The First Nudie Musical (1976) User Reviews

Musical production numbers like no others

[Euphorbia · 6/10 · 26 September 2002]

*** Possible spoiler ***

The narrative parts of this movie are squirmingly bad, no doubt intentionally so, but their absurdities are more than made up for by the clever and cheerful nude production numbers. The climax of the musical is an elegantly staged Broadway style tap-dance celebrating... well, its refrain goes "Let 'em eat cake, but let me eat you," and it features five young women dancing bottomless to illustrate the subject matter. Cindy Williams's flawless romantic comedy turn (fully clothed, alas) shows why she became a star. Plus, the retrospective documentary included on the DVD is a hoot. 6/10.

42nd Street done for 1970's style 42nd Street. Light the red lights!

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 29 July 2016]

Striving for deliberate camp, this one joke musical comedy delivers a few minor laughs but not much else. Think of the style of all singing/all dancing had Ed Wood had the idea of adding songs to his girly flicks of the 1960's. Fortinately, there is not much in the way of flesh, just a lot of bare breasts, a few buttocks and plenty of hair pie.

It all concerns a porn producer who decides to make the epic of porno and ends up getting the bright idea of adding songs to smut. There are dancing dildos, singing butch lesbians, a Ruby Keeler style ingenue, a Strasberg graduate with an attitude who can't get a legitimate job, smarmy money men and a devoted assistant played by none other than Cindy Williams.

This has the mark of a turkey, but in spite of the bad songs, lousy dancers and unfunny jokes, there is actually something innocent about it all. Diana Canova does get a few laughs as a Latina performer with the talent of "The Ritz's" Googie Gomez. The song of the innocent ingenue is deliciously bad. Several surprise cameos along the way are amusing but forced. But any film where Cindy Williams proclaims, "Her orgasm was horrible!" can't be all bad, can it?

Okay ... For low-budget 'sex' comedy

[oprlvr33 · 5/10 · 7 August 2015]

I first remember seeing this in 1981, on an HBO special release. Perhaps because it's the only "movie-musical" of its kind, that features corny numbers with partial or frontal nudity.

What stood out to me were the "dancing dildo's", the "worst orgasm I've ever seen" and Mary LaRue getting attitude with secretary Rosie. The opening with Harry and his financiers is certainly decent, but the song action is weakly delivered. And a few of the other musical numbers were okay; but nothing actual showbiz or feature film worthy. The audition moments are hilarious. But the directorial mishaps with John Smithee fall flat. Overall this film is just okay. The funniest moments appear near the opening, with a few toward the middle.

The best movie of this genre but...

[jessy_to_tha_v · 15 November 2002]

This movie should define the genre, with nudity and predictable plot but done in a way that the nudity is not the major theme, only spice. It would be worth watching without nudity, though it would not be as entertaining. If you like movies with stereotypical characters and lots of nudity, this is the one. You will not be disappointed with the acting, music. or technical quality except for the smoke filled first ten minutes where the effects are overdone.

This is a really good movie, except it should have ended when the character "John" visits "Wanda's". Everything after this appears to be an attempt to end without purpose. When the sale is made, quit talking. It is really good until this point, which is about 1:15 into the film.

Highly recommended. Just skip the last 15 minutes.

Original and different

[celestial_princess · 5/10 · 6 May 2023]

I just got done watching this movie about an hour ago. To be clear, this is not my kind of movie. I wanted to see something different, and this sounded interesting. In fact, I hadn't even heard of it. To its credit, this was certainly original and different. For starters, I've never seen so much hair in my life! (I was born in 1979, so it's before my time) All kidding aside, I applaud them for such originality; a porno musical called "Come, Come Now" would surely sell tickets. I did laugh when she said "We ran out of film" during the 'stunt cock' scene. I also thought it was funny when John came to the set a changed man; before, he was so uptight and inexperienced, then wow! What I didn't like were all the stereotypes. The stuck-up actress Mary LaRue, the ingenue, the Polly Pure girl from Indiana, and that Brenner character are tired characters these days. If you like musicals, and you like sex in your musicals, you'll like this movie. Keep an open mind and enjoy.

not that funny

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 28 October 2016]

Harry Schechter (Stephen Nathan) has been making porno to keep his father's film studio open. The financial situation is getting worst. He is inspired by his secretary Rosie (Cindy Williams) to make the world's first porno musical. The investors give him two weeks to complete it or else lose the studio. One of them forces his incompetent nephew John Smithee (Bruce Kimmel) on Harry as the film's director.

This is sex vaudeville with plenty of nudity. It's rarely funny. The humor is very broad. Only "Scale" got a laugh for me. That scene is so stupid, so obvious, and so telegraphed. It's comedy camp. It keeps trying to be very broad but it doesn't really work. Ron Howard has a small cameo and Cindy Williams just started Laverne & Shirley. Neither are getting naked in this. Alexandra Morgan does the self-obsessed diva Mary LaRue and she is almost funny. The problem is that none of the others are charismatic or comedic.

Funny Bad

[cfprdj · 3/10 · 10 September 2004]

I saw this when I was 15, in the theater... I think we paid for something else and then snuck into this theatre. There were 5 people in the theatre and 3 left half way through.....Do you get what I'm saying. It was the first time I ever saw a fully naked women, I was male and 15.....and it was still only marganially entertaining.

Some of the songs were good... This is a product of the 70s when movies like this and Fairy Tales, Flesh Gorden and such were taking almost adult movies(no plot lots of skin) to the mainstream theaters.

While I am a major movie freak, I am not much on musicals, so if you like musicals and skin......Maybe.

4/10

Still In My Head.

[jwrowe3 · 7/10 · 12 July 2003]

This movie is important to me for a couple of reasons. One, it was the first movie I ever watched on cable TV. I was a freshman at Stephen F. Austin State University in the fall of 1980. Being out in the middle of nowhere, the area had cable TV, with (gasp!) one movie channel, Showtime. And it was "Free Preview Week" so it was not scrambled in our dorm. I had lived in Houston, which had a good number of broadcast TV stations, so my parents never invested in cable. I sat up for about three days straight, in my room watching all these movies, and shows. "The First Nudie Musical" was on about a million times during the time I was camped out taking in everything that 1980 cable TV had to offer. So here I am at a new place, college, watching a new medium to me, cable TV, and not worrying about parents walking in when there's ACTUAL NUDITY on the TV(!!!!).

I thought the musical numbers were the best. I can still sing the lyrics to most of the songs, like "Lesbian Butch Dyke" and "Dancing Dildo's" to this day. So "TFNM" touched me in some perverse, warped way.

It's been 23 years since I have seen it, and I guess I'll probably not make a huge effort to see it, again. Stuff like that is always sweeter in memory, and I bet I'll be pretty let down at the quality of the production, and all that other stuff that we never notice when we are young, but just go nuts when we see it, when older.

But what the hell, sing with me now...

"Orgasms a short spasm of love, sweeeeeeeeeeeet Looooove!!!!"

Saw it quite a while ago...but still remember it

[preppy-3 · 5/10 · 11 March 2009]

An enthusiastic young and talented cast try to put on the first nudie musical with numbers such as "Dacing Dildoes" and a totally incompetent director.

I caught this years ago on cable (early 80s). I remember when it came out in 1976 people were shocked that Cindy Williams (of TV's silly "Laverne & Shirley" sitcom) would star in an R rated movie. Just in case you're curious she remains fully clothed throughout the entire film. The entire cast is young, healthy, good-looking and out to please. There's plenty of female nudity (some full frontals) but, strangely, no male nudity (from the waist down at least). There's a constant air of amiability about the film and some of the jokes and songs are pretty good...but there are an equal number that are pretty bad. So it was kind of amusing but no blockbuster. The fact that I can still remember scenes and lines from it 20+ years later should tell you something. Good luck finding it--it seems to have disappeared.

Camp fun with surprises...including actors who weren't yet famous

[rob-901 · 7/10 · 2 September 2006]

I'm a big fan of camp humor, so this one is admirable if only for its effort. This was made back when a movie was entertaining and fun.

Distributed by Paramount, it was avant garde for "legit" films. A Happy Days era Ron Howard has a speaking part, a pre-Laverne Cindy Williams has a major part, and I could swear that the "lesbian/chorus girl" is actually a pre-Clint Eastwood Sondra Locke. If you watch her in the chorus line and subsequent parts, she's actually better than in her other movies!

I doubt that you can find the movie packaged as a VHS or DVD, but it "is available" digitally if you know where to look.

Gratuitous Everything Else

[YAS · 3/10 · 25 December 2002]

How crushing, to be confronted with irrefutable proof that naked people singing and dancing aren't REALLY enough, per se, to make a film entertaining. Who'd have thought? Unfortunately, if those naked people are singing and dancing in something like "Waiting for Guffman" without the parody, it gets tragic. The movie's a broad spoof that winks at itself, actually it pretty much elbows itself in the ribs and guffaws, unlike the audience, which is likely sitting there furtively checking its collective watch every few minutes. The nudity is entirely wholesome and non-pornographic, Cindy Williams is cute and very funny, a couple of the production numbers are clever, and the plot and dialogue just reek. The whole thing would appear to have started out as a terrifically cute stage play, sabotaged on its way to the screen by compromise, timidity, and tired schtick. Still, as with everything in life, there is a lesson to be learned here; in this case, the novel truth that it's possible to be far more embarrassing in clothes than out of them.

Dirty Movie Theater of the Absurd

[wes-connors · 9/10 · 13 December 2009]

Pornographic filmmaker Stephen Nathan (as Harry Schechter) is seeing red instead of pink. You didn't come to see his "Stewardesses in Cages" and "Teenage Sex Mutants". Consequently, Mr. Nathan's low-budget sex films aren't making money, and the movie studio he manages for his father is about to go down. Telling his investors, "genitalia is boring" at the box office, Nathan is inspired by steadfast secretary Cindy Williams (as Rosie) to change direction, and proposes "The First Nudie Musical". One investor (Hy Pyke) insists wet-behind-the-ears nephew Bruce Kimmel (as John Smithee) be hired as director; and Nathan is given two weeks to create... "Come… Come, Now".

This astounding, and frequently hilarious, film patterns its pornographic plot after Mel Brooks' similar stab at a Nazi musical in "The Producers" (1968); additionally, "The First Nudie Musical" captures the spirit and energy of old Hollywood musicals both directed by Busby Berkeley, and starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. That fresh, irreverent energy is why this film works so well. Full-frontal nudity (female and male) and bad language abound - an "edited-for-television" version would have been short 'n silent in the seventies - but, the vulgarity never seems dirty. Lesser comedies use nudity and language offensively and humorlessly - for examples, see present day comedies.

Paramount Pictures had a "midnight movie" classic on its hands, but had to give the film a cold shower after both Cindy Williams and the studio's "Laverne & Shirley" TV series became immediate hits. To Paramount's credit, they employed fellow "Nudie" travelers Bruce Kimmel (writer, composer, co-director, star) and Stephen Nathan ("Jesus" from Broadway's "Godspell") as guest stars on their program(s). And, it's easy to see why, as the threesome are obviously natural (and underrated) comics. Of the supporting cast-mates, Diana Canova (as Juanita) obviously stands out, due to a combination of heritage, "Perversion", and "Soap" - but, they are all cult classic characters.

********* The First Nudie Musical (3/76) Mark Haggard, Bruce Kimmel ~ Stephen Nathan, Cindy Williams, Bruce Kimmel, Diana Canova

silly and ridiculous but fun.

[ksf-2 · 6/10 · 20 November 2022]

I've been waiting twenty years for this thing to come to some free streaming service. And now it's on tubi. Cindy williams (shirley!) and stephen nathan. When they are out of ideas, harry decides to make a porn based musical. Silly but true. Funny opening theme song. Lots of full female frontal and rear nudity. The director they have to use has no idea what he's doing. And they only have two weeks to make it. The show already has two strikes against it. It's just started, and it's already a disaster. But some really funny bits. And filthy filthy songs. Very adult subject matter, so put the kiddies to bed! Diana canova doing some of the dirtiest material you've ever seen her do! It's all silly, but so much fun. Keep those expectations at rock bottom, but have an open mind and get ready to laugh. Story by bruce kimmel, who also plays john smithee in the show. Directed by mark haggard.

NIce Try, But Uh-Uh

[LeonardKniffel · 4/10 · 29 April 2020]

If you remember and loved Cindy Williams in "Laverne & Shirley," this movie is for you-but not if you expect to see her naked. Stephen Nathan costars as the heir to a Hollywood studio forced to make a musical comedy porno film. The movie feels low-budget and consists of the classic musical-within-a-movie premise, but with a lot of sexual humor: the musical features such songs as "Orgasm," "Lesbian, Butch, Dyke," and "Dancing Dildos." It's an unusual film, with something of a cult following who find it hilarious. Curiosity is the main reason to see it. ---from Musicals on the Silver Screen, American Library Association, 2013

Hilariously bad!

[RHPSvegas · 21 February 2002]

I found a copy of this film used for only $6, and since I'm into weird crap, I figured this should be good for a few laughs - and it was!!! The idea of a producer making a porno musical to save his studio is funny enough, but the songs are what make this film worth watching. "Dancing Dildos" "Orgasm" "Lesbian Butch Dyke" "Perversion" "Let Me Eat You" - you'll laugh your ass off! And sing a 'scale' or two also

Ending was best

[jjwolverine · 4/10 · 5 May 2023]

I didn't like this movie. I found the foul language offensive, and the storyline was so inane that I felt I was watching an X-rated high school production. I stopped watching at one point, but decided to give the movie a chance and went back and watched the remainder. The only part I liked was the ending when five beautiful, nude women came on scene. It wasn't pornographic in any way, just beautiful women doing a few short, simple dance steps. I cannot recommend this film as it was amateurish and offensive, but if you do watch it and like beautiful women, be sure to watch the ending. You can even skip ahead to it if you want.

Plus: THE BIG BUS tonight 7.30pm

[ptb-8 · 4/10 · 10 January 2007]

Yes, folks, in the 70s world of the double feature, this was the show at my local cinema. Of course I went. Somehow I thought the letter kid had forgotten to add the T after BUS thus making it a rude duo. Both films were very funny. Both films were completely ignored in first release. Both films are now cult faves. Other comments will tell you the details, but MUSICAL is a low budget indie that uses this constraint well to create a plausible storyline and suitably tacky musical production numbers. In the 70s there were a lot of farce sex / musicals like ALICE IN WONDERLAND and THE CASE OF THE SMILING STIFFS. Some compilation skit sex comedies about D grade film studios too: LOOSE SHOES and THAT'S ADEQUATE. This film, NUDIE MUSICAL sort of rolled all the ideas together. The idea of a comedy sex musical was not really new and was also re imagined here in Australia in the mid 90s: we saw a very similar locally made farce/musical/comedy created in 1997 called MONEYSHOT which unbeknownst to the producer with whom I later became friends, alerted him to MUSICAL which saw him flabbergasted at the similarities. It was originally called THE VENUS FACTORY... see IMDb for details. This parallel production of OZ and USA happens a lot: see PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT vs TO WONG FOO, TWO HANDS vs KNOCKAROUND GUYS, and recently WILLFULL vs Almodovar's VOLVER

Cute!

[georgekwatson · 7/10 · 28 January 2017]

This is a movie made on the cheap, with corny humor, somewhat stilted dialog and donuts. Lots of donuts.

Made at the cultural crossroads, at the peak of the 'porn chic' period where Johnny Carson very publicly attended a screening of 'Deep Throat', this movie attempts to make fun of the various bits of culture attendent to 'porn chic'. It's funny in a B movie sort of way with some fairly catchy songs, all with bawdy themes.

In the end, it works because of the awkward innocence of most involved. Oh, and the nudity, 1970's style, hairy and human. It's a glance at ourselves from a bygone time, before pornography transitioned, in the main, into mechanical overt abuse.

A funny 'B' grade movie with a surprising cast.

[jnettik · 7/10 · 6 July 2000]

Very funny parts - Yes, the dancing dildos scene spawned one of the funniest lines I've ever heard in a movie: "Can't you f---ing dildos get anything right?!" You have to see it just for this line!!! Don't spend over $1.99 to rent it though -- Ron Howard appears, yet went uncredited for a reason!

A certain type of masterpiece

[Danno · 10/10 · 25 April 2003]

I have loved this movie since I saw it when it first came out. It certainly doesn't fit into anyone's definition of a "well-made film," but it has its own low-budget brilliance. A big part of what makes it work (aside from the hilarious songs) is the feeling of heart and, dare I say, innocence it has (it is called a "Nudie Musical" not a "Porno Musical" and for good reason). There are so many moments that still will send me rolling on the floor, doubled-over in laughter, marveling at the unique combination of dead-on satire and really really BAD humour. Favorite number: The Dancing Dildos (They aren't really dildos, they are vibrators. The fact that the makers don't seem to know the difference is part of the charm of the film). Favorite scene: The director's first meeting with the cast and crew, decked out like Erich von Stroheim. Favorite line: Diane Canova's immortal "Isss so beeeg! Isss yust so beeeg!"

If you have an open mind and enjoy bad or B type cinema, you will most likely love this film.

Hey, it later worked for Julie Andrews....

[plex · 6/10 · 24 November 2023]

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....

There was Woody and Mel and then there was Bruce Kimmel

[allenblank · 25 June 2002]

I first saw The First Nudie Musical when it first came out and thought it was very funny and extremely outragous. Now I have to say it still holds up. It's a wonderful little film. It's about a porn producer who in order to save his little studio decides to make the worlds first porno musical. The songs are outragous especially the one called "Dancing Dildos", which has to be seen to be believed. This was all the brainchild of one man, Bruce Kimmel, who now is a record producer. He's the one responsible to putting some of the best old albums on CD. For this film he got all his friends involved, including a cameo from one of his stars, Cindy Williams good friends. I won't spoil this cameo though it does come early in the film. Get the new DVD which I just watched. The print has never looked too good plus the DVD has two wonderful commentary tracks, a 54 minute documentary which is outragous in itself, and two deleted scenes. This film is a treat for not only those who love cult films, to the lovers of old time musicals, because this film really does send up the old Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland let's put on a show films. Do yourself a favor and add this to your DVD collection.

A camp classic, way ahead of its time

[hippiedj · 10/10 · 2 July 2000]

It was mentioned that this film was made for about 1% of the budget of New York, New York, and is about 100 times funnier. For 1975 and an R-rating, this film is a camp classic that was definitely ahead of its time. Having Cindy Williams, Diana Canova and even a cameo by Ron Howard makes for very funny moments in a story of a failing movie company resorting to make a porno musical to save the studio. The sets reflect the low budget of the film, but that in itself is part of its charm. Everyone involved gives it their all and the songs are quite clever. If only "Oh! Calcutta!" could have been this enjoyable.

I still hear of people searching for this film, as it is hard to find as its cult status grows. Better yet, try to find the soundtrack album--a must have for fans of this film.

A crudely made musical spoof with some wonderful show tunes.

[TheVid · 26 November 2002]

Bruce Kimmell, the force behind this one, had such good songs that you can't blame him for creating a musical film to highlight them, albeit at any cost. Too bad he couldn't get funding from a major studio for this sweet little satiric delight. This one's ripe for a remake! Disney? Dreamworks? Imagine? LucasFilm? Some funding, please! Thanks to Image Entertainment for a very thorough presentation on DVD.

Classic 70s comedy!

[whitesheik · 10/10 · 26 December 1999]

This is a funny movie. Truly funny. It's got Dancing Dildos, it's got full frontal nudity, it's got Cindy Williams in one of her best performances, it's got Joy Full and even Ron Howard in an amusing cameo. The songs are outrageous and the low budget makes it even more appealing. It's been ripped off many times since its release but this was here first. South Park thinks it's being daring, but the roots are all here in such songs as Let 'Em Eat Cake (But Let Me Eat You), Perversion, Lesbian, Butch, Dyke and others.