in US cinemas and ability to be advertised in mainstream newspapers. Aldrich spent $75,000 battling the rating, but his lawsuit was dismissed, and the film died at the box office. In the UK, the film also had considerable censorship problems, with BBFC chief John Trevelyan demanding some dialogue changes and the complete removal of the sex scene; this led to a standoff between Aldrich and the BBFC. The Greater London Council and 11 other councils allowed the film to be shown with lesser cuts to the scene, and Trevelyan finally passed a cut version for countrywide release in 1970. All subsequent home releases of the film have been fully uncut. The Committee for the Theatrical Review of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities also rated the film as VM18, not suitable for children under 18, in addition to mandating the removal of two scenes involving a kiss between women, and one scene where Mrs. Croft caresses Alice's breast. Since its theatrical release, the film has been shown a number of times on British television, although sometimes with the sex scene deleted. Rarely seen on American television, it was broadcast uncut by Turner Classic Movies as part of a June 2007 salute to gay cinema. Reception Box office The movie earned rentals of $3.45 million in North America and $1.875 million in other countries. However, because of its high cost, it recorded an overall loss of $750,000. In France it had admissions of 46,638. The week of June 4, 1969, the movie was the #1 box office grosser in the United States, making $628,500. It was the first X-rated movie to place number one at the weekly box office in the United States. (Subsequent X-rated movies to hit #1 at the box office: Midnight Cowboy during its tenth week of release on August 6, 1969, and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls on July 22, 1970, in its fifth week on the chart.) Critical response Initial critical response was generally unfavorable. Renata Adler of The New York Times was critical of the film, not just for displaying lesbians, but also for actress performances and the camera work. Later reviews of the film have been much more favorable and on Rotten Tomatoes it holds an approval rating of 63% based on 16 reviews." In an online review for Filmfanatic.org, it said that the best aspect of the film was the