Irving Klaw, Teaserama (1955)
Source: the Internet Archive.
This film is in the public domain (Public Domain Mark 1.0).
Irving Klaw (9 November 1910 – 3 September 1966) was an American photographer and filmmaker, best known for operating a mail-order business from the 1940s to the 1960s selling photographs and films of attractive women (sometimes in bondage). He was one of the first fetish photographers.
His 1955 film Teaserama follows the performance of a burlesque show, with all actors and actresses playing themselves. It opens with Bettie Page assisting Tempest Storm with her brassiere. Afterwards, when the show begins, Page separates the acts by showing placards with the names of the acts. Stripteases are provided by Storm, Chris La Chris, Twinnie Wallen, Trudy Wayne, Vicki Lynn, and Cherry Knight. Stand-up comedy is provided by Joe E. Ross and Dave Starr.
The McCarthy-style Kefauver Hearings of the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency in 1957 branded Klaw as a degenerate pornographer and ushered in a new wave of media censorship. Klaw was barred from continuing his business in New York. He moved his Nutrix Publishing Company, along with the associated Satellite Publications (Stanley Malkin & Pat Martini), to an office building in Jersey City, NJ. Both companies sold similar fetish-oriented photos and magazines.
