Movies pulled because of threats?

[coolcatdaddy]

You've no doubt been reading about the whole situation with Sony and their North Korea parody stoner comedy, "The Interview".

I've racked my brain trying to think of previous incidents in the past where a film has been pulled by studios or theater owners over threats of violence or retaliation, at least among theaters in this country. Can anyone think of an incident like this that's happened before? Maybe in the South during the Civil Rights era?

It's hard to believe that a dumb comedy like this is causing an international incident.

[boblipton]

1776 had "Cool Deliberate Men" cut out at the request of Nixon; and The Last Temptation of Christ had a "limited run" after complaints.

Bob

[coolcatdaddy]

I was thinking more of theaters pulling movies after they were booked - "Passion of the Christ", if I recall, had complaints before the film was even released with threats of boycotts, but I don't think any theaters that booked it cancelled the showings because of threats.

Gay activists disrupted the shooting of William Friedkin's "Cruising" because of the subject matter, staging noisy protests and disrupting work with bright lights during location work.

[Mike Gebert]

Well, there was an attempt to suppress a film that fictionalized another tyrant-- Hearst.

[Donald Binks]

The only similar situation I can recall - although not altogether that similar - is Charlie Chaplin and "The Great Dictator". He was asked to stop making it by all and sundry and then when America went into the war - he was asked to get it out as soon as he could.

[syd]

Chaplin had the good sense to
use an approximation of Adolf Hitler's
name: Adenoid Hynkel.

[entredeuxguerres]

Well, there was an attempt to suppress a film that fictionalized another tyrant-- Hearst.

Yes, but only because it viciously slandered a good woman--a very good woman; the "tyrant" himself was beyond concern for his own reputation.

[filmnotdigital]

The North Koreans are following in the footsteps of the National Socialists, whose raucous protests at the German showings of All Quiet On The Western Front led to that classic anti-war picture being withdrawn in that country.
The American pro-Fascist group the German-American Bund later tried to prevent the opening of Confessions Of A Nazi
Spy, but failed. The people running Warner Brothers then were much gutsier than the timid types who now run Sony.

[moviepas]

What about Extase with Hedy Lamarr? Her husband tried to buy up all the elements and destroy them but we still have it. He was too old for her anyway!!!!! He was probably no threat to anyone.

[Spiny Norman]

Life of Brian was banned in some places, some entire countries even. But no actual threats (unless you count threatening people with bigotry, stupidity and general ignorance).

[Mike Gebert]

There are claims that The Outfit (1973) disappeared from theaters quickly because of the influence of, well, The Outfit.

[Spiny Norman]

Didn't a couple of movies set in NY disappear shortly before or after their release because of 11/9?

[Harlett O'Dowd]

Didn't a couple of movies set in NY disappear shortly before or after their release because of 11/9?

I don't recall that. I *do* recall a couple of films with shots of the twin towers being REMOVED - or CGI'd out after 9/11.

In the lead up to WWII (and to a lesser extent, WWI) Hollywood soft-pedaled anti-German/NAZI sentiment in a LOT of films (THE ROAD BACK) but did not, to my knowledge cancel anything, let alone shelf anything, that had already been shot.

[Spiny Norman]

Yes, there was that book about that, it was taken apart in a thread earlier this year.

There was a boycot in the US against German films, though. Not sure if it was nationwide.

[Frederica]

I don't know if this counts because the film continued to play, but director Juzo Itami was beaten and stabbed six days after his satire on the yakuza, Minbō no Onna, was released.

[telical]

I tried to find some trace of this "leak" online and only found second hand sources,
mostly written up on movie/entertainment websites. Granted, I don't ever visit those "torrent"
sites, I thought there would be some pool of the information on some safe website.

[radiotelefonia]

This film... it was produced and ready for release in 1945, but at the last time it was suppressed, shelved and even hiden in order to avoid its destruction... it was finally released in 1984.

The master tape of this film (in the public domain) is own by Warner Bros.

[Spiny Norman]

This film... it was produced and ready for release in 1945, but at the last time it was suppressed, shelved and even hiden in order to avoid its destruction... it was finally released in 1984.

The master tape of this film (in the public domain) is own by Warner Bros.

Oh, and why was that? At very first sight, it doesn't look too shocking?

[coolcatdaddy]

I tried to find some trace of this "leak" online and only found second hand sources,
mostly written up on movie/entertainment websites. Granted, I don't ever visit those "torrent"
sites, I thought there would be some pool of the information on some safe website.

As I understand it, the full film of "The Interview" wasn't in the group of Sony films released by the hackers. However, a clip from the film, showing the death of the NK leader, was included as an attachment in an email dump the hackers released. The studio was going back and forth with the filmmakers on the over the top death depicted in the ending.

[coolcatdaddy]

Didn't a couple of movies set in NY disappear shortly before or after their release because of 11/9?

I don't recall that. I *do* recall a couple of films with shots of the twin towers being REMOVED - or CGI'd out after 9/11.

In the lead up to WWII (and to a lesser extent, WWI) Hollywood soft-pedaled anti-German/NAZI sentiment in a LOT of films (THE ROAD BACK) but did not, to my knowledge cancel anything, let alone shelf anything, that had already been shot.

Another film that was altered before release due to unforeseen events was Warners's "Gangster Squad".

If you'll recall, there was a trailer for the film before the Batman film shown during the Aurora killings. The "Gangster Squad" trailer included a scene in the film where gangsters were shooting at audience members through a screen as they watched a film. That sequence was deleted from the movie before it was released and they reshot a scene to replace it.

[Bruce Long]

In 1921, as reported in Motion Picture Magazine:

When Miller's Theater in Los Angeles tried to show the German-made "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari," a mob of wounded soldiers and members of the American Legion stormed the place and created such a riot outside the theater that the management gave up and showed an American-made film instead.

The L.A. Times covered the riot in their issue of May 8, 1921, with the headline:

NO GERMAN FILM HERE.
Legion Wins Fight After Riots.

[JFK]

ALSO SEE:
Robert Goldstein & "The Spirit of "76," Propaganda Film
Hollywood Heights — ‘Spirit of ’76’ as Propaganda

[Brooksie]

In Australia, The Big Parade (1925) was banned (after initial trade screenings, if I remember rightly) due to the fact that it did not pay adequate acknowledgement to the British (for which also read Australian) war effort. With the deaths of thousands of young men still fresh in the public mind, it was an extremely emotive issue. The movie was only released with the addition of sub-titles that more fully detailed that aspect of the war.

[radiotelefonia]

This film... it was produced and ready for release in 1945, but at the last time it was suppressed, shelved and even hiden in order to avoid its destruction... it was finally released in 1984.

The master tape of this film (in the public domain) is own by Warner Bros.

Oh, and why was that? At very first sight, it doesn't look too shocking?

It stars Eva Duarte (Perón). Perón himself did not like the film (though he was not in power when it was going to be released) but the government did not want to have it seen due to internal rivalry. Perón, once in power, may have destroyed the negative if he could, but this is just my own speculation considering the mandatory propaganda newsreels that were produced at the time. After he was ousted, 1955, the armed forces would have wanted to have it destroyed. Yet a print of the film was hidden by the producer who kept it out of sight until it was finally released in 1984. There was a lot of expectation at the time, which vanished when people finally saw it.

While it was well produced and has a very good director, it is actually not really a very good film. Although it is in public domain, Warner Bros. own the best TV master tape.

[Jay Schwartz]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad,_Messenger_of_God" target="_blank

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977_Hanafi_Siege" target="_blank

[silentfilm]

Not because of threats, but because of outrage...

http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/18/opinion/o ... ?hpt=op_t1

[realist]

"Salt of the Earth" (1954) This was made by blacklisted director Herbert J. Biberman, screenwriter Michael Wilson, producer Paul Jarrico and composer Sol Kaplan. Showings in New York, Chicago, and elsewhere were halted when the projection unions refused to run a "communist film." Only a very few theaters in America showed this film in its initial run. This film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1992. You can view the film on YouTube since it has fallen into public domain.
http://youtu.be/i9oY4rmDaWw" target="_blank" target="_blank

[DShepFilm]

Samuel Fuller's wonderful WHITE DOG, featuring a German Shepherd dog that attacks, umm, African-Americans. It was not released when it was new although years later it was sold to television (!) and released on home video.