LADY OF BURLESQUE
US, 1943, 91 minutes, Black and white.
Barbara Stanwyck, Michael O’ Shea, Iris Adrian, Charles Dingle, Janis Carter.
Directed by William A. Wellman.
Lady of Burlesque is a murder mystery with comedy. It is quick-paced, has the overtones of the screwball comedies of the thirties and looks as if made on a B Budget. The strength of the film comes from Barbara Stanwyck in the central role. The original novel was called The G- String Murders and was written by Gypsy Rose Lee. Direction is by William A. Wellman, well noted for his westerns and for his dramas of flight from Wings to The High And The Mighty. It looks as though he and the cast took time off for relaxation. The film is a postscript to the main flow of entertainment from Hollywood in the forties. It has a rough and ready entertainment value.
1. How entertaining a thriller comedy? Its impact in the 1940s? Now?
2. Its use of' the conventions of burlesque theatre and musical presentation, comedy techniques, backstage story, murder mystery and the revelation of the murderer and motives? Were the conventions the usual ones or different?
3. The quality of the black and white photography, the evident use of sets, the styles of acting, quick repartee? The music and the songs?
4. How credible was the plot? The presentation of the burlesque girls, the people who work backstage, the gangster background, the romantic background? The basic credibility of the motives for murder? The murders themselves?
5. How attractive was the heroine? Daisy as a lady of burlesque, Barbara Stanwyck’s style, her wisecracking ways, her friendship with the other girls and leading them? Audience applause for her? Her suitor and the romantic background? Her quick thinking and allowing herself to be tested to reveal the murderer?
6. Comment on the various insights given to the girls in burlesque, the satirical tones of their talk, manners, belief in themselves, the warmth with which they were presented? The women who were murdered as being flashy and harsh examples of ladies of burlesque?
7. The presentation of the men: the presentation of comics and comments on them, the police doing their job, the manager of the theatre, the stage hands? Gangsters? The various suspects? The revelation of' the murderer and his character?
8. Were there any special effects that made this film stand out of the ordinary? Or was it an effective murder mystery for its times? An example 40s film making?
