Takin' It Off

The best scene is when Kitten shakes her enormous chest and there is this sloshing sound as if some sound guy is swishing milk in a balloon offstage. Incredibly bad acting, but who watches a film with Kitten and expects Oscar-worthy performances? Haven't seen this movie in years and would love to find the DVD or even VHS if there is one. If you liked this movie I would recommend anything by Russ Meyer, brilliant director from years ago who only focused on "Kitten proportioned" women. Unfortunately, all the other women in this film are nothing to write home about. Strangely enough though, the opening credits do show a great workout scene and the theme song does kinda get stuck in your head. Bad plot line but would definitely watch again and again and again.

Ultra-low-budget '80s T&A extravaganza with little plot serves as an excuse to show various good-looking women naked. Not a porn flick, although there are porn stars in it, including the mega-chested Kitten Natividad and the spectacular Candie Evans, regarded by many porn aficionados--with good reason--as having the most mind-bogglingly perfect body in all of porndom. The filmmakers were at least professionals, so the photography is clear (always important in a film like this), the sound is good (not so important in a film like this) and the acting is, for the most part, passable (as if that matters in a film like this). The "story" (yeah, like you really care . . . ) has the huge-hootered Kitten trying to find a way to lose "weight" and how she goes about it. That's it. And with the kind of women that are in this picture, that's enough. Worth a look for the gratuitous nudity, especially Kitten's and Candie's, but not something you'd be interested in seeing more than once. Well, maybe twice. Well, maybe three times. Well . . .

My review was written in February 1985 after viewing the movie on Vestron video cassette.

"Takin' It Off" is a throwback to the nudie-cutie films of two decades ago, showcasing several ecdysiasts doing their peeling routines. Unreleased theatrically, feature is a mildly diverting home video entry.

Star Kitten Natividad, well-known through her Russ Meyer films, reteams with director Ed Hansen, who piloted her somewhat satirical 1983 workout tape "Eroticise". Portraying Betty Bigwons (spelling is a guess), she has fun lampooning her image in an absurd storyline: she must lose three inches around her massive bustline in order to qualify for a spot on a tv series. This takes Betty to Dr. Buzz Rauchy's diet institute, to psychiatrist-exorcist Dr. Lucifer Chaser and ultimately to Fosdick's Fat Farm. Meanwhile, the Little Playhouse, a striptease club run by Anita Little (Angelique Pettyjohn) is carrying on minus its star attraction.

Pic features okay dancing, a variety of stripping segments (including a young woman who features a Jim Henson-style puppet in her act christened The Nookie Monster) and some rather strained burlesque-style humor. Nudity is plentiful of course, while the softcore sex content would probably qualify, just barely, for an X rating if submitted for same.. The disco-style title song is played four times through during the padded running time.

I gotta say, I love this premise. There's nothing wrong with breasts that are way over sized, but it's a problem when you need to lose a few pounds to be in a a commercial. We have a nude stripper, among a lot of other beautiful strippers. Nudity is something that runs abundant in this movie, let me warn you. We even have a funny puppet act, in one of em' We do too veer away from the story a few times (only to see other strip acts) in our hot leads quest to lose those pounds. Not that I don't have a problem with that. She goes to a doctor who murmurs some obscenities, but corrects them at the shout of her voice. We even hear another version, a crude version through that satiric V.O of Old Mcdonald, when she goes to a health farm, where we actually see a choreographed dance, to the title number. In some ways this is a clever inventive movie, and if you love nudity, this one's for you. What can I say. Our lead you may of seen in that movie, The Wild Life, where she gets wet and wild in a bubble pool in that strip club, Penn and friend's enter. An adult sex comedy, deliciously naughty, that delivers you'll find.

Have you seen the white whales? This film is the mother lode of Kitten Natividad's extraordinary bosom. C'mon, you HAVE to be curious about those jumbo puppies, uniquely styled somewhere between natural, the usual implant look, and a baby's soft rear end.

Of the 77 "Actress" and "Self" titles listed here at IMDb; I have viewed 12 of them and sought out numerous others. This is by far the most enjoyable and satisfying exhibition of the aforementioned bazooms I have come across. The Russ Meyer films have a novel, outrageous comedic style to them, but the visual presentation is very cluttered with skewed camera angles and extremely fast crosscutting between scenes. They also feature Kitten pre-implants: well endowed, but not nearly as spectacular.

If you really want to feast your eyes on 8th and 9th not-quite-natural wonders of the world, like a dog tilting his head in puzzlement and trying to figure out "How can it be??" … Takin' It Off is the catbird seat. You'll think there's two new balloons coming down 6th Avenue in Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. It's one generous scene after another, in and out of various costumes and situations, with good picture composition, lighting, and close-ups … interspersed with silly comedy and an assortment of other nudie-cutie acts. In addition to the stage show at the strip club where much of the movie is set, there are a couple of very fun group strip scenes at a library and a workout spa.

The sequel—Takin' It All Off— is also quite excellent, with a mix of Kitten (in some new scenes and some flashbacks to Takin' It Off), the literally "outstanding" Candy Evans, the gorgeous Becky LeBeau, and the bevy of other cuties who show their assets quite generously to a great mix of fresh tunes. If you want a little more of Kitten after this, Eroticise is a good extension of the extravaganza.

Sadly, Kitten underwent a double mastectomy for treatment of breast cancer in October 1999 (per the IMDb bio). If you would like to witness her marvelous sense of humor about that misfortune, be sure to check out The Double-D Avenger.