Flick Review < Ecstasy | Gustav Machatý (1933)
Cinematography by Hans Androschin, Gerhard Huttula, Jan Stallich
Ecstasy was highly controversial in its time because of scenes in which Lamarr swims in the nude and runs through the countryside naked.
It is also perhaps the first non-pornographic movie to portray sexual intercourse and female orgasm.
The erotic close-ups of Hedy Lamarr’s face in the throes of passion were aided, she says, by the director unexpectedly jabbing her in the derriere with a pin in order to get the desired expressions on her face.
Hedy Lamarr lied about her age when she auditioned for the film. She was, in fact, only 17.
“I regret to have to advise you that we cannot approve your production Ecstasy that you submitted for our examination yesterday for the reason that is our considered unanimous judgment that the picture is definitely and specifically in violation of the Production Code. This violation is suggested by the basic story…in that it is a story of illicit love and frustrated sex, treated in detail without sufficient compensating moral values.”
Joseph Breen, Hays Office regarding the film ‘Ecstasy’, 1936
