In direct competition with the "Bridge Ahoy" scene, because it is also an m/f foot tickling scene, is the one that I consider to be the greatest mainstream tickling scene of all time. It was in the 1958 film "The Brothers Karamazov".
I have a copy of the book written by Gloria Pall, the blonde actress who was tied up and tickled by Lee J. Cobb in the movie "The Brothers Karamazov." (The scene appeared on the cover of LIFE magazine on March 10, 1958, and the cover of LIFE is reproduced as the cover of her book.)
What I found even more interesting then her discussion of the filming of the scene itself was her description of how she was hired for the part.
She was among 50 tall blonde women who went to a "cattle call" at MGM to try to get a one day part in a scene with Cobb. Eight of them were told to come back for a second look. That day, three were eliminated, leaving five women, told to come back again, the next week. (She notes that the actresses, all desperate for even a small part, were not reimbursed for carfare for any of their three trips to MGM.)
All five women had to remove their shoes and stockings, and were tickled with a feather by the director (Richard Brooks) or a wardrobe lady. The others were "giggling mildly," but Pall "screamed with laughter" so that she almost went into convulsions. She got the part on that basis, because she had "laughed louder with more realism" than the others.
Pall notes that she wasn't acting; she really gets hysterical when being tickled.
The book comes autographed by Pall, with a small feather inside.
If you are interested, go to:
http://www.gloriapall.com/ticklebk.htm
Not again.
