred Pierce" ...Now, his most powerful and daring love story comes to the screen!"; voluptuous, baby-faced, one-time child actress Pia Zadora won two contradictory awards for her role in this melodramatic film: a Golden Globe award as "New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture," and two Razzie awards (two of three wins from ten nominations) as "Worst Actress" and "Worst New Star"; the low-budget film, made for $2 million, was financed by the female star's Israeli millionaire casino owner/husband; she starred alongside Stacy Keach, Johnny Carson's Tonight Show sidekick Ed McMahon, James Franciscus and Orson Welles, among others; the film told about lonely, 1930s hermit miner Jess Tyler (Stacy Keach), guardian of an abandoned Nevada mine, whose long-lost, illegitimate "Lolita-esque" grown sexpot daughter (Zadora) appeared and attempted to seduce him; the film's most notorious scene was a bathtub scene in which Tyler helped bathe his alluring "daughter" in a metal tub - although the film hinted at their incestuous relationship, it turned out that he wasn't her father after all; she only used Tyler to exact revenge on the mine's owner - a spoiled rich kid who had impregnated and abandoned her In the following year, Zadora also starred in director Peter Sasdy's trashy The Lonely Lady (1983), an adaptation of a Harold Robbins novel by Ellen Shepard, about "the story of a woman's struggle for fame in Hollywood" - and the winner of six Razzie Awards (from eleven nominations), including Worst Picture and Worst Director; she won another "Worst Actress" Razzie Award for her performance as Jerilee Randall, a young and aspiring, award-winning Southern California Valley Girl screenwriter who was sexually assaulted at a celebratory pool party by teenaged bad boy Joe Heron (Ray Liotta in his feature film debut) with a garden hose nozzle ("I'm gonna give you something special!"), and then suffered a failed marriage to older (and impotent), prominent Hollywood screenwriter Walter Thornton (Lloyd Bochner); further, she experienced a series of degrading, exploitative and sleazy sexual encounters (including an abortion) and a nervous breakdown (including taking a clothed shower), but finally by film's end received a Best Original Screenplay award for her new, semi-autobiographical script The Hold Outs, which told all about her experiences in Hollywood; however, during her acceptance speech, she brutally denounced her rise to fame and refused her award: "I don't suppose I'm the only one who's had to f--k her way to the top." Her multiple Razzie Awards gave Zadora the additional recognition years later as "Worst New Star of the Decade" of the 80s.	Butterfly (1982)
Cat People (1982)	Director Paul Schrader's updated version of this horror classic (a kinky, moody remake of the Val Lewton classic Cat People (1942)) featured waifish, sexually-frustrated, virginal and timid, green-eyed, pouty lipped Irena Gallier (Natassja Kinski), with feline heritage and animalistic tendencies; she engaged in a bondage scene with New Orleans zoologist/lover Oliver Yates (John Heard) with her arms tied to the bedpost so that her claws wouldn't injure him during ferocious and ravenous out-of-control sex; also the film exhibited Irena's naked stalking through the woods and nude house wanderings, and the re-do of the eerie swimming pool scene with a topless Annette O'Toole; it was advertised as "an erotic fantasy for the animal in us all"
Deathtrap (1982)	Sidney Lumet's twisting dark comedy film contained a scene in which fading Broadway playwright Sidney Bruhl (Michael Caine) and ex-student and gay fledgling author Clifford Anderson (Christopher Reeve) passionately kissed; reportedly, the producers later stated that it was "the $10 Million Dollar Kiss" - the amount of revenue lost as a result of negative publicity
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)	Director Amy Heckerling's superior 80s high-school coming-of-age sex comedy (scripted by Cameron Crowe who went undercover in a San Diego high school for material) was originally rated X (before editing out a full-frontal male view in the poolhouse scene, and excising an abortion scene) during the conservative early 80s, in its story of Southern California teens preoccupied by sex - with some scenes of unglamorous sex (especially for the female) and promiscuity; its memorable characters included Sean Penn as surfer-slacker Jeff Spicoli and his exasperated US history teacher Mr. Hand (Ray Walston); it also featured the realistic scene of innocent 15 year-old freshman student Stacy Hamilton's (Jennifer Jason Leigh) painful and uncomfortable deflowering in a baseball dugout at night with older home stereo salesman Ron Johnson (D.W. Brown) during which time she looked up at the graffiti-covered ("SURF NAZIS") walls (from her POV); Stacy's second awkward and quick sexual experience was with Mike Damone (Robert Romanus) in a pool bathhouse, resulting in pregnancy and an abortion; one reason for the film's controversial nature was the scene in a crowded school cafeteria of a sexually-liberated and experienced Linda Barrett (Phoebe Cates) giving her friend Stacy a 'how-to' lesson with a carrot on how to deliver oral sex to a guy; there was also the fantasy dream-girl, masturbatory sequence of Stacy's brother Brad's (Judge Reinhold) viewing by a swimming pool -- of an emerging, sexually-liberated Linda as she opened her bright red-bikini top from the middle in slow-motion and kissed him (to the tune of The Cars' hit "Moving in Stereo"), although in reality she embarrassingly interrupted his excitement in the pool-side bathroom; the scene has regularly been voted as one of the sexiest scenes ever filmed in the 80s - and of all-time; the film also contained the legendary advice for making out: "put on side one of Led Zeppelin IV"
Hospital Massacre (1982) (aka X-Ray)	Barbi Benton (one of Playboy Hugh Hefner's early girlfriends) starred in this low-brow slasher/horror thriller (a straight-to-video release) by director Boaz Davidson; when the story began on Valentine's Day in 1961, young Susan (Elizabeth Hoy) rejected and mocked young Harold's card, prompting him to murder her playfriend David (Mikael Romano) by impaling him on a hat/coat rack; nineteen years later as brunette divorcee Susan Jeremy, she went to the LA county hospital for test results, where Harold had reappeared to seek revenge; in an unrealistic, exploitative and gratuitous sex scene, she was subjected to a slow, topless physical examination scene (probably the most memorable segment of the entire film, though); the doctor lingered over her pelvic area and around her orb-shaped breasts as he worked his way up her body, asking her to breathe in and out as he applied his stethoscope to her.
The Last American Virgin (1982)	Writer/director Boaz Davidson's above-average film in this teen film sub-genre was the American remake of his own Eskimo Limon (1978, Israel), although it was now set in Los Angeles; with its tagline: "There's only one thing left to lose," it was obviously about horny male adolescents looking for love/sex, although it also tackled the sensitive issues of unrequited love (in a love triangle) and abortion; in one of the film's earlier scenes, there were the usual hijinks of nerdy Victor (Brian Peck) peeping on girls in a school gym shower (to the tune of Devo's "Whip It," one of the film's many great 80s songs), and the ruler-measurement of erect penises to compare sizes - proving that Victor's amazing manhood at 9" won the contest; also, two of the friends of virginal Pink Pizza delivery guy Gary (Lawrence Monoson) had sex in consecutive order with older and lonely Spanish-accented, nymphomanical customer Carmela (Louisa Moritz) who moaned loudly during intercourse (to the tune of KC and the Sunshine Band's "That's The Way (I Like It)") until her sailor boyfriend arrived home; Diane Franklin as cute, curly-haired, good-girl Karen became pregnant by shallow, hedonistic boyfriend Rick (Steve Antin) after having sex with him under the school's bleachers (to the tune of The Commodore's "Oh No"), although he dumped her when he found out - and then she had to seek a $250 abortion after a doctor's examination, paid for by her nice-guy, socially-awkward, sensitive and infatuated good friend Gary after he had to sell some of his possessions and borrow money in a montage/abortion sequence (to the tune of U2's "I Will Follow"); in the downbeat, unexpected, tearjerking ending, after he had taken care of Karen for the weekend in his grandmother's empty house and expressed how much he loved her and embraced her (and was planning on giving her a birthday present of a gold-heart locket with To Karen With Love inscribed on the back), she was back in Rick's arms at her own birthday party where a stunned Gary saw her passionately making out with him - but they just stared back blankly, leaving a heartbroken Gary crying at the sight as he left and drove away into the darkness in his pizza delivery station wagon - the film's ending!
Making Love (1982)	Director Arthur Hiller's bold breakthrough R-rated film with mainstream stars in a pre-AIDS era was significant as the first non-exploitative, gay-themed Hollywood film produced and marketed for a general audience to address openly and directly the bi-sexual male character without vilification; it was a courageous and honest attempt by 20th Century Fox to make a same-sex love story (or love triangle) commercially viable (as "one of the most honest and controversial films...ever released"), although it caused audiences extreme upset and discomfort; the film told about how husband and LA doctor Zack (Michael Ontkean) left his loyal and intelligent wife Clair (Kate Jackson) for young homosexual writer Bart McGuire (Harry Hamlin) after eight years of marriage; it included a scene of Bart’s trip to the doctor to examine a mysteriously enlarged lymph gland, a passionate male tongue-kissing (a milestone for a major studio feature film), and a scene of the two males waking up together in the nude; in one prescient scene, the two chatted outside a hearing aids shop -- with the word "AIDS' prominently between them
An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)	Taylor Hackford's R-rated romantic blockbuster (chick-flick) told about a love affair between an aloof, cocky Navy cadet trainee Zack Mayo (Richard Gere) and local factory working girl Paula Pokrifki (Debra Winger) during his 13-week training; their relationship included a realistic and sexually explicit love scene in which she wriggled and straddled atop him and then eased herself onto him; it concluded with a cliched fairy-tale ending in which he rescued/saved her from her workplace and carried her away to the tune of the hit song "Up Where We Belong"; a second more tragic (and less explicit) romance between Paula's friend Lynette Pomeroy (Lisa Blount) and Mayo's friend Sid Worley (David Keith) paralleled the story of their relationship
One From the Heart (1982)	Successful film director Francis Ford Coppola intended this R-rated stylized musical romance (from his newly-created Zoetrope Studios) to be a revolutionary film using experimental video equipment that included live, in-camera feeds that could instantly be edited; however, the price-tag escalated to the point that it ultimately bankrupted the studio and Coppola due to a negative reception from the media and public; one of the major criticisms was that its re-created, artificial fantasy world of Las Vegas was entirely filmed on a soundstage (with painted backdrops and superimpositions), with no location shots or exteriors - including complicated lighting and sets that overwhelmed the humanity of its main characters; Teri Garr starred with Frederic Forrest as an unappealing, one-dimensional and ordinary working-class couple who suffered a domestic breakup after exchanging gifts on July 4th; in a rare instance, she appeared semi-naked in a few of the films scenes, as did Nastassja Kinski as an exotic circus acrobat/performer (in a distant shot)
Personal Best (1982)	Director/writer Robert Towne's groundbreaking directorial debut film was also Hollywood's frankest treatment of lesbianism up to that time - it was a bold film that emphasized the naturally spontaneous relationship between two women athletes, track star hurdler Chris Cahill (18 year-old Mariel Hemingway at the time of filming, in her first lead role) and older pentathlete Tory Skinner (Patrice Donnelly), who were training for the 1980 Olympics and also engaged in a lesbian relationship -- but it was only a phase for Chris since by the film's conclusion, she went off with waterpolo player Denny (Kenny Moore); the film was noted for frontal nudity, for its steamy 'steam-bath' sequence of naked female athletes, and for its celebration of female athleticism and sexuality, with the suggestive tagline: "How do you compete with a body you've already surrendered to your opponent?"
Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982)	Alan Parker's film was based on Pink Floyd's successful rock album of 1979, containing about 15 minutes of political cartoonist/illustrator Gerald Scarfe's adult-themed animated segments with symbolic, sexually-explicit, botanical Freudian symbolism that presented a misogynistic woman-as-destroyer/devourer motif from burned-out rock star Pink (Bob Geldorf); the film included the passionate "flowers" scene before the song "Empty Spaces" in which two flowers, one shaped like a male organ and the other like a female organ -- morphed into a couple having intercourse and then engaged in a bloody fight when the female flower revealed sharp teeth and devoured the male; also featured was a giant creature named Judge Arse who appeared to be a giant set of buttocks (topped with a wig) that talked out of his anus in a kangaroo courtroom scene
Porky's (1982)	The average US film of the 1980s seemed to be aimed at unthinking, moronic teenagers, as evidenced by crude slapstick teen comedies with little character development and poorly conceived jokes, such as this vulgar and distasteful sex comedy by writer/director Bob Clark -- about several Florida high school boys seeking to lose their virginity; all of the females in the film were objectified as sex objects or props for this comedy that was reviled by critics; the film's most notorious sequence was the "Peeping Tom" scene of the girl's shower room: ("I've never seen so much wool. You could knit a sweater...."), the discovery of the ogling boys by the towel-clad girls, and Tommy's (Wyatt Knight) placing of his male organ through the spyhole with gym coach Ms. Beulah Balbricker's (Nancy Parsons) painful two-handed grab; another infamous scene was the revelation of why gym teacher Ms. Honeywell (Kim Cattrall) was nicknamed "Lassie"; its sequels were designed to capitalize further on the surprise box-office hit: Porky's II: The Next Day (1983) and Porky's Revenge (1985) on the youth market -- see later section on "Raunchy Teen-Sex Comedies of the 1980s"
Satan's Mistress (1982) (aka Dark Eyes, or Demon Rage, or Demon Seed, or Fury of the Succubus)	This low-budget, drive-in horror sexploitation film starred two Bond girls: Britt Ekland (as spiritual medium Anne-Marie) and buxom Lana Wood (younger sister of Natalie Wood) - the latter as frustrated, neglected and lonely housewife Lisa in an unhappy marriage who engaged in nightly sexual/rape encounters with the ghostly Satan Himself (Kabir Bedi) that she actually began to enjoy after her initial carnal contacts; in her deserted beachhouse, she often woke at night, totally naked and engaged with the demon, and ultimately became obsessed with the supernatural lover and further distant from reality
The Seduction (1982)	In the early 1980s, one of the most popular stars was pin-up queen Morgan Fairchild (star of TV's Falcon Crest); now in her feature film debut, she starred in this early stalker-voyeur film (with the tagline: "Alone ...Terrified ...Trapped like an Animal!") as attractive LA-TV news-anchorwoman Jamie Douglas who was menacingly stalked by obsessed peeping tom and psychotic photographer/neighbor Derek (Andrew Stevens, son of actress Stella Stevens); in this high-toned, glossily unreal, soap opera-like teasing film (with three Razzi nominations!), there were many prurient opportunities to show the star in various stages of undress (with the 'guilty pleasures' camera stalking her somewhat voyeuristically, ironically), including a slow-motion midnight nude swim in a lighted pool, and a concluding titular seduction scene in which the heroine shotgun-blasted her stalker
Summer Lovers (1982)	Writer/director Randal Kleiser's idyllic film (coming after his The Blue Lagoon (1980)) was enhanced with sun-drenched nude sunbathing on the 'fun in the sun' Greek island of Santorini; it told about an uninhibited summer love triangle and menage-a-trois sensual odyssey between two sexy young Americans: Michael Pappas (Peter Gallagher), Cathy Featherstone (Daryl Hannah), and a young French archaeologist named Lina (Valerie Quennessen)
Action-driven, classic macho films in early and mid-80s	Quintessential male action heroes, including Sylvester Stallone, Steven Seagal, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis, were the muscle-bound 'beefcake' stars of a number of predictably violent and formulaic films (often presented in series) that glorified the male physique and their overwhelming physical power and prowess - their films included First Blood (1982), Commando (1985), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), and Die Hard (1988) - to name just a few; buddy cop films were a derivative, such as 48 Hrs. (1982) and Lethal Weapon (1987)
All the Right Moves (1983)	Director Michael Chapman's PG-13 rated sports drama and coming-of-age film was about Western Pennsylvania high school football star Stefen 'Stef' Djordjevic (young Tom Cruise in a very early role) who came from an impoverished, stifling steel mill town and his pretty hometown girlfriend Lisa Litski (Lea Thompson); their relationship included a revealing, realistic bedroom love-making scene in which they both displayed nudity in closeup as the camera panned downward
Beyond the Limit (1983, UK) (aka The Honorary Consul)	Richard Gere was at the peak of his career in the early 80s, and starred in director John Mackenzie's adaptation of Graham Greene's novel, although he was miscast as Dr. Eduardo Plarr, an amoral half-British doctor in the seedy Argentinian town of Corrientes; during most of the film, Gere's character had a totally passionless affair with 19 year-old Indian Clara (Elpidio Carrillo, who spent most of her screen time pouting and half-naked in obligatory sex scenes) - the ex-prostitute wife of the alcoholic honorary British Consul Charlie Fortnum (Michael Caine)
Breathless (1983)	Director Jim McBride's inferior remake of the classic 1960 original New Wave film Breathless with Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg, was now set in 1980s Los Angeles with small-time crook and fugitive, hot-rodding car thief/murderer Jesse (Richard Gere) and passionate, frequently-naked, gorgeous French exchange college student Monica Poiccard (Valerie Kaprisky in her American film debut); their insatiable sex cravings were abundantly displayed in the apartment on a drafting table, in a steamy shower that destroyed the shower door, in bed (including full frontal male nudity), and later before a giant movie screen
Carmen (1983, Fr.) (aka Prenom Carmen or First Name Carmen)	Director/actor Jean-Luc Godard's avante-garde film (promoted as "a revolutionary fable of erotic destiny"), loosely based on Bizet's opera, starred Dutch actress Maruschka Detmers (in her debut film role) as the title character - she appeared nude (or semi-nude) throughout much of the l'amour fou film as a modern-day terrorist gang member named Carmen X, with one closeup of her full frontal nakedness; film elements in the confused story line with parallel plots included a bank robbery and kidnapping scheme, film-making by a burnt-out film-maker (Godard himself), a string quartet rehearsing Beethoven, and a love story