Because of its gay undertones, explicit violence, depictions of drug use and graphic sex scenes, Warner Bros. put off releasing "Performance" until 1970.
"The studio had read the script, so they should have known what they were getting into," recalls producer Sandy Lieberson. "But they really hated the film. They kept saying it was dirty."
The controversy wasn't enough to put off British society photographer Cecil Beaton (seen here with camera), who Lieberson had invited to shoot the cast on set.
"It was not difficult (to convince him to shoot with Jagger), let's put it that way," Lieberson says with a laugh. "I think he found Mick a very attractive character and figure."
Beaton was less fond of Pallenberg, criticizing her "dirty white face, dirty blackened eyes, dirty canary drops of hair, barbaric jewelery" in his diary.
"It was something he was stimulated by, the idea of acting. He was always ambitious about trying to extend what he could do besides the Rolling Stones," Lieberson says.
"Forty-odd years later, I think so much has changed in terms of what's acceptable and what isn't, and what is provocative and what isn't," Lieberson says.
"You look at 'Performance' now and it is surprising how contemporary it feels, and in some ways how visionary it was in terms of its style and the way the storytelling is used."
