Lady of Burlesque: Classic Barbara Stanwyck Movie is Available on Low Cost DVDs

I recently bought the DVD of Lady of Burlesque at Overstock.Com.  I had to buy this terrific flick, because it's the kind of movie that doesn't get played on television anymore.  The DVD itself is your basic public domain effort, with no fancy features or extras.  And that's okay, because this movie doesn't need extras to make it worthwhile.  It can stand on its own.

Lady of Burlesque is a murder mystery that takes place in a burlesque house. This is one of those movies that you usually see the first time around on one of those nights when you can’t sleep and you get up out of bed and turn on a channel like Turner Classic Movies. Well, it used to be one of those movies. If you want to see it in today’s world of television where it is apparently against the law to show any movie made before 1970, your best bet is to buy a DVD. The movie is based on the novel The G-String Murders written by the infamous stripper Gypsy Rose Lee. 

Well, actually the novel was mostly ghostwritten by an actual writer, but there’s enough inside information on the world of burlesque to suggest that Gypsy Rose Lee actually had more of a hand in writing the novel with her name on it than people like, say, William Shatner. Believe it not, the title for the movie wasn’t changed from The G-String Murders due to censorship reasons, but rather because at the time it was believed that most audience members wouldn’t know what a G-String was and would think the movie had something to do with classical music!

Lady of Burlesque is simply marvelous entertainment. A series of murders is taking place inside the burlesque house; someone is killing strippers. Head stripper Dixie Daisy takes it upon herself to solve the crime. For the rest of the deliriously fast-paced 90 minutes you’ll be treated to burlesque routines, strip teases, romance and genuine suspense. This movie was made back when you didn’t have to trick the audience with a cheat ending in order to surprise them; it has real mystery and I doubt most viewers will figure out who the murderer is before the revelation takes place.