Naked As Nature Intended Film Review

Released: 1961 by Compass Films Ltd. for Markten Film Productions Ltd.
Producer(s): Harrison Marks & John Brason
Music: (studio stock recordings)
Cinematography: Roy Pointer
Directed: Harrison Marks
Starring: Pamela Green, Bridget Leonard, Angela Jones, Petrina Forsyth, Jackie Salt
Narrator: Guy Kingsley Poynter
Rated: A

Naked as Nature Intended is a gem from years ago, a nudist movie that’s more travelogue than nudist film. Made in England in 1961 by the irrepressible maker of British “nudie” films, Harrison Marks, it features England’s foremost nude model of that time – Pamela Green.

The film starts as the narrator describes how three women go on a summer “holiday” and end up nudists. He first introduces them, then two other women who are nudists. We start as the first three friends drive all over England, on their way to Cornwall, stopping off to see the sights in one of those befinned behemoths of the fifties and early sixties, in this case a Buick (it belonged to Marks) with left-hand drive! That in itself is an adventure. I’ve driven in England and, with the roads being as narrow as they are, I can’t imagine driving a boat like that on them. I was glad for the subcompact I was driving!

A relaxed moment as George Harrison Marks takes the girls through their lines.

The first two-thirds of the film have us touring Britain with our three pals. They stop at one scenic site after another on their way to the “inevitable encounter.” Pamela and her friends wind up on the beach in Cornwall to take some sun. Pamela wanders off to explore a little and ends up on Trewyn Beach, which is owned by a local nudist club. There, she comes across a couple of nude female sunbathers – the two we were introduced to earlier. She overcomes her initial shock and talks with them. In a few moments, Pamela asks her friends to join her, and before you can say “topless,” Pamela and her friends decide to bare all and join in the fun.

What follows is a session of the five women cavorting in the waves, tossing a beach ball about, and generally scampering around on the beach in the nude. Eventually, the two nudists invite their three new converts to their nudist park, where we follow them as they enjoy socializing, and the pleasures of just going around in the nude. Incidentally, though the film doesn’t show any frontal nudity from the waist down, as was de rigueur at that time. My copy has a bit of airbrushing over the cleft of the buttocks, which is not always apparent in all the frames. When I questioned Pamela about it, she informed me that the original had no airbrushing. My copy must have been a half-hearted attempt to get it past American censors.

The narrator follows a script throughout the piece, describing the scenic wonders of Britain and waxing poetic about the logical, healthful aspects of life lived without clothes. I suspect the intent was to provide legitimacy for the film so the censors wouldn’t decry the “blatant” nudity that followed. That’s not to say that the nudist ideal wasn’t presented honestly and carefully.

Overall, this is a quaint and charming film from a different era altogether—one where nudity was appreciated and exploited with a bit more innocence than today. As a historical note, I read that a scene where one of the three vacationers is seen showering in the hotel room with the others present was excised because the censors didn’t want any intimation of lesbianism to exist! Overall, Naked as Nature Intended is an interesting film with a clear, wholesome, nudist message—not bad for a “nudie” producer’s effort.

The book Naked As Nature Intended: The Epic Tale of a Nudist Picture is available to purchase from our shop.

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