| Product Summary | | Publisher: Image | | Format: DVD | | UPC: 00014381302929 | | Buy.com Sku: 202177063 | | Item#: V27WW9 | | Category Keywords: Cult Film Sexy Women | | Rating: NR |
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| | | America's Most Popular Pinup Model!
Features: DVD
Two Burly-Q Classics with America's Ultimate Pin-Up Goddess, Bettie Page! The Queen of the Curves teams up with fellow bump-and-grind legends Lily St. Cyr, Tempest Storm, Chris La Chris and Trudy Wayne, along with an assortment of baggy-pants comics, for the Holy Grails of Full-Color Girlie Flicks, Varietease and Teaserama, produced and directed by girly-pix impresario Irving Klaw! Flashing her sexy smile and gyrating in a harem girl costume, Bettie Page does her "Dance of the Four Veils." Then she scorches the screen when she teams up with that "hurricane of delight," Miss Storm, in a boudoir bit that explodes into fetish central. Also featuring female impersonator Vickie Lane, contortionist Twinnie Wallens, and comics Dave Starr and Joe E. Ross (Gunther Toody of TV's Car 54, Where Are You?).
Editor's Note
This skin-baring double feature collects two films starring pinup girl Bettie Page. VARIETEASE: Directed by bondage-film pioneer Irving Klaw, this exploitation film (in color) features pinup legend Betty Page doing her Dance of the Four Veils striptease. Lili St. Cyr takes a more sophisticated turn on the classic striptease. TEASERAMA: A hilarious compilation of vintage stag films from the 1950s, introduced by scantily clad pinup girl Betty Page: "Oh Baby," "A Fishy Story," "Evolution of a Glamour Girl," "Dark Exchange" and "Cabbages and Kinks." Filmed by bondage-flick pioneer Irving Klaw, this video also features female impersonators, contortionists and comedy acts.
| Features | Audio: English Dolby Digital Mono | | Bettie Page Bubble Bath Scene From "Striporama!" | | Bettie Page Speaks! From "Striporama!" | | Gallery Of Burlesque Ballyhoo & Exploitation Art | | Interactive Menus | | Original Theatrical Trailers | | Scene Selection | | Teaser In High Heels |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Image |
| Release Date: 3/7/2006 |
| Running Time: 71.05 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1955 | | Catalog ID: 3029SWDVD | | UPC: 00014381302929 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Standard 1.33:1 [4:3] |
| Cast & Crew | Bettie Page - Featuring | | Chris La Chris - Featuring | | Irving Klaw - Director | | Irving Klaw - Producer | | Lester Orlebeck - Editor | | Lily St. Cyr - Featuring | | Michael Slifka - Cinematographer | | Tempest Storm - Featuring |
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| | Professional Reviews | Attack of the 50 Foot DVD 7 of 10
It is a favorite joke of older stand-up comics that television is the box in which they buried vaudeville. The racier side of vaudeville, namely burlesque, was pushed to the movie theaters, sometimes in as straightforward a manner as Varietease, in which a burlesque show - complete with "baggy pants" standup comics and musical numbers - is filmed on a sound stage. It's doubtful that modern viewers will find the acts in Varietease enthralling. While the strip teases are pleasant enough and the women are attractive, there's just not much to keep you watching. As with Teaserama, today Varietease is more of a curiosity than a form of entertainment. It's a representative sample of an "art form" gone by. The main attraction, and probably this disc's reason for existing, is the presence of Bettie Page, pin-up queen extraordinaire. Page's film appearances were few and far between, but Something Weird Video has found all of them and lovingly restored them to disc. Although Bettie has only one number in Varietease, there are a number of extras that Page fans will find of interest. If you're a Page aficionado, you will definitely want to add this DVD to your collection, but those with a mere curiosity - or those looking for the most Bettie bang for the buck - would do well to seek out the more Bettie-rific Teaserama instead. Something Weird Video has given Varietease the all-star treatment. Although the print quality jumps in a few places, it is overall a gorgeous piece of film, with lots of bright Fifties' colors. It looks about as good as any "lost" film could be expected to look. The sound is pretty scratchy, but that's not the fault of the disc pressing. The interactive menus are given a nice "lobby card" sort of look, with faded papers and vintage typefaces that really evoke the feel of a burlesque theater. These are some really nice esthetic touches; Something Weird is to be commended. The main extra on this disc is some audio commentary - not by Bettie Page, folks - featuring David F. Friedman, one of the major players in the exploitation film world. Friedman's producer credit graces such films as Blood Feast, The Adventures of Lucky Pierre, and Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS. Accompanying him is Mike Vraney, the proprietor of Something Weird. Friedman introduces the piece by saying that he's going to tell us about burlesque movies, but what he really does is tell us about the original burlesque houses and how he eventually put them out of business with "nudie cutie" films. It's obvious that both men have love and respect for the burlesque tradition, and the highlights of the commentary involve Friedman's re-enactments of some of the comedy routines. Those with an appreciation of classic movies will find it tough not to feel saddened by the passing of burlesque when Friedman does the candy butcher's routine. Vraney helpfully steers Friedman back on course whenever his memory takes him down some side alley of history, but even the stories that relate to bur - Chris Holland
Stomp Tokyo 8 of 10
[Tease] Even if you don't know the name Bettie Page, you've probably seen her face or its likeness. Her appearance in dozens of pinup magazines and on postcards has ensured her familiarity; her reclusivness later in life cemented her cult status. In Teaserama, Page is the undisputed star of the show and the only reason to watch the proceedings. Teaserama is hardly a movie in the traditional sense. It's a filmed burlesque show, in which various striptease acts make their way across the stage, punctuated by occasional standup comedy routines. It's not the sort of thing you watch all the way through in a sitting, or even really something modern audiences would call entertainment. Today, Teaserama is merely a curiosity for die-hard Page fans and film buffs. The movie starts with Page wiggling her assets in the air for a few moments, which is great if you can simply stare at a beautiful woman for minutes on end. Otherwise, you'll be bored to death. This is followed by the headlining act Tempest Storm, who, in an incomprehensible act of striptease weirdness, gets out of bed wearing nearly nothing and then proceeds to get dressed. Huh? Isn't that the opposite of stripping? We were robbed! Actually, this is par for the course in Teaserama - if you're expecting more than a glimpse of pastie-encrusted teat, you've come to the wrong movie, buster. Fortunately, Storm is assisted by (you guessed it) Page in a stereotypically skimpy French maid costume. Page steals the show by being sexier just standing there than Storm is while doing a full jiggle-and-shake routine. At the end of the routine, Page mimics Storm's mincing walk, only to be punished by some awkward hair-pulling. It's not the world's most exciting striptease ever, but it has its amusing moments. Although she was the main attraction of the film at the time, Tempest Storm is mostly a disappointment. However, she does eventually border on bawdy in her third and final act, which wraps up the movie. The comedy acts which break up the dancing girl bits are of the oldest and lamest kind. You will actually hear the phrase: "Take my wife - please!" The less said about this, the better, although it does bear mentioning that Joe Ross of Car 54 fame ("Ooh! Ooh!") is one of the comedians. For our continued fascination and edification, we are treated to a pair of Spanish dancers named Peppe and Roccio. If Roccio isn't a man, she's the most masculine Spanish dancer ever to grace the silver screen. And Roccio's not the only female impersonator in Teaserama. Vicki Lynn drops by to assist in the comedy routines and even does a striptease of his/her own. A few more striptease routines are thrown in, but by this point most viewers are probably fast-forwarding to the next "intro" bit in which Bettie slinks across the screen with a name placard, usually pouting that she's not the one getting to do the next number, but always genuinely pleased just to be in front of the camera. We are treated to one more Bettie Page num - Scott Hamilton
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