Taking an intentional (or accidental) cue from Mel Brooks classic "The Producers", then toss in the erstwhile Broadway embarrassment "Oh Calcutta" (also a nudie) and possibly the inspiration in some very small way for Blake Edwards S. O. B where we get to see Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews) bare her chest, we get a slight deviation/ variation of a musical with a porn twist. However in this instance we get something staged as a Broadway theatrical production but presented as a film. For a mainstream release, there certainly is a LOT of nudity, both male and female full-frontal, but hey, its the 70's so we shouldn't expect anything less. After Hollywood received thousands of complaints from automobile drivers who had kid passengers witness violence, horror and nudity on the big drive-in screens, as they were passing by on the freeway, a rating-system was introduced that controlled the showing of films to different age-groups. However in this case, this film was released at the same time Laverne & Shirley hit ABC during primetime, riding on the success of the mega hit Happy Days. Cindy Williams plays a very conservative character that had been introduced on Happy Days and very similar in the classic "American Graffiti",both starring with Ron Howard. The Hollywood brass and/or the combined strength of Penny Marshall and her brother Gary, who created Laverne & Shirley as a show, did not see the wisdom of having their co-lead star (Williams) who starred in a movie that had her included in scenes with exposed female/and male genitalia, and trivialized pornography while simultaneously playing a character Shirley, who is somewhat chaste and is "holding-out" for marriage, would send the right message to family members. Ergo, The 1st Nudie Musical was quickly swept under the rug in favor for the ABC sitcom. Oddly enough the only 2-women I wanted to see nude (Williams and the cute Diana Canova) are the only 2 performers who remained fully clothed. Oh well....
Review of The First Nudie Musical
