AMERICAN NUDIE CLASSICS

Independent Entertainment are another branch of the hugely prolific Alternative Cinema, who are also home to the likes of After Hours Cinema and Secret Key Motion Pictures.

So it's small surprise then that this set is yet another bumper collection of vintage loops from yesteryear that celebrate the female form.

The fun begins with a series of loops from the 1930s, which opens with a short introductory montage of archive footage from the decade, set to music that wouldn't sound out of place in a Bugs Bunny cartoon.

Our first loop extols the virtues of "sun baths", and finds two Harold Lloyd-types indulging in a bit of clumsy peeping Tom shenanigans while a bunch of comely lovelies get semi-naked in a pool. It's short, it's played for giggles and it's harmless.

More erotic, in a vague way, is follow-up "Nude Frolics" which finds more women having fun together in a swimming pool. Good figures, some nice full-frontal nudity and a nice scene involving one filly emerging from the pool with nipples poking through her wet top, punctuate this little number. The highlight of "Nude Frolics" has to be the synchronised strip that three women share, in silhouette.

"Mabel's Room" opens with the swooning music of a vintage Hollywood picture but swiftly transforms into a handheld account of a brunette stripping in her apartment. She briefly fondles her small breasts, then changes clothes and ... 'The End'! Wha-?! It's all over very quickly - I'm guessing the cameraman shot his bolt prematurely ...

"Nautical Nudes" injects slapstick and insanely quick editing into its accomplished silent movie-style unfurling. This one tells a story-of-sorts, complete with the odd caption for dialogue (most of this era's loops have these), but is eventually draining and overlong - not to mention short on buxom wenches to enjoy.

"A Nude Adventure" is more of the same, with increasingly irritating library music (much of which Secret Key regulars will be all-too-familiar with) to boot.

After 28 minutes of enjoyable but samey 30s offerings, we're off into the roaring 40s.

There was a World War of some description in the 40s, and Independent Entertainment are kind enough to remind us of this in the opening intro footage. Then we're straight into "Form-Ality" with more whirring black-and-white 8mm footage of two hot chicks acting badly to a vinyl LP being played nearby, and eventually disrobing.

Nancy Marlowe is one of the few people who gets a credit in this set, and she's the star of "Nancy From Frisco". She does little more than pose by a pool for the best part of 5 minutes. Some star, eh?!

These films are less humorous and, although they strive for more glamour, lack the earthy appeal of their 1930s counterparts. And I hate jazz, which seems to accompany each one - making for an ultimately taxing 28 minutes.

Moving swiftly on to the 1950s, we get 33 minutes of shorts that bring to us our first glimpse of colour in this set. However, don't be fooled by the title of the first offering. "Captured And Caged", although it opens with a Latino hottie trapped in an oversized birdcage while a mock cannibal pokes a stick at her, it quickly degenerates into little more than a burlesque dance act.

As do most of the 50s shorts on offer, which somehow manage to proffer not one bit of nudity until the topless finale. Up until then, this is just bog-standard peep show tameness.

The free-loving 60s, then, introduced with archive footage of Kennedy, Nixon, the atomic bomb and so on, are left to finish things off in fine style. These don't even have titles like their predecessors; they just get the chicks naked and let the cameras ogle them duly.

Despite the grating instrumental music that continues to drone on, these colour loops offer hot women stripping seductively for their cameras and some great breasts along the way - as well as bushy flanges. Not a bad way to spend the final 88 minutes!

The disc opens with an enticing animated main menu page allowing you to either watch AMERICAN NUDIE CLASSICS in its entirety, or choose to view each decade in isolation. There is also a static sub-menu giving viewers the option of singling out individual loops.

The only extras on the disc are a horde of trailers: ALL THE SINS OF SODOM, BUSTY BOMBSHELLS OF THE ATOM AGE, BUSTY STAGS COLLECTION, DADDY DARLING, HIDEOUT IN THE SUN, THE LOVE STATUE, MOONLIGHTING WIVES, NAUGHTY NUDES 64, NAUGHTY NUDES OF THE 1960S, THE SEXPERTS, THE SEXPLOITERS, SKIN IN THE 50S, SKIN IN THE 60S and WILD, NUDE AND NATURAL.

So, Independent Entertainment's collection is a mixed bag that ends well with a marathon of agreeable 60s strips. If that's the type of thing that floats your boat, then this is a sound investment for you.

Review by Stuart Willis