“Ecstasy … is not to be communicated by a couple of people, or one person, or any combinations there of, unless it’s actually happening … [Ecstasy] is really not part of the thing we can do on celluloid.”— ORSON WELLS
Orson Wells was well known for a lack of sex scenes in his movies. That’s why this article about a porn film he notoriously was rumored to have edited(not shot) was news to me. The ultimate high-brow directing working on a low brow flick?! Interesting! The film was 3 A.M. The connection was to Wells’ last film, The Other Side Of The Wind. From the article…
“3 A.M. was directed by Gary Graver, Welles’s cinematographer on The Other Side of the Wind. (The productions have several crew members in common.)…
Welles’s presence in the editing suite was owed to his own impatience. He’d been working with Graver on The Other Side of the Wind, his unfinished project shot over seven years. Alas, Welles didn’t have the budget to pay the crew. To offset this volunteerism, Graver, who had a family to provide for, worked on erotic films. As McBride wrote, Welles in turn …
… reciprocated by working without credit on one of Graver’s hard-core films, 3 A.M. Fuming that Graver was busy editing it instead of working on his projects, Welles volunteered to cut a sequence to speed the film’s completion. The star of 3 A.M., Georgina Spelvin, proudly told me that Welles was responsible for the dynamic editing of her masturbation scene in a shower…”
The clip they link to is rare and racy and it got me thinking about doing a couple posts of the Best Sex scenes in the movies. Of course you can click on Google for a dozen similar lists but this will be a Script Gods Must Die special… guaranteed to elicit a couple huuuuuuuh’s????!! from you, Good Reader, but it’ll be fun. Script first, then the scene clip(if available). Let’s go to the sexy videotape!
- SOME LIKE IT HOT: KISS MARILYN
I’m going to stay non-conventional with this list but some classics simply will not be left asunder. I remember reading Tony Curtis’ take on this scene, how kissing Marilyn Monroe was like “kissing Hitler”. Not sure of the context of that quote but I imagine about a million guys would have been thrilled to be a stand-in here. What a kiss! Script, then scene…
58. INT. SALON OF CALEDONIA - NIGHT. 58. Joe and Sugar are still in the same embrace. The radio music continues. Finally they break. SUGAR (waiting for the verdict) Well - ? JOE I'm not quite sure. Try it again. She does. As they break, she looks at him - the suspense is unbearable. JOE (trying to diagnose it) I got a funny sensation in my toes - like somebody was barbecuing them over a slow flame. SUGAR Lets throw another log on the fire. Another kiss. JOE I think you're on the right track. SUGAR I must be - because your glasses are beginning to steam up. She kisses him again. WIPE TO: 59. INT. ROADHOUSE - NIGHT. 59. Osgood and Jerry have now got the tango by the throat. Jerry is dancing with his back to the CAMERA, and as Osgood whips him around, we see that Jerry has the flower clamped between his teeth. They reverse positions again, and Osgood grabs the flower between his teeth. WIPE BACK TO: 60. INT. SALON OF CALEDONIA - NIGHT. 60. The radio is still on, and Joe and Sugar are just coming out of their last kiss. Joe removes his glasses, which are now completely fogged up. JOE I never knew it could be like this. SUGAR Thank you. JOE They told me I was caputt - finished - washed up - and now you're making a chump out of all those experts. SUGAR Mineral baths - now really! JOE Where did you learn to kiss like that? SUGAR Oh, you know - Junior League - charity bazaars - I used to sell kisses for the Milk Fund. They kiss again. JOE (going, going, gone) Tomorrow, remind me to send a check for a hundred thousand dollars to the Milk Fund. She doesn't have to kiss him any more - he takes over now.
- THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR: CHESS SCENE
Going back to the original with the King Of Cool, Steve McQueen and uber-hot Faye Dunaway in her prime. Great subtext scene. How exactly do you write all the non-verbal sexual warfare going on in this film? Therein is the art of the screenwriter. I was never very good at chess, but then again, chess was never like this!
VICKY: Try me and see.
Crown has the white men, she has the black.
- AIRPLANE!
The Automatic Pilot! ‘Nuf said!
We see, but Elaine does not notice, the automatic pilot very
slowly beginning to deflate.
McCROSKEY (v.o.)
Good. Now check your altitude. That's the
dial just below and to the right of the
air speed indicator.
ELAINE
Thirty-five thousand feet.
INSERT - ALTIMATER
Altitude is dropping.
BACK TO SCENE
ELAINE
No, wait. Now it says thirty-four thousand
feet. It's dropping! It's dropping fast!
Why is it doing that?
By now the automatic pilot is really slumped over as it is
quite deflated. It is staring at her with a half smile.
Elaine notices it.
ELAINE
Oh, my God! The automatic pilot! It's
deflating!
McCROSKEY (v.o.)
All right, Elaine, don't worry. We have an
auxiliary inflation system. Just follow my
instructions.
ELAINE
Okay, but please hurry! We're dropping
fast!
INT. PASSENGER CABIN - NIGHT
Passengers are being tossed about. Rumack is examining a
female patient.
DR. RUMACK
What the hell's going on up there?
Rumack starts toward cockpit.
INT. COCKPIT - NIGHT
McCROSKEY (v.o.)
Now, Elaine, don't panic. On the belt line
of the automatie pilot there is a hollow
tube. Can you see that?
ELAINE
Yes. Yes, I can see it.
McCROSKEY (v.o.)
Good. Now that's the manual inflation
nozzle. Pull it out and blow it up like a
balloon.
Elaine kneels over automatic pilot's crotch, puts tube in
her mouth and blows. Automatic pilot inflates. Rumack bursts
into cockpit.
RUMACK'S POV
Back of automatic pilot with Elaine kneeling over its
crotch.
INT. PASSENGER CABIN - OUTSIDE OF COCKPIT - NIGHT
Rumack slams the door in disbelief.
CLOSEUP - AUTOMATIC PILOT
with a big smile on its face.
