Paul Newman discusses 'The Sundance Kid' role in 1982

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It’s become a common trend among streaming services to put up trigger warnings before “problematic” older films. Disney+ have a 10-second compulsory disclaimer before classic like Peter Pan and Dumbo, which some movie fans have found incredibly patronising.

Among the content warnings on the likes of Disney+ and Netflix for certain films and TV shows are the likes of violence, sex, swearing and nudity, but now smoking is a common addition to such lists.

If that wasn’t enough, Warner Bros Discovery streaming service HBO Max have been spotted literally censoring the depiction of smoking in classic films by photoshopping cigarettes and cigars out of existence.

Two prime examples borough up on social media with screen grabbed evidence were posters on the HBO Max homepage for Warren Beatty’s McCabe and Mrs Miller and Paul Newman’s The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean.

Pete Salisbury tweeted pictures of the original posters and the edited ones. He captioned the post: “No Smoking! Twitter users report HBO Max removed Warren Beatty’s and Paul Newman’s cigars from movie poster art used on its home page. McCabe & Mrs. Miller. The Life and Times of Roy Bean.”

The 1971 and 1972 film posters instead have the two stars holding their fingers strangely in the air. Newman now looks like he’s picking at his beard, while Beatty’s hand gesture wouldn’t look out of place on a Christian icon.

Additionally, Vulture’s Eric Vilas-Boas posted a before and after of 1970’s There Was a Crooked Man, pointing out how bizarre Kirk Douglas looks without his cigar. What’s even stranger is the fact that some posters with movie stars puffing away haven’t been censored at all.

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In response to the censoring, one fan tweeted, “How ridiculous”, while another added, “I am SO glad that I don’t give a penny to HBO Max.” Another said, “Cowards”, while one wrote: “Not a big fan of revisionist history. We should accept what is… and go from there.”

One tweeted: “FFS, it’s bad enough having ‘smoking’ right up there with violence, & rape, in the film age warnings.” And movie fan added: “It is part of the film’s history. Leave it alone!”

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