Review of "Blaze Starr Goes Nudist," a Doris Wishman movie

 Review of

Blaze Starr Goes Nudist, a Doris Wishman movie

Four out of five stars

Tame now, groundbreaking then.

  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.