A very typical example of the stripper/nudist camp films of the early 60s (see Doris Wishman's earlier "Belle Starr Goes Nudist"), this Virginia Bell vehicle is creaky in the extreme, and of interest only to completists like yours truly.
I've seen practically the entire Herschell Gordon Lewis oeuvre, and even met him at a screening in Manhattan nearly 30 years ago, but have never understood his cult following. (I still watch minor films looking for a gem, not searching for the nonsensical "so bad it's good" chimera.) This early effort, reportedly filmed around the same time of his famous "Blood Feast" is as poorly made as most of his other efforts.
The storyline of William Kerwin searching for his dream girl and finding her after many tiresome reels in the form of Bell couldn't be hoarier. The bad guy is played by producer David Friedman which I guess is of interest to his fans. Nudist camp footage is stock in the extreme, and Bell's striptease is dull filmmaking. After watching it, I quickly stuck a SWV compilation of loops into my DVD player, and was pleased at the more interesting angles capturing Bell's unique form.
For its DVD-R, SWV displayed "black & white" on the box liner, though the in-house reviewer didn't explain what gives. I had seen a full-color trailer for the film and was wondering what would emerge. The 2006 edition presents a much-shortened cut of the film in blurry b&w, missing perhaps 20 minutes, and follows it immediately with a couple of color reels of the same scenes, but even less complete. Comparing the video with the full synopsis in the AFI Catalog 1961-1970 it seems that several subplots are missing.
I've seen practically the entire Herschell Gordon Lewis oeuvre, and even met him at a screening in Manhattan nearly 30 years ago, but have never understood his cult following. (I still watch minor films looking for a gem, not searching for the nonsensical "so bad it's good" chimera.) This early effort, reportedly filmed around the same time of his famous "Blood Feast" is as poorly made as most of his other efforts.
The storyline of William Kerwin searching for his dream girl and finding her after many tiresome reels in the form of Bell couldn't be hoarier. The bad guy is played by producer David Friedman which I guess is of interest to his fans. Nudist camp footage is stock in the extreme, and Bell's striptease is dull filmmaking. After watching it, I quickly stuck a SWV compilation of loops into my DVD player, and was pleased at the more interesting angles capturing Bell's unique form.
For its DVD-R, SWV displayed "black & white" on the box liner, though the in-house reviewer didn't explain what gives. I had seen a full-color trailer for the film and was wondering what would emerge. The 2006 edition presents a much-shortened cut of the film in blurry b&w, missing perhaps 20 minutes, and follows it immediately with a couple of color reels of the same scenes, but even less complete. Comparing the video with the full synopsis in the AFI Catalog 1961-1970 it seems that several subplots are missing.
