Naked Afternoon

The beautiful starlet Abigail Clayton has loyal fans more than 30 years after her brief career sputtered out. That makes NAKED AFTERNOON required viewing; had she become a major star, on the level of Samantha Fox or Jesie St. James, it would be dismissed as ephemeral filler.

Case in point is her co-star here Annette Haven. Haven made so many classic movies that her nothing part here is of little interest to her fan base.

Cornball plot line has Clayton as a young lass trying to make it in Hollywood but hit in the face with reality. She goes for interviews, gets a femme acting teacher/manager, but everybody wants her to work as a stripper, B-girl hustling drinks, prostitute, or minor player in XXX films.

The XXX route is one she tries and it turns out to be the key plot peg. Though she asks her director for a real part and some good lines, it is just another "hey, sailor" -cue the humping scene assignment. Yet big-time director John Leslie (Nostradamus must have written the script, as this classic porn actor did in fact become a big-time director years later) sees her in the film, intuits some star quality and the rest is happy ending time.

Along the way Clayton fantasizes having hot-tub sex with Joey Silvera and does have a torrid underage-looking lesbian scene with buddy Clair Dia. Director Alan Colberg should have beefed up the supporting cast's roles, notably Haven as Leslie's assistant/girlfriend, and Ken Scudder, whose sex scene with Clayton is largely blocked out of view by the opening superimposed credits. Clayton's fresh beauty and undeniable enthusiasm make it watchable.