Cobbled this post from a few things I had on file, some which I have posted before.

Spanking in the mainstream cinema is as old as the movie industry itself. Putting a pretty girl across a guy’s knee was a code for sex even on the Victorian stage, where in British pantomimes girls dressed as boys and no production of Aladdin was complete without a thigh slap or a good sound spanking across widow Twanky’s knee on the seat of some very tight tights.

There is an insight into some of the reasoning and pitfalls of theatrical spanking in this excerpt with Johnny D (a presumed movie producer) talking to Sally-Anne in a 1960s teen magazine. I only have a page so the preamble and context as well as the end are missing, if anyone has it or knows where it’s from let us know.

Sally-Anne: What about girls in the movies, they aren’t all famous. Did anyone you work with as an extra or bit-parter ever end up a star?

Johnny D: Oh sure, you would be surprised. Most actresses did some heavy time while they fought tooth and nail for a line. You would be surprised what some of them would do. The cutting room floor is littered with the indiscretions of some of the greats.

SA: What are we talking here?

JD: You know, lots of nudity and such, but it wasn’t all that salacious. I remember a big star had two lines in a B-flick and we had to do about 30 takes. This actress had to take a spanking from the male lead (laughs), every time something went wrong.

SA: Thirty takes! Was this a real spanking? I mean could she even sit down afterwards?

JD: A real spanking sure, leastways it was by the time we did 30 takes (laughs).

SA: Are you saying that only bit-part players get spanked in movies? I mean recently they have had McKlintock! and Blue Hawaii.

JD: Well I heard that neither of those scenes were played for laughs (laughs) but usually you have a body double, like one of these budding actresses we are talking about.

SA: So why aren’t there more spankings in movies, I mean like there used to be, if the main actress doesn’t have to do it herself?

JD: (laughing) So many questions about spanking.

SA: (laughs) I guess it is what people want to hear about, But seriously I was using this as an example since you brought it up.

JD: Well like I was saying, scenes go wrong and you can end up with an actress with some real bruising. If it is a star we are talking about then that can cause problems. Also between the censor and this whole women’s lib thing it is getting hard to shoot.

SA: I understand the feminist point, but what do you mean the censor?

JD: Well it’s a sex thing. In the old days directors had the hero spank a girl instead of, you know, kissing her and stuff, but people get wise to it. You know, audiences are lot less innocent than they used to be.

To continue the Hollywood theme here is a re-post.

The picture top above is an often seen alleged publicity still of 20-year-old actress and singer, Ann-Margaret being spanked. However, thanks to TipTopper we can now reveal the back story was far from a prank for poor Miss Margaret.

Back in 1962, when she was 21-year-old, she revealed in a radio interview feature, Ask the Stars, that one of the reasons she was allowed to pursue a career as a performer from just 19, was because she was under the guidance of her uncle, ‘a kind but old-fashioned gentleman.’

She was asked about the spanking photo, which she claimed was a “real enough,” albeit mitigated on account of the camera and subsequently exploited as publicity still.

She admitted that she was indeed on the receiving end of many spankings from her uncle.

“The spankings were always the same. When uncle caught me erring on the wrong side of reasonable behaviour he would tell me point blank that I had earned a spanking. I was in no position to argue because he was right at least 99% of the time.”

“Then he would place me firmly over his knee, flip the back of my skirt up, lower my panties and spank my behind until it was bright red. This took about five minutes and included a couple of breaks for lecturing and to make sure that I understood exactly why I was being spanked.”

Ann-Margaret said she could never have been described as Miss Perfect and the spankings had brought her “down to Earth.”

During the interview she refused to be drawn as to when she would be spanked again.