The film attracted controversy on its original release due to an early use of the word "fuck."
When the film was submitted to the BBFC in 1967 they requested 29 cuts to remove strong language and crude sexual references from Molly's final soliloquy. In return director Joseph Strick replaced all the offending footage with a blank screen and a high pitched shrieking sound. This resulted in the BBFC rescinding the cuts and passing the film fully intact.
The film was not passed by the film censors in Ireland until September 27, 2000, 33 years after its release.
This was passed for cinema in March 1967 and thus became the first film in the UK to feature the word "fuck". Marianne Faithfull's single use of the word in the film Qu'arrivera-t-il après? (1967) would follow 3 months later.
When first released theatrically the film was deemed so controversial by the New Zealand censors that it could only be screened before gender-segregated audiences in that country.