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This docudrama dives into the story of Playboy magazine's charismatic founder, Hugh Hefner, who created one of the world's most recognizable brands. The series is a combination of interviews, archival footage (including moments found in Hefner's vast personal collection) and cinematic re-enactments that cover the launch of the magazine as well as the next six decades of Hefner's personal life and career. While building his empire, Hefner also devoted time to defending civil rights, freedom of speech and sexual freedom.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00it was 1962 and America was changing the space program was in full swing and John Glenn became
00:17the first person to orbit the earth Johnny Carson was named the new host of the tonight show and
00:25the Cuban Missile Crisis which had kept the country on edge for 13 days came to an end while American
00:34culture was shifting the world of Playboy had exploded our magazine had over one and a half
00:48million readers each month and the Playboy Club had become the biggest party in Chicago with over a
00:58hundred thousand key holders with the mounting success of the Chicago Club it was time to take
01:11our party national and I knew the perfect location for the next Playboy Club New York City but the
01:23competition was tough New York was home to some of the world's hottest and most iconic nightlife so I
01:30sent Victor Lowndes to get a better feel for the market I found a perfect location on East 59th Street
01:42I was staying at the Plaza Hotel and I noticed a for rent sign on a building that I could see out of my
01:52window at the Plaza Central Park here Cartier Tiffany's and you see these picture windows here all the
02:04advertising will need when people walk by and see that spiral staircase filled with a rainbow of
02:10bunnies we got him Michael renovations began we should be clear to start in two weeks I'm finalizing
02:16everything with the Department of Buildings today which reminds me Victor preliminary budgeting has us
02:21to 2.5 million right now we're overextended by a lot we're pre-selling memberships that'll help no it
02:26will help you're right but Bob it's New York I know it's New York but it doesn't hurt to limit risk
02:32this is what I want this design at this address to me that's worth the risk they put seven million
02:45dollars into renovations and that was a huge amount at that time and that did not even take into account
02:52the advertising budget so Victor really had high hopes for this club being really the jewel in the
02:59Playboy Club chain with our plans in place we started construction
03:07and at seven stories high the club would have twice the capacity of our Chicago location
03:19but I soon realized that doing business in New York had risks I hadn't anticipated to open a club you
03:32needed a liquor license and to get a liquor license you had to go through the state's licensing board but no
03:40state government was more corrupt than New York's Albany was since the 19th century and continues to
03:51this day a cesspool of corruption you want to get anything done in New York State you got to pay
03:56somebody you got to pay some elected official right to get the go-ahead that is how things are done in New
04:05York soon enough we were informed that in order to open our club we had to pay a corrupt government
04:13official a bribe of a hundred thousand dollars this is blackmail that's how it works
04:26well we're not paying them we need to open the club now and we can't do that without a liquor license
04:33plus we've already started selling memberships and we have over 10,000 customers who are already
04:38paid how would they react if we cancel the opening Arnie insisted that payoffs were the cost of doing
04:44business but paying a bribe went against everything I stood for
04:56after this extremely moral person you had to pay and there were so many trumped-up charges and efforts
05:09to indict us for things that we didn't do wrong that we had to keep our nose clean I knew it was a risk
05:19to involve playboy in any illegal activity but if we wanted to get our liquor license to open our club
05:27I had no choice so I paid the bribe
05:32what I didn't know then was that in going against my conscience I was making a decision that would haunt
05:50playboy for years to come
05:56every little movement
05:58every little thing you do
06:02is it's light of hand
06:06that commands my heart
06:08to love you
06:10every little movement
06:13every little movement
06:17on December 8th 1962 after a rocky start our biggest venture yet the playboy club New York
06:34finally opened its doors
06:36with its spiral staircase elevated piano bar and 360 degree fireplace it was even more stunning than our Chicago operation
06:55we had comedians and singers a queue around the block
07:06it was a huge success rate from the start
07:09you cried me a river
07:11you cried me a sea
07:14and I believe without a doubt
07:18that you really really really love me
07:20don't cry no
07:21and I had the most beautiful date in the room
07:32my girlfriend
07:36Cynthia Maddox
07:37Cynthia wasn't the only woman I dated
07:41but any time I was at the club
07:43she was at my side
07:45within weeks
07:48we were averaging over 3,000 guests a night
07:51not bad huh
07:55not bad at all
07:57you cried me a river
08:00you cried me a sea
08:03and I knew if we could conquer the New York nightclub scene
08:06we could succeed anywhere
08:09within a year
08:11we had playboy clubs in Miami
08:14New Orleans
08:15St. Louis
08:16Phoenix
08:17Detroit
08:18Baltimore
08:19Kansas City
08:20Cincinnati
08:21and Los Angeles
08:23playboy was on top of the world
08:29but just when it seemed like everything was going our way
08:33the decision I made months earlier
08:37was about to threaten the entire playboy empire
08:41Bob
09:06sorry I know it's early
09:08it's 10 a.m.
09:10it's important
09:11just a few months after the New York club opened
09:16my staff caught wind of a government operation
09:20that could shut us down
09:22New York governor
09:29Nelson Rockefeller
09:30had announced a corruption investigation
09:33with a specific focus on the state liquor authority
09:36the same organization
09:39that had forced me to pay a bribe
09:40to get my club open
09:41I knew it was only a matter of time
09:45before Rockefeller's investigation
09:47would lead directly to playboy
09:50Hefner had apparently given a bribe
09:54to two New York state officials
09:56the chairman of the Republican Party of New York
09:59and the chairman of the state liquor board
10:01in Hugh Hefner's mind
10:04he had done what he needed to
10:06to get Playboy's liquor license in New York
10:09practically every club owner in New York City
10:14had paid a bribe
10:15but I knew our success made us a big target
10:20and if investigators found out
10:26the club could be shut down
10:27the Playboy name could be tarnished
10:31and we could face criminal charges
10:34to save Playboy's reputation
10:40and my own
10:41I decided there was only one thing to do
10:44Once one succumbs to a bribe transaction
10:57you are hooked
10:59forever
11:01We went to the district attorney's office
11:07in New York
11:07and we told them what had occurred
11:11and they said they would work together on this
11:14first time
11:15I think that had ever happened in New York
11:17Hefner and Morton
11:21the way they felt about it
11:22had a certain rationale
11:23and with all the evidence
11:26we even paid the bribe with a check
11:28and I mean
11:30so there was no question about evidence
11:32and there was no question about blowing the whistle
11:35I followed through with my promise
11:39and turned over all of our books
11:41By handling it
11:46the way we handled the approach
11:49works out in the end
11:51and the word gets out to these people
11:53that you cannot touch us
11:55with these unlawful suggestions
11:59After months of investigation
12:09and a high profile trial
12:11Judson Morehouse
12:13the man who had forced us to pay the bribe
12:15was removed from office
12:17disbarred
12:18and convicted on charges
12:20of both corruption
12:21and extortion
12:22Our testimony proved so vital
12:29to the state's case
12:30Playboy was forgiven
12:32on all counts
12:34Hefner had in fact come clean
12:37and then he did whatever he could
12:39to break the whole scheme of corruption
12:41by providing testimony
12:43against these two guys
12:44who were convicted
12:45While I was dealing with the clubs
12:50the world was changing
12:53And I quickly realized
12:58Playboy needed to change with it
13:00The pill came in in 1960
13:06and there were topless go-to-go dancers
13:09in both New York and San Francisco
13:11and the sexual revolution
13:14has become a reality
13:15and with that a permissiveness
13:16that offered a new possibility
13:19in terms of freedom
13:19It was also a time of revolution too
13:24and you can't separate that either
13:25I have a dream
13:28It was a time of questioning
13:30old mores and values
13:31It was a reaction
13:33to the very repressive values
13:35that had existed
13:36in the 40s and 50s
13:37It was questioning
13:38a lot of the fundamental views
13:41that people saw were hurtful
13:43Behold these truths
13:44to be self-evident
13:46that all men are created equal
13:48At City Hall Park
13:51another multitude
13:51welcomed a young
13:52Democratic base stater
13:53With John F. Kennedy
13:56pushing a progressive agenda
13:57in the White House
13:58It seemed like America
14:00was on the cusp
14:01of a new era
14:01And I knew then
14:04the Playboy needed to be
14:05at the forefront
14:06of the revolution
14:07I ain't hanging around my bed
14:10We began publishing articles
14:27tackling the changing times
14:28We slammed nuclear testing
14:32Criticized America's corrupt auto industry
14:36And blasted America's outdated
14:39government leaders
14:40We were even covering social issues
14:45like economic reform
14:46Even some of my early critics
14:49had to admit
14:50the magazine was doing important work
14:52The come on for Playboy in the 60s
14:58was the fact that you were going to see
15:00the Playmate of the Month
15:01Once you bought the magazine
15:04and began to read it
15:05then you understood
15:06that there was stuff worth looking at
15:10worth reading
15:11worth thinking about
15:13and some of it
15:14was indeed groundbreaking
15:16Playboy in its 10th year
15:19was becoming more influential
15:21than ever before
15:22Writers, cartoonists, photographers, artists
15:29They all wanted to be part
15:30of this cultural revolutionary
15:33piece of work that we were doing
15:36And some of them
15:38and many of them
15:39actually worked
15:40for less than their normal fees
15:42just to be part of it
15:44Because I was the face of the company
15:48I wanted to start my own column
15:51to address topics I cared about
15:53From drug law reform
15:55to separation of church and state
15:58I called it the Playboy philosophy
16:01But our biggest addition
16:07was inspired by the conversations
16:09I was having with celebrities
16:11and intellectuals at my parties
16:13and on my TV show
16:14I thought it would be great
16:16to give them a platform
16:17to talk about the issues
16:18they cared about
16:19And I knew our readers
16:20would love it
16:21We called it
16:29The Playboy Interview
16:30The first Playboy interview
16:34was with my good friend
16:35Miles Davis
16:36In an interview that took place
16:40over two days
16:41He went beyond talking about music
16:44and opened up about his experience
16:47as a black man in America
16:49The magazine wanted to prove itself
16:53to be broad-minded
16:54Miles Davis was this very important guy
16:58The interview was comprehensive
17:00patient
17:02finely edited
17:04Over the next few months
17:09we interviewed Peter Sellers
17:11Jackie Gleason
17:13and Ayn Rand
17:15The interviews themselves
17:19could have up to 40 hours of material
17:22compiled over weeks
17:24or months
17:25Well the thing that makes
17:27The Playboy Interview
17:28completely unique
17:29is
17:29it's incredibly in-depth
17:32I mean
17:32who's going to give
17:33you know
17:34somewhere between
17:3510 and 25 hours
17:36to
17:37an interviewer
17:38you know
17:38I mean
17:39especially now
17:40when
17:41every celebrity
17:42is so completely
17:43controlled by publicists
17:44By spending so much time
17:47with celebrities
17:47we developed a rapport
17:49and they shared things with us
17:52they would never tell
17:53any other publication
17:54It was a big status thing
17:56to do the Playboy Interview
17:57and I think I answered
18:00some things perhaps
18:01a little more frankly
18:03than I normally would
18:04thinking I'm in the big time
18:06of Playboy now
18:07The Playboy Interview
18:13went on to become
18:14one of the most iconic features
18:16in the magazine's history
18:17The interview was
18:19in the first 20 years
18:21you'll see
18:21that they are like
18:23a classical symphony
18:25one melody leads
18:26into the next melody
18:27and the third melody
18:28is a counterpoint
18:29on the first melody
18:30There is a
18:34comprehensiveness to them
18:35Many years later
18:38Steve Jobs said
18:39about his first
18:40Playboy Interview
18:41it was the single best thing
18:44in media he had ever done
18:45With all of our new editorial features
18:55there was so much to do
18:57at the magazine
18:57that I had little time
18:59for anything else
18:59including my girlfriend
19:02Cynthia
19:03I've got to get this done by tonight
19:06I've got to get this done by tonight
19:07Why I am feeling
19:08I've, uh, I've got to get this done by tonight.
19:38Can you be, the night is so old, and I'm so all alone, I give my soul, just to call you my own,
20:05I've got a mood above me, but no one to love thee, love and my neck, and me.
20:16You're really not making this easy for me, but I have to work, okay?
20:24Over it is as a thrill of romance.
20:33Can't believe it.
20:37I knew I should have been spending more time with Cynthia, but my devotion to the magazine
20:57was far from the only problem in our relationship.
21:01He dates other girls, and I don't like it.
21:05He knows I don't like it.
21:07He doesn't like when I date, and he feels it's wrong when I date.
21:11Discussions go back and forth, and we try to work things out, but I don't know what's going to happen.
21:16You know, it just continues on.
21:23I'll be right back.
21:29Cynthia was a very vibrant young woman, and they had a romantic relationship.
21:35Hefner never indicated that he was a one-woman man,
21:39and that was not to Cynthia's liking, as one can imagine.
21:50Throughout all the years with Playboy, I never had a monogamous relationship.
22:00I think I was committed to that lifestyle.
22:04It was a young man's fantasy.
22:07I was in a unique position as the publisher of Playboy.
22:11Hmm.
22:14Well, let's set it up.
22:16Or try to.
22:20I'll call you back, Speck.
22:22Okay.
22:26Everything okay?
22:28It's great.
22:30These heels, though, they're a killer.
22:34Well, I'm sure if you talk to the bunny mother, she'll let you go back to the dressing room and take five.
22:39Well, I don't know.
22:40She seems pretty strict.
22:42Plus, it's always fun to break the rules every once in a while, isn't it?
22:47I don't know.
22:57Cynthia Mannox is really beautiful.
22:59Hef fell in love with her.
23:02They started dating.
23:04But Cynthia wanted to have a relationship with them.
23:08She just didn't want to be another girl.
23:11And Hef wasn't prepared for that.
23:14In the spring of 1963, my relationship with Cynthia came to an end.
23:25Part of what my pursuit of happiness has been all about has been an attempt to walk a different road.
23:31And when you're walking a different road without a map, you're going to make mistakes.
23:38And, you know, when you're involved in a series of romantic relationships, the nature of that is going to hurt.
23:48I was sad to see Cynthia go, but work was a welcome distraction.
23:53And soon, bigger issues of the day were taking up all of my attention.
23:58Now! Now! Now! Now! Now! Now! Now!
24:03The Negro still is not free.
24:08The Civil Rights Movement was gaining momentum.
24:11But the peaceful demonstrations advocated by Martin Luther King Jr.
24:16Soon gave way to violence.
24:24As police in Birmingham, Alabama, brutally assaulted black protesters.
24:30We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.
24:46Playboy had been involved in civil rights issues for years.
24:49And we weren't going to stop now.
24:51We did everything there was to do about civil rights.
25:00It was an overwhelming fact that black people were badly treated and that the magazine should do what it could to make that better.
25:10The thing about the magazine that nobody realizes is it was the only magazine in America that was fearless on any topic you gave it.
25:19Playboy could cover it and could cover it honestly.
25:24In early 1963, a new leader in the Civil Rights Movement had captured the nation's attention.
25:35Malcolm X was a polarizing figure.
25:40Who, unlike Dr. King, encouraged violence as a means of protest.
25:44We need an organization that no one downtown loves.
25:47We need one that's ready and willing to take action.
25:51Any kind of action.
25:53Not when the man downtown sees fit, but when we see fit.
25:57By any means necessary.
26:00Malcolm X was a black nationalist who thought white people were barbaric by not allowing us to use for the facilities.
26:07In that season of fear and polarization driven by former slaveholders and segregationists, the argument was Malcolm did not deserve a platform.
26:18In the spring of 1963, Malcolm X agreed to sit down with us.
26:23Malcolm X agreed to sit down with us.
26:29We can't publish this.
26:31The white man must realize that the sins of the fathers are about to be visited upon the heads of the children who have continued those sins only in more sophisticated ways.
26:40This is practically a declaration of war.
26:43If I'm not mistaken, it's what he's been saying for years.
26:45It is not our place to get involved in his crusade.
26:48Why not?
26:50Because we're white?
26:51Because we don't like what he's saying?
26:53Look, we've fought for years against censorship of all kind to be able to express ourselves the way we see fit.
27:00Live our life how we want to.
27:01Let's not become hypocrites here, Speck.
27:05You print this as is.
27:10Malcolm X.
27:12His message was really important, but his rhetoric and language was definitely threatening, even to those who had embraced civil rights.
27:24Black people, you cannot trust the white devil.
27:26The white devil will always try to keep you in chains.
27:31So the fact that you would have Hugh Hefner giving Malcolm X an interview in Playboy magazine.
27:39Oh, man. Now that's wild.
27:43Hefner stood almost alone in the social political world as a force to be dealt with.
27:48He was courageous because he was being encouraged to not publish the Malcolm X interview.
27:53He did not surrender.
27:57We knew that publishing the interview could mean losing subscribers.
28:02But I was willing to bet America was ready to hear his words.
28:06As it turns out, I was right.
28:11After the Malcolm X interview ran, letters poured in from all over the country, thanking us for covering his movement.
28:18After nearly a decade, Playboy magazine was finally being recognized as much for its editorial content as for its centerfolds.
28:34But that was all about to change.
28:41I'm sorry.
28:48I'm sorry I was going to say,
28:57I'm sorry.
28:59I'm sorry.
29:00I'm sorry.
29:02But I'm sorry.
29:04I'm sorry.
29:05You are sorry.
29:07I'm sorry.
29:09I'm sorry.
29:12I was just a little bit before the the world's calling.
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