Earliest (Good) Taboo Movies?

The earlier, the better, as they seem to handle the subject matter better, especially with quality writing, instead of being crass.. Nothing after the 1970s. From any country. For some reason, they just seem to be better. Nothing silly, but something mature. I'm watching "Pale Flower" and loving it, and there's a mention of a guy who is a "dope addict"... I do remember liking "The Man With The Golden Arm", too.

Not the exploitation stuff...

 

Lolita (1962)

 

Summer of '42 maybe?

 

I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it, but I didn't see any taboos.

 

Dumbo.
Great pink elephants and baby/momma teariness, but...crows.

Song Of The South.
Beat Mary Poppins to toons interacting with live characters, but...you know...

Not sure where Birth Of A Nation falls in all this...it's noxious, yet it's a piller of D.W. Griffith's power of storytelling for the era.

 

(On Summer of '42):

Let's take that one step further then, and bring up Harold and Maude...?

 

I seem to remember Night Nurse 1931 (Barbara Stanwyck) had some taboo stuff as well as Baby Face 1933.

Funeral Parade of Roses (1969) It's Japanese. I don't think it's an exploitation film but others might disagree.

 

The kid was in his mid-teens at most and the woman was 20-something but yeah, a pretty innocent film otherwise.

 

Anatomy Of A Murder (1959)

Featuring Lee Remick, playing a character who's just too sexy, she can't help herself.

Days Of Wine And Roses (1962)

Dark portrayal of a couple's descent into alcoholism. Another one with Lee Remick- nominated for Best Actress, playing the role of wife to Jack Lemmon's husband.

The Lost Weekend (1945)

Another movie about a drinker who hits the skids. Winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Starring Ray Milland and Jane Wyman (Ronald Reagan's first wife, fwiw) as the love interest.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

The movie that best fits the description of what you're looking for, based on your first post. No spoilers- just, "whoa." Liz Taylor won a Best Actress Oscar for this one, and Sandy Dennis got best Supporting Actress. Richard Burton and George Segal were nominated in the Acting category. Neither won, but it doesn't matter. I've never seen Burton in better form. Or Liz Taylor, for that matter. Also Oscar-nominated for Best Picture, but the Academy went with a (much) safer choice- A Man For All Seasons.

 

I did not know Sandy Denny was an actress. Sandy Dennis?

 

Gentleman's Agreement
The Servant
Glen or Glenda
Bigger Than Life
Shock Corridor
Peeping Tom

 

What is meant by taboo exactly? Wasn't the pre-Code era full of them, which spurred the creation of the Hays Code?

 

yes, that's who I meant.

 

In the pre-Code era the 1932 Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde was pretty cutting edge.

 

Right, that's why I won't pick anything before 1932 (or around there)

 

The Children's Hour

 

Good example. Good movie.

 

last tango in paris.

 

La Luna with Jill Clayburgh, The Tin Drum.

 

Would Freaks fall into this category? It ruined Todd Browning's career and after previews horrified audiences, around 25 minutes of footage was chopped out of the film (and is presumed lost forever).

 

Not sure if this is what you are looking for but had off topic:

Bigger Than Life

Bigger Than Life (1956) - IMDb

 

I liked Jane running around in her antelope skin.

 

Interesting because I had that on my watch-list... I'll expedite this (without reading about it - I like surprises after I've established the movie might be good). Thanks!

 

You have to remember that what was taboo for a long time in American or British films wasn't so elsewhere. I remember seeing Ingmar Bergman's early films (made in the 1940s and 50s) and noticing that it was taken for granted that a young man and woman would be having sex together without this setting them on the road to ruin.

Last night I watched Roberto Rossellini's Germany Year Zero (1947) and was really surprised that it dealt with homosexuality and paedophilia.