Unashamed: A Romance

"The Unashamed" is unique among nudist exploitation films. Films set in nudist environments were popular from the early 1930s to the mid 1960s. A characteristic of virtually all nudist exploitation films is that they "preach" the benefits of non-lewd social nudity. Physical, emotional, social and spiritual health are all touted as a nearly guaranteed result of sunbathing with others in the nude. In "The Unashamed" one character actually experiences deep human sorrow. Issues of adultery, racism and suicide all make this a prime example of an exploitation film, but they also make the film stand out as the only nudist "volleyball epic" to address human experience in anything like realistic terms. Amazingly, nudism still comes across as pure and life-affirming. The social nudity clearly is not the cause of the problems the heroine faces. After watching dozens (or hundreds) of later nudist movies in which everyone is healthy and happy, "The Unashamed" provides a pleasant, although limited, dose of reality.

Unashamed: A Romance (1938)

** (out of 4)

Robert Lawton (Robert Stanley) is struggling with some health issues and everyone knows he works way too much. Rae (Rae Kidd) convinces him to check out a nudist camp that she belongs to. She hopes he gets better but she also wants him to fall for her. Everything is going good until Barbara (Lucille Shearer) enters the picture.

UNASHAMED: A ROMANCE is a pretty wild film and especially for 1938. The "nudist camp" movie would become extremely popular during the 1960s when all sorts of films would be released so that men could see some nudity. Directors such as Herschell Gordon Lewia and Doris Wishman visited the genre several times but this here is 1938 we're talking about. I've read that the film was banned throughout the country when it was originally released and most people would have had to seen it at midnight showings or ilegal showings.

So, how is the film? At just 64-minutes the film certainly doesn't overstay its welcome and for the most part it's entertaining for what it is. The "story" that is thrown in is pretty weak but I think we all know that the movie was made to show off the nudity. I'm not sure which camp they went to but there's no question that there were a lot of beautiful people who were willing to be nude on the camera. If you're expecting to see some less than attractive people you're going to be in for a shock.

The performances are pretty much what you'd expect from a film like this. If you go through the cast's filmmography you'll notice that most of them only had this film under their belt. Stanley did appear in a few bit role including one in John Ford's THE WHOLE TOWN IS TALKING. With that said, the performances are what they are but it's the nudity that's important here. I mean, that's what the producers were selling and that's why people were buying tickets.

For an exploitation movie, UNASHAMED: A ROMANCE is fairly entertaining and worth watching if you're a fan of the genre.