How Larry Kramer Pulled Off the First Film With Frontal Male Nudity – Back in 1969

In an excerpt from his book “Sexplosion,” Robert Hofler explores the late writer’s work on director Ken Russell’s groundbreaking film “Women in Love”

larry kramer women in love
United Artitsts; Getty Images

Playwright and AIDS activist Larry Kramer, who died Wednesday at age 84, got his start in the film business — including director Ken Russell’s Oscar-winning 1969 film “Women in Love,” an adaptation of the D.H. Lawrence novel that broke barriers with its depiction of frontal male nudity. In an excerpt from his 2014 book “Sexplosion,” TheWrap theater critic Robert Hofler looks back at Kramer’s work on the project. 

Long before he became the world’s most famous AIDS activist, Larry Kramer made movies. Thinking back to his days as a production chief at Columbia in the 1960s, Kramer claimed, “Because of me, Columbia Pictures released ‘Darling.’

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