Leslie Zemeckis’ writing-directing debut as a documentarian, “Behind the Burly Q” dives headlong into the history of burlesque in the first half of the twentieth century, mingling archive footage and stories told by now-elderly ecdysiasts who revealed-concealed for a generation of surreptitious fantasists. Not the most well-organized of documentaries, “Burly Q” still revels in raunchy tale-telling for the ages, with great footage of colorful characters that will tickle the eyeballs of fans of the form. Among the interviewees is a tickled Alan Alda, who recollects the stories of his father, Robert Alda, who shared bills as a comedian with the doyennes of dishabille. The overall quality of the newly shot video footage is decidedly sub-par. Zemeckis’ husband, Robert, has an executive producer credit. With Renny and Dorothy von Muchow; John Perilli; Joan Arline, a stripper who performed with two white Russian wolfhounds and was an elder in her church; Lorraine Lee; Taffy O’Neil; Rachel Schteir, author of “Striptease”; Sunny Dare; White Fury, “who painted herself with buckets of paint and lit her tassels on fire”; Sean Rand, son of fan dancer Sally Rand; Chris Costello, daughter of Lou Costello; Tempest Storm, still stripping in her seventies, claiming affairs with JFK and Elvis; Blaze Starr; Kitty West; and Sherry Britton. 98m. (Ray Pride)
Ray Pride is Newcity’s Senior Editor and Film Critic. He is a contributing editor of Filmmaker magazine.
Ray’s history of Chicago Ghost Signs is planned for publication next year. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram. More photography on Instagram.
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Fine Line: A Review Of Shortcomings It's a season for the comeuppance of a curmudgeon in Randall Park's smart, biting "Shortcomings," adapted by Adrian Tomine from his graphic novel of the same name.
Leslie Zemeckis’ writing-directing debut as a documentarian, “Behind the Burly Q” dives headlong into the history of burlesque in the first half of the twentieth century, mingling archive footage and stories told by now-elderly ecdysiasts who revealed-concealed for a generation of surreptitious fantasists. Not the most well-organized of documentaries, “Burly Q” still revels in raunchy tale-telling for the ages, with great footage of colorful characters that will tickle the eyeballs of fans of the form. Among the interviewees is a tickled Alan Alda, who recollects the stories of his father, Robert Alda, who shared bills as a comedian with the doyennes of dishabille. The overall quality of the newly shot video footage is decidedly sub-par. Zemeckis’ husband, Robert, has an executive producer credit. With Renny and Dorothy von Muchow; John Perilli; Joan Arline, a stripper who performed with two white Russian wolfhounds and was an elder in her church; Lorraine Lee; Taffy O’Neil; Rachel Schteir, author of “Striptease”; Sunny Dare; White Fury, “who painted herself with buckets of paint and lit her tassels on fire”; Sean Rand, son of fan dancer Sally Rand; Chris Costello, daughter of Lou Costello; Tempest Storm, still stripping in her seventies, claiming affairs with JFK and Elvis; Blaze Starr; Kitty West; and Sherry Britton. 98m. (Ray Pride)
