Dear Constant Reader,
Whilst I was swooning on my invalid’s couch I might as well watch a movie and write a review. I should have picked a different movie because I had so many questions from this one
Striporama, 1953, directed by Jerald Intrator (Something Weird Video release)
Unlike most burlesque movies of the time, Striporama tries to have a plot or at least a frame story. The New York Council of Culture is choosing the forms of entertainment to put into a time capsule and they are all agreed that burlesque has no place. Cut to two comics (Jack Diamond and Mandy Kay) bumbling around their apartment. The gags are pretty typical of burlesque comedy, only notable for one where a picture of their dream girl comes to life and… it’s Bettie Page! She dances in a tiny fringe bikini and notably speaks a few lines before vanishing leaving the comics to wake up in each other’s arms.
Cut back to the Council of Culture where the comics, led by Charles Harris (the straightman) burst in, dressed as gangsters and force the councilmen to watch a burlesque film. It went something like this: (this is long; for my summary go here.)
A parade of scantily-clad women, presumably The Venus Beauties, enter one by one and sit in a semi-circle. Each one is carrying a staff with a heart on top with one letter that, of course, spells out “BURLESQUE”. There’s an off-camera “tit singer” warbling about the Goddess of Love. The camera is particularly focused on the women’s legs.
Georgia Sothern, speaking in rhyme, introduces the four types of strippers (g-string quartet). She portrays them all: the baby-doll type: dressed in frills and ruffles; the slow and easy type: slinking across the stage; the wild and woolly type: Georgia’s typical fast and furious dance; and the literary genius: a clear Gypsy Rose Lee impression (Gypsy and Georgia were best friends). In no case does she take off more than one garment. The clip felt like it was taken out of a larger context.
We see a woman undressing in silhouette in her window. At the end, she turns out the light, never having shown herself.
The comics do a sketch set in the jungle. I’ll be honest here — I don’t find a lot of classic burlesque comedy funny, so I skipped over this after getting the gist.
Marinette and Andre perform a Danse Apache on a Parisian street scene. This was pretty nifty. Not only is it a feat of athleticism and skill, I recently learned a lot about the history which I might share in a future post. These two were amongst the few credited performers that I could match with their acts.
Back to the comics, this time on a carnival set, where there are magic tricks involving eggs and hats.
Rosita Royce is the first of the star stripteases. One by one, her signature doves fly out and settle on her arms (protected with sequined sleeves) and headdress. Despite the stories that she had trained her doves to undress her, she takes off her own dress, no mean feat with multiple doves balanced on her arms. Her underlayer is relatively modest with a bra and full, rather drapey panties and even a large jewel covering her navel. However, while she had the dress on, I think she was wearing a g-string. I’m pretty sure I could see her bare bum through the sheer dress.
For more comedy we go to a harem where a pasha tells his assembled wives and daughters (presumably the Venus Beauties again) that he is going to honor a brave American sailor who saved his life during the war. The sailor can have his pick of four of the pasha’s daughters, but they will come before him one by one. If he rejects one, he can’t choose her later. Three of the daughters bellydance for him, but he turns them down. The pasha offers his most precious daughter. Cut to a bathing room.
As attendant prepare a (rather obviously empty) tub, Bettie Page prepares to bathe. I found her dipping her toe into the “water” to test the temperature funnier than the comedians. Next you see her in a tub full of soap bubbles, in which she joyfully plays.
Back in the harem, the last daughter dances for the sailor, and as the last one he must marry her and of course, when she removes her veil, it’s the other comic. *rim shot*
The comics return on the same carnival set as the magic trick sketch. Mr. America, a well-muscled man, performs feats of strength. He plays the trumpet while flexing his pecs, he performs a Cossack-style dance while playing the harmonica with a woman sitting on his shoulders, one of the comics puts on a harness and Mr. America picks him up using his teeth. For the finale, he effortfully lifts a 1000 pound barbell, which, of course, the comic easily picks up for the punchline. Although credited only as Mr. America, apparently it was fitness guru Jack LaLanne.
At last some more stripping. Georgia Sothern does a kind of a poor woman’s Lili St. Cyr on a set crowded with furniture. She’s reclining on a chaise in a robe reading a magazine when the phone rings. After the call, she slips behind a screen and joyfully removes the robe and puts on a gown. Then she adds a fur coat and a corsage. Another phone call, which ends poorly. Angrily she rips off the corsage, then the coat, then she goes back to the screen, returns to the robe. Finally she flops down onto the chaise and picks up her magazine again.
Cut back to the set, now cleared of almost all the furniture, and Georgia does her famous head-bobbing striptease. Like Rosita above, she only takes off one garment, a gown, and she’s basically full dressed underneath — panel skirt, drapey panties, bra, and navel jewel.
The movie ends here, but apparently there was a bit more where the Council agrees (of course) to add burlesque to the time capsule. It’s missing from the Something Weird print, which as far as I can tell, is the only one available.
But wait, you say, that poster advertises Lili St. Cyr. Where is she? Patience, my friends.
tl;dr.
Striporama is a bit higher-end than many other burlesque movies. Typically a burlesque movie was filmed in black and white and often with a fixed camera as though you were in the audience at a theatre, (aka as cheaply as possible), usually in an actual theatre. This appears to be multi-camera, on a number of different sets, as well as in color.
For a movie promising a “striporama”, there’s very little actually stripping. Only Rosita Royce and Georgia Sothern (neither in the credits) perform anything close to a striptease and what they do perform is quite modest. They don’t go down to pasties and even cover their navels.
Since there’s no MC or title cards, like in other burlesque movies, I don’t know where the other performers in the credits appear, particularly Pat Lombard, Nola Lee, Betty Tunell, Doris Mackenzie, Anne Slayton.
According to some posters, Lili St. Cyr’s act “Cinderella’s Love Lesson”, was originally included, but I’ve seen it as a stand-alone film with credits from a different production company. Apparently it was pretty common for burlesque films to be cut up and repackaged. I’m wondering if the strip features were taken from elsewhere and inserted amongst the footage shot by Intrator and crew. It would explain why the stripteasers are credited on the posters, but not the film itself.
I’d be interested to see if any print other than the SWV version exists.
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Oh, The Glamourous Life! 