Nudity in film: Difference between revisions

From the earliest days of film-making, most nudity in film has been female. Many actresses have appeared on screen in some level of nudity. However, in recent years^[when?] sometimes males have also been represented.

Nude photography before cinema

American actress

If total nudity was not achieved, then sheer nudity was. Skin-tight flesh-colored attire existed in the era immediately before the invention of motion pictures. Stage actresses would pose in very provocative attire leaving little to the imagination, for roles such as Lady Godiva.

In the 1880s, Eadweard Muybridge, at the dawn of the invention of the motion picture, used a device he called a zoopraxiscope to project a series of successive still photographs. The photos would then be played one after the other giving the illusion of movement. Sometimes the same sequence would be filmed using several cameras. Many of Muybridge's photographic sessions using the zoopraxiscope had nude anonymous models, both female and male, and indeed even Walt Whitman and George Bernard Shaw posed nude for a session.^[5][6]

Early films: the silent era

The first films containing nudity were the early erotic films. Production of such films commenced almost immediately after the invention of the motion picture. Two of the earliest pioneers were Frenchmen

Inspiration, a silent film released in 1915, is believed to be the first American motion picture with a leading actor in a nude scene.^[12] The context of the nudity in the film was that of an artist's model, played by Audrey Munson, at work. Munson appeared nude again in a similar role in the 1916 film Purity. A feature of these films was that Munson was a tableau vivant, not being required to move, and only her backside was in view. Annette Kellerman, the famous Australian swimming star, appeared fully nude in an active role in Fox's A Daughter of the Gods in 1916. Though shot from the front, most of Kellerman's torso is covered by her long hair.^[13] Kellerman had appeared in several lost films prior to 1912, but whether she did nude scenes in them is unknown. A couple of her films from 1910, thought to have been lost, have been rediscovered in Australia.

Several early films of the

Years later, when the Hays Code came into force, these films were considered too obscene to be reshown. Most of these films are now lost.

In

The silent film era came to an end in 1929. In 1930, the

After the end of silent films, movies with sound that included brief glimpses of nudity appeared as early as 1931 with

Due to the

Repression, 1934-1960s

Though in place, the code was not enforced until 1934, spurred on in response to objections voiced by several groups to the content of Hollywood films – provoked at least partly by the notorious 1933 Czech film Ecstasy, which was highly controversial in its time largely because of a nude swimming scene by Hedy Lamarr as well as perhaps the first non-pornographic film to portray sexual intercourse,^[16] although never showing more than the actors' faces. It has also been called the first on-screen depiction of a female orgasm.

The restrictions of the production code were strictly enforced from 1934 until the early 1960s to restrict nudity in films produced by the studios. United States produced films were also under the scrutiny of moral guardians, such the Catholic Legion of Decency, which had an influence on the content and subject matter of films in the 1930s and 40s. They were also subject to constraints of state censorship authorities. These bodies followed inconsistent guidelines through which the film producers had to navigate; with some films being exhibited in cut versions in some states.

The Hays Code was so strict that even the display of cleavage was controversial. Producer

Other films containing nudity were the early underground 8mm pornographic films and fetish reels which, due to various censorship regimes, had only limited (usually clandestine) means of distribution and were only shown in private until the 1970s.

Nudist films

Several nudist films were produced in the 1950s and 60s, although the genre has roots dating back to the 1930s with such titles as This Nude World (1932) by Michael Mindlin and The Unashamed (1938) directed by Allen Stuart. Hobart Glassey produced Elysia, Valley of the Nude (1933). Famous examples of nudist films of this period included Garden of Eden (1954) directed by Max Nosseck and Naked Venus (1958) directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. Other producers and directors active in the genre included David F. Friedman, Herschell Gordon Lewis, with films such as Daughter of the Sun (1962), and Barry Mahon. Filmmaker Doris Wishman was probably the most active producer/director in the genre, with eight nudist films to her credit between 1960 and 1964, with films Hideout in the Sun (1960), Nude on the Moon (1960), Blaze Starr Goes Nudist (1962), Diary of a Nudist (1961), Gentlemen Prefer Nature Girls (1963), Playgirls International (1963), Behind the Nudist Curtain (1964), and The Prince and the Nature Girl (1964). Ramsey Harrington produced For Members Only (1960), Arthur Knight produced My Bare Lady (1963) and Leo Orenstein (under the pseudonym Alan Overton) directed Have Figure, Will Travel (1963).^[18]

Exploitation producer George Weiss also released films such as Nudist Life (1961), which comprised vintage nudist camp footage. In the same year, in England, Harrison Marks released Naked as Nature Intended which starred Pamela Green and was a box office success. (Marks soon went to make softcore pornographic and caning/spanking fetish films.)^[18]

Nudist films claimed to depict the lifestyles of members of the nudism or naturist movement, but were largely a vehicle for the exhibition of female nudity. They were mainly shot in naturist resorts, but augmented by attractive glamour models. The nudity was strictly non-sexual and when filmed frontally the members' pubic area was strictly covered by the angle of shot or some clothing or other objects. There was uninhibited exposure of breasts and backsides though. The acting and technical production standards were not very high and the outlets for their exhibition were very limited, as was the size of the audience interested in these films, and many films were re-released several times under new titles, to trick patrons into seeing the films additional times. What audience there was lost interest in these films by the mid-1960s and production ceased.^[18]

Nudie-cuties

At the same time, some

The exhibition of female bodies in the nude came into mild, but mainstream competition in the so-called beach party films which started in 1963 and proved surprisingly popular. There were many imitators and series in this genre. Though there was no direct toplessness, the genre featured youthful females spending most of their time in brief bikinis while the young attractive, fit male counterparts spent much of their time barechested. The added attraction was the music, playful atmosphere and dancing and the quality of the production (though plots were typically thin but included some mild romance), as well as the fact that these films could be viewed at "family" theatres and at drive-ins, and in a mixed audience. The females who appeared in these films were invariably youthful, shapely and full-breasted. Interest in these films waned by about 1966.

Challenges to the Hays Code, 1960-1966

In

In 1963, Jayne Mansfield was the first mainstream American actress to appear nude in a starring role in Promises! Promises! Photographs of a naked Mansfield on the set were published in the June 1963 edition of Playboy. The film was banned in Cleveland, but enjoyed box office success elsewhere. As a result of the film's success, Mansfield landed on the Top 10 list of Box Office Attractions for that year.^[19] Mansfield's autobiographical book, Jayne Mansfield's Wild, Wild World—which she co-wrote with Mickey Hargitay—was published directly after the release of the film. It contains 32 pages of black-and-white photographs from the movie printed on glossy paper.^[20]

The Pawnbroker, released in 1964, breached the Motion Picture Production Code with actresses Linda Geiser and Thelma Oliver fully exposing their breasts.^[21] Allied Artists refused to cut the film and released it to theaters without a Production Code seal. The nudity resulted in a backlash from moral and religious conservatives, including the Catholic Legion (which by that time had become a virtually powerless fringe organization). However, critical and overall public response was positive, and many Catholics rebuked the Legion's condemnation of the film. The National Council of Churches even gave the movie an award for Best Picture of the Year.^[22]

The

By now the Production Code had been revised so that it served less as a doctrine of rules and more as a workable set of precautions, including those on sex and nudity, to which filmmakers were advised on the more graphic depictions and given exceptions that could be made. It gave the MPAA the power to label certain films that were seen as containing adult or provocative material as "Suggested for Mature Audiences". In some instances this was shortened to "S.M.A.", as with the 1967 release of In Cold Blood, which was also exhibited with an age restriction that foreshadowed the R rating, primarily for its violence.

By 1967, the MPAA had abandoned the Production Code altogether. In November 1968, the voluntary film rating system was implemented.

Sexploitation films in the U.S. and Japan

By mid-1960s, erotic independent films took on a harder edge with the end of cute, non-sexual erotic nudity of the nudie-cutie type and the ascent of nudity in a mix of sex and violence against the women known as "roughie"

Sexploitation films initially played in grindhouse theatres[25] and struggling independent theaters. However, by the end of the 1960s they were playing in established cinema chains.^[26] As the genre developed during the 1960s films began showing scenes of simulated sex.^[27] By the late 1960s the films were attracting a larger and broader audience, including couples rather than the single males who originally made up the vast majority of patrons.^[28] The genre rapidly declined in the early 1970s due to advertising bans, the closure of many grindhouses and drive-in theaters and the growth of hardcore pornography in the "Golden Age of Porn."^[25]

Frost's

Violence, sex and nudity also found their way into mainstream films such as Stanley Kubrick's controversial 1971 crime film A Clockwork Orange and Bernardo Bertolucci's 1972 romantic drama Last Tango in Paris which fully exposed then 19-year old attractive Maria Schneider. As a result of her experience with the film and her treatment as a sex symbol rather than as a serious actress, Schneider resolved never to work nude again. The 1969 Ken Russell film Women in Love of the D. H. Lawrence novel had a nude wrestling scene between the two male co-stars, and the British film censor John Trevelyan who had passsed the film received a complaint that they were "displaying their genials" (sic).

Restrictions apply to filming children. In

Makers of the British film The Pleasure Girls (1965) shot an alternate version of a party scene with brief nudity that only appears in the export print. The 1966 British-Italian film Blowup became the first mainstream English-language film to show a woman's pubic hair, although the particular shot was only a few seconds long. (Some sources, such as Playboy magazine's History of Sex in Cinema series, have stated that the pubic hair exposure was unintended.)

Two Swedish films from 1967, I Am Curious (Yellow) and Inga, were ground-breaking—and famous—for showing explicit sex and nudity. Both were initially banned in the U.S., and were rated X when they were shown in 1968. I Am Curious (Yellow) was banned in Massachusetts, more on the basis of the sexuality than the nudity, and was the subject of prosecution.^[36] The film was held not to be obscene.^[37]

There was a surge in nudity in film in the United Kingdom after 1960. The gritty social drama This Sporting Life (1963) was among the first to include glimpses of male nudity. Judy Geeson's uninhibited nude swim in Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (1967) created a stir at the time. The surreal student protest film if.... (1968) was notorious and controversial for its frontal male nudity (excised by censors), female nudity, sex, violence and homosexuality. Originally X-rated, it was subsequently edited and re-rated down to an R. Ken Russell's Women in Love (1969) was especially controversial for showing frontal male nudity in a wrestling scene between Oliver Reed and Alan Bates. Glenda Jackson won the Academy Award for Best Actress in that film, the first performer to win for a role that included nude scenes.

There was also a long line of

Traditionally conservative Hammer Film Productions introduced nudity into their line of horror and fantasy films starting with The Vampire Lovers (1970), Countess Dracula (1971), both featuring Ingrid Pitt, When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970) with Victoria Vetri, Lust for a Vampire (1971), Twins of Evil (1971), et al.

The commedia sexy all'italiana genre of Italian film of the 1970s and early 1980s featured abundant female nudity in a clichéd form, most of it for the local market, but some for the international market. The Italian produced Last Tango in Paris (1973), directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, was one of the first commercial films to openly contain nudity, and led to the boom of other fashion erotic films, such as the French produced Emmanuelle (1974) and the Frenco-German production Story of O (1975) by Just Jaeckin, the Franco-Japanese production In the Realm of the Senses (1976) by Nagisa Oshima, and the Italian-American produced Caligula (1979) by Tinto Brass.

The films of