Well, that didn't take long. Peter Kenth answered correctly the name of the movie in which a pleasant drunk wildly danced outside the Red Dog Saloon in his union suit. See my previous posting of September 16th where I posed the question. The film was Warner Brothers "The Frisco Kid," filmed in 1979 and, as Peter pointed out, starred Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford. I'm not absolutely certain, but believe the long underwear clad actor was Alex Romero:

Peter also noted that Wilder and Ford swan in their union suits in another scene in this movie. Their Pacific Ocean frolicking came to an abrupt end when, still in their underwear, they had it out on the beach in a gun fight with some ner'-do-wells out to kill them:

Earlier in the movie, Wilder is stripped to his union suit, thrown out of his wagon, and left on a deserted road to fend for himself:

In the coming days, I will post more shots from this union suit laden film. In the meantime, take a look at this movie. It will make you smile if not outright laugh... Chris

Union Suit Trivia !

Hey, Union Suit Fans, here's a quiz for you. In what movie was this happy-go-lucky drunk stripped of this clothes right down to his union suit, boots, and derby hat and asked to vacate the Red Dog Saloon? Who is the actor who played him?  Cm'on, you know.

I wonder why he was turned out in his union suit. Did he loose his clothes in a poker game? Did a bully pull a gun on him and order him to strip? Did a sporting gal run him out of her boudoir? The movie did not offer a single hint as far as I could tell.

Did you ever imbibe so much you danced around in your long underwear?! And woke up the next morning wondering where your clothes were? I bet this guy did.... Chris

Union Suit Fans in the Limelight Fans: Recently, I heard from one of my blog readers with an idea for an upcoming posting. Here's what he had to say:

"Chris: I am 15 years old and live in Vermont. I saw your union suit blog when looking at the internet. I like to wear union suits too. I been wearing for years. My mom bought me and my brother red ones when first became boy scouts for camping. We wear them snowboarding at Stowe mountain. Its cold in Vermont so I like to wear union suits to be warm. After your postings of the Undressed under Duress me and my dad watched all but one of the movies you had talked about. I know of another one called Seven Alone that we watched where a boy about my age has all his clothes stolen by an Indian one night and was left in his long johns. This would be stresful to. I wonder if you could do this one in your blog.

Your friend, Josh"

Hi Josh: thanks for contacting me. Yes, in the 1974 movie, "Seven Alone," was based on a true story of a family traveling west to Oregon. Young John Sager gets angry at his dad for whipping him. 

He runs away from his family and the wagon train in which he was traveling. Falling asleep his first night out, an Indian steals his clothes, boots, and rifle. 

He is left in the wilderness in just his union suit only to be rescued by Kit Carson. The young actor, Stewart Petersen, was fourteen years old then. He was in another movie as Sam Sutter a year later called "Against a Crooked Sky." In this one he was kidnapped in his union suit by a bunch of Indians after cooling off in a water hole. 

Josh, You present me with a good idea. So, I will work up a Junior Distressed posting or two for you and other Union Suit Fans. Thanks for the suggestion... Chris

Added December 22, 2020 after hearing back from young Josh who lives in Vermont.

Hi Josh: This fall has been rather busy with the postings I had already planned for 2020. But, I haven't forgotten you or your request. Look for juniors in Undressed Under Duress in "Union Suit Fans in the Limelight" early next year. In the meantime, Merry Christmas and have a safe New Year. Your friend, Chris

Hollywood Briefly: Victor Moore, Hobo in a Union Suit 

Victor Moore (1876-1962), successful and popular Broadway Stage and Movie actor starred in the 1947 movie, "It Happened on 5th Avenue."  He played a down-on-his-luck homeless man, then called a hobo. His little dog and he made a home in a temporarily uninhabited New York 5th Avenue mansion. Pretty good movie. Take a look, it's entertaining. A movie starring a wide-girth man... Chris

For Union Suit Fans and wearers of long underwear, California Dreamin' may not bring to mind the Golden State as the Union Suit Capital of North America (which it isn't) but wearing such is quite acceptable and necessary there during certain times of the year. And for performers in the limelight, union suits are just the thing.

Presenting the Poontang Wranglers, Union Suit Fans in the Limelight, a slightly off-beat, good time California band! And, these Wranglers don't wear jeans....

Few typically equate Southern California as Union Suit country. But for the washboard scraping, jug blowing, handsaw stroking, ukulele playing Poontang Wranglers band, that's just what you get. Musicians wearing union suits, singing up a storm. Up to eleven men and women have a great time traveling around the state, performing in their long red underwear. They never leave home without 'em.

This amusing, silly-looking and not quite seriously sounding band features Michael Lucas on washtub bass and Henry Rosenthal on ukulele among others. They've enjoyed playing to crowds from backyards to bookstores; from Los Angeles' Mann's Chinese Theater to The Golden Gate area of San Francisco. And, always decked out in their red underwear.

As I mentioned, union suits, or any long johns for that matter, are not the first thing you think of when Southern California comes to mind. 

Yet, think E.T., the Extra-Terrestial. In the1982 Universal Pictures movie, young Elliot spends much of the time at his Los Angeles home  running around in his thermal underwear pj's looking after his new friend, E.T. 

Before visiting the L.A. area and seeing this movie for the first time, I wondered aloud, "what's a little boy living in sunny California doing wearing long thermal underwear?!" I found out on my very first trip to California albeit a few hundred miles north of L.A. Turns out I was quite uncomfortable in the cool, nippy Bay Area because I hadn't packed any long underwear. 

Now each time I visit my son and his family in California, I'm sure to pack a couple of union suits. And, I wear them. You should too on your visits.

As for the union suited wranglers, you can find any number of their strange and wild underwear performances on YouTube including these selections. Listen and enjoy, just copy and paste...

https://youtu.be/rafp7O54N_M?t=128

https://youtu.be/HRBruvQ4ZVA

https://youtu.be/zsgCXf-pFSo

Elliot in his Thermal Underwear PJ's