Rare Flix: Nude on the Moon

What silly thing can I say that tops this title?  I mean, the name says it all- Nude on the Moon.  What do you think it's about?  Do you think it's an insightful look at post-modern America's obsession with vanity?  Do you think it's a satire about American Imperialism during the 'Space Race?'  Do you think it's a film about topless women?  If you guessed the last one, you'd be right.  If you guessed the other two, you really need to re-read that title!  A little back-story, if you'll indulge me.  The idea of Nudist Camps became big in the late-50s to early-60s.  It didn't last long, but that didn't stop a slew of people from making films about the topic?  Aside from the many 'Nudie-Cutie' films by Wishman and others, there's the pair of Nudist Camp Horror Films I reviewed a while back.  In an attempt to combine America's current obsession- Nudist Camps- with current events- the Space Race- Doris Wishman came up with the idea of this movie.  It's silly.  Incidentally, check out the a documentary on the Drive-In craze, which features interviews with Wishman and others.  Thanks to that I realize that the man credited as Director is actually Doris, a marketing move designed to not scare off sexist viewers.  Get out your...well, nothing because we're going to be...

The film begins with a fun, animated opening sequence.  This joy is dampened a bit by a slow, plodding First Act.  Basically, an older scientist and a younger one work on a rocket ship to take them to the Moon.  Suck it, Sputnik!  This part of the film really drags, as it mostly consists of the older guy telling the younger guy that he needs to get married.  The young guy says that his work is more important.  Lather, rinse and repeat about six more times in the first twenty minutes.  Conflict comes in as the young guy's daughter works with them and has a thing for the younger guy, but he won't pay her any mind.  Skipping ahead a bit, the men finally build a rocket and go to the Moon via some model and stock footage.  What they find is not what you would expect...

The Moon is apparently full of topless woman, stone buildings and flora.  Gee, it looks a lot like Florida.  It's amazingly-bright out there too.  The women are also very friendly, as you can see.

The film pretty much stops the entire narrative once the women discover the men, pretty much spending the next 20-30 minutes showing them wandering around and/or posing.  Given the subject matter, ti's not all bad.

I should also mention that the women and men have those weird headbands on.  The purpose: they allow them to communicate telepathically.  Hey, that's a cheap way to save on your audio work!

Finally, the men have to head back home- although the young guy doesn't want to.  He's a bit mopey at work when the young woman from earlier walks in.  Staring at her, he suddenly picture her as one of the topless women from the Moon.  This apparently makes him fall in love with her.  Yeah, there's nothing like an hallucination to drive love.  The End.

Plots are overrated!  The film barely has any plot, but what it does have is alright.  It breaks no new ground, but doesn't try to be.  Way to aim for the middle, guys!  Seriously though, these kind of films never tried to do too much.  They were meant to be fun pieces of fluff that you forgot within minutes of seeing them.  This is one of those movies.  It would be nice to see more depths in films like these, but I'm probably asking too much, huh?  You know, it is a film about a Nudist Camp film set on the Moon.  If you haven't seen this movie, it's worth a look.  Obviously, a lot of people will not care about it though.  It is also the title of a great Anthology CD too.  Feel free to check that out too.  The bottom line: if you see one film about topless women on the Moon, make it this!

Next up, I review a film for Instant Trash that has an hilarious premise.  It can't possibly disappoint, right?  Stay tuned...