This Nude World  

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This Nude World (1933) is a nudist film directed by Mike Mindlin. It was advertised "Guaranteed the Most Educational Film Ever Produced!"

It is based on On Going Naked (1932) by Jan Gay.

CREDITS

subject : Gay, Jan
operator : Steiner, William
operator : O' Messerly, George
operator : Weitzenberg, A. G.
operator : D'Melier, Andre
editing : Rothstein, Max
musical adaptation : Irvin Talbot
voice : Leo Donnelly
distribution : Thunderbird Films
distribution : Vision Pictures

SEQUENCES

Intertitle 1: "Foreword. Who are these Nudists we have been hearing about? What kind of people are they and what do they do? Do they meet and hold orgies by moonlight? Are they exotic and immoral? Are they trying to resurrect old pagan rites or are they health fanatics? All these questions arise in the minds of people who have heard only that men and women go naked together. It was to answer such questions as these that we made this film. First we visited a Nudist camp that is 75 miles from New York City. Then after seeing what form the Nudist movement has taken in the United States, we crossed the ocean to France, where it has been adapted and to Germany where it originated. There is ample precedent in this country for going without clothes. Certain of our most revered philosophers have asserted their personal inclinations in this direction: Benjamin Franklin, Thoreau and Walt Whitman were all enthusiastic believers in the practice of nakedness. One of the numerous references in Whitman's poems is: "I will go to the bank by the wood/ and become undisguised and naked,/ I am mad for it to be in contact with me. We neither defend the Nudist nor do we criticize them. We have simply made a record hour by hour of what the Nudist do through the day. It is our belief that this film will dispel much of the misinformation that is current concerning the activities of the Nudists - but we leave you to draw your own conclusions as to whether or not they are justified in their departure from the more usual practices of our times. Editor's Note: - There is not one professional actor in this film. The entire picture is one hundred percent authentic, taken at the leading Nudists Colonies in America, France and Germany"

• aerial footage of the Acropolis in Athens
• the temples of the Acropolis
• aerial shots of New York City
• the Brooklyn Bridge
• the George Washington Bridge
• some speedboats run on the river
• footage from a moving car of the countryside near New York City
• a car proceeds on a dirt road
• the Camp Olympia
• the camp director shakes hands with a man sitting in a car
• a naked man does the flag raising
• a naked man does the flag raising
• a naked man sounds the siren
• some men get up from their beds
• a naked child sounds a siren
• some nudists dive into a pond (?) from a wooden dock
• a nudist mother plays on the lawn with her children
• a group of nudists walk through a forest and do gymnastics in a clearing
• two women and a child caught near a well (?)
• two naked children pick flowers
• nudists sunbathing, playing ball, chasing each other, canoeing
• images of an ocean liner
• images of Manhattan
• footage from a ship
• city traffic
• night shots of Paris
• the Arc de Triomphe
• Place de la Concorde
• the Madeleine
• fireworks at Versailles
• the illuminated signs of the Folies Bergère
• some dancers perform on stage at the Folies Bergère
• show at the Lido club
• dance number
• club guests dive into the pool
• folk dances
• two singers perform sitting in a gondola in the middle of the pool
• parade of girls uncovering their breasts
• the crowded market in Les Halles
• flower stall on the Seine promenade
• barges on the Seine
• painters at work on the banks of the Seine
• a homeless man camped out on the banks of the Seine
• used book sellers on the Seine waterfront

Intertitle: "The Ile des Naturistes at Villennes sur Seine was founded by Doctors Gaston and Andre Durville, who for twenty years have been preaching the gospel of the simple life combined with spending as much time in the open air as possible. Five years ago they acquired this island which is less than an hour from the center of Paris, and here they established a colony for the working out of their ideas, which are similar to, if not exactly the same, as those of the Nudists. Dr. Gaston Durville, the founder, will himself tell you something about his camp"

• Gaston Durville reads a speech, at his side André Durville
• a boat advances on the Seine
• footage from a boat on the Seine
• the Eiffel Tower
• Gaston and André Durville at Villennes sur Seine
• some people walk in bathing suits
• a woman carries a small trunk on her head
• some people do gymnastics in costume on a lawn
• a group of people play with balls
• some people play with a large ball
• women and men are doing Greco-Roman (?) wrestling on the lawn
• a woman dances in the middle of a circle of people clapping hands
• some people dive into the river
• some people go canoeing

Intertitle: "Discarding brassieres and trunks which the Naturistes wear on their island near Paris, the members of the Sparta Club are thorough Nudists. Both in their Paris gymnasium and in the grounds of their chateau in Normandy they exercise wholly without clothes, disproving the theory that while nakedness may be all very well for the Teutonic temperament it is not adaptable to the Gallic. M. Kienne de Mongeot, the leader of the Paris Nudists, and founder of the Sparta Club, will tell you something of the club under his direction"

• Kienne de Mongeot reads a speech
• high wall in the Normandy countryside
• the entrance to the Manoir Jan
• a gloved hand rings the doorbell
• a man opens a peephole
• Kienne de Mongeot opens the doorway
• Manoir Jan's guests converge for lunch at the sound of a bell
• guests eat in the dining room
• the guests practice some nude sports
• a couple performs a kind of dance under the gaze of some nudists sitting on the lawn
• a naked woman runs through the trees
• a group of nudists do gymnastics on the lawn
• a group of nudists wash in a stream
• Kienne de Mongeot waves near the gateway
• images of Lindbergh's transflight
• aerial shots of Paris
• the Trocadero
• Notre Dame
• Bastille Square
• Berlin
• the Brandenburg Gate
• a fountain
• night shots of Berlin
• the Kempinski cafe
• party inside the café
• dancing performances on the premises
• some dancers perform choreography while wearing a Berlin bear blouse
• customers drink beer
• coffee at the Zoo
• couples dance on a crowded dance floor

Intertitle: "In America, Nudism is still the province of adventurers. In France, its followers are largely among the intellectuals and wealthy dilettantes. In Germany the extraordinary spread of the Nudist movement has been among all classes. No more typical group exists than of the Freikoerperkulturschule Adolph Koch, which was one of the first, and has grown to be the largest nudist organization in Germany. Since Mr. Koch speaks only German, his wife and able assistant, Ilka Dieball, will tell you of their work"

• sign from the school of Adolph Koch
• Naked children perform gymnastics exercises
• Ilka Dieball beats a tambourine rhythmically giving time to a group of naked people doing gymnastics
• some people take showers
• some people have an ultraviolet lamp session
• sign reading "Gymnastik-Abteilung. Leitung: Körperkulturschule Adolf Koch"
• pictures of an indoor swimming pool
• a crowd of people waiting on the edge of the pool for the signal to dive into the water
• Ilka Dieball sitting next to a statue
• Ilka Dieball shakes hands with the mayor and the building manager (?)
• footage of a tree-lined boulevard from a moving car
• sign indicating that access to the Adolf Koch nudist camp is allowed only to pass holders
• entrance to the camp
• Adolf Koch and his wife invite entry
• pictures of the camp
• tents in the camp
• boys take showers
• a man shaves
• some people take supplies from a wagon
• children play naked
• some people do gymnastics in a clearing
• some people walk in the woods
• some people are crawling
• a man stokes a fire
• a man announces that lunch is ready
• nudists rush in
• nudists line up to pick up food ration
• crowd of nudists do gymnastics on a meadow
• crowd of nudists run through the woods
• nudists dive into a pond from a wooden dock
• a woman swims with a baby
• some people swim in the pond
• a group of people climb into a truck
• Ilka Dieball shakes hands with an off-campus person
• the truck leaves followed by a buggy
• Ilka Dieball waves goodbye as camp gate closes

KEYWORDS

THEMES

• the body
• amateur gymnastics
• amateur sports
• variety theater

PEOPLE

• Durville, Gaston
• Durville, André
• Mongeot, Kienne de
• Koch, Adolf
• Dieball, Ilka

PLACES

• Athens
• Acropolis of Athens
• New York City
• Brooklyn Bridge
• washington bridge in new york
• Paris
• Arc de Triomphe in Paris
• Place de la Concorde in Paris
• Eiffel Tower
• Trocadero
• Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris
• Berlin

See also

• American erotica
• Nudity in film