Varietease (1954)

65 or 71 mins | Variety | 1954

Director:

Irving Klaw

Producer:

Irving Klaw

Cinematographer:

Daniel D. Cavelli

Editor:

Les Orlebeck

Production Company:

Beautiful Productions, Inc.
Full page view
HISTORY

An opening title card on the print viewed described the film as a “New Edition” prepared in 1993. Var and HR reviews, at the time of the film’s original release in 1954, gave a running time of sixty-five minutes. The version viewed ran seventy-one minutes. It is possible that the 1993 version contained added material from Irving Klaw shorts and the feature Teaserama (see above), which bills dancers Peppe [sic] and Roccio, who do not appear in the “New Edition” of that film, but may be the Spanish dance act in Varietease. Comedian Dave Starr, seen very briefly in Varietease, is featured in Teaserama. Klaw was a well-known pin-up photographer who also made short “erotic” films for the home market.
       The Var review stated that Klaw had prepared two versions of the film, one for states with censorship boards and another for those without. The version viewed appeared to be the one intended for release in states with boards. ...

More Less

An opening title card on the print viewed described the film as a “New Edition” prepared in 1993. Var and HR reviews, at the time of the film’s original release in 1954, gave a running time of sixty-five minutes. The version viewed ran seventy-one minutes. It is possible that the 1993 version contained added material from Irving Klaw shorts and the feature Teaserama (see above), which bills dancers Peppe [sic] and Roccio, who do not appear in the “New Edition” of that film, but may be the Spanish dance act in Varietease. Comedian Dave Starr, seen very briefly in Varietease, is featured in Teaserama. Klaw was a well-known pin-up photographer who also made short “erotic” films for the home market.
       The Var review stated that Klaw had prepared two versions of the film, one for states with censorship boards and another for those without. The version viewed appeared to be the one intended for release in states with boards.

Less

PERSONAL & COMPANY INDEX CREDITS
CREDIT
SOURCE CITATIONS
SOURCE
DATE
PAGE
Box Office
27 Nov 1954
---
The Exhibitor
11 Aug 1954
p. 3804
Hollywood Reporter
26 Jun 1954
p. 9
Hollywood Reporter
10 Aug 1954
p. 3
Variety
4 Aug 1954
p. 6
CAST
PRODUCTION CREDITS
NAME
PARENT COMPANY
PRODUCTION COMPANY
DISTRIBUTION COMPANY
NAME
CREDITED AS
CREDIT
DIRECTOR
PRODUCERS
Assoc prod
PHOTOGRAPHY
Cam tech
ART DIRECTOR
FILM EDITOR
Film ed
MUSIC
Mus arr and comp
SOURCES
SONGS
"Broken Toy," words and music by Ben Blossner and Irma Hollander; "Ridin' Down Manhattan Way," "I'm a Bridesmaid, but Never a Bride" and "A Parisian Honeymoon," composers undetermined.
SONGWRITER/COMPOSER
DETAILS
Release Date:
1954
Production Date:
completed late Jun 1954
Physical Properties:
Sound
Color
Eastman Color
Duration(in mins):
65 or 71
Country:
United States
Language:
English
SYNOPSIS

After host Bobby Shields welcomes the audience to “Irving Klaw’s musical, variety show,” he introduces some of the following acts and events: popular pin-up girl and later cult favorite, Betty Page, performs a harem dance; Lili St. Cyr arrives at her dressing room fully dressed in fur coat and dress, then undresses down to bra, panties and garter belt and fixes her hair in preparation for her act; Cass Franklin presents his singing partner, Monica Lane, and they perform “Ridin’ Down Manhattan Way”; Shields returns with a comic be-bop dance; back in St. Cyr’s dressing room, she receives the gift of a transparent negligee, then prepares to dress for her act; an unidentified couple perform a Spanish dance; comedienne Christine Nelson does patter about her friends and sings “I’m a Bridesmaid, but Never a Bride”; Chris La Chris performs a dance routine; comedian Dave Starr performs a brief stand-up routine; in her dressing room, St. Cyr emerges from behind a screen dressed for her act and puts on jewelry; Shields introduces Baro and Rogers, who perform a comic ballroom dance routine; in a restaurant setting, an unidentified female dancer performs an erotic dance for her boyfriend Vickie Lynn, who declares that he could do better, so she challenges him to do so; Shields sings “Broken Toy”; Vickie Lynn returns dressed as a woman and dances for his girl friend; Shields then returns to present impersonations of popular singers Nat “King” Cole, Frankie Laine, Bill Kenny of the Inkspots and Billy Daniels singing “Broken Toy”; St. Cyr primps some more in her dressing room; Franklin and Lane sing “A Parisian Honeymoon”; Twinnie Wallen performs an acrobatic can-can dance; finally, ...

More Less

After host Bobby Shields welcomes the audience to “Irving Klaw’s musical, variety show,” he introduces some of the following acts and events: popular pin-up girl and later cult favorite, Betty Page, performs a harem dance; Lili St. Cyr arrives at her dressing room fully dressed in fur coat and dress, then undresses down to bra, panties and garter belt and fixes her hair in preparation for her act; Cass Franklin presents his singing partner, Monica Lane, and they perform “Ridin’ Down Manhattan Way”; Shields returns with a comic be-bop dance; back in St. Cyr’s dressing room, she receives the gift of a transparent negligee, then prepares to dress for her act; an unidentified couple perform a Spanish dance; comedienne Christine Nelson does patter about her friends and sings “I’m a Bridesmaid, but Never a Bride”; Chris La Chris performs a dance routine; comedian Dave Starr performs a brief stand-up routine; in her dressing room, St. Cyr emerges from behind a screen dressed for her act and puts on jewelry; Shields introduces Baro and Rogers, who perform a comic ballroom dance routine; in a restaurant setting, an unidentified female dancer performs an erotic dance for her boyfriend Vickie Lynn, who declares that he could do better, so she challenges him to do so; Shields sings “Broken Toy”; Vickie Lynn returns dressed as a woman and dances for his girl friend; Shields then returns to present impersonations of popular singers Nat “King” Cole, Frankie Laine, Bill Kenny of the Inkspots and Billy Daniels singing “Broken Toy”; St. Cyr primps some more in her dressing room; Franklin and Lane sing “A Parisian Honeymoon”; Twinnie Wallen performs an acrobatic can-can dance; finally, Franklin announces St Cyr, who strips, then in bra and g-string, performs the second part of her act, an interpretive dance.

Less

Legend
Viewed by AFI
Partially Viewed
Offscreen Credit
Name Occurs Before Title
AFI Life Achievement Award

TOP SEARCHES

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

According to HR news items, "The Gentleman from Montana" (an unpublished story by Lewis R. Foster, alternately called "The Gentleman from Wyoming" by both contemporary and modern ... >>

It's a Wonderful Life

Philip Van Doren Stern's story, which, according to many contemporary and modern sources, was originally written in Nov 1939, was enclosed by him in his 1943 Christmas cards. Although ... >>

Gone with the Wind

[Note from the Editors : the following information is based on contemporary news items, feature articles, reviews, interviews, memoranda and corporate records. Information obtained from modern sources is ... >>

The Grapes of Wrath

According to materials contained in the Twentieth Century-Fox Records of the Legal Department at the UCLA Theater Arts Library, Fox paid John Steinbeck $70,000 for the rights to his ... >>

The Best Years of Our Lives

The working titles of the film were Glory for Me and Home Again . In the opening credits, actor Fredric March's name is spelled correctly, but ... >>

The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.