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Overrated

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

"The Night They Raided Minsky's" is a sheer delight to watch. It is definitely a timepiece in so many ways. On one level, it is a tribute to the Burlesque of the 1920s (it's set in 1925). Here, we get stellar performances from Bert Lahr, who died during shooting; Jason Robards; Norman Wisdom; and Joseph Wiseman, among others.But on another level, it's also a timepiece of late 1967, and we see that in the sense of wonder that Britt Ekland's character experiences. It runs like a sort of "Alice In Wonderland" for the Jazz Age. You can also see that in the photography from '67 as well. It is also a timepiece in that it was a film that no longer obeyed the Hays Code, which was ending around this time.And it's also a timepiece in that some of the New York exteriors used for filming were torn down after shooting ended. As stated earlier, it was Bert Lahr's final performance, and it is a memorable one. Had he lasted to the end of the shoot, his character would have loomed larger, but that was not meant to be.As it is, the movie could have turned into a disaster, but skillful editing turned what might have been a sow's ear into a gem of a film. Highly recommended.

Based on a true story, this movie brings off some very unusual things. For example, Jason Robards is not a person you'd expect to bring off the role of a straight man in Vaudeville. While you can tell he is not comfortable in the role, he does more than a walk through in this one. Britt Ekland is in no way an Amish Woman. Who decided to cast her as one is strange. The thing is because she is good looking she fits the story. Elliot Gould is young here without much script so it is one of his lesser roles. He does OK with it. Forrest Tucker is a nice surprise though another limited role. Bert Lahr has a role as Professor Spats which resembles the emcee in Cabaret and considering he looks ill in most of his scenes he is better here than it is reasonable to expect.I think if this had been released in the 1950's it would have sold a lot of tickets. The trouble with 1968 is this type of film was DOA in that era. Even Julie Andrews expensive production "Star" did nothing in this time period. In a way Minsky's actually is better. It does a decent job giving a feel of what Vaudeville was really like.

... Just saw this on Flix Movie Channel earlier today & brought back great memories of going-to-college in New Mexico & Utah in 1968! I must have seen "Minsky's" several times in just one week, it was so mesmerizing. Didn't remember Director William "The Exorcist" Friedkin & Norman Lear on the screenplay credits. No wonder this was such a fun, fast-paced movie! The editing caught the spirit of show biz then in Manhattan....Especially the great Burlesque bits, black & white clips of-the-times in New York City & Bert "The Cowardly Lion" Lahr. "Minsky's" stands the test-of-time! You have to have no heart or be dead & buried not to cherish this Hollywood gem!

The lights dim. The curtain goes up. The girls are on stage. The spot hits the tux-wearing tenor, silver haired and a little plump."I have a secret recipe / Concocted with much skill / And once you've tried my special dish / You'll never get your fill... "Take ten terrific girls, but only nine costumes, and you're cooking up something grand..." The Night They Raided Minsky's is a valentine to the long-gone burlesque houses of the Twenties. Naughty, bawdy and surprisingly innocent, filled with chorus girls who might generously be called a little past their prime, with plenty of belly work, with comedians and their second bananas, with pratfalls, seltzer bottles and song and dance acts. This Norman Lear/William Friedkin/Ralph Rosenblum movie has it all. It even has a story. Most of all, it has some great songs by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, wonderful performances by Jason Robards and Norman Wisdom, and a collection of pungent characters played by the likes of Elliot Gould, Forrest Tucker, Bert Lahr, Harry Andrews, Joseph Wiseman, Jack Burns, Denholm Elliot and Dexter Maitland. And we're there when history is made, as Britt Ekland playing an innocent Amish girl from Smoketown, Pennsylvania, who longs to perform her Bible dances on stage, inadvertently invents the strip tease. Billy Minsky runs Minsky's Burlesque. Vance Fowler, secretary of New York's Society for the Suppression of Vice, is determined to close it down. Then Rachel Elizabeth Schpitendavel shows up. She's young. She's innocent. She's built. She catches the eye of headliner Raymond Paine (Jason Robards), a song, dance and straight man who works with his second banana, the small, mild and fall-down physical Chick Williams (Norman Wisdom). Paine wants Rachel to fall into his bed. Chick just falls for Rachel. Minsky's, however, is on the verge of closing. Then Raymond has an idea. They'll advertise a midnight show featuring Mademoiselle Fifi, "the hottest little cooch artist in the world." When Fowler shows up with the cops, Fifi will be Rachel doing her Bible dances. Fowler will be a laughing stock and Minsky's will be saved. Now forget all that. What's important is the sweet nature of this burlesque gift. Most of the movie takes place backstage, on stage and in a near-by deli. It's a great, true deli, where we have bowls of half sours on the table and plenty of chunks of rye bread. (In that deli we'll watch Raymond nearly sweet talk a good looking woman at the next table into his bed, and then sweet talk her husband, who suddenly appears, into agreeing Raymond just gave them both a great compliment. Robards is as smooth as warm chicken fat.) Backstage is packed with sets, lights and half dressed chorus girls, but it's on stage where the goods are delivered...chorus girls who can barely dance but can jiggle with vigor and bump with oomph. Jason Robards and Norman Wisdom do wonderful work together. Robards is the wise-guy straight man to Wisdom's eternally innocent optimist. Their song and dance numbers really work. We'd expect this of Wisdom, who got started in English music halls and became one of Britain's great clowns. Robards, who was one of America's great stage actors, is almost as skilled. Their "Perfect Gentleman" number by rights should be a remembered classic. I don't know how Friedkin managed it, but the people in the audience look authentic, right down to their delighted reactions. The Night They Raided Minsky's also has a clever script. Says Raymond to Chick when the little guy wants some reassurance after meeting Rachel. "You met a girl!" says Raymond with a big smile. "Ah, Chick, my boy, when it comes to girls you have three qualities that are far worse than being short and funny looking. You have the curse of the three D's. You are decent, devoted and dependable...good qualities in a dog, disastrous in a man!" Charles Strouse scored the movie and, with Lee Adams, provided great songs. "The Night They Raided Minsky's," "Take Ten Terrific Girls" and "Perfect Gentleman" establish more than anything else the good-natured, fast, harmlessly bawdy style of the movie. The Night They Raided Minsky's had a troubled parentage, with director William Friedkin disliking it and film editor Ralph Rosenblum claiming credit for everything good about it. There's more jump cutting than we need and perhaps a few too many historical clips. Still, we have potent nostalgia for things past that no one now is alive to remember. The movie carries Norman Lear's imprint at his best, and if Rosenblum and Friedkin want to arm wrestle over the movie, that's all right with me. Who cares who cut the paper lace for the valentine? I'm just happy we've got it. I'm ready for Dexter Maitland as the tenor to see us home... "I have a secret recipe / Concocted with much skill / And once you've tried my special dish / You'll never get your fill... "Take ten terrific girls, but only nine costumes, and you're cooking up something grand. "Then add some funny men / And pepper with laughter./ It's hot and tasty I know. "Then serve it piping hot and what have you got... A burlesque show!"