Blaze Starr Goes Nudist

To me, this movie is really charming as a period piece. Even though Blaze Starr had been, at the time of this movie, an established stripper of national fame, she could hardly be called a movie star. But she was perfect for this movie. She had the ideal lush 50's body, along with the hair, makeup, and clothes (in the few scenes where she's actually wearing clothes). There are a couple of scenes where she's walking (clothed), and we get the full bombshell treatment: chin up, hips swaying, projecting her boobs out, and on high heels, yet! There's a real innocence to this movie; partly, I think, to get it past the censors of the day. Blaze, and all the other naked bodies in this film move about and act as normal as anybody - except, of course, they ARE naked. Which makes it funny to watch at times. And all the frontal nudity is from the waist area and up. But what is refreshing is that even with all the skin, there's none of the overt sexuality that exists just about everywhere today, where every 15 year old Paris Hilton wannabe wears a t-shirt that says 'Porn Star'. The era that this film was shot in may not have been a simpler time, but it makes me wish I'd been around back then. This is by far Doris Wishman's best work. The film flows from one languid scene to the next, with unimportant plot devices thrown in here and there. And Blaze really does have a great body. Most of the other women in the film are decent looking, but when they're in the same scene with Blaze, they seem pedestrian. I could watch Blaze all day. The DVD version of this movie is crisp and clear, with little or no sign of age; the colors are rich and spectacular, a joy to watch.

Doris Wishman (the film maker), in this film, managed to do the impossible, something that I thought couldn't be done. She made nudity *boring*! The movie is little more than scenes of naked people in the outdoors, doing mundane things like lounging around the swimming pool, strolling by the pond, playing chess... Zzzzzzzzzz. And since this was 1960, there's no full frontal nudity anywhere. The only part that really got me interested was "Leslie" demonstrating her swimming prowess in the pool. The rest of the film has the flimsiest of plots, something about Belle Starr wanting to get away from it all by escaping to the nudist camp every weekend, as her weasel-like fiancé/manager gets more and more irate. In the end, it all works out -- the final scene, the final meeting with the studio boss, was amusing (though I saw that one coming).

Unlike some of the other Wishman movies, this one has a plausible plot. Real-life stripper Blaze Starr plays a nightclub performer that is suffering from career burnout. One day when she wanders away from her pestering manager she enters a movie theater and sees a movie about a nudist colony. She visits the location and is very pleased when her application is accepted. From that point on she disappears from the view of her professional handlers and spends her weekends at the nudist camp. Blaze finds it very relaxing, but her absence infuriates her manager.

Beyond this plot, the action is pure Wishman and can be summed up with the phrase, "Show female breasts, perhaps some back crack and then show more female breasts." This is most evident in the scene where Blaze and two other women remove towels from a clothesline. They smile and nod their heads but there is no pretense at all that they are actually talking to each other.

Modern viewers will recognize the standard T & A principles of shooting, where the women are careful to keep one leg over the other to avoid any appearance of pubic hair. The shots of the men are even more rigid to avoid the appearance of what is now called "the junk." With activities among the naked people where no attempt was made to have them appear real, this movie was nevertheless a trailblazer in what could appear on film. It was made in 1962, when all but the mildest form of swearing was disallowed in movies and even the partial appearance of a breast due to a female bow was forbidden. If you view this movie with that understanding, then it becomes tolerable and perhaps even enjoyable.

Blaze Starr Goes Nudist (1962)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Doris Wishman made a string of nudist pictures to start her career but on this one she managed to bring in a controversial name. Blaze Starr was a burlesque star who gained headlines after having an affair with Louisiana Governor Earl Kemp Long. Their affair would eventually be turned into a movie with Paul Newman.

This film here has a pretty simple story as Blaze wants to get away from various issues so she skips in to see a movie, which shows a nearby nudist camp. Blaze decides to become a member herself and for a while she keeps it from her fiancé/agent but soon he wants to know what she's doing all the time.

BLAZE STARR GOES NUDIST is a pretty boring picture for a number of reasons but, to be fair, most of these nudist pictures were quite boring. These types of movies were made so that male members could see wall-to-wall nudity and if that's the only thing you're after then there's a lot of it on display here. Thankfully most of the people photographed are good looking so looking them over for 75-minutes isn't a problem.

Of course, the main attraction here is Starr who does eventually take her own clothes off. This was obviously the selling point of the picture so fans certainly won't be disappointed. I would also add that she's really not that bad of a performer. Her performance here certainly isn't Oscar worthy but it's a lot better than you typically see in this type of picture.

With that said, I'd recommend just jumping around to her nude scenes if that's what you're interested in because the rest of the movie is downright lame and boring.

This film is from director Wishman's less interesting early period of nudist camp movies before she totally wigged out later in the 60s. The unintentionally experimental compositions and editing that Wishman later indulged in are rarely in evidence here. One typical Wishman device that is on display here is the repeated technique of focusing on the person being spoken to during dialogue scenes which makes dubbing a lot easier. Blaze is all physical presence, with little personality and way too much make-up. Look for a cameo appearance by Doris as one of Blaze's agents.