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'A Gunfight' - version with topless scene?

posted 14 years ago by srhook
4 replies | jump to latest

Can anyone tell me if there ever was (officially or unofficially) a version of "A Gunfight" (Johnny Cash, Kirk Douglas) that had a topless scene with Karen Black?? An early theatrical release, perhaps? It seems to me that when I saw the movie many years ago in the theater that there was, in fact, such a scene. Perhaps the scene was removed from later versions? I have found an old news story on the internet that claims that such a scene was actually in the original script, but that Cash refused to do the scene. Maybe my memory is playing tricks on me, but I wonder if the scene was too bold for the times and it was removed as a result. Could the newspaper story denying that the scene was ever shot have been for the sake of Cash's country western fan base?

[–] wtl471629 13 years ago

I saw it near the time when it was first released and it didn't have that scene but maybe a premier showing had it.

[–] martinoffer1 12 years ago

The scene was never shot. The script called for Karen Black to be topless but Cash refused to do it that way. He explained to reporters at the time that, as a Christian with a family TV show, it was something he could not do. So Karen Black is covered up in all versions.

[–] stagebandman 12 years ago

I remember we went to see it as a family (I was eleven at the time), and there was not a topless scene, but there was a pretty long butt shot that had my parents squirming. Remember, we weren't used to seeing that in 1971.

If we all liked the same movie, there'd only be one movie!

[–] steviliam 11 years ago

The script called for nude scenes for both female leads, Jane Alexander and Karen Black, in the intimate company of "their" male counterparts, Kirk Douglas and Johnny Cash, respectively. We see Alexander's, at the top of the movie, but Black's was scuttled in production because of Cash's objections. "How could I do that and then record an album of hymns?" Cash said. This incident earned him an Esquire magazine "Dubious Achievment" award!