Lady of Burlesque
Directed by William A. Wellman
Written by James Gunn from the novel by Gypsy Rose Lee
1943/USA
Hunt Stromberg Productions
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Biff: What’s the matter with comics?
Dixie: I went into show business when I was seven years old. Two days later the first comic I ever met stole my piggy bank in a railroad station in Portland. When I was 11 the comics were looking at my ankles. When I was 14 they were…just looking. When I was 20 I’d been stuck with enough lunch checks to pay for a three-story house. Naw, they’re shiftless, dame-chasing, ambitionless…[/box]
This is a reasonably entertaining low-budget mystery/comedy with the always excellent Barbara Stanwyck in the title role.
Dixie Daisy (Stanwyck) is the newest headliner in a pretty sedate burlesque show. She has grander ambitions and a life-long grudge against comics. Naturally, she is pursued by one, Biff Branigan. When Dixie is attacked back stage and other burlesque artistes start being strangled with their own G-strings, she and Biff become allies in solving the crimes.
This one has a little bit of everything – snippets of burlesque acts (the camera discretely changes focus during the bumps), plenty of backstage banter and catfights, romance, and of course the mystery. Stanwyck is good as the hard-nosed Dixie. She’s an enthusiastic dancer if not the world’s greatest singer.
Lady of Burlesque was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.
Stanwyck and company sing and dance to “The G-String Song”
I had a lot of trouble accepting Stanwyck as a burlesque performer and thought she was miscast. But she is good, as usual, and this is a tidy little film but not necessarily a keeper.
She certainly doesn’t have the right body to be a stripper and seemed a bit uncomfortable when doing her act. It’s funny because she was so wonderful in the same kind of part in Ball of Fire.