Nudist Paradise

Director Charles Saunders was the point of interest for me in this quite typical nudist camp movie. He was a reliable craftsman who made some wonderful British Bs, ranging from the (then-married-team) David McCallum/Jill Ireland in JUNGLE STREET and an all-time sex-tease favorite WOMANEATER.

But in the rigid confines of "permissible screen nudity" as was allowed for these sun-worshipping vehicles, Saunders is extremely laid-back. Attractively photographed in 'Scope, it's merely one of those Something Weird catalog titles that no one watches.

Cornball storyline has a budding romance between American Carl Conway (naturally played by a Brit with OK fake accent) and lovely heroine Anita Love. After a boring 6-minute introduction of a documentary nature, featuring real-life Duke of Bedford who made his grounds at Woburn Abbey famously open to nudist campers, we finally get some nudity. Along with co-worker Katy Cashfield (nice chest compared with our heroine), they visit a nudist camp where we see how wonderful families live under the glorious Sun and absorb the requisite propaganda regarding the virtues of going without.

Katy wins a beauty contest, finds a boyfriend of her own and the two leads get engaged. You may feel the urge to go to the kitchen and make a ham sandwich while this less than scintillating action unfolds.

Odd touch (per IMDb) is that star Anita proved to be a one-shot while her co- stars both went on to mediocre careers including the inevitable guest shot on "Dr. Who". Which merely points up the cultural richness of Jolly Old England - imagine a single country contributed both "Dr. Who" and the Nudist Camp movie genre to the world.