[Souvenir Theatre Programme] Revudeville at the Windmill "We Never Closed" Theatre. 30th Souvenir

London: Windmill Theatre -- Van Damm Productions. Printer: Dewynters Ltd., London, 1956. First Edition. Wraps. Stapled. Very Good. A profusely illustrated souvenir program from the legendary Princess Theatre in Soho of London, a theatre whose story was the basis of not one but two major motion pictures, the first, released in 1945, starring Rita Hayworth, and the second, "Mrs. Henderson Presents", released in 2005, with Judi Dench playing the matron whose brainchild was to feature nude pin-up beauties on stage in tableaux vivantes which was passed the censors' review as long as the women didn't move. The small theatre became a big success during the Second World War packing in GIs. Mrs. Henderson was motivated supposedly by the memory of her son who was a casualty during the First World War and the thought that a nudie show could have brought him a few moments of joy in his last days of grim soldiering. Her other innovation was to keep the show going 24 hours a day, since a soldier could not know when he might have an hour or two of free time. And so the performance never stopped, not even for the Blitz. Although the theatre was associated with its wartime service, Mrs. Henderson herself passed away in 1944. The theatre stayed in business until 1964, when it became a movie theatre. This is a program from its postwar life, and we date the program based on it being from the 25th year of the theatre, which was named the Windmill in 1931. N.d., circa 1956. 4to. 28 by 21.5 cm. Unpaginated, 20 pages, including wrap covers. Photos on every single page, with a generous helping of nudes, shown explicitly in the tasteful manner of early "Playboy". Their are four full page nudie cheesecake photos, plus a few full page photos of the entertainers in suggestive or skimpy attire. But there was plenty of other entertainment, maybe filler, in the show, and so many photos capture the dancing and comedy routines that do give a sense of the theatre's mix of entertainment. Two pages with small headshots of the distaff talent -- 40 such photos in all. The rear cover is an ad for the history of the theatre, with the same title as the Hayworth movie, but published first in 1952, well after the movie's release. The souvenir program has amoderate amount of wear, with a vertical center crease noticeable down the front cover. (Inventory #: 20499)