King of Burlesque

It's interesting how different roles played by the same actor can form a continuum. The master showman played by Warner Baxter here in 'King of Burlesque' could arguably be the same master showman played by Baxter in 'Stand Up and Cheer' and (so memorably) in '42nd Street', if only they all had the same name. If the three films depict the same character at three stages in his life, then 'King of Burlesque' would have to be chronologically first ... because here we see Baxter's showman in his early scuffling days as a burlesque impresario, working his way up to Broadway with laughable ease in an impressive montage.

I wish that the money which 20th Century-Fox had spent on that montage had been spent on some better scriptwriters. The story here is deepest cliché. Alice Faye is secretly in love with Baxter, but he's only got eyes for the posh society dame played by ice-cold Mona Barrie. Will Baxter come to his senses before the projectionist starts the second feature?

Fortunately, 'King of Burlesque' doesn't have to rely on its plot to be enjoyable. There are some goodish musical performances here, notably the great Fats Waller warbling my favourite of his standards: "I've Got My Fingers Crossed". Waller also has a good comedy scene with Baxter, playing the black servant who forgets to 'yassuh' de massah. Less impressive is Dixie Dunbar, a pint-sized tap dancer whose style seems to be midway between Ruby Keeler and Eleanor Powell, but without Powell's virtuoso skill and sex appeal.

I've always found Alice Faye very sexy, and she's sexier than usual here in two extremely kinky costumes: playing a (not very convincing) underage girl in a burlesque blackout, and then later performing a novelty number in full riding habit ... but with tights instead of jodhpurs! Faye is joined for this number by Herbert Mundin, who could have become one of the great Hollywood character actors if not for his untimely accidental death. Elsewhere, Gregory Ratoff brings genuine poignancy to a comedy role as a cod millionaire.

There's also some weird adagio dancing from Nick Long Jnr (who?), jumping over some chorus girls, and some rapid buck-and-winging from boy dancer Gareth Joplin (again, who?). Joplin's dance number here is an excellent showcase for him, and I'm sure that he thought this film would be his big break ... but, from here his next stop was oblivion.

I was surprised to learn that this film was Oscar-nominated for its dance direction. Frankly, none of the musical numbers (except Waller's) are staged especially well. Early on, while the characters played by Baxter and Faye are still in burlesque, I was impressed by one dance number which is staged badly on purpose: Faye and the Paxton Sisters attempt a dance in unison, but they're only vaguely dancing the same steps ... a very appropriate staging for a number that takes place in a working-class burlesque theatre.

'King of Burlesque' doesn't stand up to analysis. Even its title is sucker bait, as very little of this film takes place in burlesque. For all its faults, this is an excellent example of the sort of B-budget musical that was routinely ground out during Hollywood's golden era; I wish that modern Hollywood could routinely grind out musicals as "bad" as this one (meaning, as GOOD as this one) nowadays. My rating: 7 out of 10, mostly for Waller's number and Faye's incredibly sexy performance. Skip the plot, and fast-forward to the musical numbers.

Contains a cast of veteran (by then) actors and actresses, whose combined presence would normally be counted on to produce a top notch musical, but is somehow lacking the punch to put it completely over the top. The writing isn't really crisp, either; Jack Oakie could have phoned this one in. Neither is the music itself memorable, although the closer, "Who's Big Baby are You?" might have had you humming on the way out of the theater. Bright spots were few, but a Fats Waller number is something to look for, and Mona Barrie is fine as the calculating Broadway socialite. Perhaps this is one that would really benefit from being seen on the big screen. Television doesn't do it justice, maybe.

Entertaining Fox musical, reminiscent of the great Warners backstage musicals of the early 30's. It even features Warner Baxter in the title role. He, of course, played the production manager in "42nd Street," probably the best known of those Warners musicals. Some favorite moments: Alice Faye singing a brief "Whose Big Baby Are You?" in a rather brief outfit; The "Shooting High" number, with the group around a piano, has a pleasingly impromptu feel about it; Cute little Dixie Dunbar's great tap dancing, in a number featuring Fats Waller. Alice Faye was a wonderful performer who isn't as well known today as many stars from the golden age of Hollywood. You can catch this and other Alice Faye musicals if you have Fox Movie Channel.

Fox tries to imitate Warner Bros. in this slow-moving backstage romp that stars Alice Faye, Jack Oakie, and Warner Baxter, and directed by Sidney Lanfield. Baxter is the "King of Burlesque" who moves from a burlesque to a legitimate theatre and marries a socialite played by Mona Barrie. Alice Faye, in the typical role of an aspiring actress, looks appropriate for her part, though her presence struck me as cold and unmemorable, compared to her other Fox musicals. The film comes into full view in the last twenty minutes where we see a dazzling display of production numbers that recall those of Busby Berkeley. The film's choreography and songs were nominated for an Oscar. There is fun and frolic and the best songs/numbers are "Shooting High", "Too Good To Be True", "Whose Big Baby Are You" and "Lovely Lady".

People forget that "King of Burlesque" was made BEFORE those other movies that used the same plot which other reviewers have referred to. So what was becoming "run of the mill" by 1938 or 1943 was still reasonably "original" in 1935/1936. Also, the plot isn't as hokey (for me at least) when it's a musical COMEDY rather than musical DRAMA/MELODRAMA as it was in those later movies. Hey, it's not to be taken too seriously ... and I still enjoyed watching Mona Barrie "giving it to" that upstart social climber Warner Baxter.

Actually, I searched for this movie because I vaguely remembered seeing Fats Waller in it when it was shown on TV decades ago. So I was surprised how much I enjoyed Dixie Dunbar's tap dancing routine when I finally got to see it.