Unashamed: A Romance (1938) User Reviews

Probably not produced for its story

[blumdeluxe · 6/10 · 2 May 2017]

"Unashamed" is what I would call an early film focusing on nudity. It plays in a nudist camp, where a young woman tries to convince her love interest through her casual presence. While at first she seems to succeed with her plan, a beautiful criminal on the run ruins all her hopes by stealing the heart of her man.

Let's put it directly: This movie is most probably an excuse to show naked bodies. It was obviously supposed to run in theaters after the main film at night-time and thus probably isn't centered mainly around the story. Nonetheless I have to say that I've experienced many worse attempts to legitimate why nudity is omni-present and I actually kind of liked the story in this one. It is without doubt not a particularly smart one, nor touches it any bigger issues. But I liked the ending and that there is at least this second level on which you can watch this movie and still see a solid film.

All in all I was pleasantly surprised. Although I highly doubt that most nudist camps consist of beautiful women in their twenties and that habitual criminals tend to tan topless after just escaping a car chase with the police, I appreciate that someone here to his film seriously and tried to create something that, despite all erotic, tells a solid story.

Unique among nudist exploitation films

[storey · 13 July 2000]

"The Unashamed" is unique among nudist exploitation films. Films set in nudist environments were popular from the early 1930s to the mid 1960s. A characteristic of virtually all nudist exploitation films is that they "preach" the benefits of non-lewd social nudity. Physical, emotional, social and spiritual health are all touted as a nearly guaranteed result of sunbathing with others in the nude. In "The Unashamed" one character actually experiences deep human sorrow. Issues of adultery, racism and suicide all make this a prime example of an exploitation film, but they also make the film stand out as the only nudist "volleyball epic" to address human experience in anything like realistic terms. Amazingly, nudism still comes across as pure and life-affirming. The social nudity clearly is not the cause of the problems the heroine faces. After watching dozens (or hundreds) of later nudist movies in which everyone is healthy and happy, "The Unashamed" provides a pleasant, although limited, dose of reality.

Love triangle in a nudist camp

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 11 June 2017]

UNASHAMED: A ROMANCE is a typical nudist camp drama with more of a plot than expected. This one's a love triangle with a bit of existentialism thrown into the mix, very familiar stuff indeed if it wasn't for the nudist camp setting. As a low budget piece of exploitation, it's the documentary-style nude footage which is the focus of attention here. There are archery contests, cheap staging, very wooden performances, and one or two arrestingly voluptuous starlets. As with many of these old 'nude' films, it's harmless, dated, and quite twee.

A Visit to the Nudist Camp

[Michael_Elliott · 21 January 2018]

Unashamed: A Romance (1938)

** (out of 4)

Robert Lawton (Robert Stanley) is struggling with some health issues and everyone knows he works way too much. Rae (Rae Kidd) convinces him to check out a nudist camp that she belongs to. She hopes he gets better but she also wants him to fall for her. Everything is going good until Barbara (Lucille Shearer) enters the picture.

UNASHAMED: A ROMANCE is a pretty wild film and especially for 1938. The "nudist camp" movie would become extremely popular during the 1960s when all sorts of films would be released so that men could see some nudity. Directors such as Herschell Gordon Lewia and Doris Wishman visited the genre several times but this here is 1938 we're talking about. I've read that the film was banned throughout the country when it was originally released and most people would have had to seen it at midnight showings or ilegal showings.

So, how is the film? At just 64-minutes the film certainly doesn't overstay its welcome and for the most part it's entertaining for what it is. The "story" that is thrown in is pretty weak but I think we all know that the movie was made to show off the nudity. I'm not sure which camp they went to but there's no question that there were a lot of beautiful people who were willing to be nude on the camera. If you're expecting to see some less than attractive people you're going to be in for a shock.

The performances are pretty much what you'd expect from a film like this. If you go through the cast's filmmography you'll notice that most of them only had this film under their belt. Stanley did appear in a few bit role including one in John Ford's THE WHOLE TOWN IS TALKING. With that said, the performances are what they are but it's the nudity that's important here. I mean, that's what the producers were selling and that's why people were buying tickets.

For an exploitation movie, UNASHAMED: A ROMANCE is fairly entertaining and worth watching if you're a fan of the genre.