King of Burlesque: Fun, but weirdly lopsided

Is it worth your time?

If you like old-school tap dancing and musical numbers that feel like they're being fired out of a cannon, sure. You'll probably dig this if you have a soft spot for 1930s studio gloss and characters who talk at 100 miles per hour. If you're looking for a grounded drama, though, you might want to skip it. The plot is basically held together by spit and prayer.

Warner Baxter is playing the lead, and honestly, he looks like he's trying to keep a dozen spinning plates in the air at once. He’s the burlesque guy trying to go legit, but the movie keeps dragging him back to the stage anyway. It’s like the script couldn’t decide if it wanted to be a backstage romance or a business comedy.

The pacing is… well, it's frantic. It reminded me a bit of the sheer energy you see in Broadway Bill, where things just happen because the plot says so. One minute they're in a high-society parlor, the next they're back in a smoky rehearsal hall. It’s a total whiplash.

The good stuff

• Fats Waller. Every time he’s on screen, the movie actually has a pulse. He sits at the piano like he owns the building.
• The musical numbers are huge. They clearly spent a lot of money on these sets, even if the camera work gets a little dizzying.
• Alice Faye. She’s got this way of looking at the camera that makes you think she knows exactly how silly the dialogue is.

There’s this one sequence in the middle where the Paxton Sisters are doing their thing, and it goes on just long enough to make you wonder if the film editor fell asleep at the desk. It’s weirdly hypnotic, but also kind of exhausting. You can almost see the sweat on the dancers, which is a nice, messy detail you don't get in modern movies.

The marriage plot is the weakest link. It feels tacked on, like someone told the writers, "Hey, we need more conflict." It just slows everything down. I found myself checking my watch every time they started talking about high-society socialites. It’s all very stiff and unconvincing.

Honestly, the movie gets much better when it stops trying to be a romantic drama and just lets the performers do their jobs. It’s a bit of a relic, sure, but it’s got a weird, frantic heartbeat. It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s definitely not boring. Just don't think about the plot too hard, or the whole thing falls apart like a wet napkin. 💃🎶