Trivia / Lady of Burlesque

• Awesome, Dear Boy: TCM says that after making back to back serious dramas, Barbara Stanwyck took the role of Dixie to do something lighter and have fun.
• Cast the Expert: Pinky Lee, who plays Mandy, was an actual burlesque performer. His Catchphrase was "ooh, you make me so mad" - which is used multiple times in the film.
• The Cast Show Off: Berbara Stanwyck and Michael O'Shea demonstrate some nifty dancing talents in "Play It on the G-String". The former in fact started her career as a dancer
• Executive Meddling: Subverted! Although the Hays Code objected to the murder weapon being a G-string and the "Pickle Persuader" routine, both stayed in the film. They did however get the novel's name changed from 'The G-String Murders'.
• Market-Based Title: In the UK it was called 'Striptease Lady'.
• No Budget: The actual budget isn't known but it was small enough that grossing $2 million at the Box Office was a profit.
• Pop-Culture Urban Legends: Legend has it that Ginger Rogers turned the part of Dixie down, not wanting to play someone "common".
• Production Posse: The fifth film Barbara Stanwyck made with William Wellman.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The film originally opened with Dixie performing elsewhere. She and a friend would read their tea leaves, which would foreshadow the murder later. Dixie would get the call to perform in New York.
  • Gypsy Rose Lee would originally have starred as herself in the lead and was screen tested for the film. Ultimately Barbara Stanwyck was cast as original character Dixie Daisy.
  • Joseph Cotton was apparently considered for a role.
• Write What You Know: Burlesque performer Gypsy Rose Lee wrote the book off her own experiences in the profession. Dixie is based off herself.