"Body Shop" at Oddball Films August 15, 2009

EVENT: Body Shop: A beautiful and bizarre look at the human body in all its forms including Soapy the Germ Fighter (1951), Swim and Live (1943), The Story of Menstruation (1946), Personal Hygiene for Boys (1971), Boys Aware (1973), VD Attack Plan (1973), How to Undress in Front of Your Husband (1940s), Sex Appeal Commercials from the 1960s and 1970s, the animated short Ecomega (1972). Plus male Beefcakes and female Cheesecakes!
VENUE: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco
DATE: Saturday, August 15, 2009 at 8:30PM
ADMISSION: $10.00 RSVP (Limited seating) to [email protected] or 415-558-8117.
WEB: http://www.oddballfilm.com/oddballftp/Body_Shop.pdf
“Body Shop”
Screens at Oddball Films

On Saturday, August 15, 2009 at 8:30 PM Oddball Films presents “Body Shop”, featuring a myriad of films exploring the human body in all its forms from biology, physical hygiene, venereal disease to erotica.

Program Highlights:
Soapy the Germ Fighter (Color, 1951)
Young Billy Martin has to learn that being clean isn’t the same as being a sissy. One night as he drifts off to sleep Soapy, a giant talking cake of soap wearing tights and a puffy-sleeved shirt appears to Billy and assures him of this fact. Soapy teaches Billy “good hand habits” and offers advice like “girls should wash their hair at least once every two weeks.” Billy takes Soapy’s advice to heart and becomes “one of the cleanest boys in town.”

Swim and Live! (B+W 1943)
Here's a wonderful U.S. Navy training film, originally made during World War II. Swim and Live is actually a serious movie, masquerading as comedy, which has a kind of "male on male" interest to it. There are a lot of men in this movie with their shirts off, helping other men. There are a lot of men jumping in sequence, Busby Berkeley style, and helping each other out. Why? Because men need to swim to win the war!
The Story of Menstruation (Color, 1946)
This striking animated colorful Walt Disney Production was sponsored by Kotex Feminine Hygiene products. Neither sexuality nor reproduction is mentioned in this influential film, and an emphasis on sanitation makes it less about femininity than grooming. The Story of Menstruation is believed to be the first film to use the word vagina in its screenplay.

Personal Hygiene For Boys (Color, 1971)
“Your body works something like a machine, like a V8 with a quad. You wouldn’t want to let this engine sit idle.” intones our narrator. “Maybe you’re like Rick (overweight and lazy) who takes better care of the car than himself. “ Our mental hygiene short continues with homoerotic overtones and quirky lines like “To keep the hairy parts of your body clean you need plenty of soap and water-and spread that soap around!”. Shortly after Rick wises up and marches off to the shower to clean up his act. Hilarious.
Boys Aware (Color, 1973)
Social guidance Shockmeister Sid Davis presents four case histories portraying homosexual advances toward young boys. We start off when Ralph shows Billie some pornographic pictures. “What Billie didn’t know was that Ralph was sick”, our narrator says, “a sickness that was not visible like smallpox but no less dangerous and contagious, a sickness of the mind. You see Ralph was a homosexual, a person who demands an intimate relationship with members their own sex.” This over-the-top film, produced in conjunction with the Inglewood, CA Unified School District and Police Department pulls out every homosexual stereotype and scare tactic in the book including the jolting line “That evening Mike traded his life for a newspaper headline”.

VD Attack Plan (Technicolor, 1973)
“Yes, it’s true. Walt Disney Productions has made a significant contribution to the war against VD. VD Attack Plan – A fully animated Walt Disney 16mm motion picture.” states the brochure accompanying this 16mm educational film. VD Attack Plan had some forward thinking and enlightening approaches (not just for Disney but everyone else producing this type of film in 1973) to the subject of sexually transmitted diseases including promotion of condoms (instead of abstinence) and the fact that VD can be spread through same sex couplings. This “war against disease “ film doesn’t miss a beat-even showcasing some of the graphic effects of the disease in action. In brilliant Technicolor, just like you’d want it to be.
For Skip (AV Geek) Elsheimer’s informative take on this film visit:
http://www.othercinema.com/otherzine/ozissue2/vd.html
How to Undress in Front of Your Husband (1940s)
An exercise in exhibitionism starring Mrs. John Barrymore (!) wife of the famed Hollywood legend.

Sex Appeal (Color and B+W, 1960s-1970s)
Beautify your body with the following commercial products: I Can't Believe It's a Bra "Telephone", Playtex 18 Hour All in One "You've Lost Weight", 18 Hour Girdle, Story Of Life "Sexual Appeal" "Airliner" , Zest "Mother - Daughter" (whatever that implies), Water Fingers "Home From Work" and many more!
Plus! Male Beefcakes and female Cheesecakes!