Passion in the Sun (1964) User Reviews

A true unknown classic!

[mesmeric · 24 September 2004]

Very few living persons have had the privilege of seeing this cinematic masterpiece! It should be restored in a new digital print and included on the required viewing list of every film school. Like Citizen Kane, which lay hidden for generations, one viewing will change forever the way you view every other film you see for the rest of your life.

Here's a list of comparisons of Passion in the Sun with other great celluloid masterpieces:

Citizen Kane: both were filmed in black and white.

Gone with the Wind: both featured dialogue in the English language

It's a Wonderful Life: both had old cars.

Star Wars: both had scenes filmed in the desert

The Hustler: both featured human actors

Deliverance: both involved people swimming in a river

Pulp Fiction: had a Gimp, Passion had a Geek

Titanic: both featured Kate Winslet and Leonard DiCaprio.

Well, okay, that last one was a lie, but maybe they'll be in the remake.

Seriously, this is a film that is so ineptly made, so poorly acted, so abysmally written that it even needs a Rod Serling style narration at unexpected moments to help you figure out what's going on. Usually, the presence of narration is your first clue that the movie is a mess and this does not disappoint. It is so unintentionally funny for most of it's running time that those with abdominal sutures or loose dentures should only watch with extreme caution. Best scenes: a woman is being chased through the desert by a gun-wielding thug who she has seen murder his accomplice, but TWICE takes time out for nude skinny-dipping; a stripper at the club spins so fast that her secondary sexual characteristics actually achieve lift-off. Totally amazing.

You can find this at Something Weird Video.

Amusing From Start to Finish

[MoronUnited · 1/10 · 11 October 2008]

What the hell am I doing? I have gone so low as to start rating pornographic films? Oh that's right, this isn't just any pornographic movie……it's a hilariously inept pornographic movie that attempts to provide the viewer with a plot to sink their teeth into. I am of course talking about the relatively unknown 1960s "Passion in the Sun," which is quite possibly the biggest train wreck in the history of cinema.

What is "Passion in the Sun" about? To be perfectly honest, I haven't the faintest idea, but I'll attempt to explain it to the best of my abilities. The film begins at a run-down carnival in which a obese married couple complain about a hairy man they have chained in a cage. He is referred to as "The Geek," which makes no sense at all due to how he has severe mental disorders and can only grunt and walk like a deformed monkey. Soon after this the film proceeds to show the female protagonist in her natural environment……the dressing room for a strip club. She is kidnapped for no reason by two men, a fight in a moving car ensues, she escapes, gets chases after by men in guns, skinny-dips a lot, some cops are shown, more strip club scenes, and then the movie ends. Confused? Why, of course you are since this is the most brainless and idiotic plot ever conceived right up there with "Catman in Boxer's Blow." A flash of a leg……….a shaky view of the rear tire………a beautiful view of the empty sky………….the worst cinematography I have ever seen. Toddlers with ADD who aren't given Ritalin can handle a camera with more finesse and grace than the camera crew in "Passion in the Sun." The camera is hardly ever focused, and when it finally is focused, the cameraman is usually either way too far ahead of the actors or lagging behind.

An American film with English dubbing along with an unpredictable narrator helps to absolutely decimate the audio. There is hardly any dialogue in the entire film which is incredibly awkward since the film is comprised of excruciatingly long scenes with crappy music and characters with mouths moving yet not a single word comes out. The narrator likes to pop in and out with random and out-of-place comments that make no sense in the context of the scene. Add in how the few lines that are spoken are either dubbed or deal with the fact that the audio is delayed 2-3 seconds after the actors in the film speak, and you have quite the situation.

Knowing that people will want to know about the pornography, I can truly say that it is just downright hilarious. The protagonist is chased through a forest by a man with a loaded pistol for half the film, yet she feels the need to remove her clothes and go for a swim not once, but twice in the film. Taking an enjoyable swim is now more important than not getting shot in the head? The naked females in the film are always either carrying something or walking backwards too; obviously a desperate attempt at keeping their lower halves covered. There are also multiple 4 minute or more scenes that break up the wild goose chase to show girls just dance around aimlessly.

I can guarantee that there has never been a film quite like "Passion in the Sun" and that is most certainly a good thing. There is not a single redeeming quality to the film besides the fact that it is so inept and so idiotic that it just may be the most unintentionally hilarious thing to ever come out of Cinema's hairy ass-crack. Films like this just beg to be seen even if just to mock their existences. Why was this made? How was this approved for making? Who the hell knows, but what I do know is that it is perhaps the worst film ever made……..yes, Catman in Boxer's Blow bad.

Unforgettable experience!

[Maciste_Brother · 10/10 · 6 March 2003]

Spoiler Warning (not as if anyone will care about spoiling this film)

I saw THE GIRL & THE GEEK (a.k.a. PASSION IN THE SUN) on the GODMONSTER OF INDIAN FLATS DVD (GIRL & GEEK is an oddball extra on the DVD) and it is one of the most unintentionally hilarious films I have ever seen. Of the film's 70 minutes length, I laughed nearly 50 minutes nonstop. Some scenes are tedious, like when the police men walk in the sand dunes or some dancing/stripping moments, all of which can be fast-forwarded, but the entire film is sheer surreal lunacy. The really amazing thing about my experience of watching THE GIRL & THE GEEK for the first time was that when the wackiness of it all finally hit me, from then on I simply couldn't stop laughing until the very end. This happened when Josette (our plump heroine who's having a really bad hair day) is kidnapped in broad daylight and brawls with the guy in the convertible. The whole thing is just so weird on so many levels that you have to see it to believe it.

There are so many unintentionally great moments in THE GIRL & THE GEEK that it's hard to pick a favorite. Is it the length of time we see Josette running around naked but always has that suitcase in front of her crotch? Or maybe it's the scene when the Sans Souci owner gets the news about Josette's kidnapping (who called him?) and the "shocked" expressions of the strippers (one woman seems to have an orgasm)? Or when one of the naked Sans Souci women walks backwards as to avoid showing any frontal nudity? Or when the geek is on the truck and pops his head in the window, with Josette trying to keep a straight face? Or when the geek kills the ugly woman? Or the whole moment on the mini roller coaster? Or Josette's dance moves with her hands at the conclusion? It's difficult to choose. In the end, THE GIRL & THE GEEK looks like a wacky Road Runner cartoon with nudity.

Another thing to point out about this Dale Berry "nudie" is that it's an amazing time capsule. I can't help but think that what I saw in the film is a time and place that's forever gone. The dated setting actually adds a lot to the whole experience.

Anyhow, everything about THE GIRL & THE GEEK is hilarious. Even the opening credits, with Sans Souci misspelled as San Souci. Dale Berry's THE GIRL & THE GEEK rivals Ed Wood's GLEN OR GLENDA and PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, and other flicks like THE CREEPING TERROR and TERROR IN THE JUNGLE, as the very best of the very worst. I absolutely love it. It's one of my favorite movies ever made.

I saw the sun but where was the passion?

[Nozze-Foto · 18 February 2002]

This would be a forgotten film today if the cable TV show Reel Wild Cinema" had not brought it to peoples attention. They condensed the movie to about 12 minutes and cut the subplots, of which the feature version has plenty. The story involves a stripper (Josette Valague) on her way back from a special job when she is kidnapped by two Cubans who are carrying a mysterious suitcase. Why did they grab her? What is in the suitcase? What does the Geek have to do with this? Why are we watching this? The stripper gets away from her none-too-bright captors when one shoots the other out of greed but she steals the suitcase. Why? To keep the plot interesting I guess. While running for her life she pauses to take a skinny dip in a river and then to take a nap where she dreams about herself doing one of her dance routines (talk about self absorbed!). Meanwhile the plot keeps cutting back to a place called the Sans Souci Club (sans souci means "don't worry" in French if you were wondering) where the dancers all sit around naked while applying their makeup and then go onstage to do a strip routine. Back in the main plot the Geek finally shows up and kills the other Cuban, then the stripper . . .er . . ."borrows" a truck but the Geek hitches a ride in the back. They end up back at the very carnival he (it?) escaped from way way back at the start of this picture. What happens? Ah, THAT would be telling. The movie is on DVD now, find out for yourself! The whole movie seems to have been shot MOS with voices dubbed in later. One man keeps his back to the camera in all his scenes but once he turns away and a voice says "Okay" while his mouth is clearly not moving. The carnival is run by a chain smoking fat woman who should deffinitely not be wearing Capri pants. The Geek (Mike Butts, if that is his real name) wears a shaggy wig with tufts of hair glued randomly to his face. He screams a lot and drools way too much. The heroes of the film are two cops in a radio car that is apparently the only one around because they get called for everything! I guess people went to see this back in 1964 for the nudity. Now we can see it to to shake our heads and wonder how many people were that desperate to see a film with nudity in it that they would pay to see this.

Truly surreal

[hellpepper · 10/10 · 27 November 2005]

I personally love this movie.It's like some sort of fever dream caught on celluloid. There is not much that makes a lot of sense but that is fine. I bought the DVD of "The God-Monster of Indian Flats"and was thrilled to find this gem attached to it. "God-Monster" is pretty bizarre too .The scene with the girl dancing around with the sheep creature will remain burned in your brain forever. But "Passion in the Sun" is the icing on the cake. I remember "The Monster at Camp Sunshine" and it comes in a close second to this one (it involved a monster and nudists) but this is something I can watch again and again.

This movie is a lot of fun to show to your friends as well. Some of mine just hated it while others really had a laugh.

Geek on a Bum Trip

[gavcrimson · 10 December 2000]

SPOILERS INCLUDED While contemporaries like Kiss Me Quick and Orgy of the Dead, have gained fame and notoriety through the years this earlier nudie cutie picture with a horror film riff slipped quietly away. Its obscurity seems pinned down to its original moniker Passion in the Sun which suggests a run of the mill jaunt in a nudist camp, deceptively masking surely one of the most eccentric capers ever to come from the Deep South. Now more commonly known as The Girl and the Geek, the film takes place on one of the last hot days of summer and finds the fates of two cops, a pair of South of the border criminals, an escaped circus geek and a stripper fatally interweaved. The Girl is Josette Valague, flying into a Texas airport on the way to perform several big time strip shows in Las Vegas ‘what more could a girl ask for?'. The Geek is ‘a poor twisted mind running wild in a body that has slipped from the lowest rung-of the ladder'. A freakshow captive in a deserted looking amusement park, the geek is kept there by a nasty old crone who could easily pass for a man in drag. She gets a fat flunky to hit him with a log to stop his constant howling, but he's no ones star attraction for long and soon this geek is loose! Coincidences and general bad timing find most of the characters held up at a Texas airport, criminal Raul carrying a valuable briefcase is there to meet his partner in crime Ernesto who is late due to making out with his old lady. Two Texas cops turn up to arrest the pair, but in the ensuing confusion Raul and Ernesto take Josette hostage. Thundering down the Texas freeway in their beat up old car, Josette gives as good as she gets brawling with Ernesto in the backseat of the opentop car. When the car breaks down Josette tries to escape over the boot but only succeeds in being locked in it ‘that'll keep the little hellcat quiet'. Raul and Ernesto bicker over the briefcase and attempt to lay each other out, with Raul finally stomping Ernesto. Taking Josette and the briefcase with him Raul makes a break across country, but Josette gets fed up of being lead around like this and makes her escape stealing the all important briefcase in the process. Raul tries to grab her but in a fetish manner only manages to tear her skirt off leaving her running around in her underwear. As may be expected from the heat obsessed writer/ director/ producer who brought us Hip Hot & 21, Hot Blooded Woman, The Hot Bed and Hot Thrills, Warm Chills, The Girl and the Geek becomes distracted with cut-aways to Josette's destination where strip acts ‘the Sans Souci Girls' fill in the time for a non existent audience. The films brush with nudie cutieness also heralds in some amusing plot twists. On the run from murdering Raul, Josette apparently oblivious to the danger, still finds time for a spot of nude bathing. Later on she stops again this time for some topless sunbathing, then falls asleep and dreams of her own strip-act. By the time the Geek joins in the chase he discovers her bareass, washing her clothes in the lake, before pursuing the topless girl. Ironically the Geek becomes her momentary saviour for when Raul catches up with her, the geek jumps and then violently drowns him while victoriously howling. The climax is hilarious as Josette gains some clothes and a pickup truck and speeds down the highway with the geek hanging onto the back. Finally its back to the amusement park where the geek strangles its owner and sends Josette on a joyride on the ‘Wild Mouse'. The Girl and the Geek's astonishing narrative is executed in an equally astonishing primitive fashion. Even for a 1964 black and white nudie its extremely cheap, the film's faded look gives the impression it was filmed in the midst of a sandstorm. Essentially its a silent movie scored to familiar DeWolfe stock music with what rudimentary dialogue there is being post synched. Still its hard not to get involved in the spectacle of it all thanks to the films enigmatic leads. As the howling geek Mike Butts with his unkept fright wig, glued on facial hair, baggy trousers and ripped shirt is truly one of cinema's great freaks. Tellingly more at home with stripping than acting, Josette Valague is a curious plaything with her chipmunk expressions, plump body and buzzsaw hairdo. She has an amusingly ‘carefree' attitude during the entire film, accidently giggling at the geek and at one point during the chase just giving up and walking. Look closely at the climax where Josette stares death in the face at the amusement park, and inbetween feigning terror you can see her having a quick drag on a cigarette! In all Passion in the Sun/The Girl and the Geek is as charming as the thought that a woman jiggling through the wilderness on the run from a man who sees biting the heads off chickens as an occupation could once be considered racy stuff. For all its Sans Souci leering, ultimately this is the story of a strong, sassy little stripper who knows what she wants in life and doesn't let anyone get in her way- be it man or geek.

Astounding unsung kitschfest

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 12 August 2016]

A stripper (buxom blonde Josette Valague) en route to a Las Begas club has a stopover at a small airport in Texas. She winds up being abducted by two Cuban mobsters, but manages to get away only to run afoul of a crazed and dangerous carnival geek (a gloriously histrionic portrayal by Mike Butts) who has escaped from his cage.

Boy, does this jaw-dropping clunker possess all the right schlocky stuff to count as a real high camp riot: We've got ham-fisted (mis)direction by Dale Berry (who also wrote the slight'n'silly script), amateurish acting by a lame no-name cast, wonky post-dubbed dialogue, heavy-handed narration by a solemn deep-voiced guy, rough black and white cinematography, a lively and eclectic film library score, the filmmakers devising various clumsy ways to cover up otherwise naked female crotches, a rambling absurd story, and a hysterical climax set at a rundown amusement park. As a yummy extra plus, there's also lots of choice filler footage of full-figured gals bumping and grinding on stage at a strip club and our heroine's ample breasts bounce up and down quite nicely whenever she's running around. A total loopy hoot.

So Awful It's Entertaining

[Michael_Elliott · 30 October 2015]

The Girl and the Geek (1962)

** (out of 4)

Big-breasted stripper Josette finds herself on the run from a couple thugs who chase her around as she loses more and more clothing. The stripper's luck takes a turn for the worse when a local freak show geek escapes from his cage.

This nudie is also known as PASSION IN THE SUN, which should tell you just about everything that you need to know. Look, I understand that in 1962 it was hard to see some fresh nudity. Those poor folks didn't have the internet so sadly they had to sneak into theaters that would play something like this. Can you imagine all the horrible movies these people had to watch for the sake of nudity?

Flash forward several decades and the likes of Something Weird Video started to release these types of movies. This one here isn't horrible but at the same time it's extremely poorly made and there's no question that most people are going to be bored by the five minute mark. The film contains the typical bad narration, bad cinematography and of course awful acting. Still, if it's nudity you're after then that is on full display as there are plenty of strip scenes.

Unbelievable

[Myla944-1 · 27 March 2008]

When I was younger my father had told me that he was in a couple of movies and my mother said she was in a movie too.

Out of curiosity, last week I asked my mother what the name of the movie was that she was in and she said it was a B Rated movie called the "Passion in the Sun", directed by their friend Dale Berry.

Lo and behold I log on IMDb today to find this movie and there is the movie along with my mother and father in the listing of the cast.

My father by the way is Bill Rhodes and my mother is Liza Marina (her stage name) along with their good friend Dick Eason. If anyone can direct me in the right direction in finding this movie so I can purchase a copy of this movie along with the other Dale Berry film "Hot Blooded Women" that my father was also cast in, please email me at [e-mail]. I would greatly appreciate any help in finding these movies! By the way, I have not seen either movie, yet!