Posted by Team - ANW
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June 7, 2022 -
Introduction
Before starting on this article I had to find criteria for inclusion and define what could be seen as naturist activity within a film.
What should be included?
Scenes that involve choice, freedom and leisure. Scenes that are non-sexual and social.
The scenes don’t have to show nudity, implying it is enough. A film made in the 1950s may not show a skinny dippers breasts or genitals but we know they are there beneath the water.
Some things are obvious. Being naked on a beach or in a park. Nudity outside in a garden or by a pool.
Nudity as part of a way of life. Living naked on an island or being part of a culture that accepts nudity. Posing for an artist. Using a spa and social nudity within a communal changing and shower area.
There are times when characters may choose to be naked in some scenes that can be seen as flirtatious, romantic, intimate and may have sexual undertones. However, scenes of a couple getting to know each other over dinner at a restaurant are not seen as sexual. So, if the scene fitted the above criteria and was actually non-sexual then sure it is as social as a dinner date. I could see no reason to exclude scenes with couples that are attracted to each other from the listing if the scene fitted the above criteria and remained non-sexual in nature. So for example if a couple share a hot spring pool together or swim naked in front of each other as part of getting to know each other then I would include it. If they made love in a hot tub or a forest then I wouldn’t.
What else should I discard?
The most common naked scenes in films are those involving sexual nudity: either leading up to, during or after the event and visits to strip clubs. The sexual and voyeuristic sides to these types of scenes count these out.
I also decided that enforced nudity should not qualify. Nudity as a punishment, humiliation or abuse. Naturism should be about choice and enjoyment. So someone being showered down on entry into a prison for example would not be included or a kidnap victim being kept naked. However, if a film has prison shower scenes where everyone is relaxed and communicating as if they were dressed then this would be considered.
Visits to the doctor or hospital I felt should also not be included as this is not a social choice but a matter of nudity for medical reasons. However, I felt that people who chose to be naked as part of ceremonies or protests should be included.
People within normal everyday naked situations within the home or a hotel also should generally not be included. Getting up to get dressed from bed or using a private bathroom. I figured the exception to this would be if the nudity takes place with the company of people who are not sexually connected with the naked person. For example a conversation takes place between friends just as it would do if they were all clothed.
Let’s get going...
Naturism and the cinema.
Nudity and the moving image have always been linked. Like all art, cinema from it conception has, been fascinated with the naked form. It is human nature.
Film more than any other art form captures the real human body. Although with CGI and prosthetics can we really be sure if that is any longer the case? The camera can move around the body and more importantly the body can move, and from the late 1920’s could talk.
Even during the heavily censored era of the late 1930’s, 1940’s and 1950’s film- makers pushed the boundaries of what they could get away with and what they could show. Nudity may not have been shown but was often implied. From the sixties on those boundaries have been pushed a little further every year. Nudity, sex, violence, subject matters, swearing all become a little more explicit every year and film certifications gets more accepting each year too. Our children hear words in U rated films that were not used in universal certificate films when we were children.
As mentioned above though we are not interested in chronicling nudity here unless it fits into our ideas as an example of nudity in a more naturist environment. Non-sexual and social. We have also concentrated on main stream cinema releases. There are too many independent and exploitation films that have used nudism and on the whole are badly made films and many could also be seen as damaging to the naturist movement.
The Genesis
We start, as some may say, “at the beginning”, Adam and Eve. Seen by some to be the first naturists, they also represent the first need to cover up. The characters have been represented many times in film from all over the world, partly because it is a famous story and partly because it is an ideal excuse for nudity or inferred nudity on screen, and film makers love nudity.
The most notable film is probably John Huston’s The Bible...In the Beginning (1966, USA), with Michael Parks and Ulla Bergryd in the Adam and Eve roles. The films tend to involve wandering around the garden of Eden and skinny dipping in a lake. Adan y Eva (1956, Spain) had Carlos Baena and Christiane Martel in the roles. In El Pecado de Adan y Eva (1973, Mexico) it was the turn of Jorge Rivero and Kandy. Adipapam (1988, India) saw Vimal Raja as Adam and Abhilasha as Eve. In the thin comedy The Private Lives of Adam and Eve (1960, USA) Mickey Rooney played the devil watching over Mamie Van Doren and Martin Milner. Mark Gregory and Andrea Goldman must have been just as embarrassed fighting pterdactyls in Adamo ed Eva, La Prima Storia D'Amore (1983, Italy), it’s common English title “Adam and Eve Versus The Cannibals” says it all.
Another comedy Second Time Lucky (1984, NZ) has Diane Franklin and Roger Wilson in the roles. Probably the best of the bunch is writer, director Mike Figgis’ The Loss of Sexual Innocence (1999, UK) which features Femi Ogumbanjo as an African-American Adam and Hanne Klintoe, a red-headed white Eve.
Native or Naturist?
The Bible may lay the blame on Adam and Eve for our loss of innocence and the need to cover up. Some may argue that it is was the western church itself that is the primary cause, both in western society and through out the world via often unwelcome intervention. Early film makers recognised how lovely it would be to live in a world where the human body was not a source of shame, and captured the purity of it to sell film to the naked obsessed west.
Nude and topless native scenes have been used in films since the silent days. These people captured on film live in a true naturist society, going about their family lives, working, resting and playing without the hang-ups associated with clothes. Something western naturist clubs have been trying for decades to emulate in their little pockets of paradise.
The most important of the early native films was the love story Tabu: A Story of The South Seas (1931, USA). This was the wonderful, silent film director F W Murnau’s final film. The first half of the film called “Paradise” has the male and female leads living with their people in a natural environment, swimming and going about life nude and topless. They have to flee the island due to problems caused by their own religion. The second half called “Paradise Lost” follows them to a colonised island where they have to adapt to the ways of western civilisation. The first part of the film was shot in Bora Bora and used real people as opposed to actors.
Before Tabu there was Moana (1926, USA) with location filming of a Samoan village. Clara Bow played a native girl in Hula (1927, USA), she skinny dipped in a natural pool in the film. Groucho Marx in Animal Crackers (1930, USA) recognises this growing appreciation of native nudity and quips “We took some pictures of the native girls, but they weren't developed. But we're going back again in a couple of weeks!”
Lots of films followed in the footstep of Tabu. Notably, Dolores Del Rio has a naked, night time swim in the sea in Bird of Paradise (1932, USA). Other films exploiting/celebrating native nudity included Balinese Love (1931, USA), Goon Goona:An Authentic Melodrama of the Isle of Bali (1932, USA), Isle of Paradise (1932, USA), Virgins of Bali (1932, USA), Wajan (1932, Germany), Legong: Dance of the Virgins (1935, USA) and The Blonde Captive (1931, Australia). Some were just shot in the studio and used stock footage like The Sea Friend (1935, USA) and Inyaah: Jungle Goddess (1934, USA).
Pre-code adventure films also took advantage of native nudity. Trader Horn (1931, USA) was the first American film to shoot footage on location in Africa, Sanders of the River (1935, USA) was set in Nigeria and most famous is Tarzan, The Ape Man (1932, USA). There is not just native nudity in Tarzan and His Mate (1934, USA). Maureen O’Sullivan and her swimming double, Josephine McKim, enjoy a skinny dip with Tarzan, and Paul Cavanagh has a bath in the middle of a room while continuing a conversation with other characters as if sitting at a table. The silent version of Tarzan of the Apes (1918, USA) has a naked younger Tarzan played by Gordon Griffith as well as naturalised female nudity. Tarzan Escapes (1936, USA) continues to show some of the local children and women in the port naked and topless. The introduction of Hayes code saw the costumes of Maureen O’Sullivan become strikingly less revealing, gone was the skimpy two piece. Jane now wore a one piece dress with shorts underneath. Native nudity disappeared from the feature films for the next couple of decades.
In the 1950s films like Mau-Mau (1955, USA) and Naked Africa (1957, USA) were disguised as documentaries to get away with native nudity. Topless natives returned to mainstream cinema when Julie Andrews and Max Von Sydow visited Hawaii (1966, USA). Como Era Gostoso o Meu Frances (How Tasty Was My Little French Man)(1971, Brazil) features naked naturalised Amazon men and woman. In Elisa Fraser (1976, Australia) Susannah York skinny dips and spends time naked with aboriginals. Jenny Agutter and Lucien John learn the pleasure of being naked outside and skinny dipping in a natural pool when they go Walkabout (1971, Australia/ UK) with David Gumpilil.
The Bounty (1984, US/ UK) features Tevaite Vernette and other topless Polynsesian natives. The Emerald Forest (1985, UK/ US) set among the Invisible People tribe in the rainforests of the Amazon Basin of Brazil also featured considerable nudity and has Dira Paes enjoying a nude swim by a waterfall and Charlie Boorman skinny dipping. Kirikou et la Sorciere (1988, France/ Belgium/ Luxemburg) is an animated film showing naturalised nudity. Naturalised Amazon nudity is also shown in Medicine Man (1992, USA). Easter Island based Rapa Nui (1994, USA) has native nudity from the cast including Sandrine Holt.
Tarzan reclaims nudity in Tarzan The Ape Man (1981, USA) mainly from Bo Derek as a skinny dipping Jane. Sheena (1984, USA) was a female Tarzan played by Tanya Roberts spending time naked in the jungle and skinny dipping by a waterfall. Slave of the Cannibal God (1979, Italy) has Ursula Andress captured and undressed by naked cannibals. Les Amazones Du Temple D’Or (The Amazons of the Temple of God)(1986, France) spend time nude skinny dipping and exploring caves. La Guerre Du Feu (Quest For Fire)(1981, Canada/ France) has naturalised nudity in the shape of primitive man and woman, particular from Rae Dawn Chong. When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970, UK) featured pre-historic Victoria Vetri skinny dipping in a lake.
In The Legend of Tarzan (2016 - UK, Canada, USA, Australia) Tarzan, this time played as an adult by Alexander Skarsgard, is shown to be naked as he grows up until he first meets Jane and is introduced to clothed humans.
A Religious Experience & Man Playing God
Exploring the jungles often brings adventurers and their pretty companions into peril from naked, natives who in the process of following their own gods want to sacrifice or eat these intruders. Many religions and cults are linked with nudity in film. It can be to show their peaceful way of living, or more often than not to show how at odds they are to the dressed folk in the audience. It can depend on a point of view. The Romans painted a picture dreadful picture of the Vandals and the word took on a new meaning that remains today. We mistrust other religions and ways of life. Just as people cannot get their head around naturism, it is alien to them, and so they often mistrust it. All religion can seem weird to outsiders, no matter how mainstream it is.
In Hypocrites (1915, USA) a minister is shown the real nature of his congregation by a nude Margaret Edwards playing an angel named “the Naked Truth. ” An early recognition that nudists have nothing to hide. In The Last Temptation of Christ (1988, USA) followers of John the Baptist are seen naked in the river Jordan. Nude baptism is believed to have been practised for many centuries. Indoctrination into groups has involved nudity of some sort throughout our history. It is still imagined to exist within closed “mason-like” groups or in modern neopagan religions. Many early followers of Naturism were also Christians and there is still a large number of Christian naturists.
Most of the links in cinema between nudism and different religions, tend to involve paganism and cult movements. Many films involve the enforced nudity of the religion’s victims, so they are not listed here.
In the Rock Hudson sci-fi film Seconds (1966, USA), there is a bacchanistic scene of nude men and woman dancing and in a wine vat. Annette Kellerman considered by many to be the first star to appear nude in films starred and skinny dipped as A Daughter of the Gods (1916, USA) a film involving witches and fairies. Nudity is used in Haxan (1922, Sweden) a docu-drama of witchcraft through the ages. In A Name for Evil (1973, USA) Sheila Sullivan skinny dips with Robert Culp. Lydie Dernier swims naked in a pool in Satan’s Princess (1989, USA). In Pighunt (2008, USA) there is a lesbian, hippie cult that spend time naked in natural hot springs. In The Life of Brian (1979, UK) Terry Jones plays a hermit who having taken a vow of silence, lives in the mountains alone, naked and eating berries. More famously, Graham Chapman is greeted by his many religious followers while opening his window after rising from his bed naked.
Pagan horror films were popular in Britain, particularly from the Hammer studio. The Vampire Lovers (1970, UK) had nudity from evil Ingrid Pitt and innocent Madeline Smith. Countess Dracula (1971, UK) has Ingrid Pitt literally enjoying a “blood-bath”. Lust for a Vampire (1971, UK) has Yutte Stensgaard taking Ingrid Pitt’s role. A struggle between good and evil is seen in Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971, UK) with Ralph Bates as Jekyll, enjoying being in the body of Martine Beswick. Twins of Evil (1971, UK) has real life twin sisters; Mary Collinson playing the good and Frieda Collinson playing the bad. Virgin Witch (1972, UK) has sisters Ann Michelle and Vicki Michelle.
Going against the true nature of things has created various invisible people throughout the history of film and they invariably are naked in their invisible state. Claude Rains shows people how hard it will be to arrest him and later complains of the cold in The Invisible Man (1933, USA). Vincent Price strips off for The Invisible Man Returns (1940, USA), Virginia Bruce is The Invisible Woman (1940, USA), Chevy Chase stars in The Memoirs of The Invisible Man (1992 USA, France). Kurt Russell proves that Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972, USA), Kevin Bacon is The Hollow Man (2000, USA/Germany) , Dean Jones is L' Inafferrabile Invincibile Mr. Invisibile aka Mr Superinvisible (1970, Italy/Monaco/Spain/West Germany), Steve Guttenburg is The Man Who Wasn't There (1983, USA) and Jay Underwood is The Invisible Kid (1988, USA). Jessica Alba plays the Invisible Woman in Fantastic Four (2005, USA) and Fantastic Four :Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007, USA) and Kate Mara in Fantastic Four (2015, USA). Cameron King is forever being asked to put his clothes back on as the invisible boy living at Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016 USA/UK).
Time travel also can call for nudity. Bruce Willis time travels naked in The Twelve Monkeys (1995, USA) and Arnold Schwarzenegger does the same in The Terminator (1984, USA) and Terminator 2 :Judgement Day (1991, USA).
Back to pagan horror. The Wicker Man (1973, UK) is seen by many as the best pagan linked horror of them all. Ingrid Pitt, Britt Ekland and the whole community of the Scottish island where the film is set, delight in being nude and disturbing the hero of the film, policeman Edward Woodard. It sequel The Wicker Tree (2011, UK) has skinny dipping Honeysuckle Weeks and the rest of the community once again enjoying their pagan nudity. A nude Nastassja Kinski continues the trend in To The Devil a Daughter (1976, UK/ Germany). Stanley Kubrick’s last film Eyes Wide Shut (1999, UK) has Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman involved in a pagan, satanic cult with plenty of ceremonial nudity.
Whether Christina Ricci (Anna) is actually dead or just kept prisoner by a man playing God is open to interpretation in After.Life (2009, USA). One thing is for certain and that is when Anna believes that she is dead she no longer carries issues about her body and is much more comfortable with herself. She becomes at ease with walking around the morgue naked and communicating on a natural level with the dressed Liam Neeson. The writer/director claimed that she wanted the character to feel more alive when she was dead and the comfort with her body was part of that.
Resorting to Naturism
For some practising naturism may be linked to their religion. To others it is as close to a religion as they may wish to come. Naturism with it own set of philosophies and lifestyle choices helps those that believe in it to respect themselves, others and our world. In a naturist environment we find people bonded by a mutual understanding, a faith in nature and humanity.
Jane Powell starred as Athena (1954, USA), she and her 6 sisters (also named after goddesses) live with their grandparents (Ulysses and Minerva) in a mountain retreat, own a health food shop, live a vegetarian, non-smoking, alcohol free lifestyle, and follow astrology and numerology. In their retreat they meditate and dance in very little clothing, and sharing this commune-like home is a collection of body-builders training to be Mr Universe. The way of life of the characters in the film mimics the beliefs of the nudist group The Nature Boys, although more glamorous (it was an MGM musical!). Jane Powell believed that the film was not successful because it was made 20 years too early. No doubt if it had been made in 1974 they would have shown naturism as part of the lifestyle.
20 years later, The Harrad Experiment (1973, USA) brings naturism into a fictional experimental school. Nude yoga and communal skinny dipping being part of life there. The film is only really remembered now for showing a young Don Johnson in the nude. In Golasy (The Naked)(2002, Poland) all the workers in an office spend their days in a naturist environment. In Pret-a-Porter (1994, USA) the models including one heavily pregnant walk down the catwalk naked making statements about fashion, clothes and true, natural beauty and in Riens du Tout (Little Nothings)(1992, France) there is a visit to a nudist supermarket as well as a naturist beach scene. There are also visits to naturist beaches in the comedies EuroTrip (2004, USA, Czech) and Wet and Wild Summer (1992, Australia).
Naturism in features films tends to be of a comic nature, probably due to the embarrassment factor that textiles link to the situation. It is surprising that the UK never made a “Carry On Naturist”, however in Carry On Camping (1969, UK) Sid James and Bernard Bresslaw on seeing a film about a naturist camp called “Paradise” plan to take their girlfriends there, but end up at a textile campsite with the same name. British comedy eventually made it to a naturist club in Confetti (2006,UK), a naturist couple played by Robert Webb and Olivia Coleman compete against two other couples to win the “Most Original wedding of the Year Award”. Naturist scenes were film at Spielplatz, Herefordshire, with some of the club members appearing as extras.
On the other side of the Atlantic Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd end up in a commune in Wanderlust (2012,USA). It is not uncommon for the members of the commune to be nude especially the character played by Joe Lo Truglio. Jennifer Aniston’s character also uses nudity to get a legal problem the commune is facing onto the news, pixilated of course. Naturism is even a source of humour in a Disney animated feature film. The heroes of Zootopia (Zootropolis) (2016, USA) while trying to solve the disappearance of Mr Otterton visit a naturist club, where they meet various animals including the elephant yoga instructor in the nude. The film involves the danger of predatory animals reverting to their pre-civilised ways. The naturist club shows peace-loving animals wishing to revert back to nudity in a non-threatening manner. As a point of interest the poses and camera angles used on the anthropomorphic yoga loving female elephant would not be allowed in mainstream cinema with an actual human being.
Another animated film this time stop motion animation Aardman's The Pirates! In an Adventures with Scientists! (2012, UK) has a seen where the pirates keep failing to board ships with treasure worth stealing. One ship is the home of a group of naturists enjoying a naked cruise. Another scene has one crewmate (a female pretending to be male) having a bath and having various other characters get in the bath with her and then the bath is dragged through the house and out into the street.
Playing again for humour was I'm Alright Jack (1959 - UK). The beginning and the end of the film are set in Sunnyglades naturist campsite, where the main character's father played by Milles Malleson lives and where at the end his son played by Ian Carmichael is also living. Shot mainly on location in Olive Dell Ranch nudist resort in Colton, California, Act Naturally (2011, USA) is a comedy/drama concerning two estranged sisters played by Katie L. Hall and Liz Lytle who inherit a nudist colony. A sequel Act Super Naturally (2019, USA) remains somewhat elusive.
In the art crime, comedy Gambit (2012, USA) Colin Firth refers to his boss Alan Rickman as a naturist and imagines him in his office going about his work in the nude. We are then lead to believe he is not a naturist until we see him admiring his art collection in the nude at the end of the film. A nice pay off to an earlier gag. In Sherlock Holmes : Game of Shadows (2011, USA, UK) Stephen Fry as Mycroft Holmes wanders around his house seemingly oblivious to his own nudity in front of his man servant and Dr Watson's wife played by Kelly Reilly. Interestingly she at first attempts to look away from him but when she becomes engaged in conversation she forgets all about his nudity and is just involved in the conversation.
Comedy relies so much on the performer, a simple idea in the right hands can seem much more and in the wrong hands it will fall completely flat. Robert Webb and Olivia Coleman maybe funny and talented performers but they felt uncomfortable in their nude roles and it shows in their performances. Peter Sellers made his brief visit to a naturist camp on the trail of Elke Sommer in A Shot in the Dark (1964 UK) a perfect bit of cinema comedy, he was Inspector Clouseau and understood how to convey both his embarrassment and interest at being in this situation, and at the same time was able to be physically funny.
Although main stream cinema has spent little time in naturist resorts and clubs many independent, semi-documentary films have been made, such as the one Sid James and Bernard Bresslaw watched in their local cinema in Carry-On Camping. There are too many to list here. However, as points of interest. Elysia-Valley of the Nudes (1933, USA) shot at Elysian Fields Club is probably the first film made at an American nudist colony. Garden of Eden (1954, USA) was the first in colour. Nudist Paradise (Nature’s Paradise) (1959, UK) was the first nudist documentary made in Britain. It was directed by Charles Saunders and filmed in Glorious Nudiscope! The Raw Ones (1965, USA) was the first film in this genre to openly show full frontal nudity.
De Patrick (2019 - Belgium/Netherlands) offered something truly unique a proper film with a proper story and cast that just happened to be set in a naturist campsite. Most of the cast (led by Kevin Janssens) spend most of the film naked. The nudity is never exploited, the characters just just happen to be naked. This is real naturism, properly presented for the cinema. We need more of the same. Among other actors playing naturists in the film are Ariane van Vliet, Pierre Bokma, Josse De Pauw, Peter Gorrison, Tine Van den Wyndgart, Louis van der Wall, Franck Vercruyssen and Janne Desmet.
Real Life
There have been many pseudo-documentary films made over the years as an excuse for showing nudity. However, there have been some serious attempts at capturing a real story on film that has involved nudism. Hitler commissioned Olympia (1938, Germany) a documentary on the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin. As well as actual footage of the games and ceremonies there are beautiful shot scenes celebrating the naked human body. An homage to the original and nude games of ancient Greece, with athletes, dancers and living Greek statues.
Woodstock (1970, USA) is a 3 hour documentary of the famous 1969 festival, it could not really have been made without showing skinny-dipping and social nudity. Ironically, in Taking Woodstock (2009,USA) Ang Lee directs the biographical film based around the festival and featuring a higher level of nudism than the actual 1970 film.
Film maker Arlene Donnelly followed Spencer Tunick, the photographer famous for his non-sexual group nudes in outdoor settings. Over 5 months of recording he took photos in all 50 states of America, resulting in Naked States (2000, USA). Lina Esco wrote, directed and appeared in Free the Nipple (2014, USA) a movement protesting about the hypocrisy of gender inequality over nipple-baring.
Nudity has been used to highlight issues and gain attention for causes for centuries. The Lady Godiva legend dates back over 1000 years. Child Bride (1938, USA) was an attempt to draw attention to the lack of laws banning child marriage in parts of America, the controversy over the subject matter was added to by 12 year old Shirley Mills skinny dipping in the film. Calender Girls (2003, UK) has Helen Mirren, Julie Walters and the other female cast members posing discreetly naked for a calender raising money for Leukemia. It was based on a true story and the idea’s success has led to a trend of copycat calenders.
Not So Real Life
Many films although based on real figures are still highly fictionalised. Since the silent days, ancient history has been a popular way to show non-sexualised nudity on film. Aristocratic women are often shown being pampered and having attended milk baths in the nude. Helen Gardner has a nude bath with the camera staying mostly on her attendants in Cleopatra (1912, USA). Elizabeth Taylor had a nude massage and bath in Cleopatra (1963, USA/ UK/ Switzerland) and is spoofed the following year by Amanda Barrie in Carry On Cleo (1964, UK) and also Sophia Loren in Due Notti Con Cleopatra (1963, Italy). Claudette Colbert played Cleopatra in Cecille B De Mille’s film in 1934, but it was playing Empress Poppaea Sabina in his The Sign of The Cross (1932, USA) that she had her milk bath scene. Betty Blythe dressed in revealing and transparent costumes played The Queen of Sheba (1921, USA) and in Soloman and Sheba (1959,USA) Gina Lollobigida has a nude bathing scene and is dried by a maidservant.
In Spartacus (1960, USA) Laurence Olivier and Tony Curtis share a nude chat in a bathhouse scene and Jean Simmons character has a nude skinny dip in a lake. Caligula (1979, USA/ Italy) also has naked bathhouse scenes. In King David (1985,UK/ USA) Alice Krige as Bathsheba has a night time bath outside. Jo Champa is naked around the pool as Salome (1986, Italy). The life of Saint Sebastian played by Leonardo Treviglio was filmed as Sebastiane (1976,UK) and contained a lot of social nudity, game playing and skinny dipping. Jumping forward to 11th century England, we have Lady Godiva of Coventry (1955, USA), Maureen O’Hara with a ludicrous amount of hair, takes her nude protest ride through the streets. Paul Bettany walks naked through the country as Geoffrey Chaucer in A Knight’s Tale (2001, USA).
There are some more serious biographical and semi-biographical films films.
Lucy Irvine’s autobiography was filmed as Castaway (1986,UK) Amanda Donohoe spends much time on the island nude and skinny dipping as Irvine, as does Oliver Reed her companion. Vanessa Redgrave visits a spa and has a nude massage in Agatha (1979, UK), the story of Agatha Christie’s 11 day disappearance in 1926. Vanessa Redgrave also played Isadora Duncan in Isadora (1968, UK/France) she dances around the bedroom naked while James Fox paints the floor. Kate Winslet enjoyed skinny dipping as Iris (2001,UK), based on the biography written by Iris Murcoch’s husband John Bayley. Penelope Wilton and Judi Dench also share a shower in the film.
In another true story American Gangster (2007, USA/UK) the women working preparing heroin do so naked to prevent theft. Though they are naked by order they are very comfortable in their working environment and chat and laugh together totally at ease with their nudity. Geoffrey Rush and Noah Taylor play the older and younger David Helfgott in Shine (1996, Australia) they both show him to be a man who doesn't consider being “exposed” as an issue whether in bath, collecting mail or on a trampoline and at one point Geoffrey Rush enjoys a skinny dip in the sea. In Beautiful Dreamers (1990, Canada,) a film also based on true events stars, Rip Torn as Walt Whitman who skinny dips with Jessie played by Wendel Meldrum the wife of Dr Maurice Bucke.
Brendan Fraser poses nude for Ian MacKellen in Gods and Monsters (1998, USA/ UK) in a film based on the final days of Frankenstein director James Whale, swimming pool skinny dipping is also shown in this film.
In the highly fictionalised but based on a true event film Titanic (1997, USA) Kate Winslet poses nude for artist Leonardo De Caprio. Leonardo De Caprio spends scenes naked in The Aviator (2004, USA/Germany) he plays Howard Hughes who reportedly spent extended periods of time refusing to wear clothes. This choice may have partly been made due to having low pain threshold due to his plane accident which meant he would be more physically comfortable naked. He also was obsessed with cleanliness and dirt on clothes. The film opens with his mother washing him in front of a bath by the fire and speaking of concerns of illnesses.
Real Life Models
Moving pictures often show artists recording still life nudes. Summer in February (2013,UK), a true story about painters in Cornwall in the early 20th Century features life model nudity and skinny dipping from Mia Austin. Sam Neill stars as real life painter Norman Lindsay in Sirens (1994, Australia), Portia de Rossi , Tara Fitzgerald, Elle Macpherson and Pamela Rabe posed naked and skinny dipped in the film. Lindsay (called Bradley Morohan in the film) was also played by James Mason in Age of Consent (1969, Australia), a nude Helen Mirren, swam, snorkeled and modeled for him on the beach. In Goya en Burdeos (1999, Spain) Maribel Verdu poses for the artist’s “The Naked Maja”. Ivana Sejenovich poses for Frida (2002, USA/ Canada/ Mexico) in the story of Frida Kahlo. Christa Theret poses nude outdoors for Renoir (2012, France). In the biographical film Klimt (2006, Austria) Verena Mundhenke, Saffron Burrows and others pose nude for the artist. Gertchen Mol starred as the “Queen of the Pin-ups,” the much photographed life model, The Notorious Bettie Page (2005, USA).
Real nude art is also replicated in fictional films. In Venus (2006, UK) Jodie Whittaker becomes “La Venus del Espejo” painted by Diego Velazquez. Uma Thurman is Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus” in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988, UK).
Not So Real Life Models
In The Common Law (1931, USA) Constance Bennett poses naked for artist Joel MacCrea. He may be summing up all our own naturist feelings when he tells her “You know, you should never wear clothes.”
Audrey Munson was a life model made famous by many nude sculptures made of her body in the early 20th Century. She plays life models posing in studios and outside in fictional films Inspiration (1915, USA) and Purity (1916, USA). Laura Linney and Sheila Zane model nude for an artist in Maze (2000, USA). In La Belle Noiseuse (1991, France) Emmanuelle Beart is another naked muse for an artist.
David Hemmings is a photographer in Blowup (1966, UK/ Italy) and photographs nude models Jane Birkin and Gillian Hills. In La Femme Publique (1984, France) Valerie Kaprisky poses nude for a photographer. Greg Kinnear draws a naked Helen Hunt in As Good as it Gets (1997, USA).
Short Cuts (1993, USA) has Madeleine Stow posing naked for a painting. It also features a long, very casual below the waist nudity scene as Julianne Moore goes about business in her house, and Lori Singer skinny dipping in a pool.
Poolside Nudity
Anyone who has swam in a pool in the nude, knows that it is the best way to swim, it is surprising how much nicer it feels than having even the most skimpy of costumes on. What would have probably been the most famous nude swimming pool scene was filmed for Something’s Got to Give (1962, USA). Marylin Monroe died before the film was completed so this skinny dip never made it to the cinema screens. This would have been the first time an American star appeared actually nude on screen since pre-code days.
Major star Burt Lancaster played The Swimmer (1968, USA), he spent the film visiting peoples gardens, chatting to them and swimming in their pools at one point he visits a naturist couple and swims in their pool naked. In The Last Picture Show (1971, USA) Cybil Shepherd nervously joins the rest of the young cast in a social nude swim. In National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983, USA) Chevy Chase is caught by his wife Beverley D’Angelo skinny dipping in a motel pool with Christine Brinkley, later she joins him instead.
Maybe the most spectacular pool skinny dip is in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014, USA) a Busby Berkeley style nude swim with Eva Green. Kathleen Beller has a nude swimming pool scene in The Betsy (1978, USA), Glory Annen in Felicity (1978, Australia), Ursula Andress in The Sensuous Nurse (1975, Italy), Catherine Zeta Jones in Splitting Heirs (1993, UK) and Ava Fabian in Welcome Home Roxy Carmichael (1990, USA). Reese Witherspoon skinny dips in a pool in Twilight (1998,USA).
Marlee Matlin and William Hurt skinny dip together in Children of a Lesser God (1986, USA), the two friends in Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001, Mexico), Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal have a skinny dip in a motel pool, Red Line (1994, USA) and Ludivine Sagnier spends a lot of time naked in the Swimming Pool (2003, France/UK). Robin Williams has a naked swim in a school swimming pool in World’s Greatest Dad (2009, USA). Roger Moore finds Francois Therry enjoying a skinny dip in a pool in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974, UK). In Spies in Disguise (2019, USA, Australia, UK) Kimura the character voiced by Masi Oka is shown swimming in a pool naked and then leaves the pool and converses with the Will Smith and Tom Holland characters while naked. Another example of how animation continues to be relaxed about nudity in films made for children.
There is a youth giving swimming pool in Cocoon (1985, USA) Tahnee Welch swims in it naked with Steve Guttenburg. Belinda Mayne is nude in and around the pool in Vivre Pour Survivre (White Fire) (1985, Turkey/ France/ UK). Chanel Iman has a nude swim in a pool in Dope (2015, USA) and Dana Delaney is naked in and around her pool on a tropical island in Exit to Eden (1994, USA).
The Naked Garden
The most beautiful poolside and garden setting is probably seen in Stealing Beauty (1996, Italy/ France/ UK), there is a comfortable atmosphere of social nudity created by the cast including Sinead Cusack and Rachel Weisz as they lounge around the pool and garden in the sun. Margaret Whitton had a nude garden stroll in Ironweed (1987, USA). Kay Lenz was also naked in the gardens in both Breezy (1973, USA) and Fast-Walking (1982, USA).
Teri Hatcher stands on a balcony nude in Heaven’s Prisoners (1996, USA). Patrick Swayze sun bathes nude in the garden in Three Wishes (1995, USA), Helen Mirren spends time nude in the gardens of The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989, UK) and there is much social nudity from people young and old in Prospero’s Books (1991, UK/ Netherlands/ France/ Italy/ Japan). In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012, NZ/USA) the Dwarves risk offending the Elves by playing naked in one of their garden fountains.
Bo Derek spends time nude outside and riding horses in Bolero (1984, USA). Sugar Lynn Beard is naked outside with some horses in Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016, USA). Peter Firth is also naked outside with horses and in the stables with Jenny Agutter in Equus (1977 UK/ USA). In Lady Chatterley (2006, France) Marina Hands is not just sexually awakened by her grounds-keeper but also awakened to the pleasure of out door nudity of her grounds. In Ha-Gan (1977, Israel) Melanie Griffiths spends much time naked in an “Eden-like” garden and eating apples and in possibly the most famous naturist pose in cinema Bridget Bardot suns her self in her garden in Et Dieu… Créa la Femme (...and God Created Woman) (1956, France/ Italy).
Countryside Nudity
More popular than being naked in a garden and pool area is being naked in the great outdoors and skinny dipping in rivers and lakes. The most famous pre-code skinny dip is probably that of Hedy Lamarr/Kiesler in Ekstase (Ecstasy) (1932, Czech/ Austria) as she swims in a lake and then runs around the countryside. Director Allan Dwan tested the new codes set by the Hays Office in Suez (1938, USA) the character played by Annabella has a skinny dip in a lake, on getting dressed she falls back into the river her white blouse becomes transparent, after much fussing the scene was allowed to stay. Prior to this, Charles Farrell has a nude swim in The River (1929, USA) and Neil Shipman goes Back to God’s Country (1919, Canada) for a nude swim by a waterfall.
Waterfalls add a back drop for the scene and add drama to the water. Cecil B De Mille again directs Claudette Colbert, this time having a pre-code nude waterfall shower in the jungle, when she is one of Four Frightened People (1934, USA). In La Cicala (The Cricket) (1980, Italy) Barbara De Rossi and Clio Goldsmith skinny dip under a waterfall. Gina Gershon and Michele Little have a naturist swim by a waterfall in Sweet Revenge (1987, USA). As does Kate Groombridge in Virgin Territory (2007 Italy/ UK/ France/ Lux.), After washing, Jane Seymour and Taryn Power sunbathe on rocks near waterfalls in Sinbad and The Eye of The Tiger (1977 UK/ USA). Sandra Teles skinny dips in front of a waterfall in Backwaters (Betrayed by Passion) (2006, UK). The murderer emerges from a waterfall to kill a skinny dipper in Just Before Dawn (1981, USA) and in Cocktail (1988, USA) Tom Cruise and Elisabeth Shue share a nude waterfall scene. Michael Palin is spied on by Trini Alvarado as he strips off by a waterfall in American Friends (1991, UK) and Viggo Mortensen and Diane Lane enjoy a skinny dip in front of a waterfall in A Walk on the Moon (1999,USA).
Enjoying living by himself Kevin Costner gets used to swimming and washing naked in a lake in Dances with Wolves (1990, USA). Charles Martin Smith skinny dips and runs around with a caribou herd in Never Cry Wolf (1983, USA). Kate Beckinsale poses nude for a painting and skinny dips in a lake in Haunted (1995 UK/ USA). Sally Field has a nude swim in a waterhole in Norma Rae (1979, USA), Mamie Van Doren and Lori Nelson skinny dip in Untamed Youth (1957, USA) and Shirley Jones skinny dips in Oklahoma (1955, USA). In The Big Wedding (2013, USA) Ana Ayora enjoys a naked swim in the lake at the bottom of the family garden.
All male skinny dips are quite common in film. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal enjoy a naked swim together in Brokeback Mountain (2005, USA), Steve Mcqueen, Will Geer and Mitch Vogel in The Reivers (1969, USA) and the male friends also skinny dip in the Return of the Seacaucus 7 (1980, USA). Anthony Perkins and Edward Albert skinny dip in a river together in The Fool Killer (1965,USA). Julian Sands, Rupert Graves and Simon Callow are caught having fun skinny dipping and running around in the nude by Helena Bonham Carter and Maggie Smith, in A Room with a View (1985, UK) and Wild Hogs (2007, USA) William H. Macy, John Travolta, Tim Allen and Martin Lawrence also skinny dip in a natural pool. The male cast of The Stag (The Bachelor Weekend) (2014, Ireland) strip naked in the wild as part of their comic adventure. In Flashbacks of a Fool (2008, UK) Joe Scot (played by Harry Eden) has his fishing interrupted by some male friends skinny dipping on the other side of the river bank. The character played as an older man by Daniel Craig is shown to be relaxed with is own nudity by showering and walking around his apartment naked in front of his female P.A. Eve played by Ophelia Franklin.
Being naked outside and having a swim after dusk is seen as a popular past time in the cinema world, maybe because of the link between night time and undressing. Jodie Foster has a naked lake swim at night as Nell (1994, USA). Michael J. Fox’s Doc Hollywood (1991, USA) witnesses Julie Warner skinny dipping in a lake at night. Kim Poirer has a late night nude swim in a river in spoof horror film Silent But Deadly (2011, Canada). Robin Williams dances naked in Central Park in The Fisher King (1991, USA). Angelina Jolie’s character rises from the water nude at night in Beowulf (2007, USA). In Black Day, Blue Night (1995, USA) Mia Sara and Gil Bellows share a nude swim in the dark.
Kirsten Dunst lies naked by a stream at night suffering from Melancholia (2011, Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany). Bevin Kaye swims in a river naked in Big Fish (2003, USA). Pascale Bussieres skinny dips in a lake When Night is Falling (1995, Canada) and during Hon Dansade en Sommar (One Summer of Happiness) (1951, Sweden) Ulla Jocobsson and Folke Sundquist swim naked together at sunset.
Kirsten Baker foolishly take a nude swim in a river during Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981, USA). Nude swimmers Kelly Brooke and Riley Brooke also face danger while they skinny dip in a lake in Piranha 3D (2010, USA). In She’ll be Wearing Pink Pyjamas (1985, UK) Julie Walters and other members of the female cast chat and laugh during a communal shower scene and later have a night time skinny dip in a lake.
A recurring theme within films featuring naturism is that if someone is by themselves, without the restrictions created by society they will revert back to nature and to nudity. Clothes may have some practical purposes (warmth and protection) but often it is warm and safe enough to not need them. We only hang onto them because society demands it, which is why so many of us flock to places where society doesn’t demand it.
When there is no society we are free to choose and if it is warm and pleasant we choose nudity. Patricia Arquette does just that as she goes into the woods to live and skinny dip in Human Nature (2001, USA). Tom Berenger, Kathy Bates and Daryl Hannah all get naked living among the Niaruna tribe in the Amazon rainforest, in At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991, USA), Daryl Hannah also has a skinny dipping scene. Emmanuelle Beart who lives alone looking after goats spends time naked in a grotto with a pool in Manon des Sources (1986, France/ Italy).
Being naked outside in water is a wonderful pleasure, but it also serves as a way of cleaning and refreshing the body. Washing outside has been part of human life for centuries, another way of life marginalised in western society in the last 150 years. In Red Dust (1932, USA) Jean Harlow bathes in a barrel with help from Clark Gable, Jason Robards Jnr. helps Stella Stevens do the same in The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970, USA). Julie Newmar and Omar Sharif wash of the dust with a lake swim in MacKenna’s Gold (1969, USA) and Jenny Agutter bathes nude in a stream in China 9, Liberty 37 (1978, Italy).
Ellen Barkin washes herself in a river and dries in the sun in Siesta (1987, USA). Easy Rider (1969, USA), Dennis Hopper and other cast members freshen up in Manby Hot Springs, New Mexico. Mario Lorenzio and Paula Romo bathe in an oasis in El Topo (1970, Mexico) and Sei Ashina bathes in a natural, hot pool surrounded by snow in Silk (2007, Canada/ France/ Italy/ UK/ USA/ Japan). Charlton Heston and his companions freshen up after a long space journey and desert walk by skinny dipping in a lake in The Planet of The Apes (1968, USA), the scene also works as a plot device to remove them from their 20th Century clothes. The female centaurs in Fantasia (1940, USA) bathe naked in a lake before emerging to wear tops made from flowers.
Skinny dippers are always having their clothes stolen. The young female cast of Now and Then (1995, USA) come across some boys they know from school skinny dipping in a river and have fun by running off with their clothes. Jane Wyatt has a nude swim in by a water fall in Lost Horizon (USA, 1937) and finds Ronald Coleman has taken her clothes to dress a nearby tree. The film also has a scene where the boys and girls of the school are an early finish and instinctively run to the river stripping of as soon as they get there.
Children love to skinny dip The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938, USA), Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938, USA), Maya (1966, USA), Ted Eccles in My Side of the Mountain (1969, USA), Miranda Rhyne and Charlotte Eve Blythe in Angela (1995, USA) and Pollyanna (1960, USA) all show the innocence of this joyous experience. In War of the Buttons (1994, UK/ France/ Japan/ USA) boys run around the countryside naked and in La Gloire de Mon Pere (My Father’s Glory)(1990, France) two boys play naked outside with a garden hose. A teenaged Reese Witherspoon has a naked swim in The Man In The Moon (1991,USA). A family skinny dip together in Shadrach (1998, USA). In The Parent Trap (1998, USA) Lynsay Lohan has a skinny dip in the lake at the camp after losing a bet.
Many realise that it is fun to be naked in the sun and in water. The Threesome (1994, USA) Lara Flynn Boyle, Josh Charles and Stephen Baldwin have fun skinny dipping together in a lake, Toyah Wilcox and Greta Scacchi do the same in The Ebony Tower (1985, UK). Oliver Reed and Alan Bates, when not nude wrestling, enjoy out door nudity and skinny dipping with Women in Love (1971, UK), Glenda Jackson and Jennie Linden. Debra Cole and Jennifer Connelly enjoy nude swimming and sun bathing at The Hot Spot (1990, USA). Judy Geeson skinny dips in a lake and is joined by Barry Evans in Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (1967, UK). Sammi Davis and Amanda Donohoe run around naked and skinny dip in a lake in The Rainbow (1989, UK). In 1984 (1984, UK) Suzanna Hamilton and John Hurt spend time naked in the woods. Laurel and Hardy and other new army recruits in With Love and Hisses (1927, USA) strip off in the middle of a long hike to have a swim in a lake. After their clothes are all burnt they have to head back to camp naked. Mulan (1998, USA) has her refreshing naked swim in a lake interrupted by her naked army comrades and fears them finding out that she is a woman.
The character played by Megan Dodds in The Contract (2006, USA/ Germany) is introduced to us as she leaves a lake after skinny dipping. Brad Pitt and Julia Ormond enjoy a hot spring soak in Legends of The Fall (1994, USA). In The Homesman (2014 USA/France) the characters played by Miranda Otto, Grace Gummer and Sonja Richter are washed in a river, the Sonja Richter character is also shown sewing while naked.
Anne Brochet swims nude in a river in Tous les Matins du Monde (All the Mornings of the World) (1992, France), Sandra Hess has some naked lake swimming in Endangered (1994, USA) and so does Phyllis Davis in Terminal Island (1973, USA). Isabelle Huppert has a nude swim in a river in Heaven’s Gate (1980, USA). Members of the cast skinny dip in a lake in Hair (1979, USA). In Lezioni Private (The Private Lesson) (1975, Italy) Leanora Fani and Rosalinino Cellamare are naked in a field of wild flowers. Beverley Johnson skinny dips in a river in Ashanti (1979, France) and in Twenty-nine Palms (2003, France/Germany/USA) Yekaterina Golubeva and Davis Wissack spend time naked in the sands of the Southern California desert.
Seaside Nudity
Most people choosing to be nude on sand go to the coast and not the desert. We like to be near water, it is human nature, we are drawn to it and always have been. Gaby Hoffman is naked in the desert and on the beach in Crystal Fairy & The Magical Cactus (2013, Chile). Daryl Hannah and Valerie Quennessen spend time on a Greek Island naturist beach in Summer Lovers (1982, USA), Daryl Hannah also makes a Splash (1984, USA) as a mermaid naked in the sea with a tail and ashore with legs. Ariel voiced by Jodi Benson is shown naked in the sea in The Little Mermaid (1989, USA). When she is washed as a mermaid she is naked before wearing a shell bikini top and when she becomes human she is naked in the sea and on the beach.
Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills skinny dip in the sea and climb onto some rocks in Avanti (1972 Italy/ USA), Kerry Fox does similar in An Angel At My Table (1990, Australia) and in Catch-22 (1970, USA) Paula Prentiss swims out and climbs onto a water platform in the nude. Faye Dunaway and Kirk Douglas are naked on a beach in The Arrangement (1969, USA), Jessica Tandy and Bridget Fonda swim nude in the sea in Camilla (1994, USA) and John Cleese and Connie Booth skinny dip on a beach in Romance With a Double Bass (1974, UK). Ian Bannen and David Kelly skinny dip in Waking Ned (1999, UK/ Ireland/ France/ USA), David Kelly rides through the countryside on his motorcycle nude too. In Wrestling Ernest Hemingway (1993, USA) Robert Duvall and Richard Harris have a seaside skinny dip.
Being nude on the beach and in the sea is one of the pleasures of being cast-away on an island. Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins are left alone in The Blue Lagoon (1980, USA), Jean Simmons and Donald Houston could show no nudity when they also went to The Blue Lagoon (1949, UK) but Milla Jovovich and Brian Krause could on the Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991, USA). There is more coastal nudity in Savage Beach (1989, USA) on a Hawaiian island from Dona Speir and Hope Marie Carlton. Vanity is naked on the beach, in the sea and the jungle while on Tanya’s Island (1980, Canada). In Lord of the Flies (1963,UK) the boys revert to nudity and skinny dipping while stranded on an island. Paz Vega is naked on a beach on a desolate island in Lucia y el Sexo (Sex and Lucia) (2001, France/ Spain). Kelly Brooke is one of Three (2005 UK/ USA/ Luxemburg) to be shipwrecked and skinny dips with Juan Pablo Di Pace.
Swimming from a boat in the ocean is another popular way to skinny dip. Alan Alda, Bess Armstrong, Rita Moreno and Jack Weston do so in The Four Seasons (1981, USA). Pauline Collins does as Shirley Valentine (1992, UK). Bo Derek is nude on a boat and in the ocean in Woman of Desire (1993, USA) and in Night Moves (1975, USA) Melanie Griffiths skinny dips from a boat at night. Valerie Kaprisky runs about nude on a boat at night in L’Annee des Meduses (1987, France), she also skinny dips in a pool and has a nude outside shower. Scarlett Gunden is naked on a boat and swims in the sea off a tropical island in Crituras en Celo (Melody in Love) (1978, West Germany). Roger Moore and Carole Bouquet end For Your Eyes Only (1981, UK/USA) with an evening skinny dip from a boat in the ocean.
Steven Spielberg recognised the dangers in swimming naked in the sea at night and skinny dipper Susan Backlinie became a victim of Jaws (1975, USA), she ended up in deep water again in his 1941 (1979, USA). Tintorera- Killer Shark (1977, Mexico) trying to cash in on the success of “Jaws” had various characters nude on the beach and skinny dipping in peril.
Most films tend to evoke beach side nudity as an image of warmth and beauty though. Who wouldn’t want to feel as Harriet Andersson’s character must feel as she enjoys the sun on her body and goes for a coastal dip in Sommaren med Monika (Summer with Monika (1953, Sweden). Bo Derek is naked on a beautiful beach in Ghosts Can’t Do It (1989, USA), Julie Graham is nude on a British beach in The Fruit Machine (Wonderland) (1989, UK) and Susan Player and others skinny dip in Malibu Beach (1978, USA).
Katya Berger strips off on a beach in Storie di ordinaria follia (Tales of Ordinary Madness) (1981, Italy) and Lola Le Lann skinny dips in the sea at night in Un Moment D’egarement (One Wild Moment) (2015, France). Soldiers including Mel Gibson and Mark Lee swim nude in the sea in Gallipoli (1981, Australia), as do Colin Firth and Nicholas Hoult in A Single Man (2009, USA). This film also includes a photo of Matthew Goode sunbathing naked on rocks by the coast. Owen Wilson has nude showers on the beach in Drillbit Taylor (2008, USA) much to the surprise of people driving by and walking past on the street.
Street Wise -or Unwise?
Social nudity is becoming more acceptable on beaches and in the countryside but it may be some time before we are able to walk down a street naked without the possibility of arrest, but it is not beyond possibility. We have naked bikes rides in major cities and nude protests and in American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile (2006, USA) a hundred naked extras take part in the Michigan University nude run. A troubled Nicole Kidman wanders around town nude in Strangerland (2015, Australia/ Ireland). The sort of reaction shown to Bart Simpson when caught skateboarding through Springfield nude in The Simpsons Movie (2007, USA) although humorous is probably quite realistic.
Daryl Hannah once again finds her self naked in Roxanne (1987, USA) she is locked out her house and travels across town to ask fireman Steve Martin for help.
At the end of Yes Man (2008 USA/UK) several hundred men and women, the audience in Terence Stamp's seminar talk, chose to be naked as they have given their clothes to a charity.
Naked Therapy – Coming Clean
A much safer and healthy way to share social nudity is to use a spa and the therapeutic treatments linked with that environment. Sarah Miles, Vanessa Redgrave and the other female cast members chat in the nude while swimming, being massaged and Steaming (1985, UK). The athletics based film Personal Best (1982, USA) sees Mariel Hemingway sharing a naked steam room with Patrice Donnelly and others. Richard Harris and his fellow rugby players share baths in the changing rooms in This Sporting Life (1963, UK). Various cast members, including Casper Van Dien and Dina Meyer in Starship Troopers (1996, USA) share a co-eds shower and changing room scenes. Stellen Skaargard and his co-workers are comfortably naked around each other in the shower room and other parts of the oil-rig where they work in Breaking the Waves (1996, UK, Denmark, Iceland, Spain, France, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands).
Naked locker and shower rooms scenes are also found in Any Given Sunday (1999, USA), Hall Pass (2011, USA), Carnal Knowledge (1971, USA) featuring Art Garfunkel and Jack Nicholson, Apt Pupil (1998, USA/France), Hong Ying Tao (Red Cherry)(1996, China), Swimming with Men (2018, UK) and The Long Run (2001, South Africa). In Elf (2003, USA) Will Farrell’s innocently visits the female changing room at work to listen to Zooey Deschanel as she sings in the shower. In Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001, USA/UK/Japan/Germany) Angelia Jolie wanders naked from her bathroom around her house while talking to her man servant. Daniel Craig does similar to Angelina Jolie later in the film.
Mimi Rodgers spends a lot of time nude getting a Full Body Massage (1995, USA) from masseur Bryan Brown. In Thor: Ragnorak (2017, USA) Mark Ruffulo motion-captured as the Hulk uses a hot tub and emerges naked upsetting Chris Hemsworth. Sigourney Weaver chats comfortably with her landlord as she sits in front of him while naked in her bath in Half Moon Street (1986 UK/USA). Sean Connery is given a bath by various attendants in You Only Live Twice (1967, UK). In Shame (2011. UK) Carey Mulligan has a shower not concerned by her brother Michael Fassbender also being in the room. Dora Bryan has a bath while chatting to her daughter Rita Tushingham in The Taste of Honey (1961, UK).
In 18th Century France, Audrey Tatou and Vahina Giocante share a Turkish milk bath and Vincent Perez poses for a painting and goes around the gardens naked in La Libertin (2000, France). Myrna Loy visiting Egypt and has a pre-code luxurious, bathing scene surrounded by petals in The Barbarian (1933, USA). Jacqueline Pearce bathes herself in front of various friends as they chat in White Mischief (1988, UK). In The Bridges of Tokyo-Ri (1954, USA) William Holden, Grace Kelly and their character’s children share a communal bath with another family. A family are also seen bathing together in the animated film Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbour Totoro)(1988, Japan).
Melanie Griffiths, Anne Lockhart, Robert Carradine and Desi Arnez Jnr share a naturist spa in Joyride (1977, USA), Tim Robbins as The Player (1992, USA) has a naked mud bath and shares a hot tub with Cynthia Stevenson. James Spader and Charlotte Lewis share a hot tub in Storyville (1992, USA). Malcolm MacDowell shares a nude hot tub with Lisa Marie Scott and Shannon Whirry in Ringer (1996, USA). Glenda Jackson and Helmut Berger have a nude chat while sitting at the side of a spa pool in The Romantic Englishwoman (1975, UK/France). In Envy (2004, USA) Ben Stiller and Jack Black share a hot tub naked with the Italian president accompanied on the side by his dressed interpreter.
It isn’t all healthy fun though, in Iced (1988, USA) Lisa Loring is electrocuted in a hot tub and in Switch (1991, USA) Perry King is also murdered in a nude spa scene. In Thick as Thieves (2009 USA/Germany) Morgan Freeman shoots a man while in a spa pool.
Bridget Fonda, Lara Flynn Boyle and others receive nude treatments in The Road to Wellville (1994, USA). Judi Bowker’s character is given a bath and clothed by servants in Clash of the Titans (1981, UK/ USA), in the film a woman and her son are also seen walking naked on a beach together.
The older generations enjoy naked spas too. In About Schmidt (2002, USA) Kathy Bates shares a nude hot tub scene with Jack Nicholson. In Youth (2015, Italy/ France/ UK/ Switzerland) Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel while enjoying the warm waters are joined by Madalina Diana Ghenea.
Never, Forever
Cinema is very guilty of showing naked scenes with only young (and usually female) bodies. These last two films remind us that in reality naturism isn’t about age, sex or beauty but about the equality of enjoying the sun, air and water on our bodies and how it it helps us to maintain a feeling of “youth” within our hearts. To re-quote Joel McCrea in The Common Law, “You know, you should never wear clothes.”
Thank you - I hope you have enjoyed this little trawl though the cinema and some of its examples of non-sexual and social nudity. I have relied a lot personal memories so excuse me for errors and omissions. This is a living article and will continue to grow as I find other film examples that deserve entry. - Steve 
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