Fifties Cheesecake Dance No. 21

[MORKOS621]

Fritz Lang was still making movies in the 50s? I didn't know that.

[bellydancerocks321]

I just love her costume!!!

[TheMissFlax]

Can anyone tell me why these dances are called "Cheesecake"?

[pwgr2000]

From Wikipedia:

"The term "cheesecake" is synonymous with pin-up photo. The earliest documented print usage of this sense of cheesecake is in 1934, predating pin-up, although anecdotes say the phrase was in spoken slang some 20 years earlier, originally in the phrase (said of a pretty woman) "better than cheesecake." In the 1950s, for example, there was a magazine called Cheesecake that had a young Marilyn Monroe in a yellow bikini on its cover in 1953."

[hellifairy]

They were great dancers, they did fusion between ballett, indian and oriental elements, and they made it very hot tthey could dance erotic Its agreat inspiration as a dancer today for me

[persebra]

good night, it's almost the same identical outfit she wore in princess of the nile. i love the claw additions.

[kilgonus]

This is fifties T & A... Fritz Lang did another film in 1929 called Metropolis. It had a dance scene with one scantily clad woman shaking her money maker for a bunch of leering men. Sex sales EXOTIC SEX sales faster...

[pleaseyou2002]

I want the English version of Der Tiger von Eschnapur, Any one suggest me from where I got this?

[pleaseyou2002]

Chandra and Berger, helped along by scheming palace courtiers. The film is also filled with action, and a highlight of it is Seetha's first ritual dance. At the end of Tiger, Seetha and Berger are imprisoned but escape into the desert just as Berger's sister, also an architect, arrives with the team of architects hired to continue his work. Chandra informs her the plans have changed; she will now be building a tomb.

[pleaseyou2002]

The tale begins when architect Harold Berger (Paul Hubschmid) arrives in India to meet with Maharahaja Chandra (Walter Reyer), for whom he will build a temple. En route to the Maharahaja's palace, Berger meets a dancer named Seetha (Debra Paget) and saves her from a tiger. Seetha is promised to the Maharahaja, but she and the architect begin to fall in love. Predictably, this leads to a buildup of tension between

[pleaseyou2002]

Lang's Indian epic is based on work he did forty years earlier on a silent version of Das Indische Grabmal. He and Thea von Harbou co-wrote the screenplay, basing it on von Harbou's novel of the same name. Lang was set to direct, but that job was taken from him and given to Joe May. Though Lang did not control the final form of that earlier version, it is one of his most revered films.

[memorysdancer]

lol and yes i apologize for the harsh reaction... i do realize that this was time when this was the general concept of india, when minimal research was done and stereotypes were just the norm. it continues till today but with some amount of research being done at some level.

[pwgr2000]

India got off easy. In the early 20th Century Africa was a place where "anything went" on popular cinema, principally because it was the place that foreigners knew the least about. The impression given was that the continent, from top to bottom, was inhabited by headhunters, pygmies and warring tribes with bones through their noses. On top of that, their villages (there were obvioulsy no cities there) were continually overrun by herds of elephants, lions, leopards and cackling hyenas.

[memorysdancer]

ur probably right! lol! cinema in those days was riddled with stereotypes of any non-western culture (and it still is today sometimes)

[memorysdancer]

@pwgr2000 yes i know. did a class on stereotypes and ethnocentricities. film shamelessly fostered these notions. similar to africa, apparently india only had strange exotic religions, everyone worshipped the 'evil' goddess kali, elephants and cows were transport, princes and rajas still ruled (??) and the odd turbaned soul regularly spouted completely obvious pearls of wisdom. and thats just naming a few. so india too did not get off 'easy'. no non-western country did.

[annaganzoni]

At that time, I think most of the people never had the chance to see India or meet an indian person. The world wasn't as "global" or informed as today..

I like these films because they're pure fantasy.

[bruiser700]

Thanks for the sermon. Really important that you pointed out about us ignorant westerners and our stereotypes.

How "tolerant" and "sensitive" you are.

This is a clip from the FIFTIES, from what is probably considered a "campy" movie.

Climb down off your ridiculous hobby-horse, it's not a lofty perch you're on.

[memorysdancer]

excuse me but SHIVA is MALE God not a FEMALE God!!!! Its actually an insult to the culture to claim this! its horrendous research!!! Also temple dancers most definitely did not dress like that! just feeding into the stereotype and the ethonocentricities of an ingnorant western audience!

[charliec81]

Edward Said had a word for this: orientalism. And I kinda agree, since fantasies of the orient were rather pervasive back then.

Though, that being said: I thought the statue was that of Kali, Shiva's wife.

[Grischnakh]

cool down. it´s just sixties trash that nobody takes seriously.

Just enjoy the sexy woman, man.

[pwgr2000]

I think you might be wrong on both counts. This film is from the 1950s and before memorysdancer changed their profile the content suggested they were female.

[pleaseyou2002]

Der.Tiger.von.Eschnapur.1959

[pwgr2000]

I'm curious about this comment. There is no dialogue in this clip that suggests that the characters in this film are worshipping a god named Shiva. Why did you draw that conclusion?

[memorysdancer]

at 5:34 i think she talks about Shiva looking down and "she looked angry"

[pwgr2000]

Sorry, I missed that. I obviously just accepted it as more Hollywood foolishness. If that was the most we had to worry about in terms of Hollywood's manipulation of historical and cultural accuracy then we could all sleep soundly.

[TomaxBackwards]

Okay, this and the other clip from this movie make it official. Debra Paget is the hottest thing to have ever frickin' BREATHED.

[Kharmine]

Possibly the best dancing I've ever ever seen her do. Thanks for sharing!

[bellydonga]

is it possible to get the music somewhere ?

[astrogotico]

hermosa mujer debra paget

[tinger4561]

her dance is always wonderful...

[tinger4561]

her dance is always wonerful..

[DemonaBast]

She's great!My favorite dancer of all times!!!Love it!

[bheast86]

isn't there a classsic clip with a magician from this movie?

[pwgr2000]

Hi, sorry I never responded to this question.

I think you must be referring to the scene where a magician performs the Indian rope trick at a dinner help at the Maharajah's palace.

[Davodoo]

Great actress...but there is another one in this movie where she dance with a snake isn't it?

[pwgr2000]

Hi, this page would not accept the response I tried to post to this question but that problem seems to be fixed now.

Yes, there is a German language version of that dance on Youtube. I have been trying to put together an English version of it to add to my Cheesecake Dance series but I still haven't licked it. It always comes out in German, no matter what I do.

However, I haven't given up trying.