Lily Ayres

Burlesque Queen Lily Ayres.

Burlesque beauties performing their signature striptease acts, accompanied by comedians, testing the moral boundaries. Then finally the star of the show, brilliant Lily Ayers. Her performance is unusual both for the high quality of dancing and for being an actual burlesque, an alternately light-hearted and moving pantomime of a B-girl (a woman hired by a bar to pretend interest in male customers so they'd buy drinks for her, actually tea).

There may have been a personal note as well, since strippers playing nightclubs were usually required to "mix" with customers between shows. Lily employs a combination of bump-and-grind and ballet that's an absolute treat to watch. The good news is, we now see Lily's entire act. The bad news is, we don't hear it. As usual for burlesque movies, the band (pre-recorded) is playing proprietary music, which saved the film company having to pay usage fees for copyrighted songs. It works for the other strippers but not for Lily. She must have insisted on sticking to her own arrangements, probably standards and pop hits, and the filmmaker went along. When he got back to the studio he fixed things by dubbing his selections over the actual music. The result is discordance. The music doesn't match Lily's movements, and sometimes it clashes, like when an upbeat tune blares out as she collapses in grief. Twice the audio cuts with a "pop!" and actually jibes with the dance for awhile, at 1:11:40 (ethereal, Lily reclining on piano), and at 1:15:55 (mournful, Lily standing). There's a long drum piece that seems authentic, though recorded separately (we see her accompanist playing the piano but don't hear a note). In short, Lily's audio remains a chopped-up mess. What a shame.

Directors - James R. Connell - Lillian Hunt
Stars - Lily Ayers
Featuring Lily, the Toast of New York.
The Low Down on Skid Row...! - GIRLS - GIRLS - GIRLS
Release date - 1952 (United States)
Country of origin - United States Language - English
Filming locations - New Follies Theater - 548 S.
Main Street, Los Angeles, California, USA
Production company - Harry Farros Productions