How to Undress in Front of Your Husband (1937) Elaine Barrymore

Another "sexploitation" film by by the highly productive Dwan Esper. Made in 1938 this is a comparison of two women undressing, supposedly being watched by a peeping tom, though, as in many of these movies the plot falls apart about 5 minutes in. Here we have an ex-wive of John Barrymore undressing and compared to a fat woman in another room for comic relief. The most enticing part of the film is the title. When the fat woman shows a bit of breast, there is a "censored" sign displayed. This is only for historical interest.

Plot

In an opening narrative, the filmmaker explains that many of man's pleasures (such as beer and cigarettes) have been made safer and more enjoyable through technology, but that no such improvement has been made for women. The film thus strives to teach women how to please their husbands in the bedroom.

The film is shot through the eyes of a peeping Tom paparazzo, who leeringly takes lurid shots of celebrities in the privacy of their own homes. Two examples of his work are given: Elaine Barrymore, who serves as the example of how to undress properly, and Trixie Friganza, vaudeville and opera star in one of her later starring roles, as the example of how not to undress, as each comes home from a party. Elaine demonstrates natural seduction skills and grace in her slow, methodical undress, which the narrator surmises is how she landed her husband John, the "world's greatest lover." Trixie, on the other hand, is shown as irritated and slovenly as she tersely yanks off her garments and throws them on the ground.

At the end of the film, as the paparazzo develops his pictures, his wife angrily calls her husband to dinner.

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