Welcome back to Moment of Truth, Movieline's weekly spotlight on the best in nonfiction cinema. This week we hear from Leslie Zemeckis, whose film Behind the Burly Q opens Friday in NYC and May 7 in Los Angeles.
The new burlesque documentary Behind the Burly Q began as sort of a happy accident for director Leslie Zemeckis. The endlessly fascinating (if mildly hyperactive) results reflect something far more deliberate: A definitive glimpse at the lost era of popular stage shows combining musicians, comedy, acrobats and yes, a few underdressed ladies. Everyone who was anyone from the era -- and who was still alive when Zemeckis came calling -- appears in Burly Q, and their stories make for revelatory viewing. And not just because the pasties come off from time to time. either.
Through her introductions to everybody from Alan Alda (who was virtually raised backstage while his father Robert toured tirelessly as a comic) to Kitty West (better known as Evangeline the Oyster Girl for her elaborate, erotic routine involving a human-size oyster shell), the filmmaker illustrates the complete picture of burlesque in its '30s and '40s-era glory days. Zemeckis talked to Movieline this week about her documentary quest, the historical misunderstandings of burlesque, and seeking advice from the other director in her household -- her Oscar-winning husband Robert Zemeckis.
How did you determine you wanted to make a documentary about burlesque?
I was doing a burlesque inspired show. It wasn't really burlesque, but it elements of it -- kind of like a Gypsy Rose Lee. So I started investigating what burlesque really was. I talked to some women who used to be in burlesque as strippers, and their stories were so interesting. I realized they never told them before; nobody had ever even asked them. So I just did a whole hunk of research and said, "I'm going to make this documentary." Not just the strippers, though, but about the whole burlesque show.
I was looking some related films up, too, and it seems mind-blowing to me that there really was no documentary even vaguely about this era.
No! And it's so unfortunate because these people's stories are gone. I mean, 12 have died since I interviewed them. This history is just lost. And what's really sad is that when you talk to these people who are really, really open about it and love to talk about it, nobody asked them about it. Nobody cared.
Why do you think that is? Burlesque was such a big deal for so long; why have we let that history fade away?
I think it was really marginalized. At the time there was a stigma to it. When it faded and was no longer something that anybody went to, I mean... Today most people just think burlesque is strippers. They don't understand what a burlesque show was, so that's easy to dismiss -- "Oh, it's just women getting up and taking off their clothes" -- not understanding that these women did it with an art and spent great amounts of money on their costumes and things like that. I think that's why nobody really investigated it. And it was partly because many of them never went on to anything else. The comedians did, and there have been documentaries about the comedians -- but no one else, because no one else crossed over.
I'm really interested in your process here; if there's anything your film is, is pretty sweepingly comprehensive.
Thank you! That's the word I wanted: Comprehensive of what a burlesque show was. Like if you went to a show, you'd get elements of every point in that show.
But how did you find -- let alone gather -- so many women from the era? How long did it take?
I started researching in early 2006. I knew a couple of the big names and I knew that they were alive, and once I talked to a few people, they knew somebody, and they'd give me their number. At one point, people were contacting me when they heard I was doing this. I think we stopped in 2008. We thought it was going to be a lot quicker, because we didn't think there would be that many we'd find who were left, but there were. And I wanted to get as many people in it as I could, just to get the full history.
Blaze Starr is among the most famous of these women, but she only contributes here via phone. Was that a product of her not wanting to appear on camera, or something else?
It was kind of both. I didn't ask her to be on camera; I don't think she would. She's very reticent about where she lives and giving out that kind of information. We've all become really good friends, but... And well, Sherry Britton did her interview by phone, and she said, "Whatever beauty I had was gone. I won't be on camera." Which was completely not true when I went to her apartment and she opened up the door, by the way. She was beautiful.
Lili St. Cyr was a recluse in her later years as well. What are these women's relationships with beauty and aging, especially as it affected your film?
What was great about them was that they all seemed 19 to me. They acted it. They were all very vital. They didn't talk about themselves as if they were old and it was over. They still had this perception, and a lot of them would still dress up and look really wonderful. For some it was hard -- Lili was such a huge star, and I think she had so many problems and was so insecure that she was really basing her life on her looks. It was hard for her to get older. But most of them didn't have a problem with it -- at least more so than anybody else.
Burly Q is your directing debut after producing some other films. What's your goal with filmmaking?
I didn't start out with any desire to, but now, through some of my research, there are a couple more documentaries that I would like to do -- because I know I can do them.
Care to elaborate?
Not really. But I've realized my thing -- kind of -- is misunderstood women. Opening up to what these people are. I mean, I remember telling someone I was doing this documentary -- a smart, educated man -- and he said, "Well, have you ever thought of doing something on pornography?" Like they were related! People really thought terribly of women. And they still do.
What kind of feedback did you get from Mr. Zemeckis?
What he did was come in right at the very end, after we edited, and gave notes. He didn't know anything about burlesque, so he has a good eye to make sure this story was connecting and making sense because there were so many parts to it. And watching the kids while I was gone.
How do you think this can impact the kind of alt-culture around contemporary burlesque?
Well, that's great because it keeps part of it alive. But it also continues to perpetuate the misunderstanding that burlesque was just a strip show. I don't think people understand how many people it employed and how many people were entertained by going to these shows. It was really a part of our American entertainment legacy that we dismiss. You wouldn't have The Carol Burnett Show, you wouldn't have Saturday Night Live. Johnny Carson used to do skits directly from it because he used to go to shows. So much of our culture comes from it that we don't know about. But it was a huge, fantastic variety show -- with some naked women. And unfortunately, as time went on, that took over more than anything, and they got rid of the musicians and the other acts. It was a really great, fun show.