First off, the title of the movie is....well you can see for yourself. Secondly, let me admit that this isn't much of an erotic movie but it is a Doris Wishman film and that mean it's in a unique category. I know for many that's along the lines of Dirty Harry Callahan asking if you feel lucky, punk. Well do ya?

No one made movies quite like Doris Wishman. Maybe that's a good thing, but at least there's was one Doris Wishman in this world for while.

And yes, to appreciate the movie, you really do need to know a little bit about Doris.

Doris Wishman was a salty, persistent, one-of-a-kind character who enjoyed telling tall-tales about herself. It should come as no surprise to anyone who knew her, that she lied about her age. Although her birthday at the Internet Movie Data Base was listed for years as being in April of 1925, family members discovered shortly after her death that Wishman was actually born on July 23rd,1912. She was ninety years old when she died in August of 2002. She was in post-production on yet another sexploitation feature when she died.

Doris was the cousin of low budget producer Max Rosenberg (who was the co-founder of Britain’s Amicus company) but she carved out her very own career independently. It wasn’t something many women even thought of doing in the late 1950s. Women producer directors in the U.S. were very rare. In the 'skin' business? No way. Not even Ida Lupino dared. Doris did though.

She made her first film the year after she became a widow in 1959 (HIDEOUT IN THE SUN). It was the first time she ever worked on a movie and it influenced the entire exploitation industry including prolific exploitation producer Dave Friedman. Friedman would eventually produce the H.G. Lewis-directed classics BLOOD FEAST, COLOR ME BLOOD RED and 2000 MANIACS. Although Friedman and Wishman were competitors, they ended up being friends.

In all, Doris Wishman made at least 30 films and contributed to several others. Her last theatrically released endeavor was 1983’s A NIGHT TO DISMEMBER (available as an ELITE DVD with the only commentary track she ever recorded). However, she completed two more: SATAN WAS A LADY and DILD-O HEAVEN (A.K.A. DESPERATE DESIRES) and was in post-production on a third release, EACH TIME I KILL, at the time of her death.

Now the movie ...

Since often the credits and sometimes even the title (ahem) are not accurate I'll list them.

Blaze Starr Goes Nudist (1962)

Directed by Doris Wishman. Written by DW (as Melvin Stanley) Produced by DW. Camera: Raymond Phelan. Featuring: Blaze Starr, Russ Martine (Ralph Young), Gene Berk, William Mayer, Sandra Sinclair, Stephen Bloom, Allison Louise Downe, Joan Bamford, Lee Abel, James Antonio, Warrene Gray, Richard Johnson (XIII), Mary Jo Walls (Wells), Craig Maudslay Jr., Dolores K. Norris and Doris Wishman. Color. Juri Productions/ JER Pictures Inc.

Also known as Blaze Starr: The Original or Back to Nature, Blaze Starr Goes Wild. Released by Something Weird/Image on DVD with the title B.S. Goes Nudist.

Blaze Starr, the redheaded stripper who was once involved in real life with Louisiana Governor Earl Long, escapes from her grueling nightclub work and her somewhat sleazy agent/fiancé (with a drawn on moustache) by ducking into a movie theater playing a movie about nudism. She sees how relaxing and therapeutic it may be.

Yes this Blaze Starr is the real Blaze Starr -- not an actress playing her, but the real person who was the subject of the 1989 semi-fictional movie Blaze starring Paul Newman. In that movie Blaze was played by Lolita Davidovich (who looked nothing like the real Blaze).

BLAZE checks into Sunny Palms (a nudist camp) and loves the lifestyle.

Look there's
. . .
nude checkers,


and over there it is


nude volleyball,


a little nude dancing


nude flower gathering


and


well, well, well,

that's right,


naked archery!


There's all those naked people around the pool too !!!
Some of them are very attractive. Some of them... well maybe they would look better WITH THEIR CLOTHES on.


The underwater swimming footage is ‘borrowed’ from Diary of a Nudist a Wishman movie released the year before.


Anyway, BLAZE falls for the accordion-playing camp director Andy played by Ralph Young (though he’s billed as Russ Martine), of Sandler and Young, (once quite famous) who sings the theme song backed by a young Doc Severinsen and his band (he would later play with Johnny--yep. I don't think we see him in the movie on camera however).

Blaze 'escapes' to the nudist camp on a regular basis. Her agent/manager is seeing less and less of her (while we see more and more--hubba hubba). She's getting uppity with him.

At one point, Blaze talks to her friend about how she's falling for the camp director. Her friend is played by Doris Wishman--making a cameo appearance in her own film!!!

Eventually the agent/manager crashes the party of course. And... well I wouldn't want to spoil anymore of this movie.


From the advertisements: “A starlet during the week, a Nature-Girl EVERY weekend!”,

and my fave:

"A Nudist Starr is Born!".

They don't make them like this anymore.

Gee, Chris that doesn't sound like much of a movie at all!!!

Okay, it isn't. It's a Wishman Nudie Cutie, a chance to see topless girls and naked buns. They are filmed in an incredibly colorful three strip technicolor kind of technique which brings out the blues and reds and everything looks surreal---like a good quality color clip from the 1964 World's Fair if you know what I mean.

You also get to wonder about early 60s Breast Augementation and plastic surgery. Most of the time the very large gravity defying bosom of Blaze looks very good, even though there does seem to be lots of make up on her 'girls'. At other times.. well, I'm just not sure... you had better check this out and fill out a report on this subject.

Doris W. was also further along in her film technique development which meant while people are talking or just because, she'll give us a shot of an ashtray or a lamp or the carpet. Why? She didn't have to worry about matching the dubbed dialogue to the moving mouths of her actors. It was brilliant, inspired and thrifty. Sometimes people just pose and act like they are talking each other, but they aren't... and who cares.. they are naked.

Why would you watch such a thing? CAMP. It's ridiculous, you probably have never seen anything like it. On the one hand it is like a very naive and sweet amateur movie and on the other hand, everyone is naked and some folks were even tabloid celebrities of their time.

Also on the DVD is some trailers of Wishman movies. Oh don't miss these. And there's archival footage of Blaze Starr....which will give you more info for the report on her attributes.

Okay if you want to be part of the Erotic Movie W/0
and just about everyone who matters does... you can join the celebration even if you are very late (it's 2010? and you want to be part of it--go for it). Find out about it right here:

http://www.epinions.com/content_234288680580





Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups