The Immoral Mr. Teas

The Immoral Mr. Teas (1959) is the first commercially successful film of director Russ Meyer.

Etymology

The name "Teas" is a homophone of the word tease, and one of the meanings of "tease" includes to sexually excite another person by subtle means, usually explicitly avoiding advancement to more potentially consequential erotic situations. The title character is played by Meyer's army buddy, Bill Teas, whose homophonic name Meyer exploits.

Background

Before this film was released, the only moving pictures exhibiting extensive nudity were either underground (covertly produced and distributed) pornographic films, typically distributed "under the counter" in 16 mm black and white movies, or naturist pictures, openly displayed in specialized movie theaters, usually under the cover of exhibiting the fun and freedom of nudism in naturist reserves (nudist camps).

A breakthrough

The Immoral Mr. Teas was the first American "above ground" movie since the pre-Code early sound era to show female nudity without the pretext of naturism. It is considered to be the first commercially viable American "skin flick" and popularized the nudie cutie genre.

The movie consists of a series of short scenes. In a sense, no one is actually naked; the only nudity seen is through the viewpoint and vivid imagination of Mr. Teas. Mr. Teas' mental constructions extend beyond the nudity (always exclusively of female characters)—there...
Read More