Go Naked in the World (1961) is the noir movie you have when you're not expecting a noir twist in the tale. Right up to its mindless, cop-out conclusion, it behaves like an awful, incredible soap opera. We don't believe a word of it for a minute – which makes all the soapy posturing by Franciosa, Lollo and "Marty" Borgnine all the more ridiculous. Admittedly they drew handsome salaries and no doubt had themselves a great time making this soapy. And there are, I confess, a few amusing lines and mildly suspenseful situations along the way (although one of them atop a high-rise building is somewhat negated by obvious back projection). All told, however, Franciosa looks far too mature to be in any way convincing as the gormless innocent abroad. We might also well ask what Hollywood has done to Lollo, as she looks far less enticing here than in her Italian scenarios. For one thing, the photography by Milton Krasner, who has done far better work in the past, is far too harsh. (He tells me that producer Aaron Rosenberg didn't allow him sufficient time to set up the lights). In any case, Lollo's face looks too skeletal. Her clothes don't help either. They don't flatter her figure at all. She looks fat and frumpy. A similar squeeze on production values even make the Acapulco locations seem of little account. And why Rosenberg decided to shoot the movie in CinemaScope is a real mystery. The film is little more than a dull succession of slowly paced dialogue scenes, almost all framed in close-ups which make no use of the wide screen's potentials at all. Even production values seem like humble pie compared to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's usual glossy standards.
Review of Go Naked in the World
