Manina, la fille sans voiles

Admittedly, Miss Bardot had not yet honed her acting skills, but what an enchanting creature, even at this young age (her 2nd film, I believe). Her dancing work as a teenager must have helped her incredible physique - perfectly proportioned with a nice voice, screen presence and youthful spirit. She would develop over the years (talent), but his film has an appropriate soundtrack and beautiful b/w cinematography.

A 5 out of 10. Best performance = Bardot. Beautiful locale off island with nice forest setting hidden from a rocky beach (what a great place to film).

On the face of it an unremarkable film concerning a young man's search for treasure with much murky underwater cinematography. However the young man is Jean-Francois Calve who is convincing and handsome enough to go on to considerable success in many albeit minor French films and the older guy looking to outwit him is played by Howard Vernon. Here, the much loved Vernon, is fine as he would be in many of his supporting roles including Wages of Fear (1953) but it is his work with Jess Franco for which he is probably best known and the poor man's quality of output tended to drift downward with that of his master, helped no doubt with a tipple or two. The main reason though for watching this is for the early cinema appearance of Brigitte Bardot, then seventeen. And even though the youngster does well enough it is probably the bikini wearing aspect that really caught the attention. Apparently one of the very first times a bikini would be seen on the screen and sufficiently scandalous, apparently, for the British censors to cut the film by almost half an hour, which must be all of poor Brigitte's screen time. As I say, there is nothing very special about the film apart from its participants and the place in history of an article of female swimwear but it is jolly enough and probably what used to be referred to as suitable Sunday afternoon fare, except for those 29 minutes, of course.

Considering that this 1952 Rom-Com/Adventure tale was, indeed, titled - "Manina: The Girl in the Bikini" - I was certainly expecting the Manina character to be the most prominent factor in its plot-line.

But, oddly enough, about 80% of this picture's contrived story-line actually had nothing to do with her, at all.

Like, for instance - It took approximately 40 minutes of other stuff to take place in the story before the darling, young Manina was finally introduced into the action.

And, speaking about the 17-year-old Brigitte Bardot, as the title character - Yes. She sure was quite appealing to behold. - But, with that said - It was certainly hard for me to imagine that in 4 years time this young woman would, indeed, be catapulted into super-stardom by becoming one of cinema's most desirable sex-symbols of all (next only to Marilyn Monroe).

All-in-all - This Parisian production was, pretty much, a disappointing dud, from start to finish.

A teenage Brigitte Bardot in a 1952 style bikini is the only reason to sit through this 85-minute attempt of a movie. More time is spent on scuba diving than Bardot, and I am sure the Producers of this movie knew that. Release multiple times with multiple different titles to make as much money as possible, the only sane reason this movie had any audience was the eye candy of all cinema candys, Brigitte Bardot.

Even though the Tangiers landscape is beautiful with wonderful scenes deep in the Mediterranean Ocean, nobody notices. The only time your eyes are wide open is when Brigitte Bardot appears on camera. When she is not on screen, the film is not worth the price of admission.

The entire cast outside of Bardot is not interesting. The plot, the backstory, and all the characters suck. The main protagonist is unlikeable, and we don't care about what is happening to any of them. Is it worth sitting through all this to see Bardot prance around in a bikini? The answer is yes. Still, it is sad that there is not a single positive male character in the story. Everybody is out to lie or manipulate if not downright take advantage or rape someone in this movie.

The movie falls under no genre. It's not quite a boy meets girl story let alone a comedy or a drama. The movie tries to be everything, including a musical in a few scenes. You could tell it was hard for the filmmakers to find enough of a story to have 85 minutes of a beginning, middle and an end.

In the end, it's a poetic introduction of Brigitte Bardot who right from the get to was exploited for a piece of flesh and nothing else. Kowing this, you would never question why she would leave the industry on her own term before it was too late.

Yes, 18 year old Brigitte Bardot in her bikini really makes this film live on !

However, the most lasting part of the 'Manina'-shooting is a photo. It shows Brigitte naked on her belly, lying on a beach. Torso on the sand, legs in the water. Every BB-addict surely knows it, because it is the only shot showing young Bardot naked (nudity shots from the fifties are very rare anyway). Apart from the nudity this photo also is famous for its magnificent composition. BB's hooked right leg makes the picture alive, while the breaking waves make it move.

Did you know Brigitte's wealthy father was outraged after seeing 'Manina'? He sued the film company for showing his daughter indecently (and lost the case).

Another side of 'Manina': Brigitte is still very young, and her acting is downright terrible. Later on future husband Roger Vadim teaches Brigitte, that nudity alone is not enough to make it in the movies. So Brigitte progresses, reaching her peak in the second half of the fifties. Then she is at her best while playing light comedies.

As I said, back in 1952 BB's acting does not live up to the dream she tries to create. This bad acting gives 'Manina' a charm of its own, I think, because we know now what came afterwards.