After
the one-two punch of Motorpsycho and Faster, Pussycat! Kill!
Kill!, Russ Meyer went in the opposite direction with Mondo
Topless. While those films were
hard-hitting and tightly wound, this one is carefree and formless (and kind of
pointless). Instead of being filmed in
stark black and white, this is a full-color romp. The biggest difference is that while Motorpsycho
and Faster, Pussycat! were relatively tame and featured only the briefest glimpses
of the female form, Mondo Topless is almost wall-to-wall nudity with some of
the biggest bosoms ever to hit the silver screen.
As
the title suggests, it’s essentially a Mondo movie that features topless women. (“The world’s loveliest buxotics!”) It’s all showcased in Meyer’s typically rapid-fire
editing style. Women are seen gyrating, jiggling,
and frolicking au natural. We see them running
wild in nature, in swimming pools, rolling around in the mud, driving nude
through the streets of San Francisco, scuba diving naked, and even posing in a
Wild West town. While the girls
undulate, we hear brief interview segments where they reveal a little bit about
themselves as they reveal a LOT of themselves.
This often feels like a precursor to those old Playboy Channel shows.
Of
the cast, I must say I enjoyed seeing the familiar form of Pat (Orgy of the
Dead) Barringer yet again. I also loved
the section on Lorna Maitland, complete with unabashed plugs for Meyer’s Lorna
(1964). And wait till you see Babette
Bardot! According to the narration, she’s
“50/50 where it counts!” (Speaking of
which, the bombastic narration is often hysterical.)
Some
segments go on too long. Others feel rushed. On the plus side, there is never a shortage
of boobs. It often borders on incoherence,
and yet it moves like lightning, so it’s hard to complain. Sure, all of this may feel like overkill, but
what a way to go!
You
may call Mondo Topless a minor work from Meyer.
However, the narration sums the movie up best when it calls itself “A
swinging tribute to unrestrained female anatomy!” In that respect, it comes as advertised and
as a result, is fairly critic proof.
AKA: Mondo Girls.
AKA: Mondo Top.
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