Wonderland Burlesque's Let's All Go To The Movies: Burlesque Style - Part 5 of 10

Wonderland Burlesque's

Let's All Go To The Movies

Burlesque Style - Part 5 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 a sparkling new dashes of diversity and imagination to the brew.

This is the fifth post of a ten-part series where Hollywood shows us how it burlesques! 

Keeping 1987 as our cut-off point, we'll take look at a few of the artifacts capturing the classic era of this art form. Along the way, we'll also stumble on some delicious dish - as in some first rate dirt!

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

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Casanova In Burlesque

(1944)

(A  burlesque stripper stumbles upon the secret life of one of the revues comics; in real life, he's a distinguished college professor who teaches Shakespeare!)

(This comedy was directed by Leslie Goodwins  and stars Joe E. Brown, June Havoc, Dale Evans, Marjorie Gateson, Lucien Littlefield and Ian Keith.)

(Dale Evans would go on to marry Roy Rogers and co-star in a number of his wholesome westerns.)

(Havoc worked the vaudeville circuit as a child under the eagle eye of her mother Rose Thompson Hovick. She eventually moved on to Broadway and Hollywood. Her older sister, Louise, became a burlesque legend, performing under the name Gypsy Rose Lee.)

(Havoc went on to write, produce and direct a number of Broadway and Off-Broadway shows. She was the first American woman nominated for a Tony Award for direction of a play.)

June Havoc

(An anecdote told by Elaine Stritch in her one-woman show describes how the veteran actress landed a leading role in the play Oh Glorious Tintinnabulation, a play written and directed by June Havoc and set to open at the Lincoln Center Theater. During dress rehearsals, Havoc approached Stritch, telling her that "it just wasn't working out." Stritch got the boot and Havoc took over the role she'd been playing. This incident was recounted in an article by Lee Israel which was published in The New York Times, and subsequently led to Stritch being cast in the groundbreaking Sondheim musical, Company.)

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Dirty Gertie From Harlem U.S.A.

(1946)

(Hailing from Harlem, a nightclub entertainer arrives on a Caribbean island to star as the headliner for a revue at the Paradise Hotel. 'Dirty Gertie', as she is known, got her nickname due to the flirtatious in which she entices and humiliates men. A soldier and a sailor, whom she nicknames "Tight Pants" and "High Pockets," respectively, have an eye for her and begin pursuing the exotic dancer romantically. In addition, the owner of the hotel is smitten with the sex kitten, showering her with gifts and attention. But it's a different kind of attention she garners from two missionaries who take note of the entertainer's wanton ways, which threatens Dirty Gertie's fun. All hell breaks loose when an ex-boyfriend from Harlem tracks her down. Unable to win her back, he decides if he can't have her? Then no man will!)

(This drama was directed by Spencer Williams and stars Francine Everett, July Jones and Inez Newell.)

(This is an unauthorized adaptation of the popular 1921 W. Somerset Maugham short story Rain, which had been adapted as into a play of the same name. Filmed twice before, first in 1928 as Sadie Thompson starring Gloria Swanson and then in 1932 as Rain starring  Joan Crawford. This adaptation changed the names of the characters, switched the location and changed the female lead from a prostitute to a burlesque entertainer.)

(While commercially successful on the race film circuit, the film was never widely seen by white audiences until the 1990's, when the film became public domain.) 

Francine Everett and William Spencer

(Director Spencer Williams was an African-American actor and writer who directed a series of race films during the 1940's for the Dallas, Texas-based producer Alfred Sack, the company which distributed such all-black productions to cinemas catering to African-American audiences. Williams appears in this film playing a female fortune teller who foresees Gertie’s death.)

Inez Newell and Francine Everett

Francine Everett

(This was the final starring role for beauty Francine Everett, who was a star of race films and best remembered for 1939's Keep Punching and 1945's Big Timers. She went on to have a pair of  bit roles in two Hollywood productions, 1949's Lost Boundaries and 1950's No Way Out and then retired from acting altogether.)

Francine Everett

This film can be watched in it's entirety on YouTube for free.

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Hollywood Burlesque

(1949)

(Taking the stage at San Diego's Hollywood Theatre, a variety of singers, dancers, comics, and striptease artists perform as part of a revue filmed in front of a 'live' audience.)

(This revue was directed by Duke Goldstone and stars Hillary Dawn, Jenne and Joy Damon.)

Hillary Dawn

Joy Damon

Joy Damon was known on the circuit as 'The Happy Little Lassie with the Classy Chassis'.

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Strip Strip Hooray

(1950)

(Six burlesque shows from the 1940's and early 50's featuring an orchestra, chorus lines, baggy pants comics and strippers are presented as an evening at a burlesque theatre.)

(This revue was directed by Lilian Hunt  and starring Tempest Storm, Charlie Crafts, Leon Devoe, and Blaza Glory.)

Blaza Glory 

(As featured in an article when she performed at the Follies Burlesque, then located at 337 S. Main St. Los Angeles, CA.)

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Peek-A-Boo

(1953)

(A burlesque show featuring strippers and comedians presented in it's entirety.)

'The French Doll'

from the motion picture Peek-A-Boo

(Directed by Lilian Hunt and stars Venus, Patti Waggin and The Duponts.)

Patti Waggin

(Patti Waggin was known as 'the Co-Ed with the Educated Torso', 'The Doll with Sex-Oomp', 'The Boldest Beauty in Burlesque'. Pert and petite, Waggin's parents were Adagio dancers on the  Vaudeville circuit, so she grew up in the world of Burlesque. She began her career at the New Follies in Los Angeles, CA. under the tutelage of Lilian Hunt, the director of this film. It's said she got her name by the way she moved her booty, although she also used a little red wagon in some of her publicity photos. An avid award-winning off-road motorcyclist, she attended Chico State College where she majored in dramatics and was very active in their sports department. She was often photographed in promo's with extremely tall strippers in order to bring attention to her petite size.)

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And that's all for now.

Tune in next week...

Same time, same channel.

Joy Damon

in the 1949 motion picture

Hollywood Burlesque