Looking much as she did as Sugarpuss O'Shea in 1941's classic screwball comedy "Ball of Fire", Barbara Stanwyck takes on an even tougher character here as Dixie Daisy, the guest-star headlining a Broadway burlesque show while the pretentious fake Russian princess (Stephanie Bachelor) is in the hospital. Stanwyck has become an audience favorite in that short time and has endeared herself to the chorus girls and crew members as well with her no-nonsense personality. It is to her advantage that the snooty Bachelor is pretty much hated by everybody else and is revealed to be a blackmailer of the burlesque theater owner (J. Edward Bromberg). When another trouble-making chorus girl (Victoria Faust) is found murdered, everybody is suspect, and detective Charles Dingle utilizes every clue he finds in tracking down the murderer while Stanwyck finds romance with the comic (Michael O'Shea) she initially couldn't stand.
While this seems to be a low-budget second feature, its cast and director (William Wellman) debate that assumption, and it appears that the "cheap" look of the film was utilized to point out the "cheap" atmosphere that was the last days of Times Square burlesque shows. Some of the skits and gags are straight out of the greatest sketches of that format of entertainment, re-captured years later in the musical revue "Sugar Babies" and the recent Nathan Lane play, "The Nance". While Stanwyck was obviously dubbed singing "Drum Boogie" in "Ball of Fire", she uses her own husky singing voice here, talking much of it, but utilizing bumps and grinds that make it surprising to see one of the top "A" listers of the golden age of film doing something so out of character. Then, when she does a bit of a break dance routine with fellow performer O'Shea, you just might find your jaw dropping, as it appears that no stunt double was used.
Stanwyck is surrounded by three of the great tough girls of the screen, brassy Iris Adrian (whom I at first thought was Veda Ann Borg), dizzy Marion Martin (looking fantastic in a headpiece which sort of looks like a wicker chair) and loyal Gloria Dickson who spout off wisecracks as if they were biting into a lobster, shell and all. There's some tense moments here, especially one where one of the suspects goes berserk on a shooting rampage in the theater, and of course, the revelation of who did it and why. You can't call this one an all-time classic, but with its perfectly seedy atmosphere and original source written by none other than Gypsy Rose Lee, its one that you won't want to miss for the qualities it does have.
While this seems to be a low-budget second feature, its cast and director (William Wellman) debate that assumption, and it appears that the "cheap" look of the film was utilized to point out the "cheap" atmosphere that was the last days of Times Square burlesque shows. Some of the skits and gags are straight out of the greatest sketches of that format of entertainment, re-captured years later in the musical revue "Sugar Babies" and the recent Nathan Lane play, "The Nance". While Stanwyck was obviously dubbed singing "Drum Boogie" in "Ball of Fire", she uses her own husky singing voice here, talking much of it, but utilizing bumps and grinds that make it surprising to see one of the top "A" listers of the golden age of film doing something so out of character. Then, when she does a bit of a break dance routine with fellow performer O'Shea, you just might find your jaw dropping, as it appears that no stunt double was used.
Stanwyck is surrounded by three of the great tough girls of the screen, brassy Iris Adrian (whom I at first thought was Veda Ann Borg), dizzy Marion Martin (looking fantastic in a headpiece which sort of looks like a wicker chair) and loyal Gloria Dickson who spout off wisecracks as if they were biting into a lobster, shell and all. There's some tense moments here, especially one where one of the suspects goes berserk on a shooting rampage in the theater, and of course, the revelation of who did it and why. You can't call this one an all-time classic, but with its perfectly seedy atmosphere and original source written by none other than Gypsy Rose Lee, its one that you won't want to miss for the qualities it does have.