The Nudist Story

Stephen Blake - "Have you ever been to a nudist camp Miss Robinson?" Jane Robinson - "Certainly not!" "The Nudist Story" is a 1960 British B movie, nicely shot in colour. Jane is a young business woman who inherits her Grandfather's nudist camp, at first she is quite shocked but her opinion changes when she falls in love with Stephen, a lawyer and secretary of said club. I can think of three different driving factors behind this movie - 1. It presents a case for public acceptance of nudist clubs (which is does well). 2. It is a drama/love story. 3. It is an excuse to show of lots of naked flesh. Though the latter is tastefully done I could imagine plenty of men in long coats going to the cinema to see this for a dose of titillation! The budget was obviously quite low, some of the sets look very studio bound and the acting varies from acceptable to poor (Gloria, who tries to put a stop to Jane and Stephen's romance, is played but a very wooden - though attractive - French actress). "Highlights" (for wants of a better word) include watching two couples perform synchronised (or at least they try to be) swimming, seeing Jane strip off for the first time and a song and dance segment. This last bit has the happy campers perform cheesy singing and dancing to band music despite no band being there, and it does drag on. In the UK the movie is rated BBFC 15 yet the excellent Talking Pictures TV screened it with an 18. That was very odd as there is nothing sexual or explicit about this harmless movie, there are even children in the cast, naked along with adults but all quite innocent. I had never heard of this film before and it does not appear in any of my movie books. As something of a curiosity I found it to be a fairly entertaining watch, for a movie made in Britain in 1960 I was surprised by the amount of flesh on display. For people interested in the history of "skin flicks" this is recommended viewing.

It is rather strange that TPTV has given this film a 18 rating but when it was shown in cinemas it was given an A certificate which meant that children under 16 could view it if accompanied by an adult. It has been reclassified as a 15 by the BBFC.

Films such as this would often be shown at the Cinephone Cinema, opposite Selfridges. It would be supporting a Bridgette Bardot X certificate film.

This film is so mildly inoffensive and rather amateur and about as erotic as cold rice pudding.

This film is being screened this week by Talking Pictures, my favourite British TV channel because of its old black-and-white films, though "The Nudist Story" is in rich colour.

It all seems very harmless nowadays,with a number of topless women and glimpses of pubic hair on both sexes. But when it was first released back in 1960 I was 15 years old and was curious about what women looked like and around that time I did watch another nudist film. As I remember it, pin-up photos in girlie magazines and the nudist magazine "Health and Efficiency" had photos of both sexes with the groin areas airbrushed out, so I was a little surprised to see the pubic hair, though in most scenes the actors carefully employed a towel so as not to show very much.

I watched the first part of this film, with its predictable plot, endured the synchronised swimming and then fast-forwarded through the camp concert and the rest of the film. Enough said.

This title popped up on youtube. I'm sure it was marketed for its titillating subject, a throwaway "adult" low-bill title. It's actually fairly well made, with decent acting and production values. The story is exactly what you might expect, but it's not bad. Except for the skin, this could be Disney film.

There is some padding in the middle, where we're treated to not one but two full-length songs. Maybe they were giving the drive-in audience a chance to go to the snack bar. Also, being very English and very 1960, it's extra shades of whiteness.

Although preceded on Talking Pictures by the usual disclaimer that it was rated 18 as "it dealt with adult themes" 'The Nudist Story' is possessed of a childish innocence that today seems quite charming; apart from the industrial-strength consumption of tobacco by many of the cast.

The title serves as a warning, but at first it all seems to start quite innocently with the prim young heroine addressing a group of shareholders around a boardroom table. Although the fact it's in Technicolor already sets it apart it and the eccentric jazz score by Tony Crombie serves as warning that when she goes down to the woods that day she's sure of a big surprise in the form of a group of well-spoken gentlemen and young ladies engaged in the most innocent of pursuits - complete with singalongs - who just happened to wearing no clothes.

Naturally it's all done in the best POSSIBLE taste...!!