Hollywood Burlesque

I'm Rob Johnston, my grandparents were Bob and Frances Johnston and my mother is Dee Ann Johnston. We have always been a close family and I lived with my grandparents (and my Great Aunt Daisy. Grandma's sister) for quite a while while I was growing up. I was born in 1969 and the theatre closed not long after I was born. I love seeing old footage of my family's history. I have lots of vintage pictures from the Hollywood and from my Grandpa's bar which was next door and called Bob Johnston's Sport Palace. There is some great info in the movie Behind the Burly Q as well. My Mom and I were both interviewed for the film but I didn't have much interesting to say. She got quite a bit of screen time and it's wonderful. Thanks for keeping the memories alive.

The following review is based on the Something Weird Video DVD "Hollywood Burlesque" (also available on VHS # 4983).

This is an actual burlesque show, filmed in 1948 at the Hollywood Theater in San Diego, California. It is not a drama or a documentary, it is what you would have seen if you'd been sitting in the theater. Only two things are different from a regular show; there's no audience, and the length is abbreviated (only 67 minutes, whereas the full show may have run 90 minutes). There is some topless nudity and sexually suggestive dancing, but no full nudity or pornography.

The movie is in near-mint condition and production values are among the best for the genre; two cameras and synchronous sound, and directed by Duke Goldstone (he went on to success as an editor with George Pal and then in television). The cameras put you where you want to be, the shots are interesting, and the editing is almost seamless.

Now for the show itself, starting with the bad news: the comedy is terrible. There are three scenes and all are squeaky clean, which in burlesque generally equates to dull. It gets worse. Straight men Wenn Hitt and Bob Ross (doubles as singer) are okay, but the main comic is Eddie Ware. Eddie can be good when he just uses his face, but has a loud, harsh, demanding voice that grates on my funny bone. There's also what may be the only film appearance of comic Say No More Joe (Claude Mathis). He's only in the first skit, and gets as much as possible out of the material.

The strippers are good but not great. The only "name" is star Hillary Dawn. Honey Hayes is credited with the first strip but it's been omitted from the movie. Showgirl Bobby Roberts is stately, Marie Durand is a calm cutie, and then comes my personal favorite, Joy Damon. A dark-haired young woman with a gorgeous body, Joy strides back and forth matter-of-factly, snaps out bumps with a grin, and does an electrifying turn on the runway. Next is co-feature Jenne, who employs a lot of drama and does it effectively (she's also good in the skit that follows). Finally the headliner, Hillary Dawn. Her act is mostly just walking in time to the music, throwing in a bump here or a knee-bend there and shedding a garment now and then. The overall result is surprisingly impressive; the lady has style.

In this movie, though, the big attraction is not the strippers but the stage show. More vaudeville than burlesque, it is great entertainment by itself. Worth the price of admission as they say. The Hollywood had two choreographers; according to oral histories at the San Diego Historical Society, Fanny Johnston (wife of theater owner Bob Johnston) did the opening chorus routines and Lee Torry did the production numbers. Both are good. The chorus routines are lively and interesting; there's no line-abreast kicking and the dancers are usually in a staggered array around the stage. The longest production is a 13-minute picture number at 0:32:30 that uses two singers and just about every dancer and showgirl. Truly impressive. Another highlight is the pairing of Lee Torry with dancer Mary King, not as big-time as Fred and Ginger but fun to watch. Catch the tongue-in-cheek quasi-strip of Mary King at 0:22:50.

Finally, something that's not often covered in reviews: the band. According to former dancer Barbara Jean Dishong (SDHS oral history) the Hollywood used a 4-piece pit band in the 1950's; drums, trumpet, saxophone/clarinet, and an organ. I can't hear the sax or clarinet (maybe just my ears), but the trumpet's definitely here, as is the organ. Whatever kind it was -- big old Wurlitzer or a little Hammond -- the organ gives a wide range to the music. On top of which the drummer is an absolute ace, rimshots that can stop your heart and perfect catches of every move the stripper makes. These guys are good.

The whole show is good. It's more 1930's than almost-1950, old-fashioned and sometimes a bit hokey, but it's great entertainment and a wonderful chance to time-travel. Highly recommended.

I am the daughter of Eddie Ware Top Banana at the Hollywood Theater. I also worked at the theater with my Dad and Dee Ann Johnson from the early 60s into the late 60s. I became a Bob Hope USO girl for the production and show at Jack Murphy Stadium in 67 and 68. I met Celebrities such as Jack Albertson, Jack Lemon, Jack Carter and Peter Falk that knew my Dad from the Old Follies theater in Los Angels. They agreed that he was a great Comedian. I am going to try to get the films listed for my Dad so I can pass them on to my 3 sons and my grandchildren. I have so many stories to relate and everyone I talk to thinks I should write a book about my life and all the good bad and ugly things it has been through. I have been privileged to meet and be with so many celebrities that people only dream of meeting. I am considering writing that book before I get any older and can't remember all of them. Of course to me Eddie Ware was the greatest Celebrity in my life. I will be this site on a regular basis.

This is the actual show as presented in the late '40s. Well, there isn't an audience (the sound of one I heard a few times were probably pre-recorded) present and there were probably a few acts edited out but this seemed to be a show as originally presented before a live gathering of strangers in one theatre room. Anyway, there are strippers and unlike some of the shorts I saw that also had exotic dancers, this one actually had those strippers show their boobs at the end of their performance after just taking off their bra and showing pasties during their act. The comic team in the show do a variation of routines made famous by Abbott & Costello like the comic getting doused with water from a mouth, getting cheated out of money, or getting a busy line when trying to reach a certain number. Those were pretty amusing. Then there were some songs performed by singers and some non sexual dance routines. In summary, this Hollywood Burlesque was a pretty enjoyable film of a show as it was performed back in the day.

Hollywood Burlesque (1949)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

How much of this film you're able to take will depend on your opinion of the burlesque genre. What we've basically got here is a 67-minute burlesque show full of songs, dances, comedy acts and of course women dancers. As many reviews have pointed out, these type of shows normally ran longer so obviously this one here has been edited down and there's even a cast member or two in the credits but they're missing from the film. I'm guessing this footage was simply lost over time or perhaps it never made the cut and this is just a goof with the credits. Either way, this film is pretty hard to sit through because there's just nothing too interesting happening. The dances are all rather boring and tame. The singing is pretty high-pitched and not at all entertaining. The girls mostly look good but their dances are pretty boring. The comedy bits are downright awful but they're actually so horribly bad that they make the film worth watching just so you can see how bad they are. I'm still confused over the second routine involving money. This thing was shot from the crowd with two cameras and on a technical level it's not too bad and it's worth noting that the director would edit DESTINATION MOON after doing this film. It's interesting to note that there is some brief topless nudity here and it happens at the end of a dance when the girl comes back out from behind the curtain. There is some mild historic interest watching this as it does allow you to see a form of entertainment that is long gone (and for good reason probably).