Footlight Varieties was the third and last of a series of RKO all-star musical revues. Unlike Variety Time (1948) and Make Mine Laughs (1949), both of which were largely comprised of stock footage from earlier RKO features, much of the material in Varieties was newly filmed. A young Jack Paar hosted the proceedings, while the guest-star roster included Liberace, Red Buttons, The Sportsmen Quartet, Jerry Murad's Harmonicats, Inetsia and Grace Romanos. "Revived" material included a complete Leon Errol 2-reeler, He Forgot to Remember; an installment of Richard Fleischer's Flicker Flashbacks series; snippets from Radio City Revels (1937) and the musical short Carle Comes Calling. The film's highlight is Jack Paar's reluctant participation in an energetic dance number.