Lady of Burlesque (1943)

Director:

William A. Wellman

Writers:

Gypsy Rose Lee (novel)
James Gunn (screenplay)

Release Date:

1 May 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror | Music | Mystery | Romance

Tagline:

GIRLS and GAGS! MUSIC and MIRTH!

Plot:

Sassy Dixie Daisy is the hot new attraction at a former opera house that's been turned into a burlesque theater...

Plot Keywords:

Theater | Burlesque | Grandfather Granddaughter Relationship | New York City | Rivalry

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Barbara Stanwyck	...	Deborah Hoople, aka Dixie Daisy
Michael O'Shea	...	Biff Brannigan
Iris Adrian	...	Gee Gee Graham
Charles Dingle	...	Inspector Harrigan
J. Edward Bromberg	...	S.B. Foss
Frank Conroy	...	'Stacchi' Stacciaro
Victoria Faust	...	Lolita La Verne
Gloria Dickson	...	Dolly Baxter
Marion Martin	...	Alice Angel
Frank Fenton	...	Russell Rogers
Stephanie Bachelor	...	The Princess Nirvena
Pinky Lee	...	Mandy
Eddie Gordon	...	Officer Pat Kelly
Janis Carter	...	Janine
Lou Lubin	...	Moey, the Candy Butcher
Gerald Mohr	...	Louie Grindero
Bert Hanlon	...	Sammy
Claire Carleton	...	Sandra
George Chandler	...	Jake
Lee Trent	...	Comic
Don Lynn	...	Comic
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Florence Auer	...	Policewoman (uncredited)
Valmere Barman	...	Chorine (uncredited)
Ted Billings	...	Man in Audience (uncredited)
Eddie Borden	...	Man in Audience (uncredited)
Carol Carrolton	...	Chorine (uncredited)
Gerry Coonen	...	Chorine (uncredited)
Kernan Cripps	...	Cop (uncredited)
Joan Dale	...	Chorine (uncredited)
Joe Devlin	...	Detective (uncredited)
Mary Gail	...	Chorine (uncredited)
Virginia Gardner	...	Chorine (uncredited)
Kit Guard	...	Hank - Stagehand (uncredited)
Chuck Hamilton	...	Cop in Courtroom Skit (uncredited)
Oscar 'Dutch' Hendrian	...	Beer Keg Deliveryman (uncredited)
Dave Kashner	...	Cossack (uncredited)
Lew Kelly	...	The Hermit (uncredited)
Louise La Planche	...	Chorine (uncredited)
Maxine Leslie	...	Dancer (uncredited)
George Lloyd	...	Fingerprint Technician (uncredited)
Jean Longworth	...	Chorine (uncredited)
Sidney Marion	...	Joey - Comic (uncredited)
Frank Moran	...	Beer Keg Deliveryman (uncredited)
Noel Neill	...	(uncredited)
Bob Perry	...	Theater Night Watchman (uncredited)
Lee Phelps	...	Charlie - Bartender (uncredited)
Marjorie Raymond	...	Chorine (uncredited)
Joette Robinson	...	Chorine (uncredited)
Barbara Slater	...	Chorine (uncredited)
Elinor Troy	...	Chorine (uncredited)
Fred Walburn	...	Messenger Boy (uncredited)
Dan White	...	Man in Audience (uncredited)
Isabel Withers	...	Teletype Operator (uncredited)
Beal Wong	...	James Wong - Waiter (uncredited)

Directed by
William A. Wellman

Writing credits
Gypsy Rose Lee		(novel "The G-String Murders")
James Gunn		(screenplay)

Produced by
Hunt Stromberg	....	producer

Original Music by
Arthur Lange

Cinematography by
Robert De Grasse		(photography) (as Robert de Grasse)

Casting by
Robert Stirling		(uncredited)

Production Design by
Joseph B. Platt		(as Joseph E. Platt)

Art Direction by
Bernard Herzbrun

Costume Design by
Natalie Visart

Makeup Department
Hollis Barnes	....	hair stylist: Ms. Stanwyck (uncredited)
Nina Roberts	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Robert Stephanoff	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Joseph C. Gilpin	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sam Nelson	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Eloise Jensson	....	art titles (uncredited)

Sound Department
Charles Althouse	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Edith Head	....	costumes: Dixie

Editorial Department
James E. Newcom	....	supervising editor

Music Department
Maurice De Packh	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Daniel Dare	....	dance director (as Danny Dare)

Production Companies

• Hunt Stromberg Productions

Distributors

• United Artists (1943) (USA) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1949) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Astor Pictures Corporation (1952) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Image Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2002) (USA) (DVD) (VHS)
• Troma Team Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• S. P. I. C. (1947) (France) (theatrical)
• Bach Films (2009) (France) (DVD)
• Englewood Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Madacy Entertainment (1997) (Canada) (VHS)
• Miracle Pictures (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (video)
• Reel Media International (2005) (worldwide) (TV)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Roan Group, The (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Tapeworm Video Distributors (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• United American Video (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• VCI Home Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Striptease Lady (UK)
The G-String Murders

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Sweden:15

Company:

Hunt Stromberg Productions

Trivia:

Craig Rice, mystery writer from the 1940s and roommate of Gypsy Rose Lee, ghost-wrote "The G-String Murders" for her.

Quotes:

Biff: What's the matter with comics?
Dixie: I went into show business when I was seven years old. Two days later the first comic I ever met stole my piggy bank in a railroad station in Portland. When I was 11 the comics were looking at my ankles. When I was 14 they were...just looking. When I was 20 I'd been stuck with enough lunch checks to pay for a three-story house. Naw, they're shiftless, dame-chasing, ambitionless...

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Lady in Question Is Charles Busch (2005)

Soundtrack:

Take It off the E-String

One-of-a-Kind Mystery From a Gypsy Rose Lee Novel; Delightful Fun

Gypsy Rose Lee wrote several mystery novels. The most famous is "The G-String Murders", from which "Lady of Burlesque" was adapted. The novel is delightful, as many have noted, opening a window onto a lost world of performances and the lives of those who peopled it. Director William Wellman and writer James Gunn combined their talents with Bernard Herbzrun's inspired art direction to produce a wonderfully-mounted B/W classic of images, characters and mystery here. Heading the cast are dynamic Barbara Stanwyck, Marion Martin, Pinky Lee, J. Edward Bromberg as the policeman on the case and Michael O'Shea as the brash but lovable comic who pursues Stanwyck. The storyline involved rivalries, pretensions and tensions among the ladies of a burlesque troupe; the plot is about respect and how the characters plan to obtain it. The entry of a murderer into the performers' insular and fascinating world of performing and being apart from a society which finds them amusing, exotic and unknowable makes this an interesting "island" vehicle, one used for examining and exampling human values, ideas and actions. The rooftop sequences are still stunning; I find that the human values retain their potency to move and to interest. Stanwyck is marvelous, O'Shea and Pinky Lee perfect. Marion Martin and Iris Adrian, as well as Bromberg, get everything out of their parts that is there, and then some. One-of-a-kind because of Miss Lee's authenticity. faithfully reproduced on screen with swift pace and intelligence. Highly recommended for its atmosphere and for much, much more.