Nature's Playmates

Nature's Playmates (1962)

** (out of 4)

Diana (Allison Louise Downe) and her private detective boss (Scott Osborne) are hired by a wife whose husband has gone missing. She believes that her husband is at a nudist camp in Florida so Diana and her boss must go undercover to try and find him.

I've often said that of all the sexploitation genres the nudie is perhaps my least favorite. After all, these films are extremely out of touch with the current times and even when you watch them for a nostalgia reason it's hard to sit through their awful stories and slow running times. Herschell Gordon Lewis made a handful of these films and this one here actually wasn't that bad.

Obviously if you're looking for high art then you should still stay away from this but if you're a fan of the genre then there's much worse out there. I thought the lead actress was quite cute and she certainly helped carry the film. As with most nudies, this was shot silent with a voice over track added and even the person doing her voice adds some charm that comes across. Of course, the main reason this film will be viewed today is the for nudist colony scenes and they're pretty much what you'd expect from a film like this. There are some pretty silly moments including dancing the Twist as well as one dealing with taking showers before and after going swimming.

Kind of surprising that Herschell Gordon Lewis made these films. I always thought he made only cheap horror films. I guess he also dabbled in the nudist film genre of the early 60's.

You know the drill. This film is nothing but an excuse to see attractive people, especially the females, walking around in their birthday suits. As was the case for these early films, no morbidly obese women are shown. Today, with PC, you have to show everybody. Maslin Beach or any other cable show about nude beaches are good examples.

The film is notable for the occasional sights of pubic hair. Around this time, they tried to avoid showing that or the penis but you'll see bush on occasion here. Not a bad curiosity piece and it's always cool to see what heaven would look like in 1962.