I remember back in the 1950s that there were a couple of
movie theaters in downtown Washington DC called the Pix and the Art, and they
performed “burlesque”. I thought that
was funny as a boy. Some of the lost
titles included “Burlesque in Harlem” and “Um-boy”.
Josh Dragotta has a new film “Satan’s Angel: Queen of the
Fire Tassels” (72 min), a biography of the lesbian burlesque performer, Angel
Walker and her partner Vic Cotwell. Angel,
67 at the time of filming (2012), still performs, but her career started in
California in the 60s. She is said to
have invented the pyrotechnic fire tassel, which might present a fire hazard in
some clubs (given the recent tragedy in Brazil and the 2003 fire in Rhode
Island).
She lived part of her life in Palm Springs, played at an LA
spot called “The Gay Nineties” (in Minneapolis there is a big gay disco by that
name), and even performed in Finland.
Most of the film consists of cameos, interview clips, and
scenes inside clubs.
The link for the film is here.
I viewed a screener from Breaking Glass Pictures. The final DVD (available March 5) will have extended interviews. The film screened at Outfest LA, Seattle LGBT, Scottsdale and Austin GLBT film festivals.
I did notice in the screener some loss of detail in scenes with less light. I hope that is fixed on the commercial DVD.
Second picture: Gay club strip in Palm Springs CA (mine, May, 2012).
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