Nude scene? What nude scene?


I just endured this and now find out there's a nude scene. Presumably it's not in the original version (unless I dozed off).

"Make me a baby!
Make me a star!
Leave my coffin slightly ajar!"
- Lesley Gore

reply

It is in the original version (not in the Jerry Warren travesty). The skater goes in to take a shower after her practice (when we first see her) and is shown stepping behind an opaque shower curtain, taking off her towel and washing off -- from behind, and through the curtain, but for 1959, that's some form of nudity. She had a nice body.

reply

Oh, that nude scene.

"Make me a baby!
Make me a star!
Leave my coffin slightly ajar!"
- Lesley Gore

reply

Hey, you take 'em where you can get 'em. I'm sure her grandchildren appreciate it, just to make us all feel old.

reply

Port/Storm.

"Make me a baby!
Make me a star!
Leave my coffin slightly ajar!"
- Lesley Gore

reply

I just read where Barbara Wilson sued the producers because (her body double did the nude scene) she was afraid her parents would think it was her, and she didn't do nude scenes.
http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/630/Barbara+Wilson/index.html

"Klaatu Barada Nikto"

reply

A body double did it? I'll have to check again, but in my recollection we see Miss Wilson, dressed, walking behind the opaque curtain and then stripping. There was clearly no cut in that scene where they could have substituted a double. Plus she dons a towel and comes out after the scene, again, all in one uncut take, and it's Barbara Wilson who emerges.

Maybe her issue wasn't doing the scene as such but in finding out later that she could be seen clearly enough that her entire nude body was all pretty much on view. And if she did sue, I wonder why she subsequently agreed to appear in Warren's mishmash of a recut. He couldn't have included the nude sequence in the American version back then anyway, so it could't have been because he promised her to delete it if she did new scenes for him.

reply

Did you read my link? This is my source of info. As for the body double, if there was no cut in the entire scene, it's possible the double (named Bridgette or something--see my link) looked enough like her to pass as her. I can't believe Barbara looked young as a college girl (tho' she was 28) in the film The Flesh Eaters. Have you seen that? Her scene is the very first one.

"Klaatu barada nikto"

reply

I haven't checked your link but will do so. Anyway, even if a body double was used, still, there is a nude scene. And if BW didn't do the shot, then I can't imagine what basis she'd have for suing. She'd have to prove she was somehow harmed by people assuming it was her behind the curtain, which is pretty much of a stretch. But to say that she didn't do nude scenes makes little sense, since in 1958, no one did "nude scenes" in any mainstream American film -- the question would never have arisen (as opposed to, say, ten or fifteen years later). Even in Europe at the time, such scenes were still rare, and very tame by later standards.

For some reason I've never been able to catch The Flesh Eaters (I don't say that sarcastically -- I've seen 99% of all the great/good/bad/hilariously inept 50s sci-fi films -- so I don't know how I've always missed that one). Didn't know offhand that Barbara W. was in it, so I must see it sometime.

reply

IF we assume that she had a contract with a no-nudity clause (if there even was one in 1958), I can see that she didn't know there would be a nude shower scene, and of course, she knew she didn't do it. But when the film came out, she was shocked to see it (the double, who obviously looked like her, did the scene but Barbara didn't know it would be in there). I guess her lawsuit (don't know the result) was most likely for loss of reputation as a "serious actress." Though she didn't really do any "serious" roles! In 58, this was probably a big deal, as it wouldn't have been 10 years later. I also noticed there is a BIG shortage of photos and info on BW, that I was able to find (there are many other Barbara Wilson's that come up. Is there any place I could see that nude scene online that you know of? YouTube?

"Klaatu barada nikto"

reply

Yeah, I would just assume she felt the scene somehow demeaned her professionally and personally. Even so, I really doubt she had much of a case, unless she could prove the producers had lied to her somehow. But would anyone think to ask, "Do I do a nude scene?" in a Swedish monster movie in 1958? (!) That's why I doubt she had a "no-nudity" clause, in that I just don't believe the subject would ever have crossed anyone's mind.

The only possibility is that they did in fact ask her to do this scene, she refused, and they went ahead and did it with a double. That makes sense and might give her some cause for legal action. But it's also occurred to me that maybe the whole thing was a put-up, a phony legal threat designed to publicize the movie. Such things have been done before. I don't really think that was the case here, but it's a fun idea to toy with. Or maybe she thought she was better looking than the woman they used. However...

One thing to keep in mind is that, while it was intended that this film be released in America around the same time it was released in Sweden, for some reason that never happened. The only version that ever came here was Jerry Warren's, who bought the rights in the early 60s, reworked it (terribly), and released it, without a nude scene, as Invasion of the Animal People in 1962. Since no nude scene was in that version, it's a bit confusing why Miss Wilson would have bothered suing in the first place, or whether she could file suit in the US instead of Sweden (though she could sue the American producers here). That's why the story doesn't quite ring true.

I still have to watch the film again and look more closely to see if this really was a body double. It had never occurred to me that one was used, because it clearly looked like Miss Wilson throughout the scene, as I said before.

As to where you can see the scene, I have no idea if it's on YouTube, but as everything else seems to be, it might be worth a try. But haven't you seen the movie? If not, it's worth getting if you like sci-fi. It's really not bad at all, with pretty good special effects, a decent plot, good photography, and a nude scene. Seriously, the Something Weird DVD (pictured on the main page here) is inexpensive, readily available, and contains both the original and Jerry Warren's confused, unfathomable recut, where he adds inexplicable new footage, keeps insisting it's Switzerland instead of Sweden, subjects poor John Carradine to spouting more incomprehensible babbling, and commits other imbecilities. I really had to force myself to sit through that one, once, but I've watched Terror in the Midnight Sun/Rymdinvasion i Lapland a few times, and have always found it surprisingly enjoyable. This is the film that was supposed to have been released here in 1959, but never was. There are also some pretty interesting extras.

reply

Brunette Barbara Wilson only appears in the opening scene in THE FLESH EATERS, when her boyfriend snatches her bikini top and jumps after her into the water, where both fall victim to the flesh eaters. There is also a blonde Barbara Wilkin in the same film, a buxom blonde who peels off her shirt (exposing her bra) for a bandage when the hero has part of his leg sliced off by Martin Kosleck. Miss Wilson (born 1936) also appeared in 1957's BLOOD OF DRACULA (you can easily identify her as one of the schoolgirls early on), a staple on AMC for the last few years. The Barbara Wilson who appears in 1966's Italian-French THE MURDER CLINIC is a different actress, another bosomy blonde.

"I take pleasure in great beauty" - James Bond

reply

I bought the SWV version and viewed the shower scene. We see Barbara Wilson smiling as she enters the building. The next shot shows the double from behind, as she removes her clothes and steps into the shower (for the shortest shower I ever saw), wraps herself up in the towel and comes out. She looks like BW from the rear, but the key is (view in slow-motion) as the girl turns toward the shower, we see a side view (profile) of her face. She has the same pointed nose as BW, but a sharp extended chin. Compare her chin to the other scenes of BW (who does NOT have a sharp chin). Still, I can't see that BW would think the girl's body was inferior to hers. I think it was just the nudity that was added that she objected to.

"Klaatu barada nikto"

reply

I have to admit I never got around to watching this movie again since my last post here over a year ago. But it is worth checking out. Thanks for the blow-by-blow (if you'll pardon the expression) dissection of the shower scene!

Glad to see you also finally got the SWV version, obviously the one to have.

reply

As you might see in another post of mine here, I was lamenting how good Barbara Wilson was in this film (although made to react in very 1958 women's ways). She was a tough character who played hard-to-get. The two leads have a lot of chemistry together (watch especially the dance sequence and the way she looks at him). I wondered why she didn't do much more as an actress. One reason may be that she sued the studio for $150,000 in 1960. That could have been a career-ending move. Wonder if she won. If so, it may have ended her Hollywood career.

"Cum Grano Salis"

reply

I just read your other post on my way to this one, bobquack, and agree with you. She was tough (in a nice way) and sexy. I really liked that girl. I never heard about her lawsuit (over this movie?), but maybe another thing that ruined her budding movie career was her association with the dreadful Jerry Warren, in agreeing to appear in the insert scenes for his butchered version of this pretty good film, the inexplicably dense and moronic Invasion of the Animal People.

reply

I haven't seen the Warren film. What scenes does she appear in that were added?

"Cum Grano Salis"

reply

Warren inserted a completely impenetrable forward showing Miss Wilson running through the nighttime streets of L.A. for some reason -- some emotional breakdown over her space experiences or some crazy thing -- with voice-over narration, I believe by John Carradine, the star of the inserts. (He shows up in person soon after, recounting the tale.) I can't remember whether any of her other scenes are Warren originals or just from the actual film.

To be honest I could barely sit through it, it was so butchered and inane -- no sense whatsoever. Warren, who wrote his insert portions, has his actors saying that the story (the original film re-edited into incoherence and presented as flashbacks) unfolded in Switzerland -- even though in the unbutchered parts of the film the actors of course are still referring to Sweden. You figure it out. I watched it several years ago, only after seeing the original a couple of times, which probably made the Warrenized version even more ridiculous and unbearable.

reply

I listened to the producer's interview on the dvd for TITMS. He says at one point there were 3 doubles for Barbara Wilson. One for the skating, one for the shower scene, and I assume the 3rd was the dummy the monster carried. It's my opinion that the same girl who skated did the shower scene. I wasn't sure from the producer's comments if he was joking about 3 doubles. It seems to me if BW was worried about what her parents thought she could just tell them the truth. I fear her lawsuit labeled her too hard to work with to any other studios or movie producers.

"Cum Grano Salis"

reply

So the nude scene was done by a double? Disappointing. They pulled it off it well. I couldn't tell when they switched girls.

Assuming, of course, they really did!

reply

I just bought the movie on a DVD-R. It is the Swedish version, but the nude scene is cut out. The closest to it is in the cabin after the girl gets wet and must remove her clothes (the man is building a fire). She is shown in silhouette only removing her clothes, then emerging wrapped in a blanket. The version I bought is from ReelClassics.com

"Klaatu barada nikto"

reply

Yes, but that's not the scene where she appears nude. That's much earlier, after her introductory scene skating on the ice rink, when she meets her father and the Swedish guy she becomes involved with. After leaving them she goes into the changing room, which is where we see her doff her clothes and take a quick shower, "concealed" behind a very opaque shower curtain.

That scene is in the uncut original version of the film in the Something Weird Video DVD, along with Warren's crummy 1962 rehash. Since you get can both films (plus extras) in that DVD for only $9.99 or so (give or take a buck or two), why fool around with an obscure DVD-R that's cut to boot?

reply

[deleted]

She made it adamantly clear that she did not do nude scenes - yet she had no qualms about appearing in low-end Grade B sci-fi flicks. Hmmm...

"Don't call me 'honey', mac."
"Don't call me 'mac'... HONEY!"

reply