Police Academy Cast a Real Adult Film Star for Its Most Unhinged Scene — and Warner Bros. Fought to Keep It In

The early ‘80s sure were an interesting time for comedies. Satire and the rise of counterculture flicks changed the landscape of family-friendly comedies that ruled the sixties and early seventies. Movies like Animal House and Porky’s introduced raunchiness as the blueprint for ‘80s comedies, and no movie embodied the zeitgeist better than Police Academy [Budget: $4.8 million | Worldwide box office: $149.8 million | Rotten Tomatoes: 58% Critics / 64% Audience].

A movie that frequently crossed the line and enraged the more “serious” critics of its time, it’s no surprise that Police Academy was rated R right out of the gate. Between the gratuitous nudity and raunchy jokes, one scene stands out as the “true” reason behind the movie’s R rating: Commandant Eric Lassard’s unforgettable speech.

The Prank That Turned Into the Movie’s Most Notorious Scene

In an attempt to smuggle a prostitute out of the academy, Mahoney ends up hiding her under a podium just before Commandant Eric Lassard offers a passionate speech. Unfortunately for Lassard, the sex worker gets to “work” under the podium, offering the Commandant an unforgettable service that made his speech all the more passionate.

Compared to the scenes at the “Blue Oyster Bar,” Lassard’s surprise fellatio isn’t as scandalous as one might expect. At the time, however, it quickly turned into a point of contention among critics who either loved or hated Police Academy based on this single scene.

The Real Adult Film Star Behind the “Hooker” Role

Before playing the elegantly named “Hooker” in Police Academy, Georgina Spelvin rocked the seventies as one of the most prominent pornographic actresses in America. Starring in movies like The Devil in Miss Jones, Spelvin’s cameo in Police Academy was something that only audiences in the eighties would catch – especially if they were into adult films.

Here’s the thing: casting an adult film star in a mainstream Warner Bros. comedy was, at the time, one of the craziest stunts a studio could think of. As popular as provocative cinema was becoming, major studios generally avoided that kind of publicity. Police Academy, however, wasn’t afraid to push the envelope even further if something was funny. And that’s where the critics chimed in – to define what’s funny.

RELATED: Whatever Happened to These 10 Iconic ’80s Movie Stars? Where Are They Now?

Roger Ebert Gave It Zero Stars — and He Wasn’t Kind About It

Legendary film critic Roger Ebert called Police Academy “the absolute pits of this genre, the least funny movie that could possibly have been inspired by Airplane!, or any other movie” in his scathing zero-star review. He singled out the movie’s lowbrow humor – including Lassard’s speech – as vulgar and unnecessary, a sentiment shared by some of his peers. Surprisingly, even Police Academy’s director, Hugh Wilson, wanted to make a much tamer comedy than what we got.

According to Wilson, the original script called for a more explicit act under the podium. They reached a compromise, and Wilson “implied” the situation through Lassard’s facial expressions. The Ladd Company, the film’s production studio, rejected Wilson’s toned-down cut outright and nearly shelved the movie — only restoring the raunchier gags, including the podium scene, got the project greenlit again. Warner Bros. distributed the finished film theatrically. It was a rare case of a movie studio calling for less censorship – the kind of stuff that could only happen in the ‘80s. Read the full backstory at Ultimate Classic Rock.

Provocative, unhinged, and undeniably raunchy, Lassard’s speech is a true classic of lowbrow humor. The movie might have been worth zero stars to critics like Ebert, but we can’t deny it was a cultural landmark… and certainly a scene that would get your film immediately canceled if it showed up in a modern film – until we get another American Pie revival.

RELATED: 35 Years Ago, Charlie Sheen Fried Eggs on Valeria Golino’s Belly for Hot Shots! — Here’s Where She Is Today

As of September 2026, Police Academy is streaming on Philo and AMC+, or available to rent or buy on Prime Video, Apple TV, and Google Play.