MOVIES THAT THE WORLD

Films can and do change the world – and these movies proved it. Policies and regulations were altered forever because of the impact the following five releases had on the film industry and society as a whole.

Stunt safety regulations were created and implemented to prevent any more tragedies like those suffered on Noah’s Ark (1928) where precautions were so bad that three extras drowned in the flood scene, one had his leg amputated and a dozen others suffered broken bones.

For the battle scene at the end of The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), 125 horses were trip wired to make them fall – an act which resulted in 25 of them dying. Leading man Errol Flynn was so horrified he went public about the animal cruelty and got the attention of Congress. That eventually led to new rules about animal safety on sets being enforced by the Humane Society of America.

Victim (1962) was the first film to mention the word “homosexual” and took such a mature and understanding approach to gay lifestyles that the British movie, starring Dirk Bogarde, is credited with shifting public opinion so much that homosexuality was decriminalized in the UK a few years later.

Political satire Dr Strangelove (1966) proved such a cautionary tale that it shifted US government policy. Congress determined that no longer should just one government official should know nuclear weapon access codes and that way the kind of accident portrayed in the film could not happen in real life.

The current MPAA rules on movie censorship and ratings were introduced in response to the release of Blow Up (1966) featuring full frontal nudity and sexually explicit scenes.