Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

DKosty123 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.

bkoganbing Although the story line of The Night They Raided Minsky's was more silly than funny, quite a few laughs can still be had from this salute to the good old days of burlesque. It even has Bert Lahr in the cast who was a veteran of that venue of entertainment.Amish girl fresh off the farm Britt Eklund has been given a calling to dance a practice forbidden by her sect. But even with father Harry Andrews in pursuit from the Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Britt is pursuing her dream of interpretive religious dance. Why she didn't seek out Martha Graham instead of Minsky's is beyond me.Her innocence is so beguiling she has comedy team Jason Robards, Jr., and Norman Wisdom panting after her in heat. Gangster Forrest Tucker is looking and even Elliott Gould who is the Minsky who runs the burlesque theater on property his father owns hasn't missed her at all.I did love Jason Robards who apparently has a line for just about every occasion and whose gift of gab gets him out of some tight spots. And Denholm Elliott the pompous moralizing professional do-gooder also has some noticeable moments.This film was Bert Lahr's farewell performance. Lahr was terminally ill when he did the film and didn't finish his role and it was edited around. He doesn't look very good and is remarkably subdued from the Bert Lahr were used to seeing.Weakest part of the film was the musical score by Strouse and Adams. They've done far better on Broadway, still it's serviceable enough and Eklund's alleged invention of the striptease worth the wait.Fans of the cast members will like The Night They Raided Minsky's.

CitizenCaine William Friedkin directed The Night They Raided Minsky's based on the book by Rowland Barber and left immediately afterward. Norman Lear, Sidney Michaels, and Arnold Schulman co-wrote the adaptation, which is evocative of the mid 1920's era. Editor Ralph Rosenblum was left behind to pick up the pieces and shape the material into the form released in December 1968. What's left is a mixture of bawdy humor and a paper thin plot involving backstage doings at a burlesque theater, circa 1925 in New York City. Jason Robards stars as a ne'er-do-well straight man of the theater and teams with Norman Wisdom as a frantic performer, complete with an over-sized suit and make-up. They both try to make time with naive Britt Ekland, a wayward daughter, who arrives in town to escape her overbearing Amish father, Harry Andrews, complete with Amish get up. Robards eventually wins out and has a memorable scene trying to seduce Ekland with a Murphy bed that goes back into the wall and then down again based on the individual accompanied by a knock outside their door. Forrest Tucker plays a gangster rival trying to move in on the theater owned by Joseph Wiseman whose son, Elliott Gould, tries to keep the show running amidst backstage chaos and looming trouble from police led by Denholm Elliott. Rudy Vallee provides the introductory narration, and Bert Lahr has an especially poignant moment at the very end, considering this was his last film. The film moves quite fast and is light-hearted entertainment. The film's highlight comes near the end when Harry Andrews comically tries to bring Ekland, his daughter, back into the fold, unleashing a fire and brimstone speech subsequently undermined by Ekland's defiance and "accidental" exposure on stage. The polarity of the characters mirrors actual burlesque scenarios. Her moment on stage supposedly signaled the dawn of the burlesque era. **1/2 of 4 stars.

theowinthrop I saw this with my family in Forest Hills in 1968, and I recall how at the time the film was advertised as Bert Lahr's last great performance because he was supposed to have a major role in this valentine to the late, great days of the Burlesque shows that Lahr came out of. It's true he appears in the film, and that he died while it was being made, but his part was cut to ribbons due to his death (obviously not enough of his role had been completed before he died, like John Candy in his last film and Spencer Tracy in his last film). But Lahr does have a final moment that always haunted me. More of that anon.The story (how true it is I can't answer) is how the tradition of the strip tease was created at the Minsky Burlesque House in New York City. The film follows the arrival of Britt Eckland (Rachel Schpitendavel) in Manhattan - she is an Amish girl who is running away from her way of life (and her stiff-necked father, Harry Andrews (Jacob Schpitendavel)). She accidentally meets Lahr ("Professor Spats"), who takes her to Minsky's to see if she can get a job there. The theater is run by Elliot Gould (Billy Minsky) who is the son of the owner Louis Minsky (Joseph Wiseman). Gould gives her some work, and she soon is being pursued by the two lead comedians in the show (Jason Robards - Raymond Paine; Norman Wisdon - Chick Williams). Robards makes the biggest impression on her - getting her into bed. In the meantime Gould is being annoyed by Denholm Elliot (Vance Fowler) who is head of a moral crusade organization. He's also under pressures from his father Louis, who disapproves of the sexual content of the burlesque shows. When Andrews shows up, he is full of righteous fury towards the evil city and the evil theater as well. Eckland is now a chorus girl.SPOILER COMING UPWhen a furious Andrews finds his daughter on stage in a "skimpy" costume, he rips off part of it in disgust in front of the bored audience. This causes the audience to take notice. Eckland notices this too, and starts continuing to rip off her costume. It is the invention of the strip tease - and Elliot, of course, sends a signal for a raid by the police. The film ends with most of the cast under arrest, except for Robards, who leaves with deep regrets (more in a moment) and Lahr. Lahr enters the empty theater after the arrests, picks up a prop from the stage floor, and walked off stage. And the movie ended.You'd have to see the film fully to understand that Lahr's final appearance, silent as it was, was moving. Professor Spats (for whatever remained of Lahr's part) was a fragment of the past of burlesque - a once great clown of the show when it was a family entertainment. His last moment on stage alone, with no audience to see him, marked the end of his era.Robards played his role with real enthusiasm, as a second-rate comic and singer (a burlesque "Archie Rice") who is also lecherous. He has some good numbers, including the tune I quote in the Summary Line. He does deflower Eckland, but in getting to know Eckland he also realizes she is out of her depth in the atmosphere of Minsky's. She really is a decent girl. He is opposed to her staying, and becoming part of the chorus line. And then comes her final act - inventing the strip tease. Robards is thoroughly ashamed of himself at the end, in helping bring this about. He leaves looking at Eckland as at a lost innocence.The show also includes a proper atmosphere for the burlesque theaters of the 1910 - 1930 period. Originally a junior partner to vaudeville, it degenerated into salacious jokes and bawdy skits (and sexually alluring acts like strip tease and fan dancing). The audiences were mostly unemployed types who were more frequently asleep in the audience than watching the stage. Some great talents did arise (Lahr, Abbott & Costello, Gypsy Rose Lee, Phil Silvers, Rags Ragland), but they were exceptions. It was end of the line entertainment, and it annoyed many people who were not fanatics like Denholm Elliot in the film. Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia did close down the New York burlesque theaters in the 1930s (so - they reopened in New Jersey). The film does recapture the spirit of that time, and that, with Robarts, and Lahr's farewell to the screen, is definitely worthwhile as a film to watch.