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.
Review of Lady of Burlesque
