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Censorship of Bond movies
Bond films are not beyond the influence of the huge Chinese market on artistic decisions, as this interesting study on the global film making industry lays bare:
"It is no secret that international films, when screened before Chinese audiences, are often missing content—that certain scenes, lines of dialogue, or shots will have been removed at the censors’ behest. This is the most obvious way that China’s censors exercise their power: providing an ultimatum to studios that certain content must be cut or edited from the master version of the film in order to be allowed at all before Chinese theatergoers. (...)
For James Bond’s Skyfall (Sony Pictures, 2012), censors demanded a scene be cut where a Chinese security guard is killed, as well as references to sex work and police torture. (link)
In a previous James Bond movie, Casino Royale (Eon Productions et al., 2006), actress Judi Dench revealed that she had to re-dub one of her lines for the movie’s Chinese release, changing “Christ, I miss the Cold War” to “God, I miss the old times.”(link)"
"It is no secret that international films, when screened before Chinese audiences, are often missing content—that certain scenes, lines of dialogue, or shots will have been removed at the censors’ behest. This is the most obvious way that China’s censors exercise their power: providing an ultimatum to studios that certain content must be cut or edited from the master version of the film in order to be allowed at all before Chinese theatergoers. (...)
For James Bond’s Skyfall (Sony Pictures, 2012), censors demanded a scene be cut where a Chinese security guard is killed, as well as references to sex work and police torture. (link)
In a previous James Bond movie, Casino Royale (Eon Productions et al., 2006), actress Judi Dench revealed that she had to re-dub one of her lines for the movie’s Chinese release, changing “Christ, I miss the Cold War” to “God, I miss the old times.”(link)"
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Comments
Scenes like the Chew-Mee encounter in TMWTGG were completely excised; love scenes including the post-PTS scene in LALD with Madeleine Smith were badly trimmed of anything 'suggestive,' or removed entirely; gay indicative references regarding Wint & Kidd in DAF were excised; and in all the telecasts double entendres were often cut; tame swear words like 'hell' & "damn" routinely deleted; the fights scenes chopped-up to make them appear less violent; and even the gunbarrels were sometimes cut out inexplicably; and much, much else ...
All quite naive, even by the standards of the day. Only with the appearance of home video in the next decade would I learn how Bond films were intended to be seen in their entirety ...
I was right there with you. It also took me cable viewings or home video to realize what I was missing, although you'd notice an abrupt cut here and the music cuts out. But you are absolutely right, it was an event, especially for those of us who only had 3-4 channels.
The one edit I could never understand the reason behind was in TB when Domino says to Bond "What sharp little eyes you've got" and he replies "Wait till you get to my teeth." They cut the reply and still can't figure how it was offensive.
It's sexual innuendo. Biting and passionate kisses come to mind for me. But then again maybe I've watched too many Brosnan Bond films...
Oh, yeah, was thinking just the same ... no doubt his time with Fiona left quite the mark. 😏
See, I'm pretty good on innuendo, but that's not really an effectively dirty statement. Having sharp teeth isn't a sexy thing: it's certainly a point in the script where an innuendo gag would work, but sharp teeth aren't really like saying 'your mouth is big enough for me' or there's something massive in my pants etc.
He just seems to be doing the big bad wolf act fairly straight: he's dangerous, but it's not really a sexy thing.
Roger telling Moneypenny that he'll "fill her in later"- now that's a proper innuendo :)
I never saw the actual scene where he filled her in. Must have been censored as well.
Yeah, the ABC-TV cuts frequently rendered the narrative of the films nonsensical. I was just checking my tattered old copies of 'The Sight,' a Bond fanzine from the era out of Minnesota, which unfailingly charted these things. It notes that much of the Vargas death scene in a 1974 telecast of TB was omitted - including Vargas himself! Apparently, viewers saw Bond firing the spear gun and heard an "ugh" but did not see Vargas himself who had, of course, been pinned to a palm tree in the unedited original.
I grew up in Nova Scotia and our ABC-TV affiliate was based in Maine. And that local affiliate carried Red Sox baseball games, which meant that they 'pre-empted,' much to my dismay, the 1980 telecast of OHMSS. Not censorship, exactly, but definitely one of the saddest days in the history of my Bond fandom! I had seen the notorious 1976 ABC re-edit of the film with voice-over narration, but it would not be until 1983 (or was it 1984?) and its belated release on VHS did I get to see the film properly - or "properly," given the cropping for the 1:33 ratio (I think) of TVs at the time.
In The World Is Not Enough, when Elektra says, "You wouldn't shoot me...you'd miss me," after they show Bond hesitate they could have cut to that same card and called it a film there.
Yes, exactly, but the producers hate us fans and want us to suffer.
Bond is just one of those kinds of characters. If only he could wind up with the girl at the end for once.
Indeed!
Believe it or not I've heard that one of Dennis Wheatley's novels ends with those words or a very close approximation of them.