I’ve seen plenty of American nudist colony movies in my time. Here’s one from across the pond. Pussycats Paradise was produced with the assistance of the “British Sunbathing Association”, and it features enough novel nude activities to make it worth a look. We get: Nude smoking, nude swimming, nude picnicking, nude men flipping other nude men in the air, nude swinging (not that kind of swinging, unfortunately), and the piece de resistance, nude synchronized swimming!
Jane (Shelly Martin) is a well-to-do businesswoman who inherits her grandfather’s corporation. To pay for the inheritance tax, she decides to sell off her grandfather’s nudist camp. When the director of the camp learns of her intentions, he pleads with her to save the camp. At first, she doesn’t want anything to do with the place, but he insists that she see it for herself. Once Jane gets a taste of nudism, she eagerly becomes a member and eventually decides to keep the camp open. Much to her chagrin, her prudish old aunt, the main shareholder in the company, wants no part of the camp.
One memorable sequence occurs during the camp’s open mic night where members get up in front of everybody and sing corny songs. This shindig is fully clothed, but that doesn’t detract from the fun. Speaking of clothes, the men all wear shorts for some reason. (Sometimes they are shown wearing a different pair of shorts from scene to scene.) On the plus side, the women appear nude quite frequently, although they always seem to have a beach towel or a dish rag placed JUST in the right spot, so you won’t see their… ahem… Pussycats Paradise.
The highlight though is the terrific nude shower fight. It almost feels like a forerunner to the shower fights that would later be found in the Women in Prison genre. If there was another sequence of this caliber, it would’ve been a classic for sure.
As it is, the film has just enough plot in there to make it feel like a real movie. (It certainly feels more authentic than most of its American counterparts). No one will mistake it for gripping cinema, but I found it to be breezy and enjoyable. In short, Pussycats Paradise is paradise for lovers of old nudie movies.
AKA: The Nudist Story. AKA: For Members Only. AKA: Five Acres.
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