Film

King of Burlesque

Name: King of Burlesque
Genre: Drama, Music
Released: 1936
Cast: Warner Baxter, Alice Faye, Jack Oakie, Mona Barrie, Arline Judge

Drama

A 1936 backstage musical about a burlesque impresario who climbs to Broadway success, gets seduced by high society and artistic pretension, loses everything, and is saved by the loyal showgirl who believed in him all along. It's pure entertainment—lavish production numbers, snappy dialogue, and the particular charm of early Hollywood optimism. For anyone who loves the spectacle and sincerity of 1930s musicals.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like backstage musicals with a wisecracking edge, where the spectacle of 1930s stage revues matters as much as the loyal, bickering affection among the performers.

Skip it if you need tight plotting and modern pacing, since the sentiment runs thick and the older stage-show conventions feel stagey and slow.

What it asks of you: A brisk ninety minutes that moves from one song-and-patter set to the next, asking you to accept big theatrical emotion and bright, old-fashioned sincerity without irony.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

42nd Street1933

The template for backstage musicals: a struggling show gets its chance, romance blooms amid the chaos, and Busby Berkeley's choreography turns the stage into something impossible. Pure joy.

But The plot is tissue-thin and moves at a clip that assumes you're not paying close attention to story logic.

Footlight Parade1933

James Cagney as a manic producer staging elaborate musical sequences within a thin plot about theatrical ambition and the people who fuel it. Cagney's energy is infectious and Berkeley's numbers are stunning.

But It's over two hours and the middle sags; some of the humour feels dated even for 1933.

Flying Down to Rio1933

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' first pairing, built around a thin romantic plot and spectacular production numbers set in Brazil. The dancing is revelatory even now; the chemistry between them sparks instantly.

But The plot genuinely doesn't matter and the film knows it, which some find charming and others find tedious.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from King of Burlesque

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Singin' in the Rain1952

Both centre on the machinery of show business—producers, performers, the gap between high art and entertainment—but where King of Burlesque shows ambition corrupting a showman, Singin' in the Rain shows art redeeming everything. They're inverse propositions about the same world.

The apotheosis of the Hollywood musical: a love letter to the medium itself, choreographed by Gene Kelly at the height of his powers. It's about the artifice and sincerity of entertainment coexisting perfectly.

But If you find the genre's earnestness off-putting, this film's entire purpose will feel saccharine and excessive.

Roberta1935

Fred and Ginger again, this time in a fashion-world romance with gorgeous gowns, intimate dance sequences, and enough star power that the threadbare plot barely registers as a problem.

But The fashion-house setting and society-girl focus feel dated, and the stakes are cosmetic in ways that can feel slight.

Follow the Fleet1936

Fred and Ginger as sailors on shore leave, with some of their best intimate dancing and a plot that's actually more coherent than most musicals of the era. Ginger gets to do more comedic heavy lifting here.

But It's sentimental about the military in ways that haven't aged well, and some of the supporting comedy feels strained.

The Great Ziegfeld1936

A sprawling, glamorous biography of the legendary producer himself, packed with spectacle and real ambition. The production numbers are extravagant; the tragedy beneath the glitter gives it weight.

But At three hours it demands patience, the biography is selective to the point of fiction, and the emotional core gets lost in the pageantry.

Sweet Adeline1934

Irene Dunne in a musical romance spanning decades, with elegant production numbers and a more mature sensibility than most musicals of the time. The score is genuinely lovely.

But The pacing drags in places and the plot mechanics feel more obvious than they should, especially in the second half.

Naughty Marietta1935

Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy's operetta-musical has genuine romance, stunning costumes, and a New Orleans setting that gives it visual flavor. Their voices blend beautifully and they play real characters with motivations.

But Operetta conventions feel stiff if you're not already primed for that world, and the plot involves some uncomfortable racial attitudes.

The Producers1968

Both are about producers hustling to put on shows, but where King of Burlesque is earnest about the magic of entertainment, The Producers is cynical about the machinery. Same infrastructure, opposite moral registers.

Mel Brooks' savage farce about two con men trying to produce a Broadway flop as a money-laundering scheme. It's obscene, anarchic, and genuinely brilliant about how theatre works and why people make it.

But The humour is crude and the satire doesn't always land; it's also deeply theatrical in a way that doesn't translate to film perfectly, despite being a film.

All About Eve1950

Both explore the human cost of theatrical ambition and the people who fuel it, but All About Eve strips away the music and production numbers to show the naked hunger beneath. It's what happens when you take King of Burlesque seriously.

A Broadway backstage drama about ambition, loyalty, and women in theatre. It's brilliantly written, acted with real edge, and understands show business as a system of power and performance both onstage and off.

But It's a straight drama with no musical numbers—if you want the spectacle component of King of Burlesque, you won't find it here. The pace is leisurely by modern standards.