Hollywood’s first sex scene was featured in a rather raunchy film.
Ecstasy is a 1933 film starring Hedy Lamarr, an actress who shot to fame during Hollywood’s Golden Age. Released over 90 years ago, this erotic film contains what is commonly regarded as the first ever mainstream sex scene.
Hedy stars as Eva, a young woman who is recently married and unsatisfied with her new husband. In one scene, she strips off to take a dip in a lake but hilariously a horse takes her clothes and runs away.
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She runs after the beast, unaware that a man is watching her from afar as she hides in a bush to protect her modesty. Eventually the man talks to Eva and the pair decide to meet again in a later scene, which shows them engaging in sex.
(Image: Glasshouse Images/REX/Shutterstock)
Now, viewers of today are way more used to nudity and sexual acts depicted on scene – think explicit moments in films such as Oppenheimer, Original Sin and Wild Things – but back in the 30s, cinemagoers were very uptight about this sort of thing.
The fairly tame sequence shown in Ecstasy is just longer than a minute and overlaid with classical music. The camera focuses on Hedy’s face the entire time.
(Image: ullstein bild via Getty Images)
Ecstasy was made by Czech filmmaker Gustav Machaty and back in the 30s, it caused quite an uproar due to the NSFW (not that the phrase existed back then) nature of the saucy flick. It has been reported that it was the first film to ever be blocked from entering the US as it was deemed too racy.
(Image: Getty Images)
In 1940, it was eventually distributed throughout the country and Lamarr spoke out about her new found fame as she was branded “the Ecstasy girl” and stared at like “something in a zoo”. The French theatrical release poster featured an image of a woman laying on her back with her eyes closed and mouth slightly parted with the title “Extase” over the top.
Director Muchaty was awarded Best Director at the 1934 Venice Film Festival for his project. German cinemas didn’t even show the film until a year later in 1935.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
