Blaze Starr Goes Nudist (1962)

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Highly Overrated But Still Good

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Gorgeous and voluptuous redhead knockout burlesque stripper Blaze Starr checks into the Sunny Palms nudist camp in Florida so she can get a much-needed break from her overbearing low-rent agent and various nightclub engagements. While at said camp Blaze meets and falls for camp director Andy Simms (strapping hunk Ralph Young). Writer/director Doris Wishman presents the abundant nudity in the most pleasant and unabashed manner possible; because of this the sight of assorted folks in the buff comes across as wholesome and inoffensive instead of as dirty and objectionable. Moreover, it's a riot to see naked people casually participate in such activities as swimming, practicing archery, and playing checkers, volleyball, and even the accordion. The careful avoidance of potentially objectionable lower frontal nudity rates as a prime source of unintentional hilarity, with all the gals going out of their way to cross their legs so the viewer doesn't see any naughty bits. The obvious post-production dubbing and hopelessly wooden acting further enhance this honey's overall kitschy allure. While Blaze Starr isn't much of an actress, she nonetheless sizes up as quite the deliciously ample eyeful cavorting around in her birthday suit. Raymond Phelan's vibrant color cinematography provides an attractive look. The groovy jazz score and infectiously jaunty'n'catchy theme song keep things bubbling along. Good dippy fun.

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).

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.

I never fully realized the pressures of being an actress. The story obviously hit so close to home that Blaze Starr just plays herself. Anyone who feels exhausted and disenchanted with their job or life in general will relate to Blaze's circumstances. The attention paid to the details is astounding. Never has a film stretched the musical montage sequence and make it work so well with the theme. This movie is nearly perfect. The only flaw was that it was too short.