Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

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?

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

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.

*** 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.