10 Most Controversial Films Of The Classical Hollywood Era

5. Baby Face (1933)

The commonly-held view on sex in film is that back in the classical Hollywood days, sex was tip-toed around with modesty shots and carefully worded euphemisms, whilst these days sex is marketed on the front lines (see 50 Shades Of Grey). However, people probably didn't know about the 1933 film, Baby Face, and the stir it caused back during the supposed 'chaste' Hollywood days. Instead of talking about sex like a parent to their awkward teenage son or daughter, Baby Face was all about sex - and it was not shy about it either. The film tells the story of Lily Powers as how she discovers how she can use sex to basically get whatever she wants. This sexually-charged premise resulted in Lily engaging in a number of affairs for reasons ranging from getting out of trouble to sleeping her way into a rich man's pocket, the breaking up of a few relationships, and even an attempted suicide. Needless to say, the censors had a field day and demanded that the film undergo a number of edits to trim some of the suggestive dialogue, and to have a new ending, which shows Lily Powers as a changed woman content with a modest life with far less promiscuity, before it could be released. Despite these edits, Baby Face wound up being very successful, proving that sex on film will always sell.