You won't be disappointed!

Wow! Such a good movie.

Good concept, poorly executed.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

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.

"Lady of Burlesque" started out with two problems. In 1942, the Production Code wouldn't allow even a hint of what burlesque was all about -- the seductive removal of feminine attire down to the buff. Then there was the murder mystery which wasn't much. But thanks to Barbara Stanwyck's sprightly performance, William Wellman's fast-paced direction and a knowing nod to the spirit (if not the "take it off, take it all off" reality of burlesque,) it's a thoroughly entertaining movie. Stanwyck sings, dances, wisecracks in lowbrow comedy routines and suggests the depth of a performer who strives for -- and just might achieve -- classier stardom. She's ably supported by Michael O'Shea as the comic who lusts after her, Pinky Lee (with whom she shares some wonderfully acrobatic slapstick) and a chorus line of potential murder victims. Who bumps off two of them -- and why -- hardly seems to matter. Watching Stanwyck strut her stuff, coupled with the film's authentic backstage atmosphere, makes this "Lady" well worth watching.

Some of my observations: I give it a ten. Barbara Stanwyck in an eye popping performance, played against the goofy baggy pants clown sidekick. I adored seeing Pinky Lee, he of the TV show of my childhood. Black and white is not my favorite, but it had to suffice.Stanwyck gave the illusion of bumping and grinding, ala the Hays Code which forbade such graphic realism. 1943 was smack in the middle of World War Two. This was a good performance for all those fighting servicemen (was this movie shown overseas in their duty stations?). Apparently the War Code plus the Hays Code did a number on the depictions and performances, but the direction was smooth and exacting.Mae West also was an author and widely censored. I thought of her when I was reading about Gypsy Rose Lee's authorship endeavors. Both women are still household names, and evoke visions of sultry sexiness and vampy delivery. Both women had brains, and were very shrewd and inventive performers -- knowing what the public (read "men") wanted.1940s was also a time of movies about bucolic rural-type small town and historical situations, Meet me in St. Louis, etc., State Fair, The Best Years of Our Lives, National Velvet, Lassie Come Home, not to mention the late 1930s classics Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind. Then there were the gangster bw noir movies, but that's another story. Some more late 1930s early 1940s movies were Stage Coach, Alexander's Ragtime Band and Weekend in Havana.Lady of Burlesque was about a sleazy, brassy, cheap jewelry, dyed hair, backstage world of a former opera house that was recently converted to presenting cranky, trashy, vulgar, vindictive, bitchy bump-and-grind female performers in very little garb. If I say bitchiness, I am only copying other reviewers. Men really liked this type of entertainment better; they wanted to see a lot of skin. (Did I mention sin?). In those other movies above mentioned, people kind of kept their clothes on. Barbara Stanwyck's character here was not trashy; she managed to have some class.Barbara Stanwyck? No other name star in the movie. She was the lead. Pinky was the only other actor I had ever heard of. Could Barbara be sexy? YESSSSSS!!!!! To wit, remember her in The Thorn Birds mini series. She was an elderly wealthy woman in love with the handsome priest. She pulled out all the stops to come on to the way-younger Father Ralph de Bricassart (Richard Chamberlain). Barbara was jealous of the young ingénue female lead.Barbara was a gas in Ball of Fire. Indeed. Showing those geeky nerds how to dance. She had the legs to go with all of the steps. Talk about her opposite Fred MacMurray. I would rather see her in Lady of Burlesque.I am impressed. She could play against type. She could play any part. She knew the score. She had a very good, low singing voice in Lady of Burlesque.More observations: These women performers in this movie were not "housewives". They did not wait on husbands and children all day, serving them cocoa and washing their faces. The women were called "girls", which was appropriate for 1943 but way sexist by our current ideals. With all of their gangster boyfriends, can you imagine how many abortions they had in order to continue their careers? Abortion is the oldest form of birth control. Side note: "girls" could have killed each other, and probably did in real life, without waiting on the male murderers to do the job. There was so much jealousy and literal and figurative back-stabbing, perhaps, behind the scenes.Barbara as Dixie/Gypsy (rhymes, sort of?) Be happy Dixie Daisy (Daisy = Rose) was there. She had the best legs. She had breathtaking, ladylike yet sultry costumes. She obviously made more money than the other performers. She was the Headliner. Yes, one of her songs said she gave tons of money to Mother every week.I am a movie historian, and student of the lives of stage/movie/vaudeville/burlesque actors, dancers, singers, directors, producers and impresarios in history and of the current day.10/10

If you're looking for authenticity, atmosphere and the stink of flop sweat then this is for you. Gypsy Rose Lee prevailed on room-mate Craig Rice to help whip her memoirs of burlesque into shape and throw in a murder or two for ballast and William A. Wellman does his usual pro job behind the camera. In 1943 there was no way you could show stripping - which was, of course, the main attraction of burlesque - but what we do get is actual Top Banana-Second Banana routines that had been used in burlecue since year One. With hindsight we can compare the atmosphere to Gypsy -both in stage and film form - and Sugar Babies, which revived the format in the eightiesbut this is the next best thing to being there. Don't miss it.