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In our last (for now) episode, we chat to John Kelleher who was appointed Irish film censor in 2003. When he left in 2009, the Irish Film Censor's Office had been renamed the Irish Film Classification Office, a reform that reflected how it had become, as John says 'more guide dog than guard dog'.
Until the pod returns, thanks to everyone for listening!
A & LM xx
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Censors have been replaced by classifiers, opaque silence by annual reports. We read recent annual reports from the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) and the Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO) to see how those offices work in a digital media age, and to see what the (complaining) public thinks of their role.
Films mentioned
Minions: the Rise of Gru
Ghostbusters
Watership Down
Bambi
Star Trek the Motion Picture
Nutcracker (by Matthew Bourne)
The Batman
Batman Returns
A Man Called Otto
The Banshees of Inisherin
Saltburn
Cocaine Bear
Benedetta
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This remarkable neo-noir, directed by Abel Ferrara, has never been certified by the Irish Film Classification Office (the new name for the censor’s office). Aoife and Lloyd Meadhbh are joined by author Rob Doyle to discuss how Abel Ferrara and Zoe Lund, with backgrounds in porno sleaze, made a sincere film about redemption, and forgiveness.
Bad Lieutenant dir. Abel Ferrara, starring Harvey Keitel
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In Sam Peckinpah’s film, standard Western tropes – outlaws, heroes, beautiful landscape – are used to interrogate an exhausted genre. He knows spectacular gunfights are problematic but did the cut version shown in Ireland convey Peckinpah’s intent?
The Wild Bunch, dir Sam Peckinpah, starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine
Support us and Merch!
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One of Martin Scorsese’s favourite films and guess what? We agree, it’s brilliant. Contemporary audiences detested it, preferring to ignore why they derived pleasure from realistic, filmed torture and terror. This film has everything from Freudianism to a Hitchcock doppelganger. Cuts made by censors might be lost forever but it still shocks and gives us a perfect amount of ick.
Peeping Tom (1960) dir. Michael Powell, starring Karlheinz Boehm, Anna Massey, Moira Shearer
Psycho (1960) dir. Alfred Hitchcock, starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh.
The Red Shoes (1948) dir. Powell and Pressburger, starring Anton Walbrook, Moira Shearer.
And, Merch
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A horror fan (Lloyd Meadhbh) and not-a-horror fan (Aoife) agree that this unexpectedly feminist film did not deserve to be banned twice in Ireland. Caveat: Roman Polanski directed it.
Rosemary’s Baby (dir. Roman Polanski) starring Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes
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Ties, suits and sex - Paul Schrader's exploration of consumerism and Richard Gere's hotness was pruned of bad language and "sex scenes" by the Irish censor.
American Gigolo (1980, dir. Paul Schrader) starring Richard Gere, Lauren Hutton, Bill Duke, Hector Elizondo
You Must Remember This on American Gigolo
More on Aoife's Gere-athon for Patreon supporters
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What’s the worst celluloid crime committed in The Evil Dead: excessive violence or Bruce Campbell’s fringe? Lloyd Meadhbh (a fan) tries to persuade Aoife (a sceptic) to embrace this video-nasty classic. Also, listener correspondence on The Rocky Road to Dublin.
The Evil Dead (dir. Sam Rami, 1981) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083907/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_6_tt_8_nm_0_q_evil%2520dead
Evil Dead II (dir. Sam Rami, 1987) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092991/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_7_tt_8_nm_0_q_evil%2520dead%2520
Weird Studies Podcast on ‘Evil Dead II’ https://www.weirdstudies.com/136
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Lloyd Meadhbh rewinds the tape back to the 1980s, when a new film medium caused a new (ish) moral panic.
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How revolutionary was Ireland anyway? Journalist and director Peter Lennon asked how a nation birthed by rebels seemed to be run by Catholic priests. His caustic script allied to Raoul Coutard's captivating cinematography made for a unique documentary. We discuss odd accents, cheeky children and creepy priests.
The Rocky Road to Dublin (1967, re-released by IFI in 2004) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66JpC_T3wFM
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Did you know DIY censorship was practiced by those outside the film censor’s office. Even after official censors vetted publicity material, some film posters showed too much skin, especially male arms and legs.
Liam O’Leary collected this material
Kevin Rockett Irish Film Censorship: a cultural journey from silent cinema to internet pornography (2004)
Doctored film posters can be seen here
Original, undoctored film posters:
The Virgin Soldiers (1969) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065182/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
The Hustler (1961) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054997/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3_tt_8_nm_0_q_the%2520hust
Lovers and Other Strangers (1970) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066016/
From Here to Eternity (1953) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045793/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_from%2520here
The Chastity Belt/On My Way To The Crusades I Met A Girl Who (1967) https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0064167/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_2_tt_4_nm_4_q_chastity%2520belt
A Cold Wind in August (1961) https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0054755/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Support us on Patreon if you are 18 or over. Yes, we have been censored.
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Banned, appealed, cut eleven times: The Graduate (1967) had a torrid time in Ireland. What narrative were Irish audiences allowed to see? And, Mrs Robinson, we stan.
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A film beloved by our hosts that proved too much for the Irish censor. Was it Liza Minnelli's (as Sally Bowles) legs or men fancying other men? The answer is quite surprising. But then, so is writing a musical about genocide.
Cabaret (dir. Bob Fosse, 1972)
Help keep the show on the road (Over 18s only because 'smut' is censored)
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Lloyd Meadhbh explains Northern Ireland’s special censorship sauce to Aoife. There’s cross-border agreement, even more censors than usual and a bit of flogging.
Films:
Ulster the Garden of Eden (1930), tourist authority of NI
Frankenstein (1931, dir James Whale)
Ourselves Alone (1936, dir Brian Desmond Hurst, Walter Summers) Released in the US as Rivers of Unrest https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028071/
The Informer (1935, dir John Ford)
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War brings propaganda, and that means censorship. What happens if war is denied in favour of an 'Emergency'?
We unpick why Betty Grable's legs were withdrawn from Irish cinema screens in 1941.
A Yank in the RAF (1941, dir. Henry King) starring Betting Grable, Tyrone Power and John Sutton
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Aoife's working title was 'Wildcard' – we went on a journey through vice-ridden streets (and garages) of Dublin city in 1954.
Films:
Smart Alec (1951) US 'stag' film starring Candy Barr
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How did the Irish censor feel about Biblical epics? And how could a convent have ‘a sex atmosphere’?
Where we discuss Mary Magdalene’s gold bikini and dangerously smouldering Englishmen. But also, Elvis.
Films:
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We investigate ‘It’, a type of sex appeal that raised the temperatures of cinema goers and censors in the 1930s. ‘It’ was personified in the screen personas of Clara Bow and Mae West but did you know that tigers and Derry also have ‘It’?
‘It’ (1927) directed by Clarence G Badger and Josef von Sternberg, starring Clara Bow and Antonio Moreno
‘She Done Him Wrong’ (1933) dir. Lowell Sherman, starring Mae West and Cary Grant.
‘I’m No Angel’ (1933) dir. Wesley Ruggless, starring Mae West and Cary Grant.
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Film censorship in Ireland is a hundred years old today. What were Irish cinema goers watching in 1923, and what would the Censor keep them from watching in the future? Find out in this bumper birthday episode.
· Discover which elderly TD was the most avid cinema goer in parliament.
· Find out why soft carpets were an issue for one Deputy Film Censor.
· Learn how the Mothers’ Union compared cinema to demonic possession.
· Welcome our new ‘Censorship Bingo’ card: the ‘Don’ts’ and ‘Be Carefuls’ list.
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