KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

CheerupSilver Very Cool!!!

Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

mark.waltz The hijinks of 14th Street move to mid-town in this delightful musical which takes "42nd Street's" Julian Marsh (Warner Baxter) to Broadway and into society after his easy money off of Union Square gives him the means to tackle Times Square. Only the first ten minutes of this movie shows him actually working in Burlesque; His girly-show revues with low-down comedy (a la "Sugar Babies" and "The Nance") become more elaborate and mainstream on Broadway, and very soon, he's the most prominent producer of musical revues on the "Gay White Way". His attendance at the auction of broke socialite Mona Barrie gives him an introduction to society even though their initial meetings does not leave her with a good impression of him. But a broke socialite needs a rich man to keep her in furs, and when he suggests a marriage of convenience to her to get his name in the society columns, she jumps at the chance, even though she's in love with a boorish opera singer. Standing in the background is the tough but love-lorn Alice Faye whom he considers to be "one of the boys", not realizing the extent of her affections. Of course, the relationship between Baxter and Barrie comes to a sudden end, and it is up to Faye & Baxter's assistant (Jack Oakie) to come to his aid to bring him back to the top of Broadway once again.There are so many great moments in this film that it is difficult to single out individual scenes, but I have to give a special thumbs up to the inclusion of "Fats" Waller as the elevator man who gets to do his specialty in the finale of the finger-snapping "I've got my Fingers Crossed", making you wish all the more that he had another big number. The glorious "I'm Shooting High" is the other big production number, performed with gusto by Miss Faye and later repeated on Broadway in the burlesque musical "Sugar Babies" with equal aplomb by the legendary Ann Miller. With her Jean Harlow like platinum blonde hair and husky voice, Alice has a natural screen presence, a combination of sweet and sassy, and at times, she really just comes across so easy-going that the fact that she doesn't seem to be even acting makes her all the more likable. Dixie Dunbar is adorable as Baxter's secretary. All the archetypes of the Broadway scene are present, with a few gay references thrown in that the Hays code didn't pick up on. I wanted to see more of the comic burlesque routines that sometimes really cut close to the border of good taste, but then again, good taste was something that burlesque never tried to emulate. As Baxter himself learns after taking wife Barrie's advice and producing something more sophisticated, he falls flat on his face and must return to the tried and true method of entertainment: scantily clad females singing and dancing, low down comic routines, and those fun little blackouts that usually ended with the orchestra playing the quick little "tah-dah" notes that indicated to the audience that they could laugh and applaud with the usually corny but often funny punch line.

F Gwynplaine MacIntyre 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.

gmboothe 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.

jpickerel 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.