Fay Carter (Kay Francis) was born in a trunk. She's spent her life acting and touring the country; first with her actor/father, later on her own. She is determined to build a career on Broadway, but the only parts she are offered are tours. A chance meeting with Peter Snowden (Ian Hunter) may change all that. Peter yearns to produce a Broadway play, and he may have just found the actress to help him succeed. Our film this week is Secrets of an Actress (1938). We really enjoyed this film. It's compact (a mere 70 minutes) with excellent acting, a bit of drama, and a dash of comedy for Ms. Francis (who, as we mentioned in our review of The Cocoanuts is quite a good comedienne). If we had any complaint at all is that we would have liked the film to be a bit longer. A little more backstory, especially for Carla (Gloria Dickson) and Dick Orr (George Brent), as well as for Fay would have been welcome. Ms. Francis, though, has a choice part. She gets to be the straight woman for Isabel Jeans (as the frequently inebriated Marian Plantagenet), be lovelorn with George Brent, and assertive with Ian Hunter. Fay is one of her richer characters - well drawn by the writers, a strong, talented woman who is interesting and attractive to both the audience and to her leading men. It's quite easy to see why both Peter and Dick are drawn to her. She has pizzazz! (For an excellent overview of Ms. Francis, both in this film, and through her career, see this TCM article).
Gloria Dickson as the villainess is also quite good. When Ms. Dickson is on the screen, you cannot take your eyes off her. Her delivery is sharp, and her demeanor has just the right touch of self-assured nastiness. We were not familiar with Ms. Dickson, who made a total of 23 pictures between 1937 and 1944. We'd seen her before as Dolly in Lady of Burlesque (1943), but she frankly didn't make an impression. Unfortunately, she died at the age of 28 when a fire (caused by a cigarette setting fire to a sofa) engulfed her house.
Isabel Jeans as the hard-drinking Marian became rather wearing after a few scenes. The character's drinking could have been toned down a bit, which would have made her much more appealing. Her binges don't add a lot to the film; it's hard to understand what the writers were thinking. Regardless, the relationship between Marian and Fay is well done - they come across as really good friends; we did wonder how long Fay will be able to tolerate Marian in her cups. In the end, we would have preferred less of Marian and more of Ian Hunter and George Brent. There did seem to be one continuity issue. Early in the film, we see Dick ask Carla for a divorce (before he meets Fay). But later, when questioned why he has never asked for a divorce, he says there is no point. We wondered if the censors insisted that the earlier scene be included to emphasize that a physical marriage no longer existed between the couple. It did bother us that Dick didn't tell Fay that he was married - Mr. Brent plays him as an upstanding guy. By hiding the marriage, the audience loses sympathy for him.
The film had two working titles before release: Lovely Lady and The Woman Habit (AFI catalog). It has gorgeous sets by Anton Grot and exquisite gowns by Orry-Kelly. While Warner's was already starting to (undeservedly) sour on Ms. Francis, they do provide her with a lovely setting for the film. The Complete Kay Francis Career Record: All Film, Stage, Radio and Television by Lynn Kear, John Rossman call the film "uneven."
While this is a fair evaluation, this is still a film worth a viewing. Here is a trailer to whet your appetite.
Based on Gypsy Rose Lee's mystery novel, The G-String Murders, Lady of Burlesque (1943) stars Barbara Stanwyck as Dixie Daisy (aka Deborah Hoople), star of the Old Opera House's burlesque show. When the police raid a performance, and Dixie tries to escape, she is nearly strangled by someone. Only the arrival of a stagehand saves her. Several days later, another of the performers is found strangled to death, her g-string tied around her neck; it becomes apparent that someone has found a very deadly method of closing down the Old Opera House. Without giving too much away, the location of the action - an opera house - and the presence of a watchman, who not only used to be an opera singer in the house, but is also somewhat crazy, brings to mind The Phantom of the Opera. This is not to say that Lady of Burlesque is great literature - it's not. But it is fun; once you realize that the plot has very little to do with burlesque, and is a murder mystery, the sooner you will enjoy it. As this New York Times review says, perhaps the movie should have just been called "Murder in the Old Opera House". But that probably wasn't titillating enough.
The film, of course, had it's problems. The studio originally planned to have Gypsy Rose Lee play herself (in the book, Dixie is, in fact, Ms. Lee), and use the title of her novel. Not surprisingly, the Production Code Administration objected to the title of the book, and to the strip-tease aspect of the burlesque house. So, we never actually see Dixie strip - we see her throw a muff and reactions from the audience! This TCM Article and the accompanying notes page will give you more information on the films troubles with the PCA. Though released in 1943, the film has absolutely nothing to do with World War II. A text crawl at the beginning of the film is the only thing to remind us that there is a war going on: "Along the Great White Way, Before the lights went out..." We know from that opening and by the fact that burlesque was almost completely gone by early 1940s, that this film is set in the not-too-distant past. It is pretty clear that the Old Opera House is one of the last of the burlesque houses open. By 1942, Mayor LaGuardia of New York City had pretty much shut down all of the burlesque houses. Those that were left struggled to survive, as did the performers. As we see in this film, the performers seem to have no where else to go - which makes the idea that someone is trying to close down the Old Opera House even more important to the story line.
Stanwyck does her own singing, and, as is mentioned in the New York Times review (above) the film highlights her dancing talents. After all, Stanwyck started her career in New York City, dancing at the Ziegfeld Follies, and branching out to do Broadway plays and musicals (like Keep Kool in 1924 and Tattle Tales in 1933). She even appeared in Broadway play entitled Burlesque (1927), in which she played Bonny, the show's leading lady. Lady of Burlesque must have felt very familiar to this talented woman. She's lots of fun in the role - brash and daring, and very self-sufficient. Her verbal tennis with Biff Brannigan really makes the movie. Michael O'Shea (Biff Brannigan) had an interesting career. This was his first of 21 film appearances. He also appeared in a number of television shows. His second marriage, to Virginia Mayo, lasted for 26 years, until his death at age 67 from a heart attack. When film work dried up, he began another career, working as a plainclothes operative for the CIA. Iris Adrian (Gee Gee) is another actress with extensive credits - 160 credits to her name, mostly playing ditzes. She began her career with a couple of silent shorts, and continued acting until the 1980s - at the end of her career working in television and in Disney films. She died at age 82, as the result of injuries suffered in the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
So, take a look at this cute little film, and relish Ms. Stanwyck as she tries to save her theatre. In the meantime, we'll leave Barbara playing it on the G-String:
