Go Naked in the World (1961)

Admirable film.

A Major Disappointment

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

GO NAKED IN THE WORLD (1961) was born out of time and out of place. This property was developed into a film that has been universally panned by critics and only intermittently enjoyed by connoisseurs and admirers of melodramas. Ranald MacDougall was a talented screenwriter (MILDRED PIERCE, JUNE BRIDE, THE NAKED JUNGLE, among other titles) but had little experience as a director (QUEEN BEE being his most successful effort). GO NAKED IN THE WORLD could have been saved by a director of genius such as Frank Borzage, George Cukor or Douglas Sirk, all three capable of handling this kind of material and transforming it into exciting drama in cinematic terms. MacDougall could not handle his own material. The fact that Charles Walters worked on the film uncredited shows that the production was in trouble. Melodrama as a genre was still quite alive in the late 1950's and early 1960's (LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING, PEYTON PLACE, IMITATION OF LIFE, BUTTERFIELD 8 and BACK STREET are proof of that), but it needed to be handled properly in order to be successful. MGM was more interested in promoting BUTTERFIELD 8 (another tragic story about an expensive call-girl being victimized by a hypocritical society), so it let GO NAKED IN THE WORLD sink in its own troubled waters. The production shows several positive qualities: cinematography, production and costume design, for instance. And not all of the acting should be deemed bad. Ernest Borgnine is very effective in his role. Anthony Franciosa was physically right for the part, but his character was poorly conceived, to start with. We cannot understand how such a mature man could let himself be controlled by his father. Perhaps George Chakiris would have given the character the kind of vulnerability it required. Gina Lollobrigida looks absolutely gorgeous, and walks through the picture without getting very involved. No doubt she felt that the film was doomed. Possibly she was given little direction. She does the best she can with her most difficult scenes (the set-up to which she falls victim at the hotel, the desperate dance sequence at the night club in Acapulco), but we sense her emotional distance from the material. Only in her suicide scene she is truly moving. According to her own account, the film was very poorly edited. No matter, I believe that GO NAKED IN THE WORLD can still be enjoyed today. The chance to see Lollobrigida in her prime is already worth my time.

In this lurid early 60's melodrama, Gina Lollobrigida plays a high-class call girl who meets Anthony Franciosca, the son of millionaire construction magnate Ernest Borgnine, a self-made Greek immigrant whose forceful personality and wealth dominates everyone around him. Franciosca has just gotten out of the service and is "finding himself". Franciosca is at first ignorant of Lollobrigida's calling in life, but soon gets wise and also learns that his father and seemingly half the male population in town has used her services.This is a fairly big budget, lushly made film, set in what looked like possibly San Francisco (?) with a side trip to Acapulco. I'm kind of a sucker for films from this era, their look and style, so it was enjoyable enough though certainly nothing great. Borgnine gives the best performance, though even his character showed a lot of inconsistency - at times, he was quite likable then you wanted to beat him over the head. Gina is voluptuous and sexy, but Franciosca, playing the weakest character, could not overcome the deficiencies of the writing. The biggest problem with the film is the inherent double standard of the time, making the sexually free woman the victim who must pay for her "sins". I'm certainly happy that things have changed in that regard.

I saw this movie twenty years ago when my self-esteem was not strong, and when I saw Go Naked into the World....I was devastated when Gina Lollabridga's character committed suicide. I wanted to shout at the television "Just hold on honey, he is coming for you, he is in love with you!" And that taught me that even when your chance at love feels hopelessly doomed, just give it one more day. Then that day will turn into another, and so on. If your heart really wants it, it will be yours. The title was so aptly titled, because all of us at point in our lives, will have to go out into the world - reluctantly, feeling exposed by whatever your tribulation may be. But it gets easier as your "armour" gets stronger. Go ahead, go naked into the world, just never give up.

Sick at home, I chose to watch this despite having no idea what this movie was about. Never heard of it before either.First off, Bourgnine really got into the role of a domineering Greek immigrant architect. He spends quite a bit of time yelling at everyone. His scenes with Franciosa are very good and provided me with a reason to watch the whole thing. Lollobrigida is good but the scenes between her and Franciosa are gooey.The plot is interesting as Lollobrigida's character is revealed to be a high-class hooker leading to Franciosa's character's very confused response and his confkict with his father who happens to be one of her clients. It could have been interesting but the movie opts for cheap moralizing at the end. I have seen the same ending in "bad girl tries to make good" movies from the 1930s.The title is also a cheap attempt to get the male audience to think they might glimpse Lolabrigida nude at some point. Never comes close although there's a wild dissolve / montage that has an erupting champagne bottle superimposed over Lollobrigida face as she's clearly on her back. Hmmm.You can skip it if it ever shows up again.