Product Details

• Actors: Cass Franklin, Monica Lane, Vicki Lynn, Christine Nelson, Bettie Page
• Format: Color, DVD, Special Edition, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Image Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: July 11, 2000
• Run Time: 65 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305908435
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #94,544 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Bettie Page in Varietease" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Bettie Page and Lily St. Cyr in a Burly-Q classic! The legendary Queen of the Curves, Bettie Page, America's greatest pin-up model, stars in "Varietease," a unique peek at the wonderful world of burlesque, complete with singers, slickers, and saucy strippers! Flashing her sexy smile and gyrating in a harem girl costume, Bettie Page does her Dance of the Four Veils and easily steals the show. Another legend, the sophisticated and sparkling Lili St. Cyr, shows us just how elegant a strip tease can be. Aiding and abetting are jokester Bobby Shields, bikini-clad Chris La Chris, warblers Cass Franklin and Monica Lane, exuberant contortionist Twinnie Wallens, and "famed female impersonator" Vicky Lynn. Produced and directed by girly-pix impresario Irving Klaw (the man who photographed Bettie in bondage), he and Miss Page reteamed the following year with "Teaserama."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Let the buyer beware!, July 26, 2000

By 

A disgruntled customer (Santa Rosa, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bettie Page in Varietease (DVD)

Unspeakably awful! There's very little of Bettie, and a great, great deal of excruciatingly cornball late-'50s style variety "entertainment" that you might imagine might be cute and endearing but most emphatically is not. You'd have to be a great deal hornier than I was to find Lily St. Cyr's strip tease arousing, and the only notable musical performer is a woman with an extraordinarily huge head. If you've never trusted another review in your life, trust this one: you might as well throw the money away.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bettie doesn't dance well, but she doesn't need to, October 21, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Bettie Page in Varietease (DVD)

Bettie again displays her incredible beauty and presence. I have never seen Bettie in films until recently, and she shows here she is more attractive and seductive when in motion.

I say this much: Bettie Page wasn't a very good dancer. But she doesn't need to be. She knows how to use what she has like no other showgirl ever could. I found her "Dance of the Four Veils" rather subdued for Bettie, and the makeup artist went overboard before sending her onstage. But the main thing to note is that Bettie is Bettie - the most alluring woman I have ever seen.

Since she is a part of a former pop culture, we should be glad that she has been preserved on digital media. Her appearance in the "Dream Scene" from Striporama is a rare speaking role, and she shows just how cute she really is.

The film quality is good, considering what the original must be like after all these years. Remember that too many older, less popular films will not be digitized and saved for the ages, so I feel ANY clips of Bettie are worth having.

Hopefully, Striporama will make its way to DVD, just as Teaserama and Variatease have done. Let's save those precious motion pictures of Bettie Page, because I for one feel she was the most underrated model (pin-up, glamour girl, etc.) ever. She makes today's supermodels look like superhyped swizzle sticks. Long Live Bettie!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bettie couldn't dance, but who cares?, November 21, 2004

By 

Billie Mann (USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bettie Page in Varietease (DVD)

Bettie loses some "coolness points" when she dances, but if you go into frame-by-frame mode on your DVD player it's obvious that each frame of her dancing would have made a great still shot in and of itself. Proof that she was a great poser, and a lousy dancer, but as she has said herself, she was "far from being a professional dancer". Still, she is very appealing, despite the fact that neither my husband nor myself could contain our unabated laughter during her dance scenes. Her sparkle and sense of fun are evident throughout, she is in great shape, and her ever-changing and playful facial expressions are absolute treats to see.

Plus! You get to "Hear Bettie speak!" in addition to seeing her jump around - uhhm I mean dance.

The best part of the DVD is, yes of course, the silent, black and white arcade film loop of Bettie made specifically for those old-time coin-activated viewers....Bettie gyrates up to a point, then the screen is suddenly blocked out with a caption telling the viewer to insert coins to see more of the film. This of course occurs at a regular basis throught this particular short, as it did when those types of films were originally shown. Classic camp!

There are also appearances by a rather famous, albeit scary-looking drag queen from the time, and some professional strippers who could have passed for male drag queens...but I bought these really just for the Bettie Page segments; these two DVD's are a must-have for Bettie Page fans.

Viewing these will most likely result in the viewer alternating fits of laughter with admiration for the beauty and playfulness of Bettie Page in her prime.