Hideout in the Sun

by Fuggy

Retro-Seduction has been quite busy putting out a bunch of DVDs which offer a crash course in the early history of softcore films. If you're curious about studying that history, then this is a good place to start; if you're looking for some hot softcore action, then don't start here. There's only boobses and buttses on display here.

This is Doris Wishman's first film. It was thought long lost until Doris herself found a pristine print of the film hiding away in her garage. This is the first of 8 nudist films she directed in the early 1960s, and one of the first American nudist films ever.

The plot, such as it is, involves a woman who is kidnapped by some bank robbers and taken to a nudist camp, the "Hibiscus Country Club," where the bad guys figure they'll be far enough away from the prying eyes of the cops. I dunno. If I were a cop in 1960, the nudist colony is the first place I'd look, just for kicks. Think how easy the strip searches would be.

In these early years, you couldn't just show nudity on film for no reason. It had to be regarded as legally valid, not obscene, and one way of justifying it's inclusion in your film, wink wink, was to portray nudity as a natural lifestyle choice. But this isn't real naturism. This is screen nudity masquerading as naturism. You get women and men lounging around a pool, walking around, aimlessly, and inevitably playing a game of nude volleyball. Life at a nudist camp seems so utterly boring.

However, no amount of legal wrangling could justify the portrayal of pubic hair, or—worse yet!—genitalia, so you get strategically placed towels, and shrubs, and everyone seems to carry around a frickin' beach ball. At one point there's even a crudely drawn white-picket fence laid over the scene. LOL!

But if you want to see where we came from, compared to where we are now, you could do worse than watch this for a laugh. Retro-Seduction also piles on the extras, including interviews and a very informative commentary track. The packaging is superb.

It's also a beautifully-shot film that makes you pine for the lost world of Miami Beach in the late 1950s, nudity or not. There's sunshine, blue skies, the beautiful Bay of Biscayne, and cool vintage cars, reptiles, and ostriches wandering about. Some flamingoes show up later on in the film; but trust me, they're the only pink you'll see in this movie.