Daughter of the Sun is a 1962

sexploitation A sexploitation film (or sex-exploitation film) is a class of independently produced, low-budget feature film that is generally associated with the 1960s and early 1970s, and that serves largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit s ...

comedy film directed by

Herschell Gordon Lewis Herschell Gordon Lewis (June 15, 1926 – September 26, 2016) was an American filmmaker, best known for creating the " splatter" subgenre of horror films. He is often called the "Godfather of Gore" (a title also given to Lucio Fulci), though hi ...

and produced by

David F. Friedman David Frank Friedman (December 24, 1923 – February 14, 2011) was an American filmmaker and film producer best known for his B movies, exploitation films, Nudity in film#Nudie-cuties, nudie cuties, and sexploitation films. Life and career Fri ...

. The film follows the experiences of two young teachers at a nudist colony. Lewis and Friedman produced the film after the success of the 1961

nudie cutie In film, nudity may be either graphic or suggestive, such as when a person appears to be naked but is covered by a sheet. Since the birth of film, depictions of any form of sexuality have been controversial, and in the case of most nude scen ...

The Adventures of Lucky Pierre ''The Adventures of Lucky Pierre'' is a 1961 nudie cutie film created by exploitation filmmakers Herschell Gordon Lewis and David F. Friedman. The first of its kind to be filmed in color, the film starred comedian Billy Falbo. It was unique for i ...

''.

Synopsis

Schoolteacher Christine is forced to defend herself before the board of education when it becomes known that she is a member of a nudist colony. Curious about her account, young educator Keith Lawrence goes with her to the nudist colony so he can learn more about it.

Cast

* Rusty Allen as Christine * Jerome Eden as Keith Lawrence * Michael Borgine as Grady Ives * Pearl Krohn as Olive Simmons * Rockwell Morrow as Narrator

Production

The film followed up on the success of ''

'', a color film of the

genre. Lewis and Friedman were determined to make a fourth film together, and decided to produce one in the

nudist colony A naturist resort or nudist resort is an establishment that provides accommodation (or at least camping space) and other amenities for guests in a context where they are invited to practise naturism – that is, a lifestyle of non-sexual socia ...

film genre, which was popular at the time. Since no nudist colonies existed near

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

at the time, Lewis and Friedman relocated to film on location in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. Daughter of the Sun was the first of many of Lewis' films to be shot in Miami, and to star Jerome Eden who later became a frequent collaborator of Lewis. Despite the box office success of ''Lucky Pierre'', Lewis and Friedman did not feel they would be able to finance another color film quickly enough to capitalize on ''Lucky Pierre'''s success. Their solution was to shoot the majority of the film on cheaper black-and-white film, leaving the more expensive color film for the nude scenes. Rusty Allen, then working as a cigarette girl, was hired as the lead for her good looks and was billed as "the most beautiful woman in the world".

Reception

''Daughter of the Sun'' was a minor box office success and was screened in theatres for several years after its release, although it did not match the success of ''Lucky Pierre''.

References

External links

{{Herschell_Gordon Lewis 1962 films 1960s sex comedy films Films directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis American sexploitation films 1960s American films