Burlesque is a word with definite associations, but in the documentary Behind the Burly Q, the long lost form of entertainment covers lots of ground. At the start of its golden era, roughly the 1920s-'40s, burlesque provided cheap amusement for workingmen. By the late '30s it often migrated to more glamorous precincts. It usually took the form of slow titillation, more foreplay than hardcore, but in its declining years of the '50s into the '60s, burlesque became flesh shows. Burlesque often directly competed for audiences with Hollywood in the days when movies were governed by strict censorship, but burlesque was formed in part under a plethora of local ordinances and censorship boards. In some jurisdictions the showgirls had to go behind the curtain each time they removed an article of clothing.
Director Leslie Zemeckis is less interested in composing a studious history or chronology of burlesque than in compiling interesting anecdotes from surviving performers and their children, including Alan Alda, whose father sang in burlesque. Yes, one of the surprises for contemporary audiences is that burlesque was usually a variety show with song, dance, acrobatics and thenlike the proverbial cherry on the cupcakestriptease. Many of the girls were as young as 12 or 13 and had fled poverty or terrible abuse. Others were trying to get a leg up into "legit" show business. Not many made it, but the most successful showgirls made small fortunes. Behind the Burly Q is out April 12 on DVD.
