The item, top right, on this page of the Motion Picture Herald of May,1943 tells readers that the National League of Decency condemned Barbara Stanwyck’s LADY OF BURLESQUE.
The Catholic reviewing organisation explained their ‘C’ rating:
“The film contains double meaning lines, salacious dances and situations and indecent costumes, presented against a background of indecent entertainment.”
In another item on the above page, Lady Of Burlesque was banned from Sunday screenings at the Capitol theatre in Springfield. The ban was made by the Massachussetts state dept of public safety.
The Capitol played Casablanca as the substitute.
Ah well , 70 years later, I love Lady Of Burlesque , have seen it countless times and rate it A for light entertainment.
It was also interesting to read that,in Australia, MRS MINIVER had been running a full year in Sydney, while HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY was still going strong after two years of continuous exhibition.
And how about these Aussie women who were running cinemas – except for projection!
Banning that movie would make my hubby very unhappy. The first time I showed it to him he started by commenting that it didn’t seem to him like a Bill Wellman picture, but when all the dancing ladies made their appearance, he changed his mind.
Always something of interest in a Bill Wellman or Stanwyck movie!
The moral of the story is. It is all right to kill Nazi’s, even on a Sunday, but it is not all right to show Barbara Stanwick’s legs.
I’d have a Sunday double bill – Casablanca and Lady Of Burlesque!