The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968)

Plot: Supposedly a valentine to Burlesque. A young Amish woman runs away to NYC to do religious dance but ends up in Minsky's Burlesque theater.
Stars:  Jason Robards, Norman Wisdom, Forest Tucker, Britt Eckland
Best Song: “A Perfect Gentleman”

The critics (Kael, Ebert, Glenn Erickson) they be crazy.  According to them, Minsky is a good movie, but it’s not –it’s terrible. And the public agrees with me. It died at the box office and today has a miserable 6.1 IMDB rating

The stage work is unfunny & dull.
And the frenetic cutting (creating a Laugh-in effect) doesn’t improve the jokes/songs.  Making it even worse, the Chorus girls are plain/vulgar - and we get constant shots of pug-uglies in the crowd leering and guffawing.  I suppose this is what Burlesque was really like – and also why it died.

The backstage story is thin and cartoonish.
Its made up of several strands. The Minsky’s (so tolerant/wise you’d think they were Rabbis) try to save their show, Eckland journeys from naive Christian to Stripper, while the comedian team of Robard/Wisdom bicker and compete for Eckland’s favor.  It’s full of overdone characters and predictable plot twists.

The acting is a mixed bag. 
Robards is miscast as a comedian -  he has no chemistry with Eckland, and he’s without charm. Meanwhile, Eckland is too old, too Swedish, and too knowing to play an Amish naïf.  And the great Harry Andrews? He just stomps around shouting angry Bible gibberish –what a waste.  On the plus side, Norman Wisdom is excellent- and deserved a bigger role and better jokes.  Forest Tucker does well with an implausible role – he’s a WASP Gangster (!)

Direction
Weirdly, the movie keeps inter-cutting B&W 1920's stock footage and fading-in from B&W to Color. Evidently, the producers thought we needed constant reminders that its 1925 - and not 1968. Side Note: I’ve never seen so many ugly Extras in one movie.

Summary: Burlesque died because no one liked it - except some old guys who wanted bad jokes and strippers.  If you’re one of those guys  - or a film critic-  you might like The Night They Raided Minsky’s.  Everyone else should skip it.