Actors from 1968 Film Romeo And Juliet are suing Paramount for Child Nudity

[caj]

Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, who starred in 1968's Romeo and Juliet, filed a lawsuit against Paramount for child abuse over a nude scene in the film. The duo were 15/16 when the nude scene was filmed.

I'm guessing there is no statute of limitations on this because that was a long, long, long time ago.

https://www.cbr.com/paramount-sued-c...eo-and-juliet/

Our local movie theater was one of many in the 1970s that would continue to show older movies year after year. My sister was in high school studying the play and wanted to see the film to help her with school work. I was in 5th or 6th grade at the time and my Mom wanted me to see it as well because she thought it would be educational (BOY, was she right about that. LOL).

What are your thoughts about this? Do they have a case this far removed?

[caj]

More details:

https://ew.com/movies/romeo-and-juli...nt-nude-scene/

[Username taken]

Quite a number of movies had child nudity in those days.

I believe Nastassja Kinski was 15 or 16 when she appeared full frontally nude in “To Devil a Daughter”. Brooke Shields filmed nude scenes at age 12 for “Pretty Baby”. A lot of this was by European film makers and in European cinema.

It was very disgusting and immoral then and is disgusting and immoral now. I legit never understood how child abuse laws weren’t executed in these cases. Pretty Baby was heavily criticized when it was released and it was labelled as child pornography even then. How parents even allow their kids do stuff like that is completely beyond me.

As for this case, I don’t know if the complainants have any legal standing. The movie was made over 50 years ago and I’m pretty sure most people at the production and decision level at Paramount at the time have departed the studio or even dead. On the face of it, these actors were exploited by perverted adults (parents included) for financial gain but how that will fly in court today is another topic altogether.

[Alan2099]

For decades they've praised the films, talked about them being their proudest moments, hit the convention circuits and made money off them, and said that what happened was no big deal. Now, suddenly it was this horrible traumatizing thing.

They just want money.

[Iron Maiden]

The sad part about those cases are at least in Brooke Shields case, I think she had a stage mother type parent that should have been looking out for her instead of aiding in her exploitation.

[JackDaw]

The sad part about those cases are at least in Brooke Shields case, I think she had a stage mother type parent that should have been looking out for her instead of aiding in her exploitation.

I think large majority of kids that do extensive stage work from low teens or younger must have parents that are comfortable with that, and supportive…any sane parent would take a keen interest, and want to know details like chaperone arrangements, measures to ensure non stage education not missed, etc, etc.

In this particular case…no idea what to think without knowing a lot more of the background details. In general terms always uneasy when cases refer to events long ago, almost impossible to establish the true facts, and the guilty parties (if there are any) are long dead.

One aspect that does intrigue is the level of damages sought: 500 million dollars. Can that be justified? It doesn’t seem proportionate to me when compared to say payments made to people who lose limbs, soldiers who lose their sanity in the madness of war, etc, etc.

[Mister Mets]

They seem to apply modern standards to events from 50+ years ago, which is probably a bad legal approach. The amount they're asking for is absurd.

[Shalla Bal]

For decades they've praised the films, talked about them being their proudest moments, hit the convention circuits and made money off them, and said that what happened was no big deal. Now, suddenly it was this horrible traumatizing thing.

They just want money.

A few months ago I read Olivia Hussey's autobiography, which was published in 2018. On page 77, Hussey writes that when shooting the scene in question it was a closed set and that Zeffirelli assured her she could wear her nightgown. Leonard Whiting wore a "piece of flesh-colored tape around his, um, manhood" and that "spending a day naked in bed with a young lady was just fine by him." Hussey writes that she started out wearing a nightgown for the scene but according to her, "Leonard's breezy, careless [surely she means "carefree"?] attitude toward the whole thing helped me tremendously, and by the end I had forgotten about my shyness, the camera, and indeed my nightgown."

Also, they're stating in this suit they lost future job offers because of this. Huh. In her book, Hussey recounts the many offers she received for big projects such as Anne of the Thousand Days (and she would've been perfect for that, at least visually, though Genevieve Bujold is ten times the actress Hussey is/was); and True Grit (which would have been unsuitable for her IMO, but it was a prestige project and a huge moneymaker).

[achilles]

There was a 70s film noir called "Night Moves", starring Gene Hackman as a retired NFL player turned private detective, and it involved what I believe to be underage nudity from Melanie Griffiths, in what must have been her movie debut. A swimming scene IIRC. Might have been a body double with the lighting, (it's set at night with the only lighting coming from the pool).

A bit of an edit:

Yes, it was her, she was only 17, and that same year she'd done another nude scene for a movie called "Smile".

If you like noir, and can get around that, this 1975 flick might be your ticket. But...let me warn you, this is NOT a feel-good movie. It's a downer in just about every way. Though it does also have James Woods in an early role.