One Naked Night (1965) User Reviews

New York arthouse

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 23 October 2019]

ONE NAKED NIGHT is another one of those indie arthouse movies shot in New York with a sexploitation sell. The protagonist has a little more character than usual, presented as a woman struggling to avoid her own mother's fate - a descent into prostitution, followed by suicide. She moves into an apartment filled with models, so expect lots of titillation in the form of scantily-clad young ladies. The direction has a certain documentary approach to it, while the music and dialogue are purely of the 1960s, so there's a little realism, but the budget is too low to tell an interesting story.

Great photography for '60s cautionary tale

[mountaingoat100 · 8/10 · 2 September 2019]

This is a low budget exploitation tale, mostly shot silent, relying on sorrowful narration by the girl who has come to New York after her whore mom's suicide. Moving in her only friend, a pin-up model, she finds idyllic, if temporary, romance with a photographer, then a sculptor, before descending into a mildly debauched sex party scene. The photography and editing are sharp, set to a relentless cool flute and bongo soundtrack. There is twisting. The scenes of bygone New York are beautiful, from the girl's arrival at Grand Central, to Times Square in a less gaudy age, to unchanging Central Park. This is worth a look for fans of 1960's style.

Neat little 60's East Coast exploitation item

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 10 February 2015]

Naïve young lass Candy Stevens (a solid and appealing performance by Barbara Morris) leaves town and moves to New York City in the wake of her prostitute mother committing suicide. Candy settles into an apartment with several pin-up models and tries to resist the temptation to get caught up in an highly enticing and addictive fast lane lifestyle.

Director Albert Viola keeps the engrossingly sordid story moving along at a quick pace, maintains an engaging breezy tone throughout, and offers a decent smattering of yummy bare distaff skin. The climactic lively swing party and a dance sequence at a hip Harlem nightclub rate as definite groovy highlights, while the genuinely startling surprise bummer ending packs a devastating punch. The choice location footage of the Big Apple in all its snazzy 60's splendor qualifies as another major asset; we get everything from Candy arriving in New York City at Penn Station to a fun montage sequence of Fifth Avenue storefronts. Moreover, the sound acting by the competent cast helps a lot: Sally Lane as Candy's loyal friend Laura, Joseph Sutherin as nice guy sculptor Joe, Audrey Campbell as sage and worldly mentor Barbara, and Ian Miller as dashing photographer Charles. The sharp black and white cinematography gives this picture a pleasing crisp look. Chet McIntyre's eclectic score alternates between smooth bouncy jazz and more primal throbbing noise. A nifty outing.

Desultory porn headed nowhere

[lor_ · 22 July 2015]

I praise Something Weird for dredging up oddities -the late Mike Vraney did an estimable job in the Henri Langlois tradition of not discriminating against "low art" or even non-art in choosing what to preserve. ONE NAKED NIGHT from the early '60s offers little of interest, apart from cult favorite Audrey Campbell in a supporting role.

Cornball story of innocent girl heading to the Big Apple and encountering tawdriness and sleaze there was handled far better in a score of films, notably the often dismissed work of Barry Mahon. Director Albert T. Viola was a NYC flunky best known for his campy PREACHERMAN vehicles, but I have found little to like in his attempts at seriousness (within a then-soft porno format) like this one and another Campbell movie A WOMAN IN LOVE.

Film's principal drawback is that it avoids much nudity (only providing tantalizing glimpses) or other provocative content that might have proved satisfying to fans who paid their bucks at the local Adult cinema circa 1963. It's far from good enough to pass muster as a real movie, so failing to arouse one's prurient interests is beneath reproach.

Barbara Morris is the heroine Candy, leaving her hick town by train for NYC. Her busty friend Laura, played by Sally Lane, very briefly steals the show by baring her breasts in a mirror, and roommate Barbara (played by Audrey Campbell) with a sexy voice also attracts a attention and is retrospectively the movie's only drawing card.

But the storyline is dull, with the usual romances, disappointments in finding suitable employment and other clichés of the genre trotted out to kill time. Campbell says: "they're all as dull as death or rotten", to describe men but adequately summing up this type of picture.

A "wild party" scene replete with striptease, stag movie projection (not shown) is shot MOS and a total flop, with revelers keeping their clothes on. Heroine Candy wakes up flanked by sleeping bodies, and tearfully goes to the mirror, voicing over "You're dirty!". She can't stand this life of shame, heading out on the terrace with thoughts of suicide, when stalwart Joseph Sutherin arrives at the last moment to save her. Trick ending of him failing probably turned Viola on at story meetings, but is ridiculously bad. It reduces this prehistoric porn film to the level of those later 1-day wonders where the filmmakers would cynically have the story or characters self-destruct for a "shock" finish, nihilism at a kindergarten level.