4. Et Dieu créa la femme (And God Created Woman) (1956)
Anything the Americans could do, the French could do better of course, only with more nudity. Director Roger Vadim had been dating Brigitte Bardot for six years before he put her on screen, in a story about an orphan girl with a high-level of sexual energy and plenty of men willing to lavish attention upon her. The opening scenes featured Bardot covered only by the contents of a washing line, and the subsequent marketing played along the same lines - the main poster featuring her breasts scarcely covered by long blond hair while a trio of chaps look on with a variety of leering faces. Condemned by the Catholic League of Decency (I'm thinking Father Ted and Dougal with 'Down with this sort of thing' plaquards outside screens) the film pushed the boundaries of American mainstream standards with it's content, and marketing, with most prints of the film heavily edited. A cover-up, in the very literal sense.