Diary of a Nudist

Ever watch a dull, plotless movie just to see naked women?

Director Doris Wishman is known for pushing genre conventions to the limit, and here she combines wall-to-wall T&A with a phenomenally predictable storyline and a stunningly silly ending. (A few naked men, too, but they're not the focus.) The unrelenting wholesomeness may be shocking if you're familiar with Wishman's later, far seedier work.

"Diary of a Nudist" is an exploitation film that was made at a nudist colony. Several similar movies were made and proclaimed that they were educational in nature, but they really were just excuses to show some lovely naked bodies to audiences. And, it's pretty hot stuff for 1961, though like other nudie films of the era there are no crotch shots.

Arthur assigns one of his reporters, Stacy, to go to a local nudist colony and write a spicy exposee in order to drum up readership and get the place closed. But, unexpectedly, Stacy finds she likes the folks there and the nudist lifestyle and joins the place. So, Arthur arrives in order to write his hit piece himself. Will he, too, succumb to the naturalist lifestyle?

There really is little in the way of plot....just lots of naked folks. But compared to many other nudie flicks of the era, this one has a bit better production values and lovely bodies (many were, conversely, not so lovely in other films). A strange but watchable curio.

I think that the comments from other reviewers about this nudie-cutie are a little too harsh.This Film is fluffy & contrite yes;but exudes an American ideal of paradise at the time of the Kennedy pseudo-crusade of 'Camelot'.Meaning that America was then riding the crest of a wave of optimism.This Film seems to capture some strange,incongruous 'feel-good' factor that epitomises this.It has the Pine Trees of Florida,the blue of the everglades & the flesh tones of the Sunny Palms Lodge.The music soundtrack is atmospheric mood-jazz & 12-bar blues.Tiki-stone gods & white Chevrolets all add to the genre. We had a similar Film in Britain at the same time: 1961 called 'Naked As Nature Intended' but Cornwall isn't as HOT as Florida (in both senses of the word). I would recommend people not be put off seeing this Doris Wishman gem.It is well worth the current price of a DVD. Having watched this film recently;it has lost none of it's 'feel-good' impression on me.The 'dubbed' dialogue:- I assume is still the original actors?.This gives the film extra charm because the background noises i.e. birdsong,typing clatter are all on the same track.

Diary of a Nudist (1961)

** (out of 4)

Doris Wishman directed this story of a newspaper editor who gets lost in the woods and stumbles onto a nudist camp. Back at his office he talks a female reporter into going to the camp and getting a day-by-day account of the activities. DIARY OF A NUDIST is yet another boring film from the director but I'm actually going to give her more credit than normal because she actually makes this film look like a professional one, which if you've ventured into this genre much you'll know that this isn't often the case with this type of movie. I'll also give Wishman credit for having a good eye for "talent" as the majority of the nudist range from extremely hot to incredibly cute looking. This here is always a major plus but sometimes these films don't deliver that. Obviously the main goal of this film was to show off as much nudity as possible so fans just wanting to see that are going to be in for a real treat. While this here might have been shocking or interesting in 1961, when viewed today you can't help but look at it as being tame. You also can't help but feel incredibly bored because even naked cute girls get boring after a while. There's really no story to speak of and the entire expose of the colony was just used by the producer to make you feel as if you were seeing more than just the nudity. Fans of the genre will probably want to check this out but I'd say most people are going to have a hard time making through the entire thing.

An interesting artifact from a bygone era, the "nudie-cutie" move, like the "nudist" movie and magazine arose during the few years between the allowing of nudity in movies and the de facto legalization of hardcore pornography. And then disappeared when hardcore porn became readily available and the skin magazines more explicit. Like "The Raw Ones" and later "Educating Julie" you can take this one as a "documentary" on the nudist lifestyle or an excuse to see naked bodies-girls-but in an un-explicit and more tasteful manner. I am amused to see the "acting" dismissed as "wooden", seen plenty of big budget productions with big names that did not do any better, and appearing in the buff took a bit of nerve back then. So sit back and enjoy it for what it isi.