![]() George Sanders does a terrific job as Charles II, spouting some of the film's wittiest dialogue and clever in his cat-and-mouse game with Amber. Cornel Wilde is excellent as Bruce Carlton, her true love-although an unrequited one by the film's end. Linda Darnell was not the first choice for Amber-Peggy Cummins began the role but after filming several scenes was dismissed as being too immature. What is left is mild compared to today's graphic depiction of sex-but since the story unfolds against an interesting historical background in London during the reign of Charles II, it is worth viewing. Kathleen Windsor's racy best-seller lost some of its punch in transition to the screen-mainly because censorship restrictions forced a complete whitewash of Amber St. Skouras later apologized to the Legion, not for offending them but for refusing to conform to them. After these changes were made, the Legion of Decency took the film off the "Condemned" list and moved it to the "Class B-Objectionable in Part" listing, but the film's bookings had been severely cut due to the earlier condemnation. Among the scenes added was a narrated prologue over the credits which said the main character would be punished for sins, a new ending in which Amber watches Lord Carlton leave for Virginia and ends up accepting a supper invitation from the King's equerry, plus the deletion of scenes suggesting Amber had many lovers and the addition of new scenes to condemn her immorality. During a period of about two months, Fox and representatives of the Legion of Decency discussed how the film could be changed to meet the Legion's approval. The studio defiantly refused, initially, but when the actual boycotts began to occur, it caved in. The Catholic Legion of Decency condemned the film for its "glamorization of immorality and licentiousness", and it demanded the studio (20th Century-Fox) make changes so the film would be removed from their '"Condemned" list.
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