The Naked Road (1959)

Director:

William Martin

Writer:

William Martin

Release Date:

9 September 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Unbelievably-Fantiscally TRUE! The brutal facts behind the expose of the so-called PUBLIC RELATIONS racket!

Plot:

The decent model Gay Andrews and the sleazy married advertising executive Bob Walker leave a New Jersey restaurant...

Plot Keywords:

Police | New Jersey | Car | Drugs | Police Officer

Cast

Jeanne Rainer	...	Gay Andrews
Ronald Long	...	Wayne Jackson
Art Koulias	...	Mark Gallo (as Arthur Koulias)
Frances Hammond	...	Apartment Manager
Eileen Letchworth	...	Cynthia
Harry Stanton	...	Agency Executive
Kent Montroy	...	Justice of the Peace (as Ken Montroy)
Ed Jordon	...	Highway Patrolman
Paul Judson	...	Bob Walker

Directed by
William Martin

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
William Martin

Produced by
William Martin	....	producer
Hyman Simon	....	associate producer

Cinematography by
Charles Downs		(director of photography) (as Charles W. Downs Sr.)

Film Editing by
Pat DeRosa		(as Pat De Rosa)

Art Direction by
Alfred H. Lessner		(as Alford H. Lessner)

Makeup Department
Nick Crimi	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Hy Cohen	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Mike Wyler	....	assistant director

Art Department
Walter Pluff Jr.	....	property master

Sound Department
Robert E. Lessner	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Thomas Gavin Jr.	....	chief set electrician
John Haupt Jr.	....	head grip

Other crew
Jack Abugow	....	assistant to the producer
Mitchell L. Bacow	....	technical consultant
Eva Blair	....	script clerk (as Eva B. Blair)
Robert Shawn	....	production comptroller
Jack Zide	....	production associate

Production Companies

• Simar Productions

Distributors

• Zison Enterprises Inc. (1959) (USA) (theatrical)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (2009) (USA) (VHS)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (2009) (USA) (DVD) (DVD-R)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (2009) (USA) (all media) (digital copy)
• Joseph Brenner Associates (JBA) (1962) (USA) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

"The Naked Set" - USA (promotional title)

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Simar Productions

Trivia:

Ronald Long's movie debut.

Off White Slavery

I discovered "The Naked Road" as part of Something Weird's excellent "Weird Noir" collection.

Like everything in the set, it more than lives up to it's name.

Director William Martin, who made some other strange films around the same time, seems to have something, perhaps something feminist, on his mind. The film compares the casual exploitation by an of Ad Man of a beautiful young model (the lovely Jeanne Rainer) with out and out White Slavery. In fact, the ad man, who ultimately shrinks from his pangs of guilt, is no doubt intended to be the biggest sleazbo of them all.

Even considering that Martin had little time or budget, his approach to filmmaking is downright odd. He shoots every scene in a three or four shot with all characters in view, and just when the monotony becomes unbearable; he cuts to a close up at an utterly irrelevant moment. The actors seem to have been instructed to speak slowly and leave gaping holes between the lines. And none seem to be incompetents, tubby Ronald Long went on to a highly successful career, but his performance here is hilariously, well, odd. Martin may have been no worse or better than Ed Wood, but he had his own approach to making a terrible film.

The abrupt climax is probably all for the best, but I could have stood another 15 minutes or so of these strange goings on. And again, Jeanne Rainer, you could have been a contender.