Movie goers have been entranced with “a bit of the old ultra-violence” since “A Clockwork Orange” hit theaters in 1971.
So here’s a few tidbits you may not know about Stanley Kubrick’s unforgettable feature:
- The film was banned in England until Kubrick’s death in 1999.
- Kubrick insisted that Malcolm McDowell, who at the time had only one major film to his credit, play the lead in his movie.
- The film was one of only two movies – the other being “Midnight Cowboy” – which initially earned an X rating and went on to nab a Best Picture nomination.
(Sources: imdb.com, “Best Movies of the ’70s” by Jurgen Muller.
Related posts:
on 
on 
on 
on 
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
The film was banned in England until Kubrick’s death in 1999.
I expect that had to do with its implicitly encouraging British gangs ala “The Warriors” rather than any horror at the sex and violence.
Kubrick is to be congratulated that his story cut the book’s last chapter, the one where Alex grows up and reforms himself.
What’s truly ironic about ‘A Clockwork Orange’ is that the book’s author, Anthony Burgess, wrote the story as an allegory about the nature of free will and evil and was heavily influenced by his religious background. The film has now been vilified by religious groups and embraced by atheists…go figure.
During some “get-to-know-you” list in a college class, we were asked to name our favorite comedy. I listed “A Clockwork Orange.” Oh, the looks of horror.
A Clockwork Orange wasn’t “banned in England”, Kubrick voluntarily withdrew it.
JIC — it was banned at first, then Kubrick withdrew it … so I should have stated the whole story about it. Thanks for the clarification.
What’s you source that it was banned? I’ve never seen a credible article that claimed anything other than Kubrick withdrew it.
The aforementioned book on ’70s films.
Here’s from the text:
“A Clockwork Orange” was banned in England until Stanley Kubrick’s death in 1999. The director himself had withdrawn it in 1974, and the motivation for the self-censorship remains obscure.”
To me, that says that the film was “banned” because Kubrick asked for it to be withdrawn. If it had been banned by the BBFC or the government, it wouldn’t be “self censorship”. And why bother withdrawing a movie nobody can see anyway?
The movie came out in 1971 …. according to this info it was banned from 71 to 74. At that time, Kubrick withdrew it from consideration in England. That’s how I took what the book says …
Here is a more detailed account of what happened. As you can see, there is no mention of a ban from the BBFC or the government. There is mention of various local authorities banning it, but “banned in England” implies a blanket ban (which, by the way, would have affected the whole of the UK, not just England).
I think the passage you quoted was essentially correct, but very poorly worded and lacking in detail.
Great link, JIC. I appreciate your persistence on setting the record straight here.
Speaking of “lacking in details”, I should point out that the BBFC can’t ‘ban’ a movie as such, because the local authorities are responsible for what is shown in cinemas in their area. However, these authorities usually defer to the classification decisions of the BBFC rather than rating each movie themselves. This means that if the BBFC refuses to certify a movie, it has to be individually rated by each local authority, which makes wide theatrical distribution difficult to the point of impossible.
Incidentally, since a BBFC classification is a legal requirement for home video, the BBFC can effectively ban videos by refusing to rate them.
Thanks. And sorry for the info dump in my other comment, but I thought it added some context.