Lipstick & Dynamite - The First Ladies of Wrestling (2004)

62% of critics liked it
(37 reviews)
55% of users liked it
(1,200 ratings)

A handful of pioneering women wrestlers look back at the wild and wooly days before "sports entertainment" was a multi-million-dollar business and female grapplers were regarded as a novelty (or worse, a freak show) in this documentary. Lipstick & Dynamite examines the history of women on the… More A handful of pioneering women wrestlers look back at the wild and wooly days before "sports entertainment" was a multi-million-dollar business and female grapplers were regarded as a novelty (or worse, a freak show) in this documentary. Lipstick & Dynamite examines the history of women on the professional wrestling circuit (dating back to 1939) and focuses on eight female fighters, two of whom -- The Fabulous Moolah and The Great Mae Young -- are still involved in the fight game. Offering a perspective on the darker side of the wrestling circuit, including fixed matches, male promoters eager to take advantage of naïve female newcomers, and the poor treatment and pay often afforded female contestants, the film also examines the lighter side of the business and what some of the greats of women's wrestling have done after leaving the ring. Lipstick & Dynamite was shown in competition at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 17 min.
Directed By: Ruth Leitman
Written By: Ruth Leitman
Genres: Documentary, Sports & Fitness, Classics, Comedy

In Theaters: May 5, 2004 Limited
On DVD: Sep 6, 2005
Studio: Koch Lorber Films

Critic Reviews

Malene Arpe, Toronto Star
Fails to deliver much in the way of engagement or thrills.
Brad Wheeler, Globe and Mail
Leitman gives these golden girls a voice -- that is the film's success. The failure is the narrative.
Ellen Fox, Chicago Tribune
Don't expect the inside scoop so much as an unsatisfying slice of life.
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hugely entertaining.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
What we get is essentially the press-book version of their careers, which is harrowing enough.
Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle
Doesn't succeed in its attempt to make a feminist statement, with too many of the wrestlers sounding like male athletes who talk in excruciating detail about high school football seasons that everyone else forgot.
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
This kitchy movie arrives as a quirky and funny footnote to "Million Dollar Baby," and dispels any notion that these brawny pin-up women were ever anything more or less than a batch of tough broads.
Bill Gibron, DVDTalk.com
There is a great film to be made about the grappling glamazons who helped blaze a trail that lead to legitimizing women's athletics. This is not that movie, however.
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher
Lively and charged with a furious nostalgia...
Liz Braun, Jam! Movies
Talk about being ahead of your time. Most of these women were living independently by the age of about 15, and took their place in a man's world through herculean effort.
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times
Leitman gives us a comprehensive array of pinup photos, news clips and wrestling footage from these women's younger years, and gives the women plenty of camera time to emerge as individuals and personalities.
Paula Nechak, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The film dwells more upon the sensational aspects than the sport itself but it's impossible to deny the sheer tawdry entertainment value in this compelling film tabloid.
Steve Schneider, Orlando Weekly
That octogenarians can be so full of antagonistic joie de vivre is one of the giddiest revelations of Leitman's film.
Peter Canavese, Groucho Reviews
Too shapeless...but the topic is worthy, and the onslaught of trivia and quirky anecdotes hold interest for the film's 75 minutes.

Read all 14 critic reviews

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