Nude on the Moon
Nude on the Moon was a 1962 movie written and directed by Doris Wishman under the pseudonym "Anthony Brooks". For some time, it was mistakenly believed by film historians to be Wishman's first film, because the negative of 1960s Hideout in the Sun had been lost for nearly 40 years until 1998. Nude on the Moon is actually her second film.
Premise It was one of a series of eight nudism-related films by Wishman. During the 1950s and early 1960s, movies about nudism were a fairly common way to get nudity onto the big screen without it being considered actual pornography. With only so many ways to film nude volleyball, however, by the early 1960s the nudist subgenre seemed to be in a state of stagnation. Wishman attempted to combat this situation by combining a nudist film with a science fiction film. The result was Nude on the Moon.
Synopsis Two scientists, Huntley and Nichols, inherit a large sum of money enabling them to complete a working moon rocket. They are private scientists and not part of NASA or any other space agency. They travel to the moon and discover that its surface is lush and bountiful of flora. Seeing a ladder propped up against a wall, they investigate and soon find themselves caprtured by a telepathic colony of lunar nudists (who are, in fact, topless rather than truly nude). Much of the film's plot deals with the scientists' collection of data and moon rocks, and their eventual attempts to return to Earth.
Music Nude on the Moon has an interesting musical soundtrack, especially for a relatively low-budget movie. The song "I'm Mooning Over You (My Little Moon Doll)" was sung by Ralph Young, who a year later would meet Tony Sandler and form Sandler and Young, a successful easy-listening duo. Future Tonight Show bandleader Doc Severinsen also contributed to the score and has an on-screen cameo.
Legacy Like most of Doris Wishman's work, Nude on the Moon is considered a minor cult classic. References to it in pop culture include: Nude On The Moon, a 2-disc CD anthology of music by The B-52's, released on Rhino Records. The group's singer Fred Schneider was a friend of Wishman in her later years. "Nude on the Moon", a 1996 single by electronica duo Tipsy, also appears on the album Trip Tease. One of the remixes is called the "naked volleyball mix".
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