MovieChat Forums > Zee and Co. (1972) Discussion > Bowdlerized print on TCM?

Bowdlerized print on TCM?

posted 14 years ago by phelpsg1
7 replies | jump to latest

We just finished watching this (the TCM showing on August 24) and missed the famous line quoted at the end of the "Notes on X, Y AND ZEE" thread on this board (and also quoted, with expletive deleted, in Roger Ebert's review). And there were a number of places where the actors' lips didn't seem to correspond to what we were hearing. Was this an expurgated print (perhaps originally prepared for TV viewing)? Judging from the postings here, there seem to have been quite a number of different versions of this film.

[–] TonyDood 13 years ago

Thought the same thing--I read a review of it in a bad movie book and they quoted couple of lines with some PG rated swearing that weren't in the version I saw, which had some TV-safe "b!tches and b@stards" in it. And there was some bad dubbing. Everyone seems upset about the fact that they changed the last song but no one has yet mentioned seeing it censored on TCM, when TCM doesn't usually censor things. Hmm.

Nilbog! It's goblin spelled backwards! This is their kingdom!

[–] preppy-3 13 years ago

TCM SAYS they don't edit films but they have. "Johnny Got His Gun" cut out female nudity and "The Night Digger" had a profanity AND male nudity removed. I saw an original print of "X, Y and Zee" ages ago at a revival cinema. There was some profanity and the ending makes it clear that a certain character is a lesbian and (back in 1972) that was enough to give the movie an R rating. Maybe TCM showed the edited PG version which (I think) only overdubbed some of the language or cut it out completely. Or maybe they cut it. Who knows?

[–] TonyDood 13 years ago

Yeah, I'm glad I don't care THAT much, but it always leaves me feeling irked when I sense I'm being "protected" from something, in this case some foul language. Yarrgh...

Funny you should bring up "Johnny Got His Gun." My little brother and I watched it on Showtime endlessly in the early 80's because it was weird and showed a hooker's boobs for a long time (we had no idea what the movie was about and didn't care). It was rated PG so mom and dad didn't catch wise. Well, I rented it not long ago and was surprised to see frontal nudity...umm...definitely not in the version that played on Showtime! It's not that it changed the movie all that much (it's truly an "adult" film regardless of the rating) but it did change the effect of it ever so slightly.

Back on topic, I've now seen the missing bits of X,Y,Zee(they were on Youtube) and it really did make a subtle difference on the scenes they were in, and again, this would never have been a "kids" movie, so why edit it to make it safer?

I think your answer is correct: who knows

Nilbog! It's goblin spelled backwards! This is their kingdom!

[–] preppy-3 13 years ago

"Johnny Got His Gun" was originally R rated because of the full frontal female nudity and a quick shot of the guy nude. Both were cut out to give it a PG rating. Regardless though--TCM should have shown the ORIGINAL uncut print not an edited print. They say they show they uncut and complete. Then why edit them?

Yeah--"X, Y and Zee" was shown (if I remember) early in the morning on TCM--like about 2am. Why cut it? What kid is going to be up watching at that hour? Anyways it's an adult film so it would probably put the kids to sleep:)

So--it's either TCM is getting edited prints or cutting in. In the case of "The Night Digger" they definetely cut that. It's an MGM movie and they own those so...
I agree with you--I HATE being "protected" from foul language or nudity.

[–] denis-38 12 years ago

I was shocked at how cut-up the movie was when TCM ran it. I'm sure glad I held onto my two VHS copies, which are still in good condition and now copied to DVD.

This is the movie that REALLY turned me on to La Liz. I saw it when it came out, and believe me, audiences loved it. I must have seen it six times, and at every screening, there was a big round of applause at the end.

[–] sgcim 12 years ago

I just read in a bio of Liz that originally the film had a scene in bed at the end with LT kissing SY. They had to cut it because the powers-that-be thought it was too racy. That was a shame, because the seduction scene at the end was the best part of the movie. I've seen it countless times for over 30 years.
The director was also quoted as saying that SY didn't really care about the Michael Caine character at all. She was in love with Zee from the first time she met her, because she saw her as a kind of older sister figure.

[–] denis-38 10 years ago

I think there were a lot of complaints and TCM hasn't shown it again. It was an "edited-for-TV" version.