orpheum

Kes was subtitled.Nell Gwynn was censored because too much of Anna Neagle's bosom was on show.

Welcome To Highbury The Home Of Football

Sweeney Todd

"The Mystery of the Mary Celeste" (1935, starring Bela Lugosi) was cut, and shown in USA as "The Phantom Ship". Unfortunately, this abridged version is apparently the only one that survived.
Another British Lugosi movie, "Mother Riley Meets the Vampire", was also cut, the title was changed as "My Son, the Vampire", with an awful song added during the credits, and Lugosi and Arthur Lucan's names were lost in the change ! for a time, a British DVD was released which contained this horrible version. Happily enough, the real thing has been released since.

john audley

Any chance of the 'Die Hards' being 'translated' for us?

'You should be kind to us normals, there are not many of us left you know'!

D Cairns

The Third Man had a different opening VO (delivered by Joseph Cotton) and a few cuts, mainly thanks to Selznick (although he's the one who insisted on the ending we now have, over Graham Greene's objections, so the American influence is not all bad).

The Devils had all the full frontal nudity cut to avoid an X, then it got an X anyway, but they still released the cut version! Mad Ken's Crimes of Passion was also massively cut in the States -- all the shots of erotic art were removed as "obscene".

smiler

The Quatermass Xperiment was cut in the US. The body in the lift was edited to just a shrunken hand, with the gruesome face edited out.

john audley

Hi D Cairns - no one would suggest for one moment that American influence is all bad! In fact I consider the final sequence of The Third Man a fantastic peice of cinema art

'You should be kind to us normals, there are not many of us left you know'!

Mysteryfan

I am a Yank, and maybe that is why when hearing that I was the guide at HMS Belfast said to read the guide book upside down for us Yanks. -)

Steve Crook

We love teasing Americans. I work with one so can do it quite often

Another favourite is the (probably hypocriphal) tale of the Americans being shown around one of the older Oxford or Cambridge colleges.

"Is this place pre-war?" asks the American woman.
"Madam," says the guide in his best haughty voice, "this college is pre-America."

Steve

narabdela

The US DVD release of "Gregory's Girl" has both the British and American soundtracks available. The original actors dubbed a 'Proper English' soundtrack for US release.

It's excruciating to listen to.

TimR

Yes, that's the version I saw many years ago. Then there was another version that included the Christmas party, but not the golf story. Some of the plot details didn't really add up. It was only when the full version became available that I realized how clever and well structured that film is.

Hereafter, in a better world than this,
I shall desire more love and knowledge of you

Chevyman

"The Big Man" = "Crossing The Line"

If I wasn't meant to drive that fast, the pedal would stop half way!!

dylan

When the grave where Harry is supposed to be buried is exhumed, in the US version there is a shot of the grave stone with HARRY LIME carved on it just in case the Americans forgot who he was.

It works both ways: in the UK the title of the film DAMN YANKEES was banned for swearing and substituted by the suggestive WHAT LOLA WANTS.

D.

1stas

A friend of mine was 2nd AD on the first Mr Bean movie - that was cut considerably for the American market - apparently they prefer comedy films no longer than 1 hour 30 minutes any longer and it has to be cut - two sequences were cut - Bean driving through Harrods perfumery department (a nightmare to film) in his mini and Bean with his head inside a turkey.

CaptainWaggett

Hallelujah I'm a Tramp is another film retitled to suit British prudishness which rather makes nonsense of the title song