1933's Oramunde has Mary Binney Montgomery and Caresse Crosby - one of them runs around the woods in some sheet which covers her face and body, but leaves the impression she's wearing nothing under the sheet.

1932's Poem 8 has more shots of a woman running around wearing nothing but a full body sheet (the sheet flies up at one point and you almost see a cheek, and there are some very close shots around the breast area), as well as a scene of Caresse Crosby lowering the top of her dress, with her breasts (they stop above the nipples) shown.

Last month TCM ran a docu on Brit cinematographer/director Jack Cardiff. He had a great story about Marlene Dietrich's bathtub scene in Knight Without Armor (1937). Seems she came on set, dropped her robe, and to the crew's amazement she wasn't wearing a thing. She climbed into the tub and did the scene that way. Nothing visible in the finished product, and the sloshing water teases unmercifully. She also has a skinnydip later on in a frigid Russian lake but we see nothing but bare shoulders and maybe some leg. Great movie in general too.

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Not quite nude but it surprised me . . .

TCM played a bunch of Marx Bros. movies a few weeks back and there's a couple of scenes that got my attention in the pre-code Monkey Business:

Thelma Todd does a scene in silk pajamas. She's clearly braless and spends a few minutes bouncing around the room.

In another scene a woman is sitting on a bench and bends down to, iirc, tie her shoe. There's a downblouse shot that doesn't show nipple but comes surprisingly close.

The Hays Code wasn't strictly enforced by Hollywood until 1934-35. Even though the times may seem puritanical by today's standards, there wasn't any rule against showing what they wanted to show. That's why a lot of people went to the movies. To see what they couldn't see in real life.

Trivia's right but even pre-Hays Code, while things could be a little more risque, nudity in a mainstream movie was almost unheard of until the mid 1960's. The only place you'd find any nudity was in underground stag films, or perhaps art films which aren't really mainstream releases..

I haven't read through this whole thread, but I'd imagine it's a pretty thin topic when it comes to actual nudity (and all this talk of "nipples poking through silk pajamas" and "see through bath robes" seems to confirm it). I can't think of any 1950's or earlier nude scenes other than Hedy Lamarr in Ecstacy (which only had a very limited release in Europe). I seriously doubt there was any mainstream movie nudity (meaning a wide release and was generally known to the public) pre 1960's, and certainly nothing that played in the US.

I suggest you read the *entire* thread. There was plenty of mainstream actualy nudity pre-1960's. Such as There are also Maureen O'Sullivan's scenes in her first Tarzan movie .

Pleasantly surprised to recently discover Maniac (1934) with a couple of brief but clearly visible topless scenes (an adrenaline-fueled madman carries an unconscious woman outside, pausing on a dirt trail to put her down and rip open her top; more brief breasts visible later on from a different woman who's being treated by a mad scientist). This quickie (51 mins) can be found on Youtube, nude scenes intact.

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Re: Maniac (1934) the only one I can find has the nipple censored. Can anyone identify the babe--she apparently has some pretty firm natural tits? She looks like she might be Jenny Dark from "Marihuana(1936).

This one's uncensored:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLQYfhtlirA

...though the scene is kinda dark anyway (27 min mark). Hard to tell who the girl is since she goes from blonde when he abducts her to brunette being carried. Look also at 40 mins.

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The Most Comprehensive Collection of Playboy Playmate Appearances from Film & TV! 500+ Titles!

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now this is a very cool thread. a true blast from the past.

Just watched Cry Havoc 1943 and you can see Ella Raines nipple when she's swimming with the rest of the girls

Hildegard Knef in 'Die Suenderin' (1951). http://www.mrskin.com/hildegard-knef-nude-c2798.html