.Studio: MGM. Runtime: 94 minutes. Production Number 694. Release Date: November 24, 1933. Director: Robert Z. Leonard. Screenplay: Allen Rivkin, P.J. Wolfson, Robert Benchley. Based on a novel by James W. Bellah. Executive Producer: David O. Selznick. Associate Producer: John W. Considine. Assistant Director: Joseph Boyle. Cast: Joan Crawford (Janie Barlow), Clark Gable (Patch Gallagher), Franchot Tone (Tod Newton), Winnie Lightner (Rosie LaRue), Ted Healy (Steve), Larry Fine (Harry), Moe Howard (Stagehand), Jerry Howard (Stagehand), Gloria Foy (Vivian Warner), Grant Mitchell (Jasper Bradley, Sr.), Maynard Holmes (Jasper Bradley Jr.), Robert Benchley (Ward King), May Robson (Mrs. Todhunter), Nelson Eddy (Himself), Art Jarrett (Himself), Fred Astaire (Himself), Jack Baxley (Burlesque Barker), Harry Leroy (Burlesque patron), Jean Howard (Girl with Tod), Pat Somerset (Tod's Friend), Tom Mahoney (Police Sergeant), Frank Hagney (Policeman), Tenen Holtz, Charles Williams (Men arrested in burlesque house), Ferdinand Gottschalk (Judge), Lee Phelps (Bailiff), Blanche Payson (Jail matron), Eve Arden (Marcia), Matt McHugh (Marcia's Agent), Jess Mendelson (Choreographer), Charles Sullivan (Taxi driver), Stanley Blystone (Traffic Cop), Isabelle Keith (Miss Allen), Florine McKinney (Grace Newton), Sterling Holloway (Pinky), Harry C. Bradley, John Sheehan (Pinky's Pals), Robert Lees (Cuban nightclub dancer), Charles C. Wilson (Joe, club manager), Bill Elliott (Man in cafe), Victor Potel (Worker), Larry Steers, C. Montague Shaw (First nighters), Bonnie Bonnell, Ruth Moody, Marion Weldon, Chicquita Marcia, Muriel Evans, Peaches Jackson, Shirley Chambers, Fay Estelle, Lynn Bari, Shirley Aaronson, Mary Wilbur, Veleda Duncan, Irene Thompson, Ardelle Unger, Dale Dee, Geneva Sawyer, Kay Gordon, Lorena Carr, Linda Parker, Miriam Marlin, Esther Brodelet, May Packer, Bonita Barker, Iris Nicholson, Jean Alden, Margaret McConnell, Anita Thompson, Shirley Deane, Patsy Lee, Edith Haskins, Eleanor Edwards, Lucille Miller, Zelda Webber, Gail Arnold, Nadine Dore, Mary Halsey, Marjorie Timm, Dalle Dean, Frances Sawyer, Dorothy Dearing, Edna Callahan, Jackie Page, Katharine Barnes, Patsy O'Dea, Lee Bailey (chorus girls), Earl Blackwell, John Fulso, Wilburn Riviere, Alan DeAstray, Lester Ostrander, Louis Delgado, Frances Belmont (chorus boys). Cinematographer: Oliver T. Marsh. Assistant Cameraman: Kyme Meade. Editor: Margaret Booth. Art Director: Merrill Pye. Interior Decoration: Edwin B. Willis. Recording Director: Douglas Shearer. Conductor: Louis Silvers. Songwriters: Burton Lane, Jimmy McHugh, James P. Johnson, Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers, Nacio Herb Brown, Harold Adamson, Dorothy Fields, Arthur Freed. Wardrobe: Dolly Tree. Gowns: Adrian. Shooting Days:1933-06-26 to 1933-10-06.
During their juncture at MGM, it seemed as if the studio didn't quite know what to do with the Stooges. Because of this you will occasionally find the Stooges in movies, you wouldn't associate them with. For instance, no one would expect to see our favorite knuckleheads in a romantic musical starring Joan Crawford (Born March 23, 1904–1908 (year depends on the source) in
San Antonio, Texas; Passed away May 10, 1977, in New York City) and Clark Gable (Born February 1, 1901 in Cadiz, Ohio; Passed away November 16, 1960 in Los Angeles, California). Yet they find their way into the delightful and often overlooked pre-code gem Dancing Lady.
In this film, a young and talented dancer (Joan Crawford) is rescued from jail by a rich man (Franchot Tone) and given a chance in a Broadway show, where she falls in love with director Patch Gallagher (Clark Gable).
This is a true hidden Hollywood gem. The story itself may be familiar, but it unfolds at a fast pace and is never once anything less than completely entertaining. The opening scenes with the main character going to court for being a part of a striptease show is an example of Pre-Code Hollywood at its best. The scene is delightfully risqué and full of snappy dialogue that is full of a certain hard-boiled wit. This snappy dialogue stays through much of the film. Joan Crawford's character gets many delightful wisecracks throughout the movie. Speaking of Joan Crawford, she is often great in the main role getting both a lot of emotion and humor out of a very simple character. As a dancer she is no Cyd Charisse, but she doesn't embarrass herself on the dance floor either. It is still hard to believe that all these characters are actually that impressed with her dancing. Clark Gable is simply wonderful as a leading man commanding the screen whenever he is on and showing us why he is the perfect example of what a movie star is. The two also have great chemistry with each other, especially during the delightful gym scene. The musical numbers may not be especially memorable, but they are a lot of fun. The songs are very pleasant and the cinematography, sets and chorography during these scenes are very well done. The last two musical numbers are especially charming and fun in the best old Hollywood way. The last musical number has some delightfully creative Busby Berkley inspired imagery that is still a joy to look at.
Though the Stooges have smaller roles here, they do get some good laughs. Their couple of scenes with Joan are really fun. Also getting some fine laughs here is humorist Robert Benchley, who, like in many of his film appearances, wrote much of his own dialogue.
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| Motion Picture Daily, 1933 |
This film was based on a novel of the same name by James Warner Bellah, which was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post from April 30 to June 4, 1932. Fans of director John Ford (and how could anyone not love the films of John Ford) will be familiar with the work of James Warner Bellah. He wrote the stories which Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Rio Grande (1950) were based off of. Along with Willis Goldbeck, Bellah co-wrote the screenplays for the John Ford movies, Sergeant Rutledge (1960) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) (one of the greatest westerns ever made).
This film was originally going to have had Robert Montgomery playing the role of Tod Newton. Some sources state that he was not able to do the picture because he had not completed filming Another Language (1933).
Director Robert Z. Leonard (Born October 7, 1889, in Chicago, Illinois; Passed away August 27, 1968, in Beverly Hills, California) is not especially well known today but he had a long and varied career beginning in the early 1910's and lasting until the late 1950's. His filmography includes such movies as The Cardboard Lover (1928), A Lady of Chance (1928), The Divorcee (1930), Strange Interlude (1932), Peg o' My Heart (1933), The Great Ziegfeld (1936), Pride and Prejudice (1940), In the Good Old Summertime (1949) and The Clown (1953). He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6370 Hollywood Blvd.
Early during the production of this movie, Clark Gable was hospitalized because of a high fever. His illness turned out to be much worse than just a fever. He learned that due to his rotting teeth and gums, he had pyorrhea and this was spreading throughout his body. All his teeth would have to be removed, and he had to wait two weeks for his gums to heal so that he could have dentures. While he was gone some scenes that didn't include him were shot.
Some sources state that the higher ups at MGM were skeptical about Gable's illness, thinking that he was not as sick as he was letting on. According to these sources in order to punish Gable for this he was loaned out to make a picture for Columbia (at this time Columbia was considered to be a lesser Hollywood studio). The movie he would make at Columbia would be It Happened One Night (1934), which would end up winning Best Picture and give Gable a Best Actor win. Other sources however give the reason that Gable was loaned to Columbia as being that he refused to play a tough guy role that MGM heads wanted him to play.
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In the film, the characters played by Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Franchot Tone (Born February 27, 1905, in Niagara Falls, New York; Passed away September 18, 1968, in New York City) were engaged in a love triangle. This is not all the different from what happened with the actors themselves. When production on this movie began, Clark Gable and Joan Crawford were in the middle of a love affair. However, when Gable returned after his illness, he found that Crawford had fallen for Franchot Tone and that this attraction was mutual. Joan Crawford and Franchot Tone would marry in 1935 and divorce in 1939.
An issue of Variety dated December 5, 1933, stated, “A Hitler gag was cut out of ‘Dancing Lady’ by Metro. Jerry Howard of Howard, Fine and Howard, Ted Healy’s stooges, is shown working on a jigsaw puzzle all through the picture until finally supplying the missing piece. He jumps up registering a sick expression, exclaiming, ‘I've been working on this for five weeks and look what I finally got, Hitler.’ To which Healy replies, ‘What did you expect, Santa Claus?’ The Santa tag is in plus the business, but Hitler is out.” Variety got the Stooge in question wrong as it was actually Larry, not Curly (at this time Jerry) that was doing the jigsaw puzzle. In the released film there is a running gag of Larry working on a jigsaw puzzle. However, that gag has no pay off in the actual movie. This is because the ending of the gag was excised from the negative before the film was actually released.
Though The Stooges have supporting roles in this movie, you do get to see some of their regular comedic bits here.
The gag of the keyboard lid of the piano gets slammed on Larry's fingers as he is playing would later be used in the short films, Loco Boy Makes Good (1942), Brideless Groom (1947) and Hula-La-La (1951).
At one point the south is mentioned. The boys put on a southern accent and start shouting "Hallelujah." They had previously done this in the short film, Plane Nuts (1933). The boys would later do this in the shorts, Uncivil Warriors (1935), Pardon My Scotch (1935), Don't Throw That Knife (1951) and Hula-La-La (1951).
At one point the Stooges respond to being told what to do with "Right...right...right...right...right." They are then asked, "Everything alright?" The boys respond in unison "right." The Stooges would repeat this bit in the short films Half Shot Shooters (1936) and Three Little Twirps (1943) as well as the feature length movie, Have Rocket -- Will Travel (1959).
The Stooges sing, "You'll never know, just what tears are..." The boys had previously sung this song in the feature length movie Soup to Nuts (1930) and the short film Beer and Pretzels (1933). They would later perform the little tune in the feature length movie, Fugitive Lovers (1934) and the short films Horses' Collars (1935), Half Shot Shooters (1936) and A Ducking They Did Go (1939).
Probably this movie's greatest historical significance is that it features the film debut of Fred Astaire (Born May 10, 1899, in Omaha, Nebraska; Passed away June 22, 1987, in Los Angeles, California). Astaire would of course go on to be one of the greatest dancers the movies would ever see, and his films are just as wonderful and delightful today as they were back then. Producer David O. Selznick convinced his former studio RKO to sign the Broadway star. However, the studio was unsure how to best use the dancer. When David O Selznick moved to MGM, he decided to borrow Astaire from RKO for this movie. This would be Astaire's last movie for MGM until The Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940). Later the same year Dancing Lady was released Fred Astaire would launch to movie stardom due to a memorable supporting role in the delightful RKO musical Flying Down to Rio (1933). Though that movie starred Dolores del Río and Gene Raymond, it is best known today for the first film in which Fred and his most popular dancing partner Ginger Rogers would be teamed. The scene where Fred and Ginger danced the Carioca stole the show and the dancing team soon would star in their own movies.
Fred Astaire's role in Dancing Lady is brief; however, it is one of the film's highlights. He plays the main character's dancing partner, who happens to be named Fred Astaire. With this role he gets some great dance sequences and of course steals the show with them.
The song Everything I Have Is Yours would become a hit song. In this movie it is sung by Art Jarrett. However, it would later be recorded by artists like George Olsen, Rudy Vallee, Eddie Fisher, Al Bowlly, Billie Holiday and Patti Page. The song was written by Burton Lane (music) and Harold Adamson (lyrics).
This film was a massive success upon its release. Some sources state that was one of Joan Crawford's most popular films and was considered a comeback after the box office failures of Rain (1932) and Today We Live (1933). For years it would be considered a yardstick by which future Joan Crawford movies would be measured.
Here is a review from Photoplay magazine dated February 1934.
"Top notch entertainment that should please the majority of movie-goers. A musical production with the usual backstage atmosphere–which differs only in that it has an interesting story woven through it.
As Janie, a young dancer who makes her way (through the kindnesses of Franchot Tone, wealthy playboy) from burlesque to lead in a Broadway musical directed by Patch Gallagher, Joan Crawford gives an admirable performance.
Clark Gable, as the hardboiled director, is well cast. May Robson, Minnie Lightner, Sterling Holloway, Ted Healy and his stooges all do fine work. Art Jarrett and Nelson Eddy lend fine vocal accompaniment.
The dance scenes are dazzling in extravagant splendor. Fred Astaire and Joan are a perfect complement."
Here is a review from Screenland Magazine, also dated February 1934.
"This is the picture that took so long to make that it kept your Joan Crawford off the country’s screens for almost eight months. Was it worth it? Well, I can say honestly that it’s a glittering and rather gorgeous movie that it will bring back the Crawford you seem to prefer, the colorful heroine of “Our Dancing Daughters,” and that it will not fail to entertain you. Yes, it’s another musical—but it’s one of the best. And it’s novel to see a star of Crawford’s caliber actually dancing, and effectively, too. The film opens with Joan doing a 'strip tease' in a burlesque show. The theatre is raided and our heroine is jailed until Franchot 'Park Avenue Playboy' Tone comes to the rescue. She then battles her way to Broadway stardom under the tutelage of Clark Gable, who plays a hard-boiled dance director. And incidentally, Gable gives one grand performance here. Ted Healy and his stooges are priceless. But the film is mostly Crawford—practically a one-girl show! Grand if you like the star. A good show even if you don’t. You’ll like seeing Joan and Gable together again."
Here is an article from Silver Screen magazine dated November 1933. This article is about Joan Crawford and mentions Dancing Lady multiple times. If you have any trouble reading these pages, click on them and use your touch screen to zoom in. If you don't have a touch screen, click here.
-Michael J. Ruhland
The Three Stooges Scrapbook by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer and Greg Lenburg
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