The Province from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada • 54

54 The Province Friday, June 20, 1986 jXlllllllllllllllllllHlllllllltlllllltlllHI -'iiiiiiiiiiiKiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiriiti tiinnintt Mm tun 5 i i y- REVIEW strippers from New York, the fleshpot of the East. 'Too explains a film-maker." In Gary's picture, the emphasis is on the first kind. In his version, the finalists are all hard-working professionals with generally normal backgrounds and reasonable-sounding aspirations. The Vancouver contingent includes Kimberly "Danyel" Hol-comb, Loree "Mouse" Menton and Lisa "Gio" Saurez. Danyel is seen perfecting her routine in the local strippers' gym while Mouse and Gio are interviewed on the road in rural Alberta.

Gary approaches his subject with admiration, fascination and old-fashioned respect. In Stripper, he offers a squeaky-clean portrait of the professional peeler's art. By MICHAEL WALSH Movie Critic When Jerome Gary went to see the show at Powell Street's Drake Hotel, he took friends. A cinema-tographer. Soundmen.

Gaffers, grips and gofers. As dancers rocked, his camera rolled, recording an aspect of local culture not covered in any official tourist bureau brochures. A New York producer making his directorial debut, Gary was shooting scenes for Stripper. An obvious question: Of all the places that could be featured in an examination of strip tease dancing, why choose Vancouver? "I didn't choose Vancouver," Gary shrugs. "Vancouver chose me.

Are you listening, Claude Richmond? "The Drake, the Marr and the Cecil (Hotels) are, in my opinion, the best strip bars in the world." On screen, his Stripper recalls the Pumping Iron pictures, not surprising since Gary produced the original Pumping Iron (1977). Like Pumping Iron II: The Women, Stripper profiles several representative competitors in a professional development contest. Here, the featured performers are vying for the Golden G-String Award, the central event at the First Annual Strippers' Convention" in Las Vegas' Sahara Hotel. Three of the five women spotlighted work out of Vancouver. New York-based magazine writer Jim Verniere was at the convention.

"It soon becomes clear," he reports in the 1985 issue of Film Comment, "that there are two kinds of stripper: "Those who work where the laws are strictly enforced (Canada) have elaborate acts. Those who strip where anything goes are relatively artless. "The Canadians are a healthy, sororal lot with theatrical agents, good pay and decent working conditions. U.S. strippers are a harsher crowd There are no CP photo 31i months, an Alberta Wildlife Park bear cub, enjoys a Bear hnttniripH not Jake, 'HIHIHIMIIMMMItllMIHIIItllirilll HtHHIltlMllltf llltlllllllllt II II 1 1 1 tl 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 1 17 FESTIVAL SCHEDULE Ctoose STRIPPER.

Music by Jack Nlttach ami Buffy Sairrta-Marle. Conceived, co-produced and directed by Jerome Gary. No Classifier's rating. Vancouver International Film Festival screening June 21 at 9:30 pjn. In the Hollywood Theatre Galindez.

Hollywood: 7 p.m. Letters to an Unknown Lover; 930 The Flaxfield. Ridge: 7 p.m. Red Countess; 930 Up. Van.

East: 7 p.m. Gregorio; 9:30 Beyond The Walls. Varsity: 7 p.m. Favorites of the Moon; 9:30. A Question of Loving.

WEDNESDAY: Dunbar: 7 p.m. Adeia; 9:30 Dark Lullabies. Hollywood: 7 p.m. 1919; 930 Festival Favorite. Ridge: 7 p.m.

Troupers; 9:30 Loyalties. Van. East: 7 p.m. Zina; 9:30 Yellow Earth. Varsity: 7 p.m.

The Horse; 930 Up. THURSDAY: Dunbar 7 p.m. VancouverSkywardDream is Alive; 930 Festival Favorite. Hollywood: 7 p.m. A Song for Europe; 9:30 Festival Favorite.

Ridge: 7 p.m. Crime Wave; 930 Home of the Brave. Van. East: 7 p.m. The Thrill of Genius; 9:30 Festival Favorites.

Varsity: 7 p.m. The Philadelphia Attraction; 930 Sacred Hearts. FlfcM TODAY: Cloverdale: 7 p.m. Sacred Hearts; 930 Malambo. Dunbar: 7 p.m.

One Woman or Two; 9:30 Favorites of the Moon. Hollywood: 7 p.m. Taiwan Canasta; 9:30 Where's Picone. Ridge: 7 p.m. Oriane; 9:30 Makioka Sisters.

Van. East: 7 p.m. Year of the Quiet Sun; 930 Desert Hearts. Varsity: Le Choix d'Un Peuple; 9:30 Pouvoir Intime. TOMORROW: Cloverdale: 7 p.m.

TBA: 9:30 Otto. Dunbar: 7 p.m. Beyond the Walls; 9:30 Sacred Hearts. Hollywood: 1:30 p.m. Clan of the Cave Bear; 4:00 The Grey Fox; 7 Red Countess; 930 Stripper.

Ridge: 1:30 p.m. Festival Favorite; 4:00 Festival Favorite; 7:00 Echo Park; 930 Desert Hearts. Van. East: 7 p.m. Inside the Whale; 930 Angry Harvest.

Varsity: 7 p.m. Picasso; 930 Anne Trister. SUNDAY: Cloverdale: 7 p.m. The Ado lescent; 930 Adela. Dunbar: 7 p.m.

1919; 930 Sacred Hearts. Hollywood: 130 p.m. Festival Favorite; 4:00 Festival Favorite; 7:00 Remembrance; 9:30 Orion's Belt. Ridge: 130 p.m. Paris vu Par; 4:00 Paris vu Par.

7:00 One Woman or Two; 930 French Can Can. Van. East: 7 p.m. A Song For Europe; 930 Boys From the War. Varsity: 7 p.m.

La Dame En Couleurs; 930 Jacques et Novembre. MONDAY: Dunbar: 7 p.m. Ake and His World; 930 Lost. Hollywood: 7 p.m. The Half-Metre Incident; 930 Oriane.

Ridge: 7 p.m. Boys From the War; 930 Canyon ConsortContrary Warriors. Van. East: 7 p.m. Year of the Quiet Sun; 9:30 Where's Picone.

Varsity: 7 p.m. Elvis Gratton; 930 Le Matou. TUESDAY: Dunbar: 7 p.m. Louie BluieMinnie the Moocher; 9:30 Senor days deeP diP in a c' pool VSIfcSS IIUIIIVI VUVV I IViVli WHISKY sTtrTa and BoMed in if. mH 7100 OF THE BESTKEPHMDS IN THE PACIHC NORTHWEST at Blaine, go two miles and follow the signs.

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