How to Undress in Front of Your Husband

One of the better known "how to" films of the era, this film focuses on how a woman should undress for her husband. The elegant young woman is Elaine Barry, the then wife of move heart-throb John Barrymore. The other woman, Trixie, is a large, heavyset woman, who is the complete opposite of Elaine Barrymore. The film I saw seems to have been re-cut with scenes films in the late 40s or early 50s, showing a man with a camera, a peeping Tom, or paparazzi photographer climbing on rooftops to get the candid shots of the two celebrities. The premise of the film is to show the right, and wrong way for a woman to undress before going to bed. Elaine is cool and collected and takes care of her clothes once she removes them. Trixie, on the other hand, grunts and huffs and throws her clothes down once removed. A funny film to be sure, and a most definite period piece.

This film is believed to be in the public domain, and can be found on the DVD set called "Sex and Buttered Popcorn."

"How to Undress in Front of Your Husband" is a ridiculous exploitation film that is even less sexy that watching your grandma undress! After all, the film really doesn't show anything and has absolutely no allure.

The film begins with a nonsensical introduction where the written material honestly appears as if random sentences were just tossed together. And, while its stated goal is supposed to be about how to spice up your marriage through alluring disrobing, there's a bit involving a peeping Tom which has nothing to do with anything. Then, eventually the film shows two women disrobing and neither is sexy in the least...and one is deliberately unsexy...all the while the narration tries (in vain) to be funny...especially when he makes remarks about the overweight lady.

All in all, I am sure most folks who saw this short film must have been severely disappointed because its content is mostly G-rated AND duller than boiled tofu!

How to Undress in Front of Your Husband (1937)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Exploitation pioneer Esper is best known for his cult titles MANIAC and MARIHUANA but this thirteen-minute short tries to tell women what the best way of undressing is. Actually, I'm not too certain what this film is about as we get an extremely stupid prologue talking about various things that make no sense and then we meet a peeping tom looking at a couple different ladies. Then we meet the beauty who knows how to properly undress and then we meet an obese woman who doesn't. I really hope no one goes to watch this expecting some sort of real lesson as they're going to be disappointed but those who know the name Esper will know to expect trash and that's pretty much what we get. The movie isn't nearly as over-the-top as MANIAC as we only get one brief bit of nudity but it does have the politically incorrect humor aimed at the overweight woman who is shown as a slob (constantly scratching herself) and having really bad lines like "life is a bowl of cherries and she's the pits" thrown at her. The most interesting aspect is that Elaine Barrie, John Barrymore's wife at the time, plays the pretty woman. I was surprised to see her in the picture and the fact that the title credits and the narration makes sure everyone knows who we're looking at. I'm not sure why she'd need to appear in an exploitation movie like this but it's does add some charm. This is a pretty bad movie from start to finish but it is unique as this certainly wasn't normal for 1937 so fans of trash will want to check this out for a few laughs.

Bizarre exploitation quickie that sounds a lot more interesting than it is. Nobody should have to watch Trixie Friganza getting ready for bed.