The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968)

Rachel arrives in New York from her Amish community intent on becoming a dancer. Unfortunately Billy Minsky's Burlesque is hardly the place for her Dances From The Bible. But the show's ... See full summary »

Director:

William Friedkin

Writers:

Arnold Schulman (screenplay), Sidney Michaels (screenplay),

Stars:

Jason Robards, Britt Ekland, Norman Wisdom

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Robards	...	Raymond Paine
Britt Ekland	...	Rachel Schpitendavel
Norman Wisdom	...	Chick Williams
Forrest Tucker	...	Trim Houlihan
Harry Andrews	...	Jacob Schpitendavel
Joseph Wiseman	...	Louis Minsky
Denholm Elliott	...	Vance Fowler
Elliott Gould	...	Billy Minsky
Jack Burns	...	Candy Butcher
Bert Lahr	...	Professor Spats
Gloria LeRoy	...	Mae Harris
Eddie Lawrence	...	Scratch
Dexter Maitland	...	Duffy
Lillian Hayman	...	Singer in Speakeasy
Richard Libertini	...	Pockets (as Dick Libertini)

Storyline

Rachel arrives in New York from her Amish community intent on becoming a dancer. Unfortunately Billy Minsky's Burlesque is hardly the place for her Dances From The Bible. But the show's comedian Raymond sees a way of wrong-footing the local do-gooders by announcing the new Paris sensation "Mme Fifi" and putting on Rachel's performance as the place is raided. All too complicated, the more so since her father is scouring the town for her and both Raymond and his straight-man Chick are falling for Rachel.

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Plot Keywords:

amish | murphy bed | punctuation in title | stripper | new york city | 

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Taglines:

In 1925 there was this real religious girl, and by accident -- she invented the striptease. This real religious girl.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for suggestive content and brief nudity

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 December 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Night They Invented Striptease

Filming Locations:

Myrtle Avenue Elevated Subway, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tandem Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Britt Ekland has a body-double for the topless scene.

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Goofs

Stock footage shown in reverse. Shot from raised track after Rachel is first seen looking out train window in opening sequence shows old, B/W footage of people walking on street below. As train "approaches" the street corner below, a man can be seen walking backwards.

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Quotes

Jacob Schpitendavel: I need your help, Louis Minsky. My daughter will not be welcome in my home if she stays the night to dance upon your son's stage. There is a train in 51 minutes. You must tell your son to see she is on it.
Louis Minsky: You see this chair? Tell it to dance. See if it listens. That's how much my Billy listens to me.

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Crazy Credits

The words in the title flash on the screen individually in between shots of the raiding vice cops.

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Connections

Referenced in The Directors: The Films of William Friedkin

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Soundtracks

"You Rat You"
(uncredited)
Music by Charles Strouse
Lyrics by Lee Adams

User Reviews

Why Don't You All Love This Film?

Why doesn't everybody just love this movie? It is one of most delightful comedies that I have ever seen. I saw it when it first came out in the cinema and watched it three times that first week and at least four times since.

It is a very stylized movie, with an introductory narration right out of the 1920's. The style carries right through the film, with wonderful vaudeville routines. The "girls" are not particularly beautiful and are, by current standards a little overweight. Also they seem to be going through the motions with a variety of personalities. They do not have beautiful singing voices and they do not dance in perfect synchronization but nobody, especially them, seems to care. Burlesque is, after all, light entertainment. The comedy skits are very simple and unintelligent but they are performed with great panache. Sir Norman Wisdom (born 1915), the great British stage and screen clown of the Charlie Chaplin ilk, and Jason Robards Jr., the dapper Oscar-winning, American actor of the classic stage are the two central male characters and are both attracted to the beautiful Amish girl who has left home to dance stories from the Bible on stage. Wisdom is a master clown and can move in ways that are magically humorous. Burlesque has two meanings, with two spellings: - a humorous and provocative stage show featuring slapstick humour, comic skits, bawdy songs, striptease acts, and a scantily clad female chorus. (Burlesk) - an artistic composition, especially literary or dramatic, that, for the sake of laughter, vulgarizes lofty material or treats ordinary material with mock dignity. (Burlesque) The movie is a burlesque about burlesk. It also makes fun of religion, stage performances, censorship, prudery, friendship, business, fraud, crime, police, audience intelligence, class distinction, love, seduction, hypocrisy, etc. The mood is intense from start to finish, with several collages of scenes from the past and the movie's present. When I was not laughing out loud, I was laughing inside. The comedy on the stage is very elementary but the comedy in the story is often quite subtle and intelligent. Back to the initial question — I think that the movie may be too stylized for many people to enjoy, especially since the style has long been almost extinct. But if one accepts the style and allows oneself to become immersed in it and flow with it, the movie can be great.