Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey, who are still alive, sue Paramount over Romeo and Juliet’s 1968 nude scene

Money grab, or someone somewhere suggested it to them.

Idiots.

They signed the contract.

$500 million sounds about right!

Hussey sounds about right too.

I was traumatized!!! 🤑🤑🤑🤑

R2 they were minors moron.

[bold]1968![/bold]

R6 Their parents signed the contract, moron.

In today’s context it is exploitative and wrong but they both were magnificent!

You only see one buttock each.

[quote]Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey, who are still alive, sue Paramount

OMG! They're still alive? I can't believe it! They must be, like, 100 years old!

In the suit, the pair claim that the director, Franco Zeffirelli, told them there would be no nudity and flesh-coloured items would be worn in the bedroom scene but he then later insisted they performed nude “or the picture would fail”.

And he was correct. She looked spectacular and that's what got the audience.

Since their parents acted on their behalf and signed the contracts (knowing there was nudity required) they need to sue their parents - or their estates.

They have a point. Zefferelli a European cosmopolitan brilliant artiste and the swinging 60s, they were lambs to the slaughter but nobody bat an eye, including their agents and parents one presumes. Certainly none of the producers nor the general audience were appalled. They could get a modest settlement. But really this litigation of past mores is tiresome and sketchy.

This litigation of past mores is pathetic.

Norma Desmond wouldn't stoop to this.

I think it's time for the Nirvana album kid to try his lawsuit again.

R14, We might not have been "appalled," but I assure you even those of us in college were very surprised.

Shameless money grab. Should die in a grease fire.

R16 That was one of the most desperate money grabs in recent memory. Absurd.

And now they’re both old and broke. Let’s brainstorm a money grab! Let’s sue!

Oh, please.

R11 lol Also -- the true hottie in this movie was Bruce Robinson as Benvolio. In various interviews, he provided amusing anecdotes about how Zeffirelli hit on him. Caftans were involved! He even based the tragic Uncle Monty character from "Withnail & I" on Zeffirelli. But he never did the "me-too" whining/suing.

[quote] Bruce Robinson as Benvolio

He was gorgeous then but he soon turned into a crone.

I was molested

R23 I can handle that kind of crone.

Bruce might want to do something about that hair.

Buck never would have been naked.

R22 Michael York would like a word.

Wow, cancer's really done a number on Martina!

R25 I thought it was haggard Keith Urban.

R12 yes, she was spectacular, but no more so than his most lovely ass - they did as much to popularize Shakespeare as any of the anthologies, collections, or modernized stagings. “…brush up your Shakespeare, start quoting him now…give them a bit of Othello, and they’ll think your a wonderful fellow…”

We watched it in 9th grade, T & A shots included. I don’t remember anyone laughing or being stupid. We were all probably a little tingly down there.

But then again, cable came into our neighborhood a few years before and we were all looking at as much T&A as possible.

They were both raped by Stephen Tyler in 1944

I want to sue Leonard Whiting for making me gay!

It was 55 years ago! Leonard should be happy his ass was captured for posterity in the full bloom of its youth. They showed R & J to us in 9th grade too, only the teacher wheeled the TV around during the nude scene so the class couldn’t see it. He enjoyed watching it himself then swung the TV back around when the coast was clear. Got to love Indiana. That was 1980 and it’s only gotten worse.

frau teachers love showing this to 9th graders.

Get your Blu-ray now before that scene is forever excised from every print hereon.

Whiting gave the lie to the belief that only women and girls were sexually exploited back then. His ass MADE that movie. And gay men have been dining out on it ever since. I had no idea that he was only 16 however. That does feel yucky.

They were both separated from their parents (I think one parent in Olivia’s case, not sure about Whiting) for months prior in Italy. Not sure if their parents were even notified. I agree that it’s unrealistic to sue, but that was a lot of pressure to put on two teenagers in the 1960’s.

I wonder if Zeffirelli ever tried to molest Whiting or if they had any kind of relationship.

I was molested!

This is a very strange thing to do after years of defending the scene they're suing over (per OP's article).

[quote] I wonder if Zeffirelli ever tried to molest Whiting or if they had any kind of relationship.

(a Salivating Datalounger, typing with one hand)

Zef was madly in love and obsessed not with Romeo but with Tybalt. York owes his career to putting out for Franco.

Whiting is making an ass of himself.

Men showed their asses in silent films. Then it started again in the 60s. Including boys who were skinny dipping. The two of them always seem to have been proud wearing those gorgeous costumes and showing their beautiful gorgeous youthful nudity to the world. Why don't they ask for 2 billion?

I am enjoying the "Leonard was so hot I wanked for hours he's ruining my life by trying to get this scene deleted go get multiple copies of this right now so you can continue to wank OH but, ahem, he's underage, that's, uh, wrong" tone of the thread.

It’s quite the conflict r46.

I guess I should hide my VHS copy with the porn.

This is odd. Didn't they defend this movie for decades? It's like if Brooke Shields all of sudden decided to sue a bunch of estates for her film roles despite defending said roles. Zeffirelli is a creepy pervert and I believe it but it's also stupid to sue especially after this long and the nudity was artful and not degrading. They were beautiful and everyone wanted to look like them.

Franco was not nice.

They were both pursuing acting careers, so no, it's not "odd" that they defended the movie while being working actors. Many (if not most) actors put a positive spin on their past mistakes because it's part of their job. They need to show they're team players and won't go trashing someone they had a bad experience with.

Why don’t they sue Shakespeare while they’re at it?

Madonna! Zeffirelli's Rome & Juliet was shown in high school class rooms across the country in the 70-80's. The film is a bellissima classic. It sparked my teenage interest in Shakespeare and boy's butts. Pathetic money grubbing by two old unemployed thespians who need to make rent. The comments by neurotic woke fraus are laughable. Posthumous cancel culture at it's best.

Again: how can they sue when this happened more than fifty years ago?

My frau 9th grade teacher (who I LOVED) showed this to our class and then completely flipped when the nude scene happened. Like, she ran to the front of the room and stopped the VHS tape, and flustered, asked us to please not mention this to our parents! Mon dieu!

She had great knockers

This whole thing seems to have completely come out of left field. They never seem to have had a problem with it before, so why bring this up in 2023? It's also silly for them to say this damaged their careers -- if it wasn't for Zeffirelli they wouldn't have HAD any career in the first place.

"Again: how can they sue when this happened more than fifty years ago? "

You can always sue. Even if there's a statute of limitations and/or statute of repose, you can sue and argue that it shouldn't apply. Even if you're wrong, you can encourage a settlement. I think that's the plan here and they'll probably get it, though I'd assume not for some incredible amount,

This is not where we were supposed to end up, people.

In the '60s and '70s, there was a big push to accept the body as natural—because it IS natural; we all have the same parts, and acknowledging that isn't inherently sexual or exploitative.

R&J came at the height of that "nudity is no big deal" craze in the cinema. That scene and their bodies were beautiful.

It is so discouraging to see the actors tapping into today's victimization mania to try and make a buck. They're going to do more harm than good.

Today, whenever someone asks: Best male movie nude scene ever?

Leonard Whiting in R&J is always near the top.

Why not own it and be appreciative that a director captured you at the peak of your beauty, which was way higher than just about everyone?

Olivia should really be suing --on the grounds of mental cruelty-- all of those still alive who were involved in the musical disaster "Lost Horizon."

(I never miss an Olivia Hussey musical.)

R59, yeah, Leonard Whiting's ass has been an object of desire for young gay men for the past half century.

It's so strange that after all this time he is attacking the one thing that made him famous.

Thinking of those Uncle Monty scenes, and then of Endless Love - James Spader, Ian Ziering and Tom Cruise show up, barely post-adolscent, in bit parts.

They still waited nearly 60 years to say anything about this. Not in the 80s, 90s, 2000s or 2010s. The movie put them on the map and it doesn't help Olivia worked with Zeffirelli again. Brook Shields never felt comfortable with those nude photos she took as a minor and got them pulled from circulation and sued those who profited from it and that was decades ago.

Sorry kids, if you wait over 50 years to file suit the case should be tossed before you even get to court.

I remember watching it in eighth grade and it being an extremely uncomfortable and weird moment for everyone in the room. Surely, it’s not still being shown at schools today? It’s actually quite boring and dull. Not particularly well acted or interesting. Zeffirelli was right to brand it a failure unless they showed tits and ass. He wasn’t a good film director.

It’s upsetting to read they were horrified by it, especially if he promised them he wouldn’t expose them. Whether you like it or not, they were children. They were gaslit for a long time by the industry that they should be perfectly fine that some old queeny pervert wanted to make his movie famous by exposing underage tits. And this thread’s reaction is typically DL appalling. Lots of creepy old homos and pedo defenders desperately trying to hold onto old fags like Zeffirelli as some sort of gay artistic superiority. Pathetic.

How old are you r65? I’m betting you’re a 40-ish frau.

But it's like the best part if the movie. A movie that was made over 50 years ago! Perhaps they've fallen on hard times like most of the world today, I didn't read the article. After seeing Leonard's perfect ass in 8th grade I had to come to terms with the fact the I liked men. I came several times actually.

Let me remember. Oh yes. Starting in 7th grade I saw ALL THE BOYS IN SCHOOL NAKED all the time. And 1/3 of my teachers were hippie types and they played any music, gave us any book, and showed us any movie they thought was interesting. We were passing around all the smutty paperback books of the time. It seemed that we saw most of the R movies of the 70s with little effort. HBO for example, and it was no issue getting into cinemas. Wild 60s culture was still well present in the 70s. Rock n roll, free love, skinny dipping, back to nature, it was still everywhere in the zeitgeist. Brief nudity in a movie got no more than a giggle.

And he didn’t even show peen.

This is one way for 2 old people to make money if they didn't save enough for retirement. Hopefully, their young bodies will continue to provide for them as they did in their youths.

What about the boy who played St. Francis in "Brother Sun, Sister Moon"???? We saw his ass too.

And then there was Liz in blackface as Aida in "Young Toscanini." Can I sue someone about that?????

They will be remembered for this movie and nothing else. That must indeed be traumatizing.

Wait, now they will be remembered for this pathetic money grab.

I hope the heirs of Doryphoros will sue Polyklet and the Greek state for exploiting youthful male beauty.

R35 We saw this in 9th grade, too. Some in class we’re surprised at how busty Hussey was and our teacher uttered her infamous line…”by 15 you’ve either got it or you don’t.” She would probably be sued today.

R65 Dear god see a psychiatrist! You need help badly. One of the more disturbing people posting on DL lately. Million upon millions of people saw that on screens including children when that came out and unlike you they were not staggering out traumatized by what they had just seen. I saw it very young when it came back to cinemas a few years later and of course I found it beautiful and hot but the theater turning uncomfortable would have been very strange. And Whiting was 17/18 when younger boys were showing their asses swimming naked. But of course all the millions of straight people back then were just as sexually sick as the men on DL today. Do you come on DL right after your bible study circle drooling to find out more ways of being outraged?

Good for that teacher! In 6th grade we were for some reason looking at the “Vitruvian Man” by Leonardo da Vinci and I quipped - "but most men don't look like THAT!" and my teacher immediately retorted "my boyfriend does!" and winked. 1970s.

Aging sucks, doesn’t it Lenny and Olive?

I watched this in my 9th English class and nobody was bothered by the nudity and this was in the 2000s when Bush neocons and Fox News mass hysteria was getting worse. The girls and gays in class swooned over Leonard Whiting and noted his resemblance to Zac Efron. I'm sure the straight boys were happy to see Olivia. We also watched the Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet and we agreed the 1968 was a stronger film.

Also we watched Much Ado About Nothing in 10th grade which had some brief nudity. Again nobody cared. The books we read had some sex scenes.

Zeffirelli and Visconti are gross perverts though. I can't disagree on that.

R40- What a DRAMA qween. The director gave him a blowjob

Big deal

Yet many of their films were very popular and not just among gay audiences and Visconti was one of the truly great filmmakers. I think those who make torture porn are really the ones who are gross perverts.

R80 I'm not saying they aren't talented but they were still asshole divas who exploited their young talent who didn't have the wealth or maturity to stand up for themselves. Many great artists are horrible people. That's that.

Many great artists are horrible people.

Would you have preferred they not exist?

R82 I'm curious as to what I said for you to ask me a loaded question. Many regular people are horrible too. They have the right to exist, sure. But when they harm others, they should also be punished. There's many ways to abuse someone. We live in age where we understand this in more complexity. Many of these people are dead and gone. So it doesn't really matter but to the people still alive, it does. But what do I know?

R82 No, we would prefer that weren’t horrible people.

that (they) weren't horrible people

Christian Slater was almost immediately regretful and disturbed by his 16 year old naked ass and sex scene with a grown woman in The The Name Of The Rose.

The only issue I have is Olivia defended this movie many times and recently too. It's different if she did so when still young and inexperienced and didn't want to piss off anyone in the industry. But she defended it for decades. That's why I do believe this is some type of cash grab. But I also do believe Zeffirelli would use nudity without their permission because of how young and powerless they were. How could they protest that back then? Two things can be true here.

R65 is a frau obsessed with pedos.

R86- Please, just make me feel wanted.

We knew he wasn't particularly heterosexual and now here's proof.

I don't know about you guys here. But if I was 15 or 16 and was filled nude and it was used in a major commercial release without my knowledge I would be pissed. There is something missing here. Why the hell did their parents not do anything? Isn't it their fault?

*filmed

R61 you old flop

I remember how some DLers got mad at Bjorn Andresen for talking about his abuse from Visconti. Saying Bjorn should be grateful and he'd be a nobody without Visconti. Yet they ignore Bjorn actually rather be a nobody and sued many people using his likeness like Germaine Greer who wrote a book on pederasty in art with his photo as the cover. These old men may have made good films but doesn't excuse their behavior off the camera. Visconti and Zeffirelli both have sexual abuse allegations. It's not about the nudity in the film but what occured behind the scenes.

I wonder if this kid is still alive. He should SUE!! And it was Walt Disney!!

The lawsuit is about the principle I guess.

They are old people in their 70s. They have had decades to claim abuse and yet they extolled their experiences on the film. And they had plenty of time to confront Zeffirelli directly. There is no principle here. it is purely a cash grab.

The other thread on this topic (because of course someone couldn't be bothered to search, particularly for a thread that has actual activity keeping it at the top of the feed) explains that the reason this is happening now is because of California's recent suspension of the statute of limitations for sexual abuse crimes. This is what pisses me off about opportunists like these two octogenarian actors and their ambulance-chasing attorneys: what was a good law to prosecute actual pedophiles and criminals is being used for financial gain. It's going to make it that much harder for actual victims to pursue justice so that two failed actors who managed to fuck up their careers despite being cast in one of the most popular movies of the 60s seek "damages" for the roles that they and/or their guardians agreed to more than 50 years ago.

No, their careers were not irreparably damaged by fleeting nudity that in contemporary comparison fails to register as anything anybody hasn't seen hundreds of times.

I hope that I'm called for jury duty if this case makes it to court. I'd love to deny them a penny in damages, and if it were up to me, I'd award the defense their attorneys' fees and ask the judge to impose sanctions on them and their attorneys for bringing the case.

I guess that’s one way to cope with lost youth and beauty. when things hurt everywhere.

They have also appeared at showings of the film and Hussey has talked about how Whiting was very comfortable and proud of his naked body on set. A young beautiful guy showing off his nakedness.

Hussey should sue the estate of Ross Hunter. I have no idea what happened to the career of Whiting but showing his butt in a hit film was hardly going to tarnish his reputation. If that were the case Alan Bates would have had no career. Yes Whiting was 17 but he was like a naked jock parading around the locker room. But here it was a film set with plenty of women. Even better. A young cocky guy knowing exactly what he was doing.

I’m glad they are doing this and I hope they win.

Yeah, it’s a cash grab but so what. They were exploited. They were kids. She was FIFTEEN. I’ve seen old interviews with her where she says she dreaded doing that scene. And don’t pretend that her showing her boobs was the same as him showing his ass. There’s no comparison in the type of exposure and you know it.

As for the naked kid in the opening of Pollyanna, I am shocked Disney hasn’t removed that scene.

Kids are kids. They don’t have autonomy. They have no say. What happened to them was total exploitation and I wish they had sued much earlier just so they could have had a chance to get a big payout much sooner. Becathey deserve one. All exploited kids do, no matter how long it takes.

She had a lovely bustline and a winning smile.

[quote]There's many ways to abuse someone. We live in age where we understand this in more complexity.

No we don't. We live in an age where we keep changing the definition of abuse.

R100 That's how I feel. I don't find the film problematic nor the nudity a big deal. But if they felt exploited and pressured and Zeffirelli betrayed their trust by putting it into the final cut then they deserve justice. They were minors and lacked the experience, diplomacy and power to fight back at the time. I do think there's holes here. Like what about their parents ? And why defend it for decades?

So how do you explain them not confronting Zeffirelli when they had many decades to do so? The man just died a few years ago. You mean they went through their entire young adulthood and middle aged years and often discussed the film in public with fond memories and now that they are old they are suddenly tormented by it? Maybe because they owe their fame to this film and its director and they would have been mortified to challenge this man directly when they knew they owed him so much.

How many unknown ADULT actors would turn down STARRING roles in a MAJOR motion picture because of an entirely appropriate nude scene written by SHAKESPEARE?

Tom Cruise had to give up his ass to Zeffirelli for his first movie role, in Endless Love.

[quote] It was 55 years ago! Leonard should be happy his ass was captured for posterity in the full bloom of its youth.

Appreciating the beauty of his own ass when he was young doesn’t pay the bills.

I don’t doubt that both these young actors would have been pushed into doing the nude scenes whether they spoke up against it or not. Things were so different back then. But there is no doubt in my mind that this is about taking advantage of the current victim culture zeitgeist. It wouldn’t surprise me if some lawyer contacted them out of the blue and proposed the whole idea. The excessive amount is to maximize the settlement amount. stating the obvious, but it’s the cynicism that I bugs me.

r22 Bruce Robinson was delicious

Nobody but sad old flops would watch that dreary shit now and get turned on.

[quote]Yeah, it’s a cash grab but so what.

And then real victims of sexual predators (there are Catholic priests who have raped children for decades who have yet to face even the most insignificant of repercussions) will suffer because these two professional actors were "exploited" more than 50 years ago and have made a mockery of the passage of a law that was meant to make justice available to victims who suffered far greater injury than a boob shot taken in an era in which boob shots were commonplace.

Cash grabs like these are what turn people against our system of justice.

^Spot on . When they removed the statute of limitations on "child abuse" it opened the legal floodgates for all these ancient unemployed actors to sue .Their lawyers saw $$ . It started with the guy whose naked baby picture appeard on the Nirvana album cover. Court ruled against him of course. Just another grifter scam. Sadly it tarnished the only film these two are remembered for.

Hussey went batshit crazy in the 80's. Actually was slapped by Anne Bancroft on set when she became hysterical being "processed" by the spirit of the Virgin Mary she was portraying. Whiting never did jack shit career wise. He is unemployable and has been a barely published writer for the last 40 years. They both make rent by doing signings at shows in Moscow where they still have a fan base among fascist babushkas. Tells ya all ya need to know.

Franco had to audition 300 teenage boys for the part of Romeo. Tough work but somebody had to do it.

Old clip of the "children" Lenny and Livy being " raped" on set. They went thru hell.

^^ Dear Jeebus it looks like a Chi Chi LaRue production!

This is ridiculous. More "Me Too" nonsense.

Singer Glen Weston died of the AIDs.

Think the actor lip-syncing to the song died of AIDS. Glen Weston the actual vocalist did not.

Caftans!

How sad that beautiful work of art should be tarnished for greed. What a world.

That bum was definitely a " beautiful work of art".

R65 is a complete and utter Philistine. The movie is far from "boring"; it is one of the, if not the, most beautiful and most faithful adaptations of Shakespeare in cinema history.

That said, I think eighth-graders are too young to appreciate the Bard, even if a million junior-high English teachers give his works to kids.

R65 would be in favor of changing Romeo & Juliet to 18 years old and having them live at the end.

R118, This article says Glen Weston was the singer in the movie.

The article is really for r65, though.

Plus, Leonard's butt!

Bette Davis hated Olivia Hussey when they did Death On the Nile. Their hotel rooms were next to each other and Hussey played Buddhist chants at top volume. It drove Bette crazy.

Dull dreary old movie

[QUOTE]And then real victims of sexual predators (there are Catholic priests who have raped children for decades who have yet to face even the most insignificant of repercussions) will suffer because these two professional actors were "exploited" more than 50 years ago and have made a mockery of the passage of a law that was meant to make justice available to victims who suffered far greater injury than a boob shot taken in an era in which boob shots were commonplace.

Abuse is abuse. Forcing a 15 year old to bare her boobs when she didn't want to can be extremely traumatic and boob shots of girls that young were NOT commonplace back then. So fuck off. The Catholic church has ALREADY declared bankruptcy in many parishes just so they won't have to pay even though the Vatican is swimming in money and this lawsuit has nothing to do with it.

Oh please she stayed close to Zeffirelli her entire life. She was so traumatized! And she flashed her boobs. It wasn't like he was lingering on them like he was lingering on Whiting's ass. And I bet even straight men were thinking that's one perfect ass.

A lot of old gays have been waiting decades for this story to break. Just look at all of responses from queens coming out of the woodwork to respond. It’s amazing .

Boob shot: That's something you need never trouble your empty head with R127

It’s truly pathetic R129. It’s the equivalent of the freaks here that are obsessed with the fact that straight guys don’t drop their towels at the gym so they can leer at them. This ancient irrelevant generation just needs to drop dead already.

R124 The article is lost on a evilgelical babbit like R65.

R131 lol 😆

R131 You must be 89. Dementia has consumed your brain.

Jay North needs to sue whoever owns MGM now for baring his naked ass in 1966. And Johnny Whittaker and Jeff East need to sue whoever owns United Artists for being naked in Tom Sawyer. But I guess their bare asses were shown as quickly as Olivia's boobs so they can together sue for 500 million as well. And they were all younger than Leonard.

And that boy in Pollyana. He should get billions from the Disney Corp. He was really young.

Why are so many of you OK with kids being shown naked in movies?

Perhaps because we know the difference between context and titillation?

R138 isn’t that a bad word? Maybe it’s ok. Just don’t shorten it.

[quote]Why are so many of you OK with kids being shown naked in movies?

Why are so many offended by nudity? However, lots of "kids" and babies are shown naked in movies. I saw a comedy the other night that showed a naked toddler. I think a lot of adults project their own issues into this.

Wasn’t Jodie Foster’s bare ass shown in Coppertone commercials when she was a little kid?

Little kids aren't sexual. So child nudity isn't an issue for many. Naked or half-naked teens are sexualized however so there is more of an issue about exploitation there and older people profiting off it and those teens growing up and feel ashamed that the adults didn't protect them.

R137 Because nudity is not pornography you home-schooled fascist dolt.

R143 Agree. The issue is sexualization of minors and the fine line between art and exploitation. And majority of people do not see children in a sexual light. However teenagers due to their physical development are going to be sexualized by predators. So that's why even non-sexualized nudity can be tricky. An adult can deal with the aftermath but younger person still developing emotionally may not be and teens are impulsive and reactionary by nature. This is a complex issue that I feel some people here aren't considering.

What about the entire era of teen sex comedies? Even if the characters were of legal age, if they were portraying naked teenagers in sex scenes should all of those movies be canceled?

R145 Most of them sucked and nobody believed anyone in those movies were teenagers. Teens themselves who saw those movies joked these were 30 year olds. They were more for adults to relive their teen years written by nerdy incels.

Read an interview years ago - now I'm trying to remember what Olivia said Zefferelli's nickname for her was - Boobarella? Boobsamilla? something like that

Leonard tried to talk Olivia into making a film about what would have happened if R&J hadn't died and what they'd be like 40 years later. She declined, saying the film meant so much to people (like Russians, which I find a bit odd) - but anyway, she didn't want to destroy their dream.

Not sure that's why she turned down the idea. She suffered for agoraphobia and had a rough life, with ex-husband (Dean Martin's) son dying while piloting his plane, at 35 - they had a son together who was about 13 when this happened.

* crap at my grammar - "She suffered from agoraphobia and had a rough life, with ex-husband (Dean Martin's son) dying while..."

Suing over one tit and a pert little fartbox?

Romeo and Juliet, 40 years later. I'd love to see that.

I LOVE this movie--it's gorgeously shot. It made shakespeare very accessible, with its judicious cuts. The nudity made complete sense

[quote]Dull dreary old movie

Face it, R126 is limited.

This is a complex issue that I feel some people here aren't considering.

Being very proud of a movie you made for more than half a century and suddenly realizing you can claim you were exploited and make millions off the idea is a complex issue only for dimwits.

This thread has riveted the DL

Sad….

The entire Bjorn Anderson nonsense is a slew of gay panic infused ramblings from a fucked up teen turned drug addled old guy, I saw that doc and it's laughable MeToo forces us to take this shit seriously. Visconti did nothing to him except take him to a gay bar at 16 years old and point a camera at him. He wants to blame big evil gay Visconti for the problems his parents gave him.

This is just a cash grab from has-beens. At least they're not making documentaries on Zeferelli being some major predator who ruined their life. Ugh.

And yes, nudity is normal and natural. All of this "save the children" nonsense some of you are spewing is projection. We've regressed so much since the 60s, somehow. Was it AIDS that did this?

I love that people here are selectively ignoring the reason they are suing is that Zeffirelli put nudity in the film without their knowledge or consent. It's not about the nudity in the film which I agree was not sexualized and was done tastefully. It's the fact the two actors claimed they were unaware of it and still aren't comfortable with millions of people seeing them nude. If Zeffirelli did in fact do this then he's in the wrong and given he's sexually assaulted people in the past and he has that arrogant old Italian patriarchal attitude, I can see this being entirely possible. =

R156 Yes, totally right. Visconti is such a victim and not an arrogant douchebag who took advantage of his wealth, seniority and status. Teens are so stable, mature and willing to think rationally. Yes, older men should never be held accountable even if that said minor's parents were willing pimps. Dude made some good films, big deal. He wasn't a world leader, scientist, doctor or lawyer or anything that contributed to the bettering of our lives. I don't get the need to defend some horny old pervs with money who make some entertainment.

Lol, huge swaths of this thread are absent for me because I block Trumpies and pedo defenders here (they’ve been a problem for two decades.) Interesting how those two things correlate in a thread desperate to justify leering perv fatso old man behaviors. 😭😭🤣🤣🤡 There are also some obvious Chatgpt bots.

R65 The only people obsessed with pedophilia are pedophiles.

This isn't strictly pedophilia. Just pervy old weirdos using their power and the excuse of "art" to act out their perversions on young, dumb naive people including minors. BTW, straight men in Hollywood do this too. So nobody is singling out gays here. This is just an issue with entitled men and many directors are ugly incel types.

Whiting should be suing time for him not looking like that anymore.

All this fuss over nudity and sex.

[quote]Was it AIDS that did this?

No, it was the far Left who now proclaims everyone is a victim and basically is waging war on sex. No one can make a pass at someone without them filing a lawsuit since the MeToo crap.

Self-victimization gets you free crap and adulation. It’s why Munchausen by Proxy is a thing. People want attention.

Bruce Robinson was fine and aged better than Whiting.

This lawsuit is so stupid.

R155 comes to DL for discussions concerning the politics of marriage in James' The Golden Bowl.

Romeo was a fag.

Q : Why are these two only now realizing they were traumatized after half a century?

A: They can give you 500 million reasons.

In a 2018 interview with Variety, Hussey defended the nude scene.

“Nobody my age had done that before,” she said, adding that Zeffirelli shot it tastefully. “It was needed for the film.”

In another 2018 interview with Fox News, she said that the scene was “taboo” in America, but that nudity was already common in European films at the time.

“It wasn’t that big of a deal,” she said. “And Leonard wasn’t shy at all! In the middle of shooting, I just completely forgot I didn’t have clothes on.”

I would like to note that "saving a screenshot" or "pausing" was not extant technology at this movie's release.

How could they be so stupid to agree to take off their clothes and step before the camera and then say they were SHOCKED SHOCKED that they were filmed nude. Why would they believe that they had to get nude, but that no nudity would ever be shown.

I blame the parents and the agents. If they had agents. One presumed they did. It was slimy Zeffirelli of course.

R174 There's more to this story. I think a lot of parents back then were hands off and strange adults expected ones with status where just trusted. So perhaps Hussey and Whiting were not supervised and being they were dumb teens, it isn't hard for some aged perv like Zeff to trick them into getting nude to "set the mood." You'd be surprised how easily manipulated teens are.

*strange adults especially ones with status were just trusted.

No one was exploiting anyone. The nudity was integral to the scene.

[quote]Abuse is abuse.

The courts disagree.

[quote]Forcing a 15 year old to bare her boobs when she didn't want to...

Hussey disagrees.

[quote]...boob shots of girls that young were NOT commonplace back then

The history of boobs in movies disagrees.

[quote]The Catholic church has ALREADY declared bankruptcy in many parishes just so they won't have to pay

The Catholic church disagrees.

The only thing you've got right is that there is nothing in common between this shakedown and actual abuse.

R173 Profound observation. Because we can now screen shot her tit and his bum they should get 500 million?

R177 Again. If they didn't know they were appearing nude in the final product as they alleged. Then they were exploited. It doesn't matter if the nudity was integral. I'm beginning to think people on this thread are pretending to be dense to be annoying.

Nice cake but $250 mil a slice is a bit pricey.

If they have to pay out over $500 million for something that happened over 50 years ago, they should have at least showed Leonard's penis.

[quote]Zeffirelli's Rome & Juliet was shown in high school class rooms across the country in the 70-80's.

And in the 90s and 00s. Kinda surreal that so many of us saw it in English class in high school and teachers were like, "Okay, here's some ass!"

"Teens sure have beautiful tight bodies!"

He totally tricked two pretty but (honestly) talent-free young people into becoming really major stars upon the film's release, and until they proved they couldn't do anything else.

Their impact in R&J came from the fact that it had always been done with Shakespearean actors, not actual teenagers, and the original play is in essence a classic high-school dramedy about how stupid hormonal kids can be. So the fact that they were beautiful and approximately the right age (the real Juliet is 13), in the youth-obsessed 1960s, was what launched them. They were lovely in the roles, which are not difficult as (edited) Shakespeare plays go, but they had very little chops for anything else.

I'm sure there was a line out the door of equally or more talented teenagers wanting to play the roles, most of whom in the swinging 60s would have been fine with nudity, so Just Say No (before signing a contract with nudity in it) was always an option. People forget how commonplace nudity was in the movies of the late 60s and 70s. They tend to think we're more liberal and enlightened now but, particularly in the US, the reverse is true. Whiting and Hussey would have got kudos from their peers for being with-it free-thinkers for the nude scene.

They discuss the nude scene in this interview @ 3:60

R185 Lenny looked like he "tricked" quite a bit and it didn't seem to bother him at all.

R186 at 3:61 for just a second you can see Zeffirelli holding a pistol to their heads just out of frame.

R186 Thank you for posting this interview, I've just watched it twice back to back. Such ethereal, innocent beauty, both of them. And yet also they are more mature and self-possessed than most 20-somethings today.

Leonard and Olivia talking about making the film (interview in December 2016), if anybody's interested. Lots of behind the scenes details.

I'm interested in a lot of behind R190

Did R&J pay residuals? What has Leonard been living on all these years? I suppose he was able to sell his ass for a few years.

the teenage lovers of Verona

the adorable Olivia in 1965s The Battle of the Villa Fiorita

R192, Leonard did a few other things after R & J. He was in a movie with Christopher Plummer & Robert Shaw about the Spanish conquest of South America, then he appeared in a movie where he played the love interest of Jean Simmons, and then he played the lead in a Frankenstein mini-series with a whole bunch of stars.

He also worked in London theater.

But he did nothing of note R195 R196 The Royal Hunt of the Sun and Say Hello to Yesterday opened and closed without attracting any attention

He also I believe was in a movie with Merle Oberon which was a May September romance with the sexes reversed.

Olivia's pay for Romeo and Juliet (1968) £1,500 (plus residuals)

She was chosen out of five hundred applicants to star as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (1968).

She moved into the Charles Manson murder home five weeks after the murders took place.

She was not legally able to attend the London premiere of Romeo and Juliet (1968) because she was under 18 and the film contained a nude scene--even though she was the one who was nude.

For one scene in Romeo and Juliet (1968), director Franco Zeffirelli had to get special permission to show her topless.

R106 In fact, Tom Cruise was one of the actors molested by Franco Zeffirelli. I quoted the detail below. Read it if you need.

R198, I find no evidence of that.

The old creepy pervs getting ratioed in the comments. ☠️

If they did not know they were going to be nude in the film why did they think they were nude on set?

Oh, and please ff and block R206. If she's homophoboc and thinks dl is full of creepy old pervs why is she here?

The interviews at r186 and r190 both negate the reason for this lawsuit. It's a cash-grab, pure and simple.

I could get behind this suit. Looking forward to keeping abreast of it.

[quote] If they didn't know they were appearing nude in the final product as they alleged. Then they were exploited. It doesn't matter if the nudity was integral. I'm beginning to think people on this thread are pretending to be dense to be annoying.

Where is the contract saying there would be no nudity?

When did the actors EVER complain about it before?

Before the drugs and roids, Efron was Whiting 2.0.

^ And the " freshening"

Hussey was fun in Lost Horizon which I adored as a kid.

It as only when reading as an adult that I found out that I was supposed to think that was among the worst movies ever made.

R211 Why would nudity be expected in a Shakespearean adaptation? New to me if nudity was featured in the hundreds of thousands of plays and film adaptations of Romeo and Juliet that predates this particular adaptation? I get it, Whiting had a hot ass. I enjoyed it too. But if Zeff did some shady shit to get that visual in the film and these underage kids weren't aware. Then fuck him.

If they can get a few million in settlement, it's probably worth the hassle. They can tapdance around not being bothered before - you didn't realize what the trauma had done to you for a long time... yada yada.

Oh and maybe the publicity will get them some opportunities - if not acting, then writing a book or something. Leonard's a writer anyway but most people didnt't know him or had forgotten - now they might be more interested in a new autobiography (I know she's already written one - not sure if he has?)

I also read that his older daughter died in 2014 of cervical cancer (this is the daughter he raised - he got custody of her after his divorce from her supermodel mother, Cathee Dahmen.) He never married the mother of his other daughter - and in fact, the child didn't meet him for years and hardly knew him. Now he goes to her play debuts and such, or did, at least once. She's a director and her name is Charlotte Westenra.

I found it - in the link below, Olivia talks about how working on Romeo and Juliet caused an eating disorder and other woes. And upthread I mentioned Zeffirelli had a nickname for her about her big boobs - and it was in the DM article:

"Zeffirelli would take her hands and say, 'Oh, my little Boobs O'Mina', something Hussey hated."

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

The grease fire thing is getting awfully old.

[quote]The grease fire thing is getting awfully old.

Like so many running gags on DL.

[Quote]The grease fire thing is getting awfully old.

like most of us on DL

R186 that interview is great! I'm more shocked at Husseys smoking during the interview, at 16 than either of their nude asses.

You can't be featured in a magazine under 21 if there are smoking ads.

l will always thank Shakespeare for getting Campbell Scott to come out of the sea stark naked in Pericles. My friend leaned over and said the water must have been awfully cold but I found the temperature just right.

R221 Bore .

Did Zeff stick his tongue between Leonard's cheeks?

^

This kind of speculation (and all the other fevered, undocumented speculation in this thread) won't be admissible evidence in the proposed court case

This puts into speculation how Whiting got the role in the first place. He has no talent and there were many guys just as handsome.

These two SOBs talked about this scene for years. Defended it, loved the attention it gave them, etc.

This is just pure greed. Neither one was harmed one bit.

Olivia was in the 1977 mini-series Jesus of Nazareth directed by Zeffirelli

R228, Olivia was also in the 1984 mini-series, "The Last Days of Pompeii", which had lots of stars but which is most notable for the appearance of DL fave Nicholas Clay showing off his body:

Nicholas Clay had a supporting role to an odd-looking man who had an unfortunate resemblance to a stripped-down Danny LaRue.

Those of us who cynically think this is a total money grab and nothing else are considered 'dense' by those who feel these two were horribly abused and exploited. Ha! I wish I had been so beautiful when young to have been abused and exploited in such a way. If only I had had Whiting's breathtaking butt! Anyway give them a few million each if it makes them happy not for the reasons they claim which is a joke but for the fact is it was such a huge success and has made a fortune through the years because in part of their beauty in playing young lovers and what they got financially was pathetic.

r228 did she show her tits in Jesus of Nazareth?

Never saw it but it was a 70s TV mini-series so I suspect not R232

You saw her suckling Jesus as if she were a Peruvian peasant woman.

[quote] 70s TV mini-series

It was bloated 70s TV mini-series with an excess of cash supplied by a mysterious millionaire from London's mysterious Wardour Street named Lev Winogradsky. His money paid for an excess of big name stars who overwhelmed the simple story and the (ugly) main actor.

I admire Zeffirelli for his efforts to bring Shakespeare to a 20th century audience. He had good taste but in this case, he had bad taste.

(^.^) What 70s TV mini-series wasn't bloated?

It's why they were so popular.

Hussey had a healthy career, commensurate with her abilities.

It’s BS that they nude scene somehow hindered her success, and apparently $500 million worth

R170 My dick is not in your mouth - fix that.

I guess Black Christmas residuals don’t pay well.

She was fine with it and defended it in 2018. Now she wants money. Broke loser.

OMG!

Franco Zeffirelli fucked a pussy!

[Quote] if Zeff did some shady shit to get that visual in the film and these underage kids weren't aware. Then fuck him.

They were aware of doing a nude scene. How could they not be? They discuss it in the interview @ R186

A lot of love scenes are filmed in the nude but the actors are assured their bits won’t be seen.

The sequel didn't do so well.

One tasteful nude scene but no Shakespearean script.

If this had happened present day, Leo would be beating it on OnlyFans right now.

I adore this movie. It's the best adaptation of any Shakespeare play for screen.

The nudity adds to the beauty of the film. I'm glad it's there for posterity

[quote]The nudity adds to the beauty of the film. I'm glad it's there for posterity.

You're assuming it will be left intact for posterity. Not a safe assumption to make in the new age of book-burning.

Get it on physical media before Paramount cuts it on future discs and streaming.

I think it’s clear that Leonard and Olivia should confront the trauma head on. The best thing they could do is do another shared nude scene all these years on - by approaching the trauma rather than shrinking from it, they could lay all this anguish to rest once and for all.

I will always remember the day when our English teacher showed us the film of Leonard Whiting's naked twink ass during our Shakespeare unit in high school.