I was one of the authors of this little soft porn film-making conceit. It had its genesis in the film writer's strike of 1959-60. Hollywood studios were shut down. While the stars and executives didn't suffer, most of the film making trades, paid by the picture, were out of work. Low budge nudie films such as "The Immoral Mr. Teas" were cleaning up as second acts in burlesque houses. A couple of movie studio friends and I, having a lot of time on our hands, felt that we could make a sleazy picture as good as those currently being shown. In Hollywood that was the only game in town.
I sketched out the basic story of a professor with x-ray glasses that would let him see through fabric. The writer/director Henri Haile fleshed it out into a screen play. Henri Haile was, in fact, Haile Chase, a B film director and a dialog coach for independent studios. Jacques Henrici was Michael Baumhole, a studio publicist. I was the only one naive enough to put my real name on the film. In a couple of days we had an 80 page script, originally titled "Around the World in Eighty Ways." The budget was what we had in our bank accounts. We decided to film in Europe, both to avoid union rates and to get scenery unavailable in California. Besides, it was a good excuse for a vacation.
Our original choice for the lead actor was Alastaire Sims, but he was unavailable. We settled on Arthur Howard, a fortuitous choice, since he worked for less money and obviously relished the opportunity for getting a starring role. We filmed all over Europe, hiring local independent camera men, many who had filmed prize winning short subjects. The film making industry was undergoing a technical revolution at the time. Hand held Arriflex cameras could produce image quality as good as studio Bell and Howell equipment. All scenes were filmed on location because we couldn't afford sound stages. Local actors took all the secondary roles. Nudity wasn't a big deal in European films and we had no difficulty getting full exposure. We enjoyed the experience, Arthur enjoyed the experience. And then the writer's strike was over. Real jobs called. We returned to the USA with 10,000 feet of exposed film and no contract for theatrical release.
On our return we sold the largely unedited footage to Jack Harris, a distributor of second bill (and soft porn) films. Harris had the theatrical contacts to get the film shown. He is the one who spliced in the color segments when Professor Sims put on his glasses and added the 3- D effects. The film was released in the US to modest success but made a big hit in Japan. I understand that it became a minor cult favorite during the 80s.
Haile Chase went on to direct a number of unexceptional studio potboilers. Michael Baumhole returned to the publicity department. I took a teaching position at a New York university. We had a ball making this crummy nudie flick.
Lawrence Zeitlin
I sketched out the basic story of a professor with x-ray glasses that would let him see through fabric. The writer/director Henri Haile fleshed it out into a screen play. Henri Haile was, in fact, Haile Chase, a B film director and a dialog coach for independent studios. Jacques Henrici was Michael Baumhole, a studio publicist. I was the only one naive enough to put my real name on the film. In a couple of days we had an 80 page script, originally titled "Around the World in Eighty Ways." The budget was what we had in our bank accounts. We decided to film in Europe, both to avoid union rates and to get scenery unavailable in California. Besides, it was a good excuse for a vacation.
Our original choice for the lead actor was Alastaire Sims, but he was unavailable. We settled on Arthur Howard, a fortuitous choice, since he worked for less money and obviously relished the opportunity for getting a starring role. We filmed all over Europe, hiring local independent camera men, many who had filmed prize winning short subjects. The film making industry was undergoing a technical revolution at the time. Hand held Arriflex cameras could produce image quality as good as studio Bell and Howell equipment. All scenes were filmed on location because we couldn't afford sound stages. Local actors took all the secondary roles. Nudity wasn't a big deal in European films and we had no difficulty getting full exposure. We enjoyed the experience, Arthur enjoyed the experience. And then the writer's strike was over. Real jobs called. We returned to the USA with 10,000 feet of exposed film and no contract for theatrical release.
On our return we sold the largely unedited footage to Jack Harris, a distributor of second bill (and soft porn) films. Harris had the theatrical contacts to get the film shown. He is the one who spliced in the color segments when Professor Sims put on his glasses and added the 3- D effects. The film was released in the US to modest success but made a big hit in Japan. I understand that it became a minor cult favorite during the 80s.
Haile Chase went on to direct a number of unexceptional studio potboilers. Michael Baumhole returned to the publicity department. I took a teaching position at a New York university. We had a ball making this crummy nudie flick.
Lawrence Zeitlin