Wonderland Burlesque's Let's All Go To The Movies: Burlesque Style - Part 1 of 10

Wonderland Burlesque's 

Let's All Go To The Movies

Burlesque Edition - Part 1 of 10

In recent years, there has been a huge upsurge of interest in burlesque, creating a whole new generation of performers which have added  sparkling new dashes of diversity and imagination to the brew.

This week, we start a ten-part series where Hollywood shows us how it burlesques! 

Keeping 1987 as our cut-off point, we'll take a look at a few of the artifacts capturing the classic era of this art form.

So, tits up, ladies. Get your feather fans and tasseled pasties out. Let's all go to the movies and take a trip down mammary lane.  

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Lady Of Burlesque

(1943)

AKA: The G-String Murders / Striptease Lady

(At a former opera house that's been turned into a burlesque theater, the hot new attraction in the form of a shapely lass is proving popular with the customers, if not with a certain stuck-up diva who had always assumed she'd get top billing. Complicating matters? The return of the show's former star who once had a fling with the boss. When the former star blackmails her way back into the top spot, the hot new attraction is none too pleased. And then, when both the former star and the wannabe star turn up dead, that hot new attraction finds herself in the hot seat as the number one suspect. Turns out, in order to see her name in lights, she's going to have to clear it first!)

(A faithful, if sanitized, adaptation of the 1941 novel The G-String Murders written by strip tease queen Gypsy Rose Lee, this musical comedy-mystery was directed by William A. Wellman and stars Barbara Stanwyck and Michael O'Shea.)

(This one had the censors up in arms. Still, the film manages to present a fairly accurate a picture of the slapdash nature of burlesque shows along with all the bumps and grinds The Production Code Administration would allow. In the board's assessment of the script, which still carried Gypsy Rose Lee's original title, Joseph Breen, head of the movie industry's self-censorship body, commented, "We are concerned about the prominent use of the object known as the 'G-String' as the murder weapon. It is our impression that the use of this extremely intimate female garment will be considered offensive.")

(Barbara Stanwyck... sings? Yes, indeed. Her number, Take It Off The E String, Play It On The G String was written by by Sammy Cahn  and Harry Akst.)

(While The Production Code Administration objected to a G-string being the murder weapon, they were even more concerned regarding a comedy routine nicknamed The Pickle Persuader. But never fear: both stayed in the film. However, the censors won one battle; a bit involving a broken bathroom fixture discussed by members of the troupe backstage is obviously a toilet, but the ruling body wouldn't allow such a word to be uttered on the screen, which is why, when a replacement shows up - it's a bathroom sink.) 

(At the time the book was being written, Gypsy Rose Lee had a roommate, Craig Rice. Rice was an established writer of mysteries and it was commonly assumed that she served as the ghost writer for Lee's novel. However, stylistic differences along with the original manuscripts debunk this theory.)

(Three of the characters in the film are based on real life people: Gypsy Rose Lee appears as herself and narrates the original novel, but is renamed 'Dixie Daisy' in the film, while 'Biff Brannigan' and 'Gee Gee Graham' are based on Gypsy Rose Lee's boyfriend, Rags Ragland and her closest friend in the world of Burlesque, Georgia Sothern.)

(Filmed on a 21-day shooting schedule, the film features costumes by the legendary Edith Head.)

(The film was a huge success at the box office, earning a profit of $650,000 on a budget of $2 million.)

(This film is now public domain.)

Michael O'Brien and Barbara Stanwyk

Barbara Stanwyk

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Strip Tease Girl

(1952)

"A daring, dazzling galaxy of sensational beauties in a riot of mirth and melody!"

"Delectable dolls dancing and prancing!"

(Complete with strippers and baggy-pants comics, this serves as a filmed record of a typical '50s burlesque act.)

 

"The tops in take-off queens..."

(This low budget, low-quality film is "more of a curiosity than an actual movie." A filmed burlesque performance which alternates between comedy routines and "classic" stripteases.)

Tempest Storm

(Dancers include: Charmette, Amber Dawn, Joan Bridges, Betty Briggs, Tegorie and Pat Flannery with Mickey Award winner Tempest Storm performing two numbers for the finale.)

Amber Dawn

(Interspersed between dancers are a series of sketches. A comedy duo performs a routine centering on a play on words and then do a skit about a love potion derived from poppies. There's a sketch involving an inept hold-up man who tells a dimwitted companion about the time he evaded police by sharing a hard luck story only to lose all the money he stole to those same cops. The final sketch is one about a man attempting to give guitar lessons to a mute woman, a deaf old man, a blind woman and a clumsy oaf.)

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Dream Follies

(1954)

 (Joe, a bookkeeper in an office, likes to play the horses and is obssessed with the burlesque show at the nearby Modern Follies Theater. After placing a long shot bet, he spies on the girls in the theatre through the open stage door using binoculars. Returning to the office, he daydreams about the women in the office, picturing them wearing burlesque costumes. It's then that he's reminded, by his very demanding wife that he needs to find  a foreign chef to cook dinner for his boss who is coming to dinner that night. A resourceful stenographer finds the perfect chef as Joe imagines winning his long shot bet at the track, buying the burlesque theatre and hiring the stenographer as his star dancer. Later, at home, thanks to the antics of the foreign chef who has a bone to pick with his boss, Joe is able to sneak away from dinner and visit the telescope he has set up in his den in order to continue watching the burlesque routines at the theatre across the street. And when his long shot bet pays off, it seems all his dreams are about to come true... until they don't!)  

Stacy Farrell AKA: Eartha Quake

Rusty Amber

Deenah Prince

(This burlesque feature was directed by Phil Tucker - a legend in the world of burlesque cinema and written by iconic comic, Lenny Bruce - who also appears in the show. This is the second film the two created, the first being the 1953 thriller, Dance Hall Racket. Though not as polished as their previous work, it does feature a number of well known comics and a bevy of popular dancers, including: comics Dick Kimball and Icepick, and dancers Deenah Prince, Rusty Amber and Stacey Farrell.)

Jean Carroll

(Also making an appearance, comedienne Jean Carroll. Though Joan Rivers is frequently cited, Carroll is the more-likely the inspiration behind the popular Netflix series, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, due to her close relationship with Lenny Bruce, her penchant for fashion, and  her distinct comedic style. She was born in Paris and had her own sitcom for one season, 1953-1954.) 

 

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Buxom Beautease

(1956)

(Eleven women perform striptease dances, interspersed are four routines from comedians Joe Young and Gene Doyle. Rita Grable introduces each performer with a large cue card.  Patti Paget performs a fan dance, while Blaze Starr removes the largest number of garments. Starr and Dorian Dennis take two turns each. Lili St. Cyr does a star turn, in color, in a translucent bathtub. Tempest Storm and Mae Blondell unwrap to wrap up the show.)

Dorian Dennis

Rita Grable

Patti Paget

(Directed by Irving Klaw Later, portions were edited into 1962's Blaze Starr Goes Nudist - with additional footage added.)

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Blaze Starr Goes Nudist

(1962)

AKA: Blaze Starr Goes Back to Nature

(Burlesque legend Blaze Starr, playing herself, has become obsessed with spending time at a local nudist camp. This results in headaches and havoc for her agent,, who just happens to also be her fiancée. His frustration grows as he finds his star client missing scheduled appointments, press functions and running late for performances.)

(This nudist film was produced and directed by Doris Wishman and stars burlesque queen Blaze Starr and crooner Ralph Young.)

(A version in which all the nudity was edited out was released under the title Blaze Starr Goes Back to Nature.)

(The alias Starr uses at the nudist colony, 'Belle Fleming', is her real name.)

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And that's all for now.

Join me next week for more buxom babes. 

Same time, same channel. 

Take It Off The E String, Play It On The G String - Barbara Stanwyck

from the 1943 motion picture Lady Of Burlesque