L'immorale Mr. Teas

The Immoral Mr.Teas is the first Russ Meyer film, but fans of his work may find this one a bit slow. It's not black and white but with no dialogue it plays like a silent movie, with a quarky soundtrack. Considering it's 1959, this movie is impressive for it's imagination and daring nudity, but will probably only satisfy Meyer completists....

This is Russ Meyer's debut 1959 feature, a nudie movie typical of similar films of the time.

For the brief 61 minutes running time, Mr. Teas wanders about his daily business as a dental supplies salesman, ogling improbably-dressed (for the time) receptionists, dental assistants and waitresses without a care that he might get caught (he never does). Amusingly, he usually does this with his pushbike at his side and his clipboard in his hand. Occasionally, he daydreams of more erotic situations where the girls are completely nude (but never seen full frontal of course, this is the fifties). These fantasies begin and end with an overlaid multicoloured swirl and a boingy sound effect.

Seemingly though, he never wants to do more than look and pull silly faces. There is no sex here, Teas never gets to touch any of these girls, undoubtedly due to the limitations of what could be shown in a releasable film of the time. The women pose and undress but do nothing more racy than that.

The pace is very sedate, nothing happens for five minutes at a time, we just see Teas riding his bike or getting the bus. Meyer fans used to the highly pneumatic girls in his later films might find the rather more conventionally-shaped women here disappointing, but they are generally reasonably good looking.

The direction sometimes exhibits Meyer's trademarks, rapid cuts, cleavage close-ups and tilted angles, but is far more conventional than his later work. There is no dialogue here, just a voiceover that pops up from time to time to explain a few extraneous details.

Overall, this is a sweet, meandering movie, a bit like a Jacques Tati film but with less jokes and frequent nudity. The humour comes in patches, sometimes it is intentional, sometimes not. Seeing Teas spying on an undressing lady virtually right in front of her eyes provides some daft laughs.

Watch out for Meyer himself as a patron in a burlesque club, and June Wilkinson in a role which requires nothing more of her to be seen than her naked breasts at a window.

6/10.

Russ Meyer's debut feature film caused a sensation on original release. It was incredibly risqué for its time and pushed the boundaries of what was permissible. What Meyer basically did with this film was to introduce breasts to the big screen. And for this at the very least many of us should be eternally grateful. Up until this point nudity was very scarce at the cinema, and when it did show up it usually consisted of people playing volleyball in nudist colonies. This movie brought in a much more overt eroticism to the mix. Needless to say, it made an absolute mint at the box office. Clearly these were more innocent times and The Immoral Mr. Teas isn't at all shocking now. Its nudity is really in fact somewhat charming. But historical context is everything in understanding the importance of this movie. And the fact is that this film was groundbreaking.

Unfortunately, it isn't an awful lot of fun to watch now. Its plot is simple – a man discovers that he can see women naked as the side effect of some medication he is given at the dentists. It's basically an excuse to see boobs. But the movie in actual fact is a drag as a result primarily of the lack of synchronized sound and awful endlessly repeated music. There is a narrator who just talks drivel quite frankly. He sounded strangely like Criswell the TV astrologist and star of a couple of Ed Wood flicks. Even Meyer's photography – normally a guaranteed strong point – is below average.

For me Meyer only became a good film-maker from Lorna onwards. Although it's a term I virtually never use, the early nudie-cuties are just a bit dated to really carry much impact. This one has historical importance for sure but it didn't do much for me otherwise unfortunately.

This is Russ Meyer's first venture into stimulating pleasantly adult films… For 1959, it was a big sensation… By today's standards, however, it is quite dull... It is a difficult film to rate because it is so delightful and adorable, but the story is almost nonexistent and certainly dated…

The story is about a dirty-minded voyeur... Through the course of a day, he sees a number of good-looking, big breasted ladies, and tries to attract them for long periods of time... On the weekend, he goes to the beach where he comes across a photographer and a topless model…

Russ Meyer was very careful not to place his characters in sexual situations, but concentrated on rousing the audience… Mr. Teas finds himself with a nude female analyst, for example, but does not try to seduce her…

Such tease was a matter of the film's survival... For the very moment nudity turned into a sexual encounter, it would have certainly been censored

This movie contains some nude scenes, but there is no frontal nudity, because of the time it was made (1959) Although the film has no dialogue , only narration, it's nice to see the way early adult films had to adhere to the strict codes of the 50's. The movie is about a dental parts salesman, who can't help but notice the sexy women in the dentist's office, at the bar and at the beach. Throughout the movie he imagines them nude, and pictures them in suggesting poses. Every time he daydreams about these women nude, he snaps out of it and goes about daily life. The movie is a must see for movie buffs and those interested in history or the American pop-culture of the 50's.