Tattooed Lady of Riverview, The

Transcript (Download)

You You You You Yeah For 15 years John Carson and Jean Furella were in love They would meet and sigh and part broken -hearted like lovers crossed by fate through the ages For there was a barrier between them that seemed insuperable The barrier that kept the lovers apart was a long luxuriant dark silky beard The couple discussed their plight one day with a mutual friend of long -standing The friend is Alex Linton who is famous all over the United States and many foreign countries Where he has thrilled countless thousands with his artistry? Mr.

Linton is a swallower of swords he works in circuses and in carnivals and Mr.

Linton miraculously came up with a solution of the problem that had been solely trying his two friends for so many years Why not said Mr.

Linton have your beard removed? You say that you want to stay in show business Well suppose you remove your beard and then while it is being done you get yourself tattooed Mr.

Linton leaned forward in his seat tense with the excitement of his inspired thought But careful nonetheless of the wicked blade he had been cleaning after his sword -swallowing act Then he continued You will still be able to work in circuses and carnivals because you will be just as great an attraction to the public Maybe even a greater attraction a tattooed lady is an even greater rarity than a bearded lady Oh Good evening ladies and gentlemen When I remove my robe To your amazement you will gaze upon a body that's pretty well covered With all beautiful work of art as Bob Ripley always says in his column believe it or not I do have a little bit more than 700 I'm Going to name some of the beautiful designs for you the right eye by crowning all thorns The little red cross nurse of no man's land the left eye the rock of ages American Beauty and all her maidens when I turn around You will see on my back One of the largest design that ever was placed upon the human body And will you see my hand? That's where that design ends and That is the world's famous picture of the holy family in full detail That design took me Six months to have it done the reason why you took so long Because each figure was placed there one at a time The only parts of my body that isn't Tattooed that from the elbows down and from my collar then up The rest of my body it is completely covered It Was 18 years ago said John Carson that I first laid eyes on Jean She had just joined our show the Hagenbach and Wallace circus It was and she was 14 years old and beautiful What I mean is she had a gorgeous figure But she had this beard There are a lot of girls around a circus, you know a lot of beautiful girls, but I could never take my mind off Jean even with the beard Mr.

Carson shook his head roof.

I loved her But I just couldn't bring myself to make love to her.

I just couldn't kiss her It always seemed to me It would be like kissing my uncle Misses John Carson the former Jean Cruella had tears in her eyes Although she was smiling joyfully as she told the story of the happy solution of her dilemma I was one of the few real honest -to -goodness bearded ladies in the business she said Most of the bearded ladies you see around are fakers And I was happy Except that I loved John here and he loved me But he just couldn't see his way clear to marry me while I had a beard Oh Oh Jean laughs I Never did get kissed she said until three years ago when my beard was finally all off and John and I became engaged It was just like I always thought it would be it was like electricity You Know Ladies and gentlemen the last and the final portion of the act is now coming up Which is my version of the eyeball twist Speaking of a twist incidentally you actually first gonna see the left and then the right First the left and then the right one right behind the other one within the tempers and the rotations to a twist beat Check it out ladies and gentlemen, okay? Okay, may I be free to say to each and everyone thank you all very much and hey, please

Identifier

F.2013-08-0037

Date Of Production

1967

Description

"The once teeming Riverview Park was shut down in 1967 (with Tom Palazzolo on hand to document the bitter end). The Tattooed Lady of Riverview is a portrait of its final occupant, Jean Furella, the titular tattooed lady of Riverview's sideshow. Furella first tells how she used to work at the sideshow as a bearded lady but fell in love with a man who asked her to shave. Then gives her carnival barker's spiel one more time for the camera. Quick cuts between frenetic shots of Riverview Park, in use and full of life, and later images of its demolition-in-progress lend to the carnival atmosphere of this early Palazzolo film." —Tom Fritsche (Fandor)

This film was photochemically preserved by Chicago Filmmakers in 2005 thanks to an Avant-Garde Masters Grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation/The Film Foundation.

Run Time

0:14:11

Format

16mm

Extent

500 feet

Color

Sound

Optical

Reel/Tape Number

1/1

Has Been Digitized?

Yes

Language Of Materials

English

Element

Genre

Documentary

Form

Short

Subject

Amusement parks
Love
Performance art

Related Collections

SERIES I: Finished Films by Tom Palazzolo

Related Places

North America ➜ United States ➜ Illinois ➜ Chicago

Main Credits

Palazzolo, Tom (is filmmaker)

Do you know more about this item?

If you have more information about this item please contact us at info@chicagofilmarchives.com.