The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968)

Description

In New York in 1925, the rage of the lower East Side is burlesque - particularly Minsky's Burlesque at the National Winter Garden Theatre. Yet all is not well at Minsky's. Billy Minsky (ELLIOTT GOULD), who operates the house, is at odds with his father, because the theatre is under investigation by Vance Fowler (DENHOLM ELLIOTT), head of the Society for the Suppression of Vice. Although Minsky's stops short of striptease, the chorus girls and double-entendre comedy are enough to excite the society's anger. Meanwhile, into the world of Minsky's drifts Rachel Schpitendavel (BRITT EKLAND), a young girl who has run away from home and her harsh father to become a dancer in the big city. Her speciality is dancing biblical scenes. When they meet Rachel, Minsky's two top comics immediately begin to compete for her affections. But soon they find another use for her - they plan to spread the word that Minsky's will stage a scandalous dance, then force the Society for the Suppression of Vice into an apology when all that materializes is Rachel's innocent routine. The plan to ensure Minsky's lease is renewed seems foolproof - until matters are complicated by the arrival of Rachel's furious father, who is searching the town for his daughter...