Bergman got hacked into sexploitation and somehow it's cinema history.
In 1955, Kroger Babb illegally acquired and distributed Ingmar Bergman's Summer with Monika (1953) in the U.S., making some major changes to apply it to the exploitation market. He renamed the film to Monika, the Story of a Bad Girl!, cut it down to 64 minutes, dubbed it over with English voices, and added a melodramatic score by Les Baxter. One scene can be found that was censored from the original cut of Bergman's film.
Production
Kroger Babb's shameless exploitation hustle, legendary.
Sound
Les Baxter score screaming over Swedish silence.
Editing
Crude cuts that somehow reveal censored original footage.
Director
Richard Lewellen
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Kroger Babb pioneered 'roadshow exploitation' — traveling huckster screenings with planted audience plants and fake moral outrage.
This butchered version briefly outgrossed the legitimate Bergman release in some markets, proving scandal sells harder than subtitles.
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