As a ‘Something Weird Video’ afficianado, one of the standout set of clips from their ‘preview’ showreel that would play at the start of almost all their releases were clips from ‘Teaserama’ and ‘Varietease’ Burlesque being essentially ‘naughty’ Vaudville I figured it might be something up my ally, So I recently picked up the Kino Lobar set of both movies + ‘Buxom Beautys’ for my troubles and…well, I cant exactly say its false advertising…But I just kind of wish there’d been more to it.
This film is presented in two different cuts on the Kino release, a 4k restoration running to 58 minutes, and a ‘SWV New Edition’ that runs to an hour and 6 minutes, and is basically the 58 minute cut with some low resolution inserts of ‘missing footage’ that was previously included in some circulations of the film.
Going into this, I expected essentially a film adaptation of a burlesque show. Beautiful girls, exotic dancing, titilation, comedians and maybe even a musical number or two to ‘complete the look’ I dived into the 58 minute cut of this first, and was kind of dissapointed.
The main reason being that, this isnt *really* a burlesque show…I dont entirely know exactly WHAT this is honestly. Dont get me wrong it absolutely has Burlesque elements. But non of the girls featured in this film were noted as burlesque dancers, most of them were models, pin up girls or strippers. Add to this that rigerous censorship laws in 1955 meant that there could be no nudity or overt sexual content, meant that this was essentially just girls who wernt really dancers, dancing in heavy coverage lengerie. With the more ‘near the knuckle’ moments involving skin tone bras…
Add to this that the 58 minute cut has only one sequence involving comedians in it…and thats your lot, and you end up with a film thats a little repetative and trading mainly on names above anything else.
However; there is one thing that saves this film, which is the total and utter campness of the production, ALL the girls here are gurning, overexaggerating both physically and in facial movements, the dance moves border on comedic at times. its a flounce, and the best kind of flounce. and while I personally felt the 58 minute cut failed to really capture the zeal and fun of a burlesque show. I have to admit that on campy-ness alone, it still managed to really win me over. It’s fun! the girls look like they’re having a fun time, Its a total vibe! and one that I really quite enjoyed.
The direction and cine is a bit flat, its a series of locked off shots on backdrop set…but the eastman colour really makes these visuals sing. and the score is SO music hall. I love it.
The ‘SWV New Version’ (the 66 minute cut) for my money is MUCH better, as it reinserts another 2-4 comedian ‘bits’ (they’re…VERY much of their time…be warned. I didnt find them particularly funny, but in a way, I kind of like that they capture that period of VERY rough comedy and it really helps break up the dancing) and I believe theres one additional dance that isnt in the 58 minute cut, thats really more of a showcase of talent than anything else, and it works really quite well I thought.
Of the two, I think i’d only ever watch the 66 minute cut again, as I found the colours warmer, and the variety much more easy to digest. But I’d say as a piece of erotic history, its definitely worth catching at least once, if only to see Betty Page CLEARLY having the time of her life!
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