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The History of American Cinema: 1969

January - June

12/1 -

Judy Garland marries hairdresser Mickey Deans in Hollywood. [ADD]

15/1 -

Darryl F. Zanuck refuses to distribute Edouard Luntz's Le Grabuge (Hung Up) because of the anti-bourgeois violence contained in the film. [ADD]

17/2 -

Hedy Lamarr begins legal proceedings against the editor, writers and publisher of her biography Ecstasy and Me, My Life as a Woman, which she considers obscene. She demands $21 million compensation for damage to her reputation. [ADD]

Feb -

Warner Brothers cut 15 minutes from Nicolas Roeg’s Performance and delay the film's release. [ADD]

10/3 -

Vilgot Sjoman’s Jag är nyfiken - en film i gult (I am Curious – Yellow) is released after being banned for two years because of its sexual content. The publicity surrounding the film ensures it becomes Sweden’s most successful film export ever. [ADD]

11/3 -

An exhibitor in Boston is imprisoned for six months and fined $1,000 for screening Robert Aldrich’s The Killing of Sister George, which was banned by the local censor due to its scenes of lesbianism. [ADD]

30/3 -

The Boston court rules against the seizure of The Killing of Sister George after critic Judith Crist testifies that not only is it not pornographic, it is one of the ten best films of the year. [ADD]

14/4 -

Carol Reed’s Oliver! wins the Best Picture award at the 41st Annual Academy Awards Ceremony. [MORE]

8/5 -

Lana Turner marries stage magician and hypnotist Michael Dante. [ADD]

26/5 -

Edgar Bronfman takes over from Robert O'Brien as president and chief executive officer at MGM. [ADD]

8/6 -

Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey is selected as the United States’ official entry for the Moscow Film Festival in July. The selection was made by Frank Capra, Walter Mirisch and Michael Straight. [ADD]

10/6 -

33-year-old David Picker replaces Arthur Krim as president of United Artists. Krim joins the board of directors with Robert Benjamin. [ADD]

10/6 -

Warner Bros.-Seven Arts' shareholders approve a merger with Kinney National Services that is valued at $11.5 million. [ADD]

10/6 -

Franklin J. Schaffner completes filming of Patton at the Marine Corps base at Camp Pendleton in California. [ADD]

18/6 -

Sam Peckinpah’s violent western saga The Wild Bunch is released. William Holden stars as the leader of an ageing gang of outlaws in the last days of the old west. [ADD]

21/6 -

Judy Garland dies of a drugs overdose in London at the age of 47. Her body is shipped to the States for a funeral which takes place six days later in New York. [ADD]

24/6 -

The Supreme Court upholds a ban on Frederick Wiseman's Titicut Follies that has been in place since 1967. Wiseman’s documentary film contains scenes of physical abuse of patients at the Bridgewater State Hospital for mentally disturbed criminals by guards and doctors. [ADD]

Jun -

Barbra Streisand, Sidney Poitier and Paul Newman form First Artists Company Ltd. [ADD]

The History of Cinema: 1969