Stephen Dwsokin films are peculiarly unconventional works which are probably best described as experimentally avant-garde. It’s a shame however that watching them is something of an endurance test since they are rarely about anything in particular and often seem to be randomly put together with no obvious structure or attempt to employ a narrative which is likely to engage the casual viewer.
Stephen Dwoskin was born in America but moved to Britain in the 1960s in his 20s where he spent the rest of his life. Most of his films were made in England using a mixture of actors from Britain and Germany, where he also had connections. As a child he contracted polio which left him unable to walk without crutches and some of his films autobiographically show him coping with this disability. He died in 2012.
Several of the films contain female nudity and some of these actresses remain unidentified beyond them being on a shortlist of possibilities, because whilst the films have acting credits these are usually just an alphabetical list of names making it hard to tell who was playing which parts.
Here are details of two of the full-length features which contain nudity from British actresses that I can't as yet add to the database due to not being able to pinpoint their names.
Central Bazaar (1976)
Cast:
With: Maggie Corey, Marc Chaimowicz, Eddie Doyle, Mike Flower, Iggy Evelyn Joyce, Carola Regnier, Maria Elena Rivera, Jay Sheridan, Libby Spry
Also: Carolyn Rogers, A. Harvey
The name "A. Harvey" crops up in a number of Dwoskin films and it has therefore been possible to determine he must be the black male actor who appears in all those films. In one film "Trying To Kiss The Moon (1994)", his name is credited in full as Astley Harvey. Jay Sheridan could be a male or female name, but seems more likely to be male, since there are six women in it and six definite female names listed. |
| The six actresses featured |
A) She speaks and has an English accent (she tells a long "Three Little Pigs" story). She has a couple of topless scenes and one wearing transparent panties
B) Does not speak. She has a topless scene. This actress does not appear as much as the others and therefore could potentially be the lesser "also" name listed as Carolyn Rogers
C) Oriental appearance, several topless and full frontal scenes
D) A slightly older woman. She has no nudity
E) She has no nudity in this film. This actress is Carola Regnier who is a German actress and can be identified via her appearances in other Dwoskin films Behindert (1974) and Tod und Teufel (1974) (in both of those she does have topless scenes)
F) She speaks and possibly sounds a bit American(?). She has several topless scenes.
I have been unable to get anywhere with working out who is who other than Carola Regnier. Actress A is the one I would most like to identify since she definitely seems to be British from the way she speaks.
SCENES IN DETAIL
Actress A: Topless with her right breast out of her open robe as she lets a man bounce it playfully with his finger • topless kneeling on the floor as she rubs cream onto F's back with help from C and one of the men • topless sitting together on the floor with C and F caressing each other and cuddling • lower nudity seen through transparent panties while wearing a short orange top as she stands around with one of the men as they play fight.
Actress B: Topless with her breasts out of the top of a basque as she rolls around on the floor smooching with one of the men who is dressed in women's lingerie - then fully topless as they continue after she has painted her face.
Actress C: Her right breast is seen out of her top while kissing a man • full frontal nudity laying on some cushions - then topless sitting on the floor with another girl • full frontal nudity standing as two other girls undress her - then sitting around with one of them as they cuddle • topless wearing a transparent orangey veil wrap • full frontal nudity on the floor as one of the men F rub cream on her • topless and rear nudity sitting together on the floor with A and F caressing each other and cuddling • topless with her breasts painted gold as she dresses up as a geisha girl helped by F • full frontal nudity standing looking seductively into the camera
Actress F: Topless fooling around play-fighting with one of the men • topless with the front of her body painted and adorned with red button shapes while sitting on the floor with C as they cuddle and caress - (then) topless sitting alone - then topless laying down as the man rubs cream onto her legs • topless sitting rubbing cream onto C • topless as she helps C dress up as a geisha girl • topless standing around watching A and one of the men have a play fight
Outside In (1981)
Cast
Actresses: Claudia Boulton, Olimpia Carlisi, Kathie Conn, Beatrice Cordua, Suzie Crowley, Didi Hopkins, Jane Janovic, Ilona Jeismann, Merdelle Jordine, Edith Kramer, Marie Manet, Nathalie Manet, Dorothy Mogg, Layla Newall
Actors: Jaroslav Bradac, Mitch Davies, Georges Depuis, Bobby Gill, Chris Hammond, A. Harvey, Tony Haygarth, Chris Martin, Derek O'Connor, Tony Rohr, Stephen Dwoskin
Uncertain Gender: Jackie Hackworth
A) (no nudity) Stephen's girlfriend in prologue, she does not speak, she may be called "Liz" but it's not entirety clear if the name refers to her, if it does then it is a fictional character name because that does not match any of the actresses
B) (full frontal nudity) Steve's cleaner, she speaks and has an English accent
C) (slightly see-through dress) character name "Stephanie", speaks and has an English accent
D) (no nudity) Green glitter hair wig, young, speaks French
E) (no nudity) English accent, This is Claudia Boulton who has been identified via an appearance in a 2001 UK film called "Kannibal" in which the double moles near her mouth are also seen when she is being interviewed in that film's DVD extras (during the actual film she wears a mask)
F) (no nudity) speaks German
G) (no nudity) speaks with an American accent
H) (no nudity) English accent, black skin. This is Merdelle Jordine because she is known to be a black actress and there was only this one black actress in the film.
I) (topless) Steve's friend arriving home, She speaks German and also English with a German accent
J) (no nudity) English accent, character name "Bobby"
K) (no nudity) speaks French
L) (no nudity) American accent
M) (topless scene) short red hair, she does not speak
N) (topless scene) she does not speak
O) (no nudity) she does not speak, she might be the same as Actress K
P) (no nudity) she does not speak, she seems to resemble Jane Janovic who still has her picture in the Spotlight directory
Actress B is the one I would most like to identify since she definitely seems to be a British actress from her speaking voice.
SCENES IN DETAIL
Actress B: Full frontal nudity as she comes into Steve's (Stephen Dwoskin) room naked and sits on his bed to kiss him after building up a friendly ever-more-relaxed rapport with him over a period of time working as his room cleaner.
Actress C: Singing in a group wearing a dress that is very clingy and perhaps slightly see-through
Actress I: Topless with her left breast seen as she arrives at Steve's (Stephen Dwoskin) flat with her suitcase and immediately unfastens the front of her dress as she opens the front door and greets him in German - then topless as she picks up her case and walks down the hallway • topless sitting in her briefs as she puts on her handicapped friend Steve's leg callipers and then struggles to her feet using his crutches and then walks around his flat clumsily getting used to the restriction of movement - then topless as she sits down on his bed with him and lays down laughing uncontrollably at how ridiculous she feels and the effort required just to move around.
Actress M: Topless as she takes off the party frock she has been trying on on an upstairs landing - seen at a medium distance from the bottom of the stairs
Actress N: topless in a bedroom as she stands to put on a kinky black PVC dominatrix costume
Details of other Stephen Dwoskin films
- The b&w short Take Me (1968) has nude scenes from an actress identified in the credits as Clodagh Brown - she is the only person in the film
- The film Dyn Amo (1972) has topless or nude scenes featuring Jenny Runacre, Pat Ford, Catherine Kessler and Linda Marlowe
- The film Behindert (1974) has a couple of topless scenes with Carole Regnier. Stephen Dwoskin appears as himself in this film and she is playing his girlfriend
- The film Tod und Teufel (1974) has a very brief topless glimpse of Carole Regnier
- The short Girl (1975) (filmed in 1971) has a long nude scene with Linda Marlowe (credited as Linda Marlow). In fact her standing naked facing the camera doing nothing IS the entire film which lasts 22 minutes
- The film The Silent Cry (1977) has several nude scenes featuring Cosey Fanni Tutti (credited as Cosey P-Orridge). The film itself gives no way to identify which one she is but she is identifiable via other things she appeared in during the 1970s.
The one major Stephen Dwoskin film I've not seen is Further and Particular (1988). From a few clips seen I know it has some topless scenes but cannot tell who they are. IMDB has entries for Stephen Dwoskin's films, but usually with only a fraction of the credited cast members actually listed.
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