Dance, Fools, Dance
| Dance, Fools, Dance | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Harry Beaumont |
| Written by | Story & Dialogue: Aurania Rouverol Continuity: Richard Schayer |
| Starring | Joan Crawford Lester Vail Clark Gable |
| Cinematography | Charles Rosher |
| Edited by | George Hively |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
|
Running time | 80 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $234,000[1] |
| Box office | $1,268,000[1] |
Dance, Fools, Dance (1931) is a pre-Code Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer feature film starring Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, and Lester Vail in a story about a reporter investigating the murder of a colleague. Story and dialogue were created by Aurania Rouverol, and the film was directed by Harry Beaumont. Dance, Fools, Dance was the first of eight cinematic collaborations between Crawford and Gable.
Plot summary
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Former socialite, Bonnie Jordan (Joan Crawford) is a cub reporter whose brother Rodney (William Bakewell) is involved with a beer-running gang. On one caper, he drives the car that guns down a rival gang. Bonnie's journalist colleague Bert Scranton (Cliff Edwards) is murdered when he finds out too much. Gang chief Jake Luva (Clark Gable) is suspected of plotting Scranton's murder and Bonnie investigates, barely escaping with her life after learning the details of the gang's operations. The criminals are brought to justice.
Cast
- Joan Crawford as Bonnie Jordan
- Lester Vail as Bob Townsend
- Cliff Edwards as Bert Scranton
- William Bakewell as Rodney Jordan
- William Holden as Stanley Jordan
- Clark Gable as Jake Luva
- Earle Foxe as Wally Baxter (credited as Earl Foxe)
- Purnell B. Pratt as Parker
- Hale Hamilton as Selby
- Natalie Moorhead as Della
- Joan Marsh as Sylvia
- Russell Hopton as Whitey
Reception
Photoplay commented, "Again Joan Crawford proves herself a great dramatic actress. The story...is hokum, but it's good hokum and Joan breathes life into her characterization." Andre Sennwald noted in The New York Times, Miss Crawford's acting is still self-conscious, but her admirers will find her performance well up to her standard."[2]
Box office
According to MGM records the film earned $848,000 in the US and Canada and $420,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $524,000.[1]
Historical note
The film is loosely based on real-life events of the production's period which occurred in Chicago, such as reporter Jake Lingle's murder by underworld hoodlums and the St. Valentine's Day massacre.
See also
References
- ^ a b c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
- ^ Quirk, Lawrence J.. The Films of Joan Crawford. The Citadel Press, 1968.