On Thursday, a California judge dismissed a lawsuit filed against Paramount Pictures over a scene in the 1968 film adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet” in which the main characters wake up naked in bed together.
Actors Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting filed a lawsuit last year claiming they were underage at the time of filming and that director Franco Zeffirelli had promised them to wear flesh-colored underwear in the bedroom. scene. But on the morning of the shoot, he told the teenage actors, “If you don’t act nude, the picture will fail,” according to the lawsuit.
Their lawsuit alleges that Paramount, the film’s distributor, “knew or should have known that images of the plaintiff’s nude body had been surreptitiously and illegally obtained during the performance.” Lawyers for the actors wrote in court documents that the scene fell under “child pornography” and should not be considered protected speech. Hussey was 16 and Whiting was 17 when the scene was filmed, according to Tony Marinozzi, the actors’ manager.
Lawyers for Paramount challenged the actors’ assessment of the two-Oscar-winning film, arguing in court papers that the scene was neither obscene nor obscene, and that their claims were too old to go to court. added.
“The reality that this film is not child pornography is, of course, due to the fact that the film is so famous, has been distributed for 55 years, and has been viewed or owned by millions of Americans (including students). “It is also supported,” said attorney Richard B. Kendall writes.
Zeffirelli died in 2019, but one of his adult adopted sons, Giuseppe Zeffirelli, said the scene was “as far from porn as you can imagine”.
The judge dismissed the lawsuit, writing that the claims were for motion picture production, an activity protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The actors’ attorney, Solomon Gresen, said in a statement that the actors intend to take the matter to federal court.
