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 9 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 Outlaw (1943)	Producer/director Howard Hughes' notorious 'sex western' film was unjustly famous for the full-busted cleavage of Jane Russell in her portrayal of "half-breed" Rio -- with footage deliberately shot to accentuate her low-cut blouse; the publicity shots were much more revealing, sultry and suggestive than the film itself; it was delayed for a few years due to its defiance of Production Code standards - the censorship board complained and battled over Jane's open display of her ample bosom and cleavage in many scenes; even the outrageous tagline caused a scandal: "What are the two reasons for Jane Russell's rise to stardom?" along with the film's marketing question: "How would you like to tussle with Russell?"; the smash hit film included the wrestling in the hay stable scene with Billy the Kid (Jack Beutel) cautioning her to end her struggling resistance in the dark shadows (Rio: "Let me go" -- Billy: "Hold still, lady, or you won't have much dress left") as the scene faded to black; and later as Rio cared for Billy, she promised: "I'll warm him up"; she bent down (in the uncensored version); and there was an incredible zooming full-face (and lips) closeup when preparing to kiss him; also in other scenes, she was tied up by her wrists, and there was a full-frontal close-up view of Rio galloping along on horseback; the film was first screened for the Hays Office in 1941, then finally released in 1943 in just one San Francisco theater, and then widely released in 1946 without a seal of approval
Double Indemnity (1944)	Billy Wilder's definitive film noir (based on the James M. Cain novel) depicted dangerous sexuality in the form of predatory femme fatale Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck), who was first seen after naked-sunbathing beguilingly wrapped in a towel at the top of a staircase; then as she descended the stairs and buttoned her clothes after dressing, she showed off her leggy anklet bracelet; in the following scenes, she persuaded voyeuristic insurance salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) to murder her husband for the rewards of a 'double indemnity' accidental death policy (and possible sexual favors); later, Walter confessed this about his partner-in-crime: "I didn’t get the money and I didn’t get the woman"; The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) was a similar tale of murder and seduction a few years later
Laura (1944)	This classic film noir, one of the earlier films from unconventional producer/director Otto Preminger, was a psychological study of deviant, kinky obsession - even at the height of the Hays Code enforcement period, because almost everyone in the cast loved the 'murdered' title character - Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney); her lovers even included the Svengali-like bachelor-homosexual Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb); in an astonishing, sexually-charged scene, the unconventional, dead-pan-speaking detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) - after her assumed murder - expressed his growing infatuation and sexual fixation for the unmet corpse by reading her love letters and diary, rummaging through her bedroom drawers and lingerie, inhaling her perfume, and staring at her painted portrait - and then became uncomfortably shocked when she was 'reincarnated' and walked in on him
To Have and Have Not (1944)	Sultry and stranded American Marie 'Slim' Browning (19 year-old Lauren Bacall) erotically requested a match ("Anybody got a match?" and "I can use a match") - [Note: smoking was equated with sex in the Code era], and later sensually propositioned and delivered a verbal come-on question to fishing boat captain Harry 'Steve' Morgan (Humphrey Bogart) after kissing him: "It's even better when you help", and then as she left his room: "You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together - and blow"; the film's steamy foreplay dialogue was lucky to pass the Hays Code censors
Brief Encounter (1945)	David Lean's romantic tearjerker was a simple but realistically-honest, unsentimental, self-told social melodrama of the quiet desperation involved in an illicit, extra-marital love affair between two married, middle-class individuals over seven weekly meetings, mostly against the backdrop of a railway station; the two lovers never consummated their romantic involvement by sexual relations (at least on-screen) in the bedroom, although there were many erotically-charged moments, such as when Dr. Alec Harvey (Trevor Howard) removed a speck of grit from housewife Laura Jesson's (Celia Johnson) eye, and later the moment of their first kiss in the dark, shadowy underground subway tunnel-passage of the train station
Mom and Dad (1945)	Producer/promoter Kroger Babb's (self-dubbed as "America’s Fearless Young Showman") low-budget, heavily-promoted film soon became one of the most successful exploitation films of all time - it was the 3rd highest grossing film during the 1940s; banners and ads cried out: "ONCE IN A LIFETIME Comes A Presentation That TRULY PULLS NO PUNCHES! Now YOU Can SEE The Motion Picture That DARES DISCUSS and EXPLAIN SEX AS NEVER BEFORE SEEN and HEARD! THE ONE, THE ONLY, THE ORIGINAL...MOM AND DAD...Truly The World’s Most Amazing Attraction! NO ONE UNDER HIGH SCHOOL AGE Admitted Unless Accompanied By Parents!! EVERYTHING SHOWN! EVERYTHING EXPLAINED!" Besides being socially-significant as a sex-hygiene film about female anatomy, the 'birds and the bees', the dangers of venereal disease and the disastrous results of premarital sex, prints of this black and white feature drama were made and road-showed for more than two decades, each print showing an innocent young girl deflowered and becoming pregnant (without displaying nudity or sex of any kind), graphic footage of a live birth, a C-section, and images of the ravages of venereal disease
The Big Sleep (1946)	Howard Hawks' definitive detective noir opened with a scene of young, leggy, and provocative Carmen (Martha Vickers) as she first met detective Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) by attempting to sit in his lap while he was standing up; also the film featured an interlude sex scene in which Marlowe convinced an aggressive book salesgirl (Dorothy Malone) to share a drink of rye with him during a wet and hard rainstorm! - she quickly lowered the shades, coyly removed her eyeglasses and the barette from her hair, and conveniently brought out two cups; after a fadeout, Bogart left the shop many minutes later (their long dalliance was signaled by the end of the rain); also the film included the famous scene of a slyly flirtatious, sexy horse-race conversation ("who's in the saddle") between Marlowe and Vivian Rutledge (Lauren Bacall) with classic dialogue of sharp-edged wit, double entendre and sexual innuendo; the Production Code of the time wouldn't have condoned the exposition of explicit details of portions of the depraved plot (i.e., the references to drug use, Carmen's nymphomania, the pornography racket, and the homosexual relationship between characters Lundgren and Geiger), so they were presented in disguised fashion
Duel in the Sun (1946)	Selznick's sexually-frank production, nicknamed "Lust in the Dust", included numerous scenes of the over-sexed, wild-living Lewt McCanles (Gregory Peck) ravishing the hot-blooded, lustful, half-breed, sex-pot peasant girl Pearl Chavez (Jennifer Jones); other provocative scenes included Pearl's sexy nude swim at the sump, and their final orgasmic shoot-out on a rocky slope - the scene climaxed with their passionate embrace and death in each other's arms
Gilda (1946)	This noirish film was a complex, eccentric, cynical tale that told of a menage a trois (between husband, wife, and lover) with homo-erotic overtones, and starred the title heroine Gilda (WWII's GI "love goddess," the beautiful, alluring, and provocative, red-haired pin-up Rita Hayworth) - who made a memorable entrance by throwing her hair back and claiming that she was "decent"; the film was most notorious for Gilda's sexy, but minimal, black-gloved "Put the Blame on Mame" seductive burlesque strip tease in a strapless black gown, in which she only removed long black satin gloves from her arms and tossed them into the audience; as she proceeded to further undress ("I'm not very good at zippers, but maybe if I had some help"), she was dragged from the stage; the film's tagline proclaimed: "There NEVER was a woman like Gilda!"; one of her most notorious lines of dialogue was: "If I'd been a ranch, they would have named me the Bar Nothing"; in one of the film's earliest scenes, there were homoerotic tensions in the first meeting between crippled Buenos Aires casino owner Ballin Mundson (George Macready) and down-on-his-luck, oily-haired professional gambler named Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford) - Mundson saved Farrell during a crooked game of dice with his ebony cane and its protruding stiletto dagger (a perverse, compensating Freudian phallic substitute - "It is a most faithful, obedient friend. It is silent when I wish to be silent. It talks when I wish to talk"); in another scene, Gilda asked expectantly of Johnny: "Got a light?" - he turned and stood there with the lighter flame burning for her
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)	Frank Capra's beloved Christmas film included an intense, fully-suggestive 'telephone' scene in which George Bailey (James Stewart) and Mary Hatch (Donna Reed) shared one telephone earpiece as they moved closer and closer and more squeezed together - and more aroused!; early on, George delivered an outburst ("Now, you listen to me! I don't want any plastics...") as he fiercely held Mary by the shoulders and violently started shaking her - passionately protesting that he didn't want to get married; and then when she responded by crying helplessly and silently, George all of a sudden reversed himself and pulled Mary to himself in a close embrace and started to kiss her, passionately, all over her face - - the next scene showed their wedding
Notorious (1946)	Hitchcock avoided censorship of lustful kissing by not holding or prolonging a kiss more than three seconds, with a famous extended, almost 3-minute kissing sequence in close two-shots (without breaking their embrace); in the scene, American secret agent Devlin (Cary Grant) and Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) rapidly alternated passionate, clinging kisses and whispered endearments, first on the balcony over the Rio beach, and then continuing with nibbling bites and nuzzling hugs as they walked from the balcony to the telephone and then to the apartment's front door, all the while discussing having a romantic dinner together
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)	This 40s prototype of erotic thrillers of later years, based on James M. Cain's 1934 crime novel, starred Lana Turner as Cora Smith - a sultry, young cafe wife who plotted murder against her husband with a drifter named Frank Chambers (John Garfield) - she teasingly introduced herself to him by rolling a tube of lipstick down a cafe floor toward him - followed by the camera's pan up the length of her long and shapely legs - and then a medium shot of Cora wearing an enticing white-hot outfit (a revealing top and shorts) as she stood framed in a doorway; the neglected hamburger on the stove burned as Frank gawked at her; she would go on to entice Frank (hired by a "MAN WANTED" sign) into murdering her husband Nick (Cecil Kellaway)