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| Forever Amber | |
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"It's a horrible book," complained Otto Preminger when Darryl Zanuck asked him to take over the ailing production of Forever Amber. "I can't make this film," Zanuck replied. "Your contract still has six years to go. We're stuck with you, but you're also stuck with us. Go in and look at all the material. If you don't like it, you can throw out the whole thing and do whatever you like." "Zanuck had this very persuasive
manner," Preminger was to recall later. "And I finally agreed to do
it." |
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problem was that the bestselling book was notorious trash and had already
been banned by the Legion of Decency long before the cameras started rolling.
A few small changes had to be made to get the film released: Amber's four
husbands were cut to one, her count of illegitimate children reduced and
her army of incidental lovers was pruned down to four.
In the end, not even a kiss was shown on screen. Yet the New York Times noted that "the scenes of her amorous conquests are extravagantly displayed. Although the film does not picture the details of Amber's amours with the boldness [of the book], it doesn't spare the innuendos, chum!" And however much of the spicy plot is hidden, we are not spared the revealing decolletage of lovely Linda Darnell. This may have been the first time that Preminger was to come up against the censors. but it was the only time he even pretended to back down. Andrew Horn |
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