The Watford Blue Movie Trial: regulating rollers in 1970s Britain

ABSTRACT

This article uses the example of a forgotten obscenity case from 1974 to show the processes involved in the production and distribution of British hardcore pornographic 8-mm films, known in the trade as rollers. It also gives attention to the legal framework affecting pornography at this time, showing how the Director of Public Prosecutions, against a backdrop of increasing tabloid attention on the transnational pornography trade and corruption in the Metropolitan police, used the Obscene Publications Act 1959 in conjunction with other laws to increase the chances of a conviction. The article draws on the findings from a methodology that combines approaches from law with ethnohistory, using court records alongside media reportage. I suggest that such an approach can help further understanding of the legal frameworks for pornography, as well as revealing how the trade has been subject to regulation and control.

KEYWORDS:

• Law
• obscenity
• British pornography
• political economy
• regulation

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Edward Goodman, Alexander Baron and J. J. Marsh of The Erotic Film Society for their contributions to this article. This work was supported by a British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Rollers is the term used to by the trade to describe hardcore British 8-mm films on 200-ft reels that were sold in sex shops or via mail order.

2 I describe my approach to ethnohistory in greater detail in Carter (2018).

3 For those who are not barristers or students studying for the bar, access is often granted at the discretion of the librarian.

4 This was repealed in 2010.

5 Edward Goodman was interviewed on 22 May 2000 via email.

6 See Manchester (1982)

7 See Manchester (1980) for more details on the regulation of obscene films in post-war Britain.

8 R v Waterfield (1975).

9 For a critical overview of the OPA see Robertson (1979)

10 It has always been legal to produce hardcore pornographic material in the UK, but not to sell it, until the re-evaluation of the R18 certificate in 2000 (Petley 2011; Perkins 2012). Possession has also been permitted, providing that it is not for gain (added to the OPA in 1964), and that is does not contravene other laws, such as the CJAIA or the Protection of Children Act 1978.

11 According to the Index on Censorship’s guide on obscene publications: ‘there is a slightly different “public good” defence for performances, films and soundtracks. Here it applies if publication of the film or soundtrack is justified as being for the public good because it is in the interests of drama, opera, ballet or any other form of art, literature or learning.’ See: https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2020/01/free-speech-and-the-law-obscene-publications/

12 For an overview of contemporary obscenity trials, see the website of obscenity lawyer Myles Jackman: http://mylesjackman.com

13 From the data given, it is interesting to note that the use of the OPA significantly reduced from 2001 onwards, following the re-evaluation of the R18 certificate, and fell even further after the introduction of the CJAIA.

14 See: https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/obscene-publications

15 The National Archives, UK, Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP 2/5754.

16 According to Brian Pritchard, a retired film laboratory technician who I interviewed on 13 December 2019, a garage laboratory would be an amateur film processing operation, often using commercially available equipment such as Todd Tanks.

17 Such as the American-made Uhler 8-mm Cine Printer.

18 The National Archives, UK, Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP 2/5789.

19 This estimation is based on information provided in the files, but also through the 498 rollers I have uncovered during my research.

20 The National Archives, UK, Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP 2/5301-2.

21 The commercial production of bestiality pornography was common in Scandinavia, when competing labels such as Color Climax diversified their production to include performers having sex with animals. Bestiality is rarely shown in rollers, but appears to slightly increase in the early 1970s as British labels such as Anglo, International Films and Universal competed with material that was commercially available in Europe.

22 The National Archives, UK, Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP 2/5301-2.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by British Academy [Grant Number SRG18R1\18023].