NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (August 2021): Kino have transferred Peek-A-Boo and "B" Girl Rhapsody to Blu-ray. Both have been on DVD; Peek-A-Boo was part of the Hollywood Burlesque boxset and "B" Girl Rhapsody was in the Strip, Strip Hurray DVD box the reviewed HERE. The image quality suffers with a lack of stability in the credits - probably the negative has warped somewhat. "B" Girl Rhapsody has a notable vertical scratch near the end. Both settle and look okay - a clear notch above SD with fluctuations a function of the source. Mostly, it is more than acceptable - see the captures below.

In Kino's Forbidden Fruit: The Golden Age of the Exploitation Picture series have already reviewed Volume One; Mom and Dad, (about STDs, birth control,) Volume 3; Unashamed / Elysia (nudity, nudist camps), Volume 4 - Marihuana and/ Narcotic (also drugs) and Tomorrow's Children / Child Bride (eugenics / child marriage - Volume 5), Volume 6 1949's She Should Have Said No and The Devil's Sleep, Ingagi Volume 8 (bizarre pseudo-documentary as exploitation) and Lash of the Penitentes - Volume 9 (exploitive details of the semi-famous Penitente murder case,) Volume 10, Wages of Sin, tackles abortion and birth control. Girl Gang / Pin-Down Girl, Vol. 11, has stories surrounding the world of female wrestling. Peek-A-Boo / "B" Girl Rhapsody, Vol. 12 looks at a couple of 50's Burlesque shows.

NOTE: We have added 36 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use linear PCM 2.0 channel tracks (16-bit) in the original English language. Both films have music credited to Phil Greene (The Girl Hunters, The Man Who Finally Died, Basil Dearden's Victim, The League of Gentlemen, Sapphire and All Night Long) and there is some performance work - beach balls and props. - lots of bending over etc.. It sounds occasionally imperfect - like the video. Kino offer optional English subtitles, for both features, on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray doesn't disappoint with extras. We get an audio commentary for Peek-A-Boo by Eric Schaefer, author of Bold! Daring! Shocking! True!: A History of Exploitation Films, where he talks about the performers (often strippers of the day) like Venus (as 'Venus the Body Beautiful'), Patti Waggin, The Duponts, Jennie Lee, Marlana, Suzette, Virginia Valentine, Sherry Winters, the style and the milieu of burlesque in the 50s and beyond. Plus we get second commentary for "B" Girl Rhapsody by film historian Alexandra Heller-Nicholas who has written several books on exploitation cinema (ex. Rape-Revenge Films: A Critical Study) she reads from Elena Gorfinkel's Lewd Looks: American Sexploitation Cinema in the 1960s. She shares some details on force behind these; Lillian Hunt and much more about spirit of this unique art form, the 'Nudie Cuties' and other interesting facts about burlesque and its evolution. Both commentaries are excellent.

Both Peek-A-Boo and "B" Girl Rhapsody are pretty interesting - historically speaking. Some of the dancers are quite good with impressive ballet-like or uniform costuming and funky, rather intricate, lingerie. It amounts to cheesecake titillation interspersed with comedic routines - akin to Abbott and Costello - but often more broad with language innuendo. Beyond the 'art form' being erotic, theatrical and comedic - there is a fascination with its evolution as a performance craft. It's even cute and fascinating as well as weird. I'd like to see more like this with commentaries by Schaefer and Heller-Nicholas. The Kino Blu-ray helps capture the allure of the golden age of these, often intricate and well rehearsed performances. Probably a niche market but of all the Forbidden Fruit: The Golden Age of the Exploitation Picture series I'd recommended this one and Girl Gang / Pin-Down Girl the most. 

Gary Tooze