Hideout In The Sun

The clothing-optional lifestyle reforms a criminal in this amusing nudist colony film from prolific exploitation director Doris Wishman. Bank robbing brothers Duke and Steve (Greg Conrad and Earl Bauer) pull a job but car troubles mar their getaway. A young woman in the right convertible at the wrong time provides a solution, so the desperate duo kidnaps the girl and commandeers her wheels. When they learn that their hostage Dorothy (Dolores Carlos) lives and works at a private country club, the brothers devise a plot to hide out in her bungalow while they wait for their boat to Cuba. Since the club is open only to married couples, Duke hides in the trunk while Steve masquerades as Dorothy's newlywed husband, but once past the gate the brothers are shocked to discover that the "exclusive club" is a nudist colony. While Duke hides out with the loot in the cabin, Steve and Dorothy stroll around the grounds in the buff to bolster the bogus marriage story. As the couple spends time together in the sunshine enjoying wholesome activities like volleyball, swimming and archery, love begins to blossom, and soon Steve is questioning his criminal ways.

Doris Wishman's unique career spanned four decades and boasted more than two dozen features, and it all started with this humble yet charming nudist colony film. Wishman had already worked for several years in the film distribution business when an untimely heart attack took the life of her husband. Grieving the loss and needing a project to help restart her life, the young widow decided to make her own movie, choosing the then-spicy (and profitable) realm of nudist colony films for her debut. Funded for a pittance by family members and shot in sunny Florida, Hideout in the Sun made money and Wishman went on to self-finance a steady stream of low budget, high concept adult features that share a distinctively off-kilter flavor. Hideout is atypical of Wishman's oeuvre, possessing a crude yet conventional approach to composition and pacing unlike her later, more eccentric films. However, Wishman's taste for the bizarre is already evident -- she sets Hideout's climax at a roadside tourist attraction called the Miami Serpentarium and dares to inject some film noir sensibilities into the eternally sunny nudist colony formula. Like other genre-standard nudist films, Hideout in the Sun extols the virtue of the lifestyle with handsome, healthy naked folks (genitals always discreetly covered by towel or beach ball) engaged in various wholesome outdoor activities. "Everyone here is so healthy looking, they seem so happy," opines one character, "it's a wonderful way to live and to bring up children." Nary a hint of sexual impropriety exists on the screen, but the audience certainly had prurient ideas in mind for all the nude bathing beauties on display and the legality of these films paved the way for the full-on hardcore assault of the 1970s. Wishman followed Hideout with seven more nudist colony features (including the delirious sci-fi/nudist hybrid Nude on the Moon) before moving on to harder-edged fare as the marketplace demanded. But the innocent energy of her debut, with its clumsy criminals and deadpan lovers, will please those seeking nostalgic thrills. Wishman devotees take note, the director makes a brief (fully clothed) appearance early in the film as an extra -- she's the red-headed woman walking out of the bank during the holdup. FRED BELDIN

Posted in honor of the nude beaches my beloved and I will be seeking out now that we've safely landed on one of the Hawaiian islands (don't recall which one -- I think it starts with a "K"). Photos forthcoming ... thanks for the trip, Mom!