Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Lechuguilla It's a good thing Barbara Stanwyck graduated to better scripts. Had she remained in films like this she would never have become a star. Hubbub and chaotic backstage drama in a NYC burlesque theater set the stage, so to speak, for a backstage murder.Stanwyck plays Dixie Daisy, a slightly sleazy performer who sings and dances to an audience composed mostly of salivating old men. Dixie's female backup performers are young, curvaceous, bawdy "dames" who wear over-sized hats. The theater's backstage milieu looks and sounds as mocking and caustic as one would expect for such an ignoble place. And amid this baseness a murderer lurks.The script is talky and the pace seems rushed. Despite the tacky superficiality of the characters, they all seem troubled and hurting at a deeper level. The plot moves along quickly with occasional stage performances interspersed with interpersonal relations, not the least of which is a budding romance between Dixie and comic Biff Brannigan (Michael O'Shea). The film's tone abruptly changes, at the midpoint plot turn, from snappy and light to serious and subdued once the murder occurs. The whodunit mystery is interesting, and the identity of the killer was quite a surprise to me.B&W cinematography is adequate if ever so slightly blurry. Sound quality in the copy I watched was better than most films from that era. Prod design appears cheap and minimal. Casting is acceptable except for Stanwyck, who looks too old for the role of Dixie. Yet there's almost no better actress, regardless of what role she happens to be playing. Those lady's hats, enormous and grandiose, add interest to the visuals."Lady Of Burlesque" presents us with a 1940s theater setting that looks and sounds cheap and tawdry. But the murder mystery element adds depth and interest that ups what would otherwise be my negative opinion of this film. And despite being poorly cast, Barbara Stanwyck slaps on considerable value that only she could have provided in that film era.

arfdawg-1 Sassy Dixie Daisy is the hot new attraction at a former opera house that's been turned into a burlesque theater. She's popular with the customers, although not with Lolita La Verne, a stuck-up diva who was hoping she'd get the top spot. Complicating matters is the return of the Princess Nirvena, the show's former star who once had a fling with the boss. When the Princess blackmails her way into the top spot, Dixie is none too pleased. When both Lolita and the Princess are murdered, Dixie becomes a prime suspect. She then sets up a trap to nail the real killer.I guess this is public domain because the print I watched this on looked like it was taken off the TV. I know this has some good reviews, but for me it was only good as a period piece, looking at the transition of burlesque close to its last days soon to be replaced by hard core porn.I didn't find much else that rewarding in the watching.UPDATE: Well i found a significantly better print and watched it again. It's still not a great film. William Wellman was well past his prime, man. The early-mid 40s were a time when Hollywood was making murder mysteries. Everybody was making them. There are far better examples out there.

free2emailus Couple of things to remember when you're waiting for something to happen (and it does take about thirty minutes for things to get interesting). *This has plenty of skimpy costumes and leg shots for the boys in the war effort. The ladies didn't have to do much to be welcome on a screen for soldiers and Stanwyck's Edith Head hose went as high as they dared. *There's a nostalgia effort going on here - it was 20 years since the best of vaudeville in 1943 and something American culture does brilliantly is look back in twenty year spans. The 40s came into vogue in the 60s and also, briefly, the 20s fashions again. In the 70s, we looked back at the 50s and so on, so some of this was meant to try and capture burlesque, vaudeville's seedier, coarser cousin. *Stanwyck was looking to take on challenging roles that others would turn down. She had also finished two serious roles and wanted something more fun - the chance to dance and sing. She researched and learned some bumps and grinds that were filmed, but when studio heads and the Hays office saw the rushes of her and the COuntess doing them, they were cut. We get the reaction shots instead. Those bumps and grinds would make for very interesting DVD extras. *Stany sang with her own voice in this one - very low and throaty - and they try like mad to make the song a hit by doing two or three reprises. It's somewhat catchy but what person of morals would buy sheet music to a stripper song? Where would you sing it?! *Michael O'Shea, the love interest, really did start in Vaudeville, and this was his big chance (Stany was a hoofer/chorine on Broadway till a featured role in Burlesque(1926) sent her on her way). This was his big year, with Jack London and The Eve of St. Mark also released. He didn't have a strong enough film presence to sustain a career but he's likable enough and had several good supporting roles and a hit 50s TV show, although his role here required him to spit out groaner after groaner. Real Brulesque was full of double entendres and crappy jokes, spun out one after the other; if one was bad, another came along to take your mind off it. There are other Vaudeville/Burlesque stars tucked here and there, notably Pinky Lee (Oh ya make me so mad) but the girls were mostly starlets. I do love Stany, and once Charles Dingle steps in as the Inspector, the mystery and snappy one liners take hold. However, this is one dated film, maybe from the War audience and nostalgia aspects, the ill suited songs or a script that doesn't find its footing until we wonder why we're watching. A lesser actress might've been hurt, but half a year later, she was shooting Double Indemnity with Billy Wilder, no worse for wear.

MartinHafer This is a truly amazing film. Considering the adult content of the film, it's amazing that it was made during the era where the Production Code was so rigidly enforced AND it's amazing that some major Hollywood talent associated themselves with such a sleazy and silly film. The movie is directed by the very well respected William Wellman--the same man responsible for such classics as ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT. In the starring role is Barbara Stanwyck--an A-list actress in a decidedly B-list film! So why is the film so sleazy? Well, the setting is a burlesque house and the original title for the story was THE G-STRING MURDERS! While people are killed in a variety of ways, one is found with a G-string wrapped around her throat. Additionally, the women in the film all look very cheap and act like tramps--with lots of cat fights and juicy dialog! In many ways, this film looks like a 1930s Pre-Code or Exploitation Film--not the product of a mainstream studio during the rather stuffy 1940s! How this actually got made and was allowed to be released is a mystery--as well as how they got very respected talent to appear in a poorly written and shabby production.Had this movie not starred Stanwyck and been directed by Wellman, I really doubt if it would have been widely released, as the film looks very cheap and suffers from a rather dull script. In fact, I doubt that a poverty row studio like Monogram would have been proud of the product! The bottom line is that this is a salacious film and it's a great curiosity piece. However, once you get past seeing talented people doing their best to ruin their careers, there really isn't much this film has to offer as far as entertainment value goes. It isn't sleazy enough to appeal to adult film fans and it's just crude enough to make it a bit of a guilty pleasure--nothing more. A bizarre and sub-par film.