endorsed the participation of his people but grew resentful at what he perceived as Schlesinger's poaching of Warhol's scene. Warhol decided to undercut Schlesinger by filming his own story about a male prostitute. The film was photographed by Morrissey, using a 16mm Auricon camera favored by Warhol for his earlier films. This camera permitted the recording of sound directly onto the film and had a maximum run time of 33 minutes. This allowed for long improvised scenes. Morrissey often included the camera's flash frames and pops, which occur when starting and stopping the camera, as an aesthetic choice. UK censorship controversy Flesh premiered in London at the Open Space Theatre on Tottenham Court Road on January 15, 1970. British censor John Trevelyan was wary of issuing the film a cinema certificate but had suggested it to distributor Jimmy Vaughan for club screenings. On February 3, 1970, following a complaint by a member of the public, authorities raided the Open Space Theatre because the film did not possess a British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) certificate. After a public protest, the BBFC passed Flesh with an uncut 'X' certificate on October 27, 1970. The film re-opened at the Chelsea Essoldo in 1971. Reception Flesh was originally not well received in the US and the UK, but it garnered popularity in Germany–being among the top 5 grossing movies of 1970. Over the years, the film has gained a cult following. Flesh ranks 478th on Empire magazine's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time, and in 2007, The Guardian picked Flesh as one of its "1000 Movies to See Before You Die". It holds an approval rating of 63% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 8 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. See also List of American films of 1968 References Further reading Hofler, Robert (2014). Sexplosion: From Andy Warhol to A Clockwork Orange - How a Generation of Pop Rebels Broke All the Taboos. New York: itbooks, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. . External links 1968 films 1968 LGBT-related films American LGBT-related films Bisexuality-related films Lesbian-related films Films about male prostitution in the United States Films directed by Paul Morrissey Transgender-related films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films