King of Burlesque (1936): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1936, King of Burlesque is a drama and music film directed by Sidney Lanfield, running about 90 minutes. “Gay as the Great White Way” — that tagline sets the tone.

What it’s about. Warner Baxter plays the ambitious producer of a burlesque show who rises to the big time on Broadway. Alice Faye is the loyal burleycue singer who helps make Baxter a success. His head turned by sudden fame, Baxter falls under the spell of a society woman (Mona Barrie) who has theatrical aspirations of her own. She marries Baxter, then convinces him to produce a string of "artistic" plays rather than his extravagant musical revues. The plays are flops, and the woman haughtily divorces Baxter. Faithful Alice Faye, who'd gone to London when her ex-beau was married, returns to the penniless Baxter. She and her burlesque buddies team up to pull Baxter out of his rut and put him on top again.

Who’s in it. King of Burlesque stars Warner Baxter as Kerry Bolton, Alice Faye as Pat Doran, Jack Oakie as Joe Cooney and Mona Barrie as Rosalind Cleve, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 5.9/10, King of Burlesque has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response.

Where to watch. In US you can rent or buy it from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies and YouTube. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch King of Burlesque page.

If you liked it. Fans of King of Burlesque tend to enjoy The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Schindler's List and The Godfather Part II.