Buster's sister Louise is listed as an extra in the pool scene in "The Cameraman", in which Buster loses his swimsuit and ends up naked, surrounded by women. I've wondered if Louise was the young lady who surfaced right in front of him. It just seemed that Buster would not want a stranger, or a woman likely to, shall we say, get a rise out of him, in that position. His sister would be a safe choice for the situation.
Does anybody know?
Good theory! It doesn't look like Louise though.. so Buster was incredibly brave!
Although thinking about it, he could have been wearing trunks for that particular shot. In other shots it is rather obvious that he's not.. but in that shot he can easily wear something white without it being noticed.
Somebody sent me a screen shot, and that woman is no daughter of Myra Keaton, that's for sure!
I can't see Buster getting in and out of buff-colored trunks so that he'd do some shots naked and some shots not naked. He was fond of being honest with his audience, and I think his attitude was, "If my character is naked, then I'm naked." And I don't know about audiences of the time, but audiences of today seem to agree with me that it's a hoot that he shot that pool scene in the nude. And think about it -- he went to all the trouble to disentangle himself from the suit so that it would come off when he hit the water. He made sure that the suit actually came off, even though you'd not actually see him again until after a cut.
Ya gotta love him for that. And how many actors have done nude scenes that were totally innocent, funny, and family-friendly? Though I am very curious about who that woman was.
The only thing that made me think about an idea of trunks (although I know this is a non-pool shot) is that when he ran with the woman's ridiculous trousers, they slipped down and you could see some white trunks underneath.. at first that led me to think that most of the pool was a trick but then I saw that little bottom in the pool and thought, yup.. no trunks!
But for that ONE shot.. he may have worn something. Maaaybe. It's a lot to ask of an actress to go face to face with.. well I won't carry on that sentence.
But as you say.. perhaps he went whole hog, which is a very Buster thing to do! I'm very curious too about that actress too.. cos that's quite a shot!
Well, she came up facing aside, not straight toward Buster.
I didn't notice the white trunks when the lady's bottoms were falling down. I'll have to watch frame by frame now. I guess risking losing the bottoms on dry land was more of a risk than he was ready to take. No need to flash all those people! But in the pool he was at least mostly hidden.
True but she was veeery close ;)
I think I've probably seen that scene more than I'd like to admit which is why I saw the trunks, but I'd say you're right... mooning (or worse) a huge crowd may not be the best thing! Definitely mostly hidden in the pool but very clear water.. he's still a very brave man in my opinion ;)
Shall we call him cheeky? (ducks to avoid being swatted at)
shareHaha!! Took the words right out of my mouth.. *cough*.
share"And how many actors have done nude scenes that were totally innocent, funny, and family-friendly?"
Besides the obvious example of Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean (in which he did get out of the pool completely naked, and, back to the camera, flash a bunch of women while trying to escape) the only one I can name is in "An American Werewolf in London,"--David Naughton, I think, was the actor's name--where the character lost his clothes changing into a werewolf and steals a little boy's balloons to cover up. The boy says, in a deadpan manner which would have done Buster proud, "A naked American man stole my balloons." Don't know if the rest of the film is family-friendly as I haven't seen the whole thing but that scene is a real winner.
Maureen O'Sullivan was pretty darn naked, swimming in "Tarzan the Ape Man" (1932).
You Fill Me with Inertia.