Rumor has it that the first nude scene in a movie appeared less than a year after the Lumiere Bros. premiere public screening of a film in 1895. Since these first flickering flesh-images, movies and nudity have gone together like quads and running.
In an effort to curb the proliferation of nude pictures of hapless NQR-runners and appease those T&A-hunting townies (and gownies), the Daily has assembled a list of the 10 best nude scenes already on film.
From "American Pie" to "Eyes Wide Shut," we encountered so many nude scenes in our "research" for this article that we had to let some fall back into the vault. What follows are the most gratuitous, most excessive and, in some cases, the most disturbing nude images ever committed to celluloid.
10. "Romeo and Juliet" (1968)
Actor/Actress Nude: Olivia Hussey as the usually chaste Juliet
Scene: Every 15-year-old boy's greatest memory of his high school sophomore English class is watching the 10-second flash of Juliet's breasts in act III, scene V of Franco Zeffirelli's adaptation of "Romeo and Juliet."
The nudity is a little treat of thumb-biting fun in an otherwise bawdy-less version of the Bard. And since it could have easily been cut and saved prude English teachers from years of aggravation, it makes the list out of sheer respect.
9. "Contempt" (1963)
Actor/Actress Nude: Brigitte Bardot as sex-kitten Camille Javal
Scene: Here at the Daily, we like ironic, meta-nude scenes in French films as much as the next paper, but we especially like them when they feature bombshell Brigitte Bardot.
"Contempt" is New Wave enfant-terrible Jean-Luc Godard's foray into mainstream filmmaking (sort of), and he goes all-out, including Technicolor and A-list actress Bardot. The scene is a combination of both of Godard's innovations, with Bardot rolling around naked on a bed, in color.
8. "The Shining" (1980)
Actor/Actress Nude: Lia and Billie Gibson as the ghost of creepy nudity
Scene: As Jack Nicholson walks into Room 237 he encounters a gorgeous naked woman bathing in a bath tub. So far, so good. Upon kissing and hugging her, however, the woman transforms into a rotting 80-year-old.
This scene runs away with the award for "Most Disturbing Use of Nudity in a Movie Ever" (although Keitel's nude scene in "The Piano" was a contender). In how many other movies do they show full frontal nudity of 80-year-olds? Thankfully, not too many.
7. "Old School" (2003)
Actor/Actress: Will Ferrell as Frank the Tank
Scene: "We're going streaking!" shouts Ferrell as he tries to convince the crowd and "Snoop-a-Loop" to join him. Ferrell then stumbles into the street, jogging past cars and into the center of town, pointing at passers-by and yelling.
The only scene on this list that actually involves streaking, "Old School" has quickly vaulted into the Nudity Hall of Fame. "Honey, do you think KFC is still open?" Want biscuits with that drumstick, Will?
6. "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (1982)
Actor/Actress Nude: Phoebe Cates as object of desire, Linda Barrett
Scene: Oh, to be caught masturbating in a pirate hat! The genius of "Fast Times" fantasy sequence, which features Phoebe Cates stripping to the Cars' "Moving in Stereo" (who would have thought the Cars were sexy!), is the timing. It brought every horny kid who saw it to the breaking point before making it explode in their faces. We feel for you, Judd.
5. "The Terminator" (1984)
Actor/Actress Nude: Arnold Schwarzenegger as a stone-cold cyborg
Scene: We might be wrong on this one, but as far as our crack team of researchers can tell, Schwarzenegger is the only governor to be caught on film nude (although we've heard things about Romney ...)
After some time-traveling shenanigans, Schwarzenegger shows up in Los Angeles without any clothes. What's really weird is that he walks around for an uncomfortable amount of time before killing anyone.
4. "Showgirls" (1995)
Actor/Actress Nude: Elizabeth Berkley as a pole dancer
Scene: Berkley, playing a stripper trying to make it in Vegas, gives Kyle MacLachlan a highly memorable striptease, which ends with her dry humping him in the nude.
For anyone that ever watched "Saved By the Bell," this movie is like watching cats dance, or Ben Affleck act well. You're in total shock. You expect Screech to walk in at any moment, girl on each arm, and start getting jiggy.
3. "Basic Instinct" (1992)
Actor/Actress Nude: Sharon Stone as a killer crime novelist
Scene: Brought in for interrogation by a detective played by Michael Douglas, Stone's character neglects to wear underwear. As she's questioned by the detectives she purposefully (and graphically) crosses, and uncrosses her legs.
A watershed event in film nudity, this scene has become legendary. Not just because Sharon Stone was so hot in the early '90s, and not just because it was so graphic. Well, maybe because it was so graphic.
2. "Wild Things" (1998)
Actor/Actress Nude: Neve Cambell, Denise Richards, Kevin Bacon as people having sex
Scene: Half an hour into a movie apparently about sexual harassment by a teacher (Matt Dillon), the main characters, out of nowhere, begin to have a threesome. Campbell and Richards make out (their first of many
kisses in the film), champagne is poured everywhere and a good time is had by all.
Kevin Bacon joins in on the nudity as well; in a scene near the end of the film the Bacon Brothers are clearly visible as he steps out of the shower. Eventually, the plot stops trying to keep up.
1. "Boogie Nights" (1997)
Actor/Actress Nude: Mark Wahlberg as porn star Dirk Diggler
Scene: Sure, we could've picked a scene with Heather Graham as Rollergirl (who takes off everything except her skates here), or one with Julianne Moore's Amber Waves (whose name appears to be accurate), but in the end we chose Wahlberg's "pump up" scene, which caps off "Boogie Nights" (and our list).
Yes, it's prosthetic, which technically doesn't make this a nude scene. However, the sheer length of Wahlberg's performance single-handedly launched his career (if you don't consider his, you know, acting ...) and stands as the most infamous moment in a movie filled with plenty of infamous moments..
