CINEMA KISSTORY
A history of movie smooches and their prude opposition
You must remember this, a kiss is just a kiss. But on the big screen, kisses have always represented more than a meeting of the lips.
Ever since movies began, there have been kisses — and censors to monitor them. Here’s a look back at 100 years of cinematic smooches:
The Kiss (1896):
This 47-second film by Thomas Edison and director William Heise was one of the first “movies” ever projected when it screened before a rapt public in Ottawa’s West End Park on July 21, 1896. It was also the first Broadway adaptation because it excerpted a play. Immediately, the movie drew negative reactions from the morality police and nascent film critics, who said “the spectacle of the prolonged pasturing on each other’s lips was beastly enough in life size on stage, but magnified to gargantuan proportions and repeated three times over it is absolutely disgusting.”
The Gold Rush (1925):
The last scene features Charlie Chaplin and Georgia Hale embracing. It’s pretty tame, but racy still for the 1920s. Conservative forces found an ally in Will Hays, chair of the Republican National Committee, hired by Hollywood to head up a new body to self-regulate. After its code was instituted, the Gold Rush kiss was cut.
The Motion Picture Production Code — ‘The Hays Code’ (1930):
It’s not a movie, but its infamous warning list reads like epic drama. The Hays Code killed off kissing in early Hollywood and prohibited profanity, “any licentious or suggestive nudity — in fact or in silhouette,” any “inference of sexual perversion” and more. There was also a ban on a “man and a woman in bed together” and “excessive or lustful kissing, particularly when one character or another is a ‘heavy.’ ”
From Here to Eternity (1953):
With full-on lip and hip contact between Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr, this roll in the sand upset the ratings board, who demanded she have a skirt on her swimsuit.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967):
Blink in this Katharine Hepburn classic and you’ll miss the interracial kisses between Hepburn’s niece, Katharine Houghton, and co-star Sidney Poitier.
Last Tango in Paris (1972):
When Marlon Brando lifts Maria Schneider off her feet and proceeds to clean the walls with her body, censors gave the film an X-rating. (And Brando made the butter marketing board nervous.)
The Hunger (1983):
This wasn’t the first gay kiss, but it remains the hottest thanks to Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon’s abandon in the moment.
Kissed (1996):
This story by Vancouver’s Lynne Stopkewich features a kiss with a corpse. Disney pulled off a similar feat in Sleeping Beauty.
The Modern Era:
Whether it’s Spider-Man’s upsidedown-rainy kiss, The Notebook’s final smooch, Twilight’s toothy fluid exchange or any one of the Valentine’s Day releases, there is no shortage of great moments, even though sex has pushed romance out the window in a growing desire for more graphic, immediate gratification. Kissing is still fun to watch on screen when it works.