Lady of Burlesque (1943)

After one member of their group is murdered, the performers at a burlesque house must work together to find out who the killer is before they strike again.

Director:

William A. Wellman

Writers:

Gypsy Rose Lee (novel), James Gunn (screenplay)

Stars:

Barbara Stanwyck, Michael O'Shea, J. Edward Bromberg

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Barbara Stanwyck	...	Deborah Hoople - aka Dixie Daisy
Michael O'Shea	...	Biff Brannigan
J. Edward Bromberg	...	S.B. Foss
Iris Adrian	...	Gee Gee Graham
Gloria Dickson	...	Dolly Baxter
Victoria Faust	...	Lolita La Verne
Stephanie Bachelor	...	The Princess Nirvena
Charles Dingle	...	Inspector Harrigan
Marion Martin	...	Alice Angel
Pete Gordon	...	Officer Pat Kelly (as Eddie Gordon)
Frank Fenton	...	Russell Rogers
Pinky Lee	...	Mandy
Frank Conroy	...	'Stacchi' Stacciaro
Lew Kelly	...	The Hermit
Claire Carleton	...	Sandra

Storyline

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. Also 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.

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Plot Keywords:

g string | romantic rivalry | manipulative female | female jealousy | possessive female | 

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Taglines:

GIRLS and GAGS! MUSIC and MIRTH!

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Genres:

Comedy | Music | Mystery | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 May 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

G-String Murders

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hunt Stromberg Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A studio plot synopsis indicates that the film originally contained the following opening scene: Burlesque dancers "Dixie Daisy" and "Gee Gee Graham" perform in Columbus, Ohio. While eating breakfast in a cafeteria one morning they read the tea leaves in the bottom of their cups, and see a trip and violent death predicted for their future. Just then Dixie receives a telegram from burlesque impresario "S.B. Foss" inviting her to perform at his theater in New York. Dixie makes her debut a week later. As this scene was not included in the viewed print, and is not referred to in reviews, it may have been cut prior to the film's press preview.

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Goofs

When Dixie and Biff are at the bar after the raid, the amount of beer in Biff's glass keeps changing between shots.

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Quotes

Biff: [discover a dead burlesque dancer in the closet] Look, around her neck.
Dixie: It's her g-string.
Biff: It ain't there for an ornament either.

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Connections

Featured in Biography: Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line (1997)

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Soundtracks

Ireland Must Be Heaven
(uncredited)
Written by Fred Fisher, Howard Johnson and Joseph McCarthy

User Reviews

Who Is Killing The Great Ladies of Burlesque?

Barbara Stanwyck got to really show her versatility in Lady of Burlesque doing a couple of numbers that did make me wonder why she didn't try to do a full blown musical. Of course she had the best of inspiration in a book that was partially written by the one and only Gypsy Rose Lee.

Gypsy needed a ghostwriter, but she certainly knew the world of burlesque as none other. So with Craig Rice's ghostwriting they fashioned a murder mystery set in the burlesque world. Somebody is killing the strippers at a burlesque theater and Barbara isn't sitting around waiting to be the next victim. With the help of comic Michael O'Shea she's going to find the perpetrator before she gets done in with her G String.

A lovely group of movie queens help Barbara out in this film. Playing some of her peers are Iris Adrian, Gloria Dickson, Marion Martin, Janis Carter, Stephanie Bachelor, and Victoria Faust. Some of these don't make it to the end of the picture.

Playing another of the comics is Pinky Lee who I well remember because I used to watch his kid's television show back in my salad days. Pinky was as frantic as I remember him and he does a mean jitterbug with Stanwyck.

William Wellman as director keeps the pace of things going pretty nicely. And if you're a leg man, this picture will leave you nothing to complain about. As for the murderer, here's a hint, it's roughly the equivalent of the butler doing it.