| Director | Benjamin Stoloff, Hal Yates |
|---|
Footlight Varieties has no storyline; the film simulates a variety hour as might be seen in a theater or on television. Jack Paar delivers an opening monologue, and introduces a big-band number by Frankie Carle and his orchestra (from the 1947 musical short Carle Comes Calling). The Sportsmen quartet sings three selections, and there is a display of comic trick photography by Weegee. Leon Errol is seen in a lengthy extract from his 1944 two-reel comedy He Forgot to Remember. In a comedy sketch, Red Buttons plays a contestant on a radio quiz show, opposite emcee Paar. A silent-movie revival taken from Flicker Flashbacks #12 (1945) presents "Confidence", filmed by D. W. Griffith in 1909, with wisecracking narration by Jack Paar. Liberace performs classical and boogie-woogie piano. Inesita offers a solo flamenco dance. Then-current jukebox favorites Jerry Murad's Harmonicats play "Fantasie Impromptu" and "The Galloping Comedians". Dancer Grace Romanos demonstrates "The Love Rumba", a roughhouse comedy routine with Paar on the receiving end of her sharp slaps and blows. A production number with eccentric dancers Buster West and Melissa Mason (from 1938's Radio City Revels) is followed by a closing song by the Sportsmen.