I'm working on a project relating to societal standards and popular
culture. Specifically, part of the project relates to usage of taboo
language, and more specifically the usage of a common four-letter verb
for sexual intercourse beginning with the sixth letter of the
alphabet.

Here's the four-part question:

What was the year and title of the first mainstream motion picture
shown in the United States to use the forbidden word?  If it was
released after adoption of the rating system of the Motion Picture
Association of America in 1968, what was the film rated?

What was the first motion picture rated by the MPAA to use the
forbidden word and receive a rating less restrictive than an R rating
(such as PG or PG-13)?  When was the film released and/or rated?

What was the first motion picture rated by the MPAA to use the
forbidden word twice and receive a rating less restrictive than an R
rating?  When was the film released and/or rated?

What was the first motion picture rated by the MPAA to use the
forbidden word more than twice and receive a rating less restrictive
than an R rating?  When was the film released and/or rated?  (It is
possible this hasn't occurred yet.)

When I say "the forbidden word" above, I am referring to the word
itself or to words directly derived from it and that include the word
itself, such as noun and adjective forms.  I am not referring to
euphemisms such as "freaking" or "effed."

I am looking for the actual answers to these questions.  I am not
looking for places where I can find the answer, and I will reject any
answer that doesn't answer the question or that says the information
can't be found.  If you prefer, feel free to confine your response to
the names of the movies, the dates, and your source of information.  I
don't need commentary or links to other information about film
ratings; I have plenty of those already.

Thanks!

Here's my two-part answer to your four-part question:

1) From the web site "Useless Facts" [
http://www.angelfire.com/ca6/uselessfacts/movies/004.html ]:
"The 1st time the "f-word" was spoken in a movie was by Marianne
Faithfull in the 1968 film, 'I'll Never Forget Whatshisname.'"

The claim that Faithfull's use of the f-word in this film was the
first is also made in this article from The Age (a popular Australian
newspaper):
http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/2002/01/27/FFXE1FAAWWC.html

This claim is also apparently verified in Patrick Robertson's book
Film Facts (Billboard Books, ISBN 0.8230.7943.0) according to a review
of the book by Cinemonkey:

http://www.cinemonkey.com/reviews/diary/diary1001.html

According to Amazon.com, the film is NR (Not Rated):
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00003TKFG/qid=1022089841/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/104-7220244-2842305

2) Your best candidate for the first PG-rated movie to include the
F-word one time, two times, and more than two times would be 1976's
"All the President's Men."
 According to CompuServe ShowBiz Forum's James Curran as quoted by
Roger Ebert in "Questions for the Movie Answer Man" (Andrews McMeel
Publishing, 1997):
"The Front and All the Presidents Men tied for being the first
PG-rated use of the word."

"All the President's Men" was released 04/24/1976
Source: Movie Mom
http://www.moviemom.com/review.cfm?ReviewID=271

For verification that "All the President's Men" (1976) was rated PG,
visit Amazon.com's page:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0790733889/qid=1022091043/br=1-2/ref=br_lf_v_2/104-7220244-2842305

For verification that "The Front" (1976) was rated PG, visit
Amazon.com's page:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6303686761/qid=1022091222/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/104-7220244-2842305

According to Dave Garrett alt.cult-movies Date: 1998/11/13
All the President's Men includes the f-word dozen or so times"
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=first+time+f-word+pg-rated&hl=en&lr=&client=googlet&selm=MPG.10b66eb1aeb716369896f0%40news.alt.net&rnum=10


I hope this helps. I'll clarify if necessary.

---

Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 22 May 2002 11:30 PDT

According to this fan page about Woody Allen, the f-word is only
spoken once in "The Front":
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/9542/front.html

---

Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 22 May 2002 11:38 PDT

I notice that I left out the link for the Roger Ebert quotation of
James Curran. It's at:
http://www.noveltheory.com/TechPapers/movie_answer_man.htm

Very interesting, and a bit surprising.

The Internet Movie Database says:

    *  The film was denied a MPAA seal of approval due to a scene
between Oliver Reed  and White, Carol that implied oral sex. Universal
distributed the film through a subsidiary that was not a signatory to
the MPAA. Along with a similar scene in Charlie Bubbles (1968), this
helped to bring about the end of the Production Code and its
replacement with a ratings system.

    * Often named as the first film to use the [f-word]in its dialogue
(see quotes). Another contender is Ulysses (1967) released the same
year.

Looks like Ulysses was released in the States *before* I'll Never Forget....

Thanks for this info, mara.
I just found this Usenet item about a few other films as well:
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=20000102160626.08205.00000644%40ng-cp1.aol.com&output=gplain

If the criteria is "mainstream," then "I'll Never Forget...." may not
meet it.

"M*A*S*H" (1970) was a huge mainstream hit and contained "OK, buddy,
your f-in' head is coming right off" during the football sequence. The
film was rated R.