Lady of Burlesque

Lady of Burlesque’s opening titles describe the story as taking place “Along the Great White Way, before the lights went out.” This refers to Broadway’s Theater District during World War II, when the US Army ordered “dim-outs” in New York City in the event of air raids. Throughout the war years, theater owners shut down their marquees, and advertisers turned off their billboards in Times Square, both as a power conservation measure and a preemptive defense against enemy attacks. The titles signal the 1943 feature’s conversation with the recent past, dramatizing a period that moviegoers living through the war may have regarded as “simpler times.” By design, Lady of Burlesque is an entertaining programmer, even somewhat frivolous. Although it’s a backstage murder mystery involving comedians, singers, stagehands, and a string of dead performers, it’s also a comedy and a romance, offering its audience a funny and often borderline bawdy escape from wartime dread.

The full review is currently exclusive to Patreon subscribers. To read it, you can purchase access individually. Or you can join Deep Focus Review’s Patron community, where you’ll receive exclusive access to this essay and many other reviews and blogs published on Patreon.

Patrons also get access to:

• Exclusive weekly blog posts
• Streaming recommendations every Friday
• Polls to pick the movies reviewed on Deep Focus Review and Patreon
• Access to the open AMA and DFR Community