The Night They Raided Minsky’s **** (1968, Jason Robards, Britt Ekland, Norman Wisdom) – Classic Movie Review 9167

Director William Friedkin’s 1968 comedy The Night They Raided Minsky’s [The Night They Invented Striptease] is an entertaining and picturesque slice of life from America’s burlesque era, capturing the atmosphere of jolly sleaze.

The surprise casting of Jason Robards and Norman Wisdom (in his only Hollywood movie) as comedy song ‘n’ dance men works a treat, and even Britt Ekland gets away with playing a simple virgin, naive Amish young woman Rachel Schpitendavel, who runs away from her home in Pennsylvania to New York City to perform her Dances from The Bible and ends up in Burlesque theatre.

Naturally both Raymond (Robards) and his straight-man Chick (Wisdom) soon fall for Rachel. But then, as the British title tells us, this is The Night They Invented Striptease – at Louis Minsky’s house of burlesque – supposedly as Ekland’s Amish father Jacob (Harry Andrews) tears her dress while trying to rescue her from the clutches of vice.

Sadly a real-life survivor of the vaudeville era, Bert Lahr, died while filming (his part as Professor Spats was shortened and there is a double used in places – burlesque legend Joey Faye was the stand-in).

It is Elliott Gould’s film début as Billy Minsky, son of the owner of the 1920s New York East Side club, Louis Minsky (Joseph Wiseman).

Also in the cast are Forrest Tucker, Gloria LeRoy, Denholm Elliott, Jack Burns, Rudy Vallee, Eddie Lawrence, Dexter Maitland and Richard Libertini.

The screenplay by Arnold Schulman, Sidney Michaels and the film’s producer Norman Lear is based on Rowland Barber’s book.

The Night They Raided Minsky’s [The Night They Invented Striptease] is directed by William Friedkin, run 100 minutes, is made by Tandem, is released by United Artists, is written by Arnold Schulman, Sidney Michaels and Norman Lear, is shot by Andrew Laszlo, is produced by Norman Lear, scored by Charles Strouse, choreographed by Danny Daniels, and designed by William Eckart and Jean Eckart.

It is all very tame and fun, but there is suggestive content and brief nudity. Ekland has a body-double for the topless scene.