| Behind the Burly Q | |
| Director: | Leslie Zemeckis |
| Music: | Phil Marshall |
| Cinematography: | Sheri Hellard |
| Editing: | Evan Finn |
| Studio: | Mistress, Inc. |
| Distributor: | First Run Features |
| Runtime: | 98 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Gross: | $23,889[1] |
Behind the Burly Q is a 2010 film documentary examining the golden age of American burlesque in the first half of the 20th century.[2] [3]
This documentary film about the heyday of burlesque includes interviews with exotic dancers of the time April March, Lorraine Lee, Taffy O’Neill, Blaze Starr, Tempest Storm, and Kitty West; Mike Iannucci, stripper Ann Corio's husband and producer of “This Was Burlesque”; journalists and authors Nat Bodian, Rachel Schteir, and Janet Davis; and actor Alan Alda, whose father Robert Alda was a burlesque singer and straight man.
Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 78% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on 27 reviews, with an average score of 6.5/10. Emily Hourican of the Irish Independent lauded the film as "an absorbing, moving and cleverly constructed look at the tradition of American burlesque."[4] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times was less enthusiastic, claiming the film "settles too easily for an editing formula which alternates talking heads, too cursory performance footage and montages of headlines and photographs."[5] Ronnie Scheib of Variety said the film's "stories run from raunchy to touching to funny to flat-out incredible.”[6]
In 2013, Skyhorse Publishing released a companion book by Zemeckis, also called Behind the Burly Q.