| Goldilocks and The Three Bares | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Herschell Gordon Lewis |
| Produced by | Thomas J. Dowd and Davis Freeman (a.k.a David F. Friedman) |
| Starring | Alison Edwards, Rex Marlow, Thomas Sweetwood, Netta Mallina, Joey Maxim |
| Distributed by | Dore Productions |
| Release date(s) | 1963 |
| Running time | 69 min. |
| Language | English |
Goldilocks and The Three Bares (1963) is the thought-to-be-lost second to last nudie-cutie from the legendary exploitation team of Herschell Gordon Lewis and David F. Friedman. The title can be misleading; the plotline has absolutely nothing to do with the famous fable which inspired the title. Appropriately billed as the "first nudist musical" (not to be confused with The First Nudie Musical, 1976), it has considerably more depth than their prior attempts at this genre.
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With slightly higher production values than The Adventures of Lucky Pierre (1961) and Daughter of The Sun (1962), a series of artistically photographed musical sequences and somewhat more "star power", Goldilocks stands out from the other five entries of this phase of Lewis and Friedman's partnership. It also showcases the more clownish side of Lewis regular William Kerwin, who otherwise typically takes on the straight-edge, leading man role. His character's name, Tommy Sweetwood, is also the name under which he was billed, once again to avoid SAG regulations.
Another Lewis mainstay is Allison Louise Downe, appearing under her usual pseudonym Vicki Miles. The main star of the film, would-be crooner and nine-fingered Rex Marlow, was reportedly an employee of producer Thomas Dowd, who insisted (among many other things) that the film be a vehicle to springboard Marlow into stardom. Unfortunately for Marlow, his only other silver screen appearance would be in the Arch Hall, Jr. western vanity project Deadwood 76. Ironically, in that film, Marlow does no singing at all.
The film was thought to be lost for over 36 years[1] until Something Weird Video released it on VHS for the first time. Before its discovery, the writer of A Taste of Blood: The Films of Herschell Gordon Lewis, Christopher Wayne Curry, said in an interview with Lewis that he hoped the film would be found one day, to which Lewis replied, "Oh my, I hope not."
The film follows the perils of nightclub singer Eddie Livingston (Marlow), as he pursues press agent Alison Edwards (Downe). Livingston's comic foil Tommy Sweetwood is an unsuccessful comedian who manages to offend his entire audience in one way or another with his brash, insensitive humor. Alison likes Eddie enough, but she hides a dark secret; she is (GASP) a nudist! The two go back and forth playing cat and mouse as Eddie sings a series of Bobby Vinton-ish ballads like "Good Things Happen When I'm With You".
One day, Tommy follows Alison on one of her clandestine weekend getaways and discovers her dirty little secret, promptly passing the information along to Eddie. Unable to cope with such a libertine concept in the conservatism of the early 60's, Eddie flips out on Alison during a radio broadcast. But Tommy has been enlightened by his visit to the nudist camp, and plays Cupid for the star-crossed lovers, and the three soon decide to spend the next weekend at the camp. As with almost any non-nudists in these films upon first trying nudism, Eddie embraces the healthy purity of such an Edenic way of life, and becomes a firm believer. This, of course, is parlayed through a lengthy set of sequences showing our heroes enjoying a smattering of activities wearing only the wind such as horseback riding, yachting, swimming and water skiing (all at the insistence of producer Dowd).
The "star power" of Goldilocks extends to the appearance of former light heavyweight champion Joey Maxim as the owner of his eponymous nightclub where Eddie and Tommy perform. Maxim was so unprepared for his role as himself that he would read his lines off his shirt cuff.
In nearly every online review/synopsis of this film, the movie is described as "set in the 1920's". It is unclear from where this conclusion is drawn, as the cars seen in the film are clearly early-60's models, the yachts appear quite contemporary, and no other period indicators of such can be found in the film. The closest thing to a reference of time is the name of the nightclub, "Joey Maxim's Roaring 20's".
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