What Do You Say to a Naked Lady?

I just watched the 1970 Candid Camera movie, What Do You Say to a Naked Lady, and there's a scene with a tailor who starts caressing women's asses while he fits them for pants and dresses. He really goes to town, he cups their butt cheeks and pats them repeatedly...nowadays, any five seconds of that five minute scene would have landed a bunch of people in prison for sexual assault! What do you think happened in 1970? Most of the women ignored it, a couple discreetly moved out of reach of the guy's grabby hands, and one young lady in a skintight pantsuit turned around and flat out asked the guy "Excuse me, are you French or something?" And then she presumably readjusted her pantsuit, signed the release, and ended up in the movie....things sure have changed ---

I love the first part where the elevator doors open and a lovely naked lady stands there to greet passengers. The candidly diverse reactions are amusing and at times surprising. The movie debuted in 1969, clearly maestro Funt's filmic response to the blooming sexual revolution of that unconventional decade. Mostly it's an entertaining collection of candid set-ups gauging people's responses to the new-found explicitness, both male and female. For example, there're women being suddenly situated with a nude male model, college kids being instructed by a nude female teacher, but mostly probing interviews with folks of all ages on changing sexual mores, some of which are over-extended, perhaps the docu's only drawback. At the same time, the setups with the elderly ladies may be the most entertaining and revealing of all. Then too, I'd love to see some of the out-takes that weren't included; I wonder what they would be.

Overall, there's not as much full frontal nudity as you might expect (strategically placed purses, etc.); nonetheless, it's a naughty and compelling Candid Camera of an unconventional era that's lost little interest over the intervening decades.

This is one of those films where you come expecting titillation and end up getting educated. As mentioned in the other post, people are set up in situations where they unexpectedly encounter nudity-- elevators, classrooms, roadside, etcetera. Then Funt discovers an interesting thing, that when people ARE expecting nudity, in an art class or museum gallery, when the rules change people get flustered. In the art class, for example, the women who were calmly drawing the male nude seem unable to have a conversation with him when he talks to them.

There is an unexpected section of the film, one that Funt admits in the film even surprised him. It is a frank discussion with a call girl, Funt and the woman sitting by a hotel pool talking about prostitution. Funt was posing as a client; the woman is surprising and refreshing in her candor.

People may wonder why the film was rated X. At the time the Film Ratings board had a firm rule that if penises were shown, the film was given a X rating.

This film is the famous "Candid Camera" television show in a feature format, and much more Risqu'e that could have been broadcast. But beyond the amusing laughs of Alan Funt's situations lies a surprising glimpse into the uncensored attitudes of American culture in the midst of social upheaval.

Prevailing sexual and racial attitudes are both surprising and tantalizing. Taboo subjects are tackled in an unflinching way, without comment by the filmmakers - leaving you an unobstructed view on our past culture.

• Andy Somers

My new wife and I saw "What Do You Say To A Naked Lady" in the theater back around 1970 when it was released. Thirty or so years later, I bought the VHS release of this film. Although I certainly don't claim to recall everything I saw in this film in 1970, I do recall some scenes that are omitted on the VHS release. Also, the VHS release seems to have more talking and other less interesting content, such as original reactions of the test screening audience.

In particular, I recall several iterations of the man knocking on the door, which falls in, to reveal a naked lady on the phone, who then asks him to put the door back. In the VHS release there is only one brief episode.

Also, the scene where the man is sent to wait in a room, and all other occupants are naked ladies. That is completely omitted in the VHS release. My complaint is that these scenes, which depict how different people react, contain much of the value of the lesson this film teaches.

I rate the VHS release only about 6 or 7 of 10 because of these omissions. Still, it represents a great lesson in how people react to these unusual situations, and worth seeing.