I'm watching a 1960 film called The Nudist Story, which I expected to be a cheap voyeur flick of the grubby raincoat on a Saturday afternoon sort, however, I'm pleasantly surprised. The film is silly and the plot simple: attractive but bossy and prim young woman inherits her grandfather's business empire, which includes a 'nudist colony' whose lease is about to expire. She needs to sell some of the assets to pay the death duties and the club's future is in doubt, largely because Little Miss Prim is digusted by nudity. The handsome young director (played by the man who became the first male voice of the speaking clock, in 1985) of the club goes to see her but fails to persuade her to change her mind.
To cut a long story short everything turns out well in the end, and there's a silly bit of romantic drama, however, the portrayal of nudists is positive. One early sign is the change in the woman's behaviour towards her secretary; she goes from petulant martinet threatening to sack the woman for being a little late before her first vist to 'the camp' to offering her the day off because her mother isn't well after it, which I saw as an assertion of the positive mental health benefits of clothes free living and social nudity. Later in the film the woman's stuffy old maiden aunt describes nudists as disgusting and the young woman vehemently states the contrary, remarking that the people at 'the camp' are the cleanest living she has met. It's all a bit simple and slightly OTT but given the, probably just, pre Chatterley trial date of release, the trial at which counsel for the prosecution, Mervyn Griffith-Johns, asked the jury "would you approve of your young sons, young daughters — because girls can read as well as boys — reading this book? Is it a book you would have lying around your own house? Is it a book that you would even wish your wife or your servants to read", necessary as subtelty was unlikely to have made much impression on audiences constrained to behave as my parents used when the subject occasionally arose on television.
There is a surprising amount of nudity, discreet but still obvious, with women's breasts, from a modest but not great distance, and bottoms on show and a naked man moving about with a newspaper picked up from a table and held in the right place. In one near close-up a woman's breast and nipple peep from an open shirt, which most of the female cast wear most of the time in the studio shots, with men wearing swimming trunks, which all seemed more than a little absurd. There is a daft scene in which the members have a rock and roll music evening, all dressed in swimming gear and brightly coloured shirts, however, there are some happy children present, which makes the point nicely, and one in which a long line of 'nudists' troop through a grassy clearing in the studio wearing the the trunks and shirts, and are then filmed naked playing in the pool. Daft stuff but it does make some helpful points and isn't obviously aimed at the dirty mac and spotty youth market. One aspect of the film that is notable is that the most vociferous and strident opponents of the 'the camp' are the two principal women and both are won round after visiting and seeing that nudists aren't deviants after all.
The word 'naturist' is used once, 'nudist colony' once and there is one double entendre, which fits into the script well, as an inadvertant slip laughed off by the young female club owner who made it, and is not obviously aimed at the sniggering Sun reader. As a film it's just another flimsy supporting picture made on a budget, however, as a piece of lifestyle education almost certainly released before servants were allowed to read Lawrence's mucky book I think it does well.
The film can be seen here (you may need an account): (Useless link removed)
