What Do You Say to a Naked Lady?
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''What Do You Say to a Naked Lady?'' is a 1970 American hidden-camera style
reality film Reality film or reality movie describes a genre of films that have resulted from reality television, such as ''The Real Cancun'', MTV's film version of '' The Real World'', which was originally titled ''Spring Break: The Reality Movie''. In an art ...
directed by '' Candid Camera'' creator Allen Funt. In the film, Funt secretly records people's reactions to unexpected encounters with nudity or sexuality in unusual situations. While the film does contain some titillating material and both male and female
full frontal nudity Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...
, a large amount of the film involves Funt talking to people about sexuality and sexual topics. Whereas Funt's other productions had to fall within
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
guidelines prohibiting nudity and sexual content on the airwaves, this film was outside the FCC's jurisdiction and Funt was free to incorporate them into the film. In the U.S., the film was originally rated X by the
Motion Picture Association of America The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distrib ...
; an edited version was
rated R Rated R refers to movies (and also to TV shows and video games in certain systems) that have been given a "restricted" rating by one of the following film rating systems: * Motion Picture Association of America film rating system * Canadian Home Vid ...
in 1982. When submitted to the
British Board of Film Classification The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of f ...
in 1970, the film was originally rejected, then rated X; a 1988 video release was rated 18. The film was released on VHS in the 1980s, with a
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
released on December 6, 2011.


Plot


Cast

* Joie Addison as Girl in Elevator * Laura Huston as Girl on the Ladder * Martin Meyers as The Tailor * Karil Daniels as Girl Who Is Not Raped * Donna Whitfield as Interracial Couple *
Richard Roundtree Richard Roundtree (born July 9, 1942) is an American actor. Roundtree is noted as being "the first black action hero" for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film ''Shaft'', and its four sequels, released between 1972 and 2 ...
as Interracial Couple * Susanna Clemm as Girl in the Keyhole * Norman Manzon as Male Model * Joan Bell as Lecturer


Reception

Roger Greenspun Roger Greenspun (December 16, 1929 – June 18, 2017) was an American journalist and film critic, best known for his work with ''The New York Times'' in which he reviewed near 400 films, particularly in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and for '' ...
of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' reported that although "a few naked ladies do appear," the film "is mostly given over to verbal teases, to more or less straight interviews about sex, and to tributes to the cuteness of little kids." Greenspun noted that the film usually "tries milking laughs from the device of asking expert opinion of people who don't know what they are talking about. The results range from the dully ridiculous to the unspeakably vulgar. At its lowest moment, the film allows three loud, stupid, ugly old women to discuss their reactions to (I believe) '
I Am Curious (Yellow) ''I Am Curious (Yellow)'' (, meaning "I Am Curious: A Film in Yellow") is a 1967 Swedish erotic drama film written and directed by Vilgot Sjöman, starring Sjöman and Lena Nyman. It is a companion film to 1968's ''I Am Curious (Blue)''; the t ...
.'" ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' wrote, "This could have been done as well with suggested nudity or even partial exposure, but Funt confronts several supposedly uninformed individuals with a completely naked female as they're emerging from an elevator. The results, initially, are funny, but quickly reach the point of seeming repetitious." Gene Siskel of the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'' gave the film 3 stars out of 4 and wrote that he was not looking forward to seeing it because "I expected a peep show. Instead, I found 'Naked Lady' to be a fresh look at stale attitudes." Kevin Thomas of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' wondered what took Funt so long to do a project like this one, but now that he had, "the results not surprisingly are hilarious beyond anything he could dare present on television." Gary Arnold of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' noted, "As a sex survey, the film is inconclusive and only sporadically funny, but Funt has probably hit on the kind of exploitation movie that will appeal to the broad popular audience." Brian Davis of ''
The Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...
'' wrote, "Funt's initial idea of confronting office workers with a completely naked woman is undeniably diverting, but the potential of this particular notion is strictly limited, and his subsequent devices for causing innocent citizens sexual embarrassment become increasingly desperate."


See also

*
List of American films of 1970 This is a list of American films released in 1970. ''Patton'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture. The top-grossing film at the U.S. box office was ''Airport''. __TOC__ A–B C–F G–I J–M N–S T–Z See also * 1970 in ...
*
Actuality film The actuality film is a non-fiction film genre that, like the documentary film, uses footage of real events, places, and things. Unlike the documentaries, actuality films are not structured into a larger argument, picture of the phenomenon or coh ...


References


External links

* * {{Amg movie, 54013, What Do You Say to a Naked Lady?
Information at MGM.com


from ''Time'' magazine (1970) 1970 films American documentary films Films directed by Allen Funt United Artists films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films