You'd expect to see a fair amount of skin in a movie about burlesque, but not a movie set in the 40's with censorship so prevalent. One watching this film for the scenery and the eye-candy will be pleasantly surprised: for its era, it delivers.
This movie doesn't get interesting until the murders begin, and that doesn't happen until about halfway through. Till then, we're forced to endure all the stripper archetypes: there's the prima donna (Princess Nervina), the bitch (Lolita Laverne), the airhead (Alice Angel), the fat chick (Dolly), the pal (Gee Gee), and the straight arrow (Dixie). There is also the obligatory abusive boyfriend. The repartee is sharp; no quarter is asked and none given, and these women all have tongues that cut deep and leave scars. Burlesque, for all the romance associated with it, was not a fun place to work, and the bad plumbing, a "bit" that runs through the first part of the movie, is the least of it.
When some of the girls start dying, the focus of the movie shifts to the murders, and starts to get interesting. Everybody takes a turn as the suspect, including our heroine, Dixie, and in the truth-will-out process of these movie murder investigations, everybody's dirty laundry is put on view.
The killer is finally caught, and it turns out to be the last person we'd suspect. Charles Dingle, as the overbearing police inspector, really shines here, and his constant grilling and rhetorical questions put to the club employees really make this part of the movie as good as it is.
Stanwyck is very good in this picture as Dixie, but she is not a dancer, at least, not a very good dancer. When she's bumping and grinding, it's all music and the power of suggestion, because only her face is seen. She takes a turn jitterbugging with Pinky Lee, and even does a cartwheel! The cartwheel was filmed in two takes and spliced together, but it was almost certainly Stanwyck, and not a double, in both takes. Not bad for a thirty-something, and not bad, either, the way she filled her costumes. She was a *very* attractive woman in this picture, and the cat-calls and wolf-whistles directed at her were believable and deserved, not just sound effects.
Marion Martin deserves special mention. She has several scenes as the gorgeous blonde airhead, one scene in particular where she's walking down a flight of stairs that are incredible. The woman has no clue, but she knows how good looking she is, and the effect those looks have on the men around her. Makes you wonder sometimes whether those censors are actually paying attention ..
And, on that note, it is worth noting here, that the abusive boyfriend actually strikes Lolita Laverne. No, we don't see him do it. But, we do see him wind up, and we hear the sound of the impact. Plus, several minutes are given to her reaction to the blow. People of our era think that we invented this kind of movie realism, that it didn't exist until the 1960's or so, and I'm always surprised to see examples of such forbidden topics in films of the 30's and 40's.
I really can't rate this movie all that high. Barbara Stanwyck is good, but not great. She gave many better performances. The eye-candy is pleasant, and the murder mystery engaging, but this movie took me closer to the world of burlesque than I wanted to be, and I found the closeness a bit uncomfortable. 6 out of 10.
This movie doesn't get interesting until the murders begin, and that doesn't happen until about halfway through. Till then, we're forced to endure all the stripper archetypes: there's the prima donna (Princess Nervina), the bitch (Lolita Laverne), the airhead (Alice Angel), the fat chick (Dolly), the pal (Gee Gee), and the straight arrow (Dixie). There is also the obligatory abusive boyfriend. The repartee is sharp; no quarter is asked and none given, and these women all have tongues that cut deep and leave scars. Burlesque, for all the romance associated with it, was not a fun place to work, and the bad plumbing, a "bit" that runs through the first part of the movie, is the least of it.
When some of the girls start dying, the focus of the movie shifts to the murders, and starts to get interesting. Everybody takes a turn as the suspect, including our heroine, Dixie, and in the truth-will-out process of these movie murder investigations, everybody's dirty laundry is put on view.
The killer is finally caught, and it turns out to be the last person we'd suspect. Charles Dingle, as the overbearing police inspector, really shines here, and his constant grilling and rhetorical questions put to the club employees really make this part of the movie as good as it is.
Stanwyck is very good in this picture as Dixie, but she is not a dancer, at least, not a very good dancer. When she's bumping and grinding, it's all music and the power of suggestion, because only her face is seen. She takes a turn jitterbugging with Pinky Lee, and even does a cartwheel! The cartwheel was filmed in two takes and spliced together, but it was almost certainly Stanwyck, and not a double, in both takes. Not bad for a thirty-something, and not bad, either, the way she filled her costumes. She was a *very* attractive woman in this picture, and the cat-calls and wolf-whistles directed at her were believable and deserved, not just sound effects.
Marion Martin deserves special mention. She has several scenes as the gorgeous blonde airhead, one scene in particular where she's walking down a flight of stairs that are incredible. The woman has no clue, but she knows how good looking she is, and the effect those looks have on the men around her. Makes you wonder sometimes whether those censors are actually paying attention ..
And, on that note, it is worth noting here, that the abusive boyfriend actually strikes Lolita Laverne. No, we don't see him do it. But, we do see him wind up, and we hear the sound of the impact. Plus, several minutes are given to her reaction to the blow. People of our era think that we invented this kind of movie realism, that it didn't exist until the 1960's or so, and I'm always surprised to see examples of such forbidden topics in films of the 30's and 40's.
I really can't rate this movie all that high. Barbara Stanwyck is good, but not great. She gave many better performances. The eye-candy is pleasant, and the murder mystery engaging, but this movie took me closer to the world of burlesque than I wanted to be, and I found the closeness a bit uncomfortable. 6 out of 10.