''Burlesque in Harlem'' (also released as Rock & Roll Burlesque and A French Peep Show) is a 1949

revue film A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during ...

directed by William D. Alexander. It features a cast of singers, dancers and comedians who were prominent on the Chitlin' Circuit of

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

theaters and

nightclubs A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighting displays, and ...

that exclusively presented

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

talent. The plotless film is hosted by Dick Barrow, who sings "Juice Head Baby", and the main headliner is the comedian

Pigmeat Markham Dewey "Pigmeat" Markham (April 18, 1904 – December 13, 1981) was an African American entertainer. Though best known as a comedian, Markham was also a singer, dancer, and actor. His nickname came from a stage routine, in which he declared himse ...

, who performs a sketch called ''The Love Making Bureau''. Other performers in the cast include the dancer Gertrude "Baby" Banks, the singers

Jo Jo Adams Joel Adams (c. 1918 – February 27, 1988), sometimes credited as Doctor Jo Jo Adams, was an American jump blues singer, comedian, dancer, and MC, who recorded in the 1940s and 1950s. Career He was born in a rural area of Alabama, and ...

and Hucklebuck Jones, the striptease contortionist Tarza Young, and the

tap dance Tap dance (or tap) is a form of dance that uses the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion; it is often accompanied by music. Tap dancing can also be performed with no musical accompaniment; the sound of the taps is its ow ...

duo Slip and Slide.Weldon, Michael J. “The

Psychotronic Video ''Psychotronic Video'' was an American film magazine founded by publisher/editor Michael J. Weldon in 1980 in New York City, covering what he dubbed "psychotronic movies", which he defined as "the ones traditionally ignored or ridiculed by mainst ...

Guide.”1996, St. Martin’s Press.

Plot

Barrow, the master of ceremonies, invites the audience to a special "bronze burlesque", consisting of a series of performances from strip-tease dancers, burlesque singers, and the club comedians. The dance duo Slip and Slide does a soft-shoe routine. There is also a comedy sketch by Dewey "Pigmeat" Markham involving a "love-making bureau".

Cast

* Vivian Harris (comedian) * Dick Barrow, Master of ceremonies *

* Mabel Hunter *Gertrude "Baby" Banks * Luella Owens * Princess D'Orsey *Gloria Howard "Atomic Bomb" *Slip and Slide * Tarza Young *The Betty Taylor Taylorettes * Olive Sayles * Maria Rout * Adella Gross * Ezella Lester * Marion L. Greene *Dorothy McCarty * Fannie Thornton * Griffen Trixie Terry * Rose Marie Foster * Gwendolyn Shaklett

References

External links

Burlesque in Harlem in the Internet Movie Database
1949 films American black-and-white films African-American comedy films 1949 comedy films Films set in Harlem 1940s American films {{1940s-US-comedy-film-stub