Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...

Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

MusicChat It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

cstotlar-1 This was certainly not what I expected. I was delightfully surprised in just about every way. This film shows clearer than any I've seen the Vaudeville life and the acts in the last years. The sound was handled beautifully and the ending quite touching. Since I caught this where I could find it on You Tube, there were no sequences in color, alas, but everything else was precious, particularly the leads. It paved the way for so many subsequent "show must go on" movies and the phrase itself finally became cliché but this is pristine, sensitive and ultimately quite moving. I was also thankful that so many of the acts were filmed in their entirety, for historical as well as artistic reasons. The balance was perfect!Curtis Stotlar

kidboots When John Cromwell was hired to direct "The Dance of Life", a film version of the Broadway success "Burlesque", it was automatically assumed that the key members of the cast would be tested and hired. They all turned up for a one act screen test - all except one. Barbara Stanwyck's husband refused to let his wife do the film (according to Oscar Levant). He was an egomaniac and wouldn't let her go to Hollywood until he was also summoned (Stanwyck made her film debut a few months later in the static "The Locked Door"). So the assignment was given to Paramount's latest star Nancy Carroll - she was not only more relaxed and natural in front of the cameras than many of the other "stagies" in the film, she definitely boosted the film's popularity at the box office.Skid Johnson (Hal Skelly), a talented comedian, who is also an alcoholic, is fired from a third rate burlesque show. He meets Bonny Kane (Nancy Carroll) who has failed to make specialty dancer from the same show. "You wouldn't kid me lady? I would if I could mister, I would if I could" - that became a popular catch phrase of the day. They become friends and get jobs in the same show. Under Skid's guidance Bonny becomes an expert dancer and through her steadying influence he really starts applying himself to his work.Someone else has their eye on him -Sylvia (beautiful Dorothy Reiver). Skid performs "King of Jazzmania with the chorus then Bonny takes the stage for "Cuddlesome Baby". The manager wants to get rid of Bonny but Skid persuades him to keep her and deduct her wage from his salary. She finds out and decides to quit but in the middle of their routine Skid proposes and she accepts. Their wedding night is disastrous as Skid gets drunk - but from now on Bonny holds him on a tight rein. He sings "True Blue Lou" - a beautiful song inspired by Bonny's love. (The song became the hit of the year with Ethel Waters doing a marvelous recording of it). His act is seen by Flo Ziegfeld and suddenly Skid is on his way to the top. There is a musical interlude ala the Ziegfeld Follies - "Ladies of the Dance" - showing beautiful show girls parading down stairs, then cutie, Marjorie "Babe" Kane sings "The Flipperty Flop", followed by an Eccentric Dance by Skid. (This was obviously the "Technicolor Sequence" but it was only in black and white on my copy). But who's this - bad girl Sylvia is the leading showgirl and trying her best to be Skid's leading girl in real life as well. When Bonny goes to New York to see Skid she accidentally sees them together and thinking he has forgotten her, she leaves without seeing him. She files for divorce and turns to Harvey Howell, a "big breath of fresh air" from Wyoming who wants only the best for her. Just before her marriage Skid calls on her and after a riotous reunion, Harvey walks in and Skid embarrasses himself. Nancy Carroll here sings "In The Gloaming" - she actually sung this for her first screen test. After going on a gigantic bender and being sacked from Ziegfeld's show, he is finally given a last chance by Lefty Miller (Charles B. Brown) the manager who gave him and Bonny their first break. Bonnie is asked to come back and help him through - he is now a skid row drunk. Bonnie, who has never stopped loving him, helps him back on his feet and as their dance starts up with the familiar patter, realises her place is beside Skid.This film was one of the most popular and highly regarded films of the year. Made at a time when most films adapted from stage plays were usually inferior, this was a standout in every way. Oscar Levant had a bit as a songwriter - his part was not cut out, he did play a couple of songs and had a few lines. Nancy Carroll gives a remarkable performance in this primitive talkie - anybody could tell she was destined for big things.Highly, Highly Recommended.

arthursward Here's one of the early talkies that has been readily available to home video, but one I've avoided. An early musical, and yet another "backstage" plotline, this was something I've seen done so poorly elsewhere I suspected I'd wind up throwing things at my TV. [Have any of you anguished your way through the musical numbers of The Great Gabbo?] Happily, such was not the case. Here is a film totally accessible to contemporary audiences.A big film in its time, Paramount popped for Technicolor and assigned it's two top directors, Cromwell and Sutherland. [The directors appear in cameos as doorman and theatre attendant, respectively.] Musical sequences are well done and entertain. Cringe factor on a one to five scale, one. The wonder of seeing the tall, lanky Skelly and diminutive Carroll dancing in perfect unison is still with me. They're the most unlikely team this side of Laurel and Hardy.Many other splendid differences between this film and its contemporaries are worth noting. Released August, 1929, Paramount's superimposed credits seem so much more modern than the silent card graphics MGM still used. Not everyone cares to know who the associated producer is, we want entertained. Behind The Dance Of Life, silhouetted stage hands scurry about, pulling backdrops and riggings. You're treated to seeing behind the scenes while the obligatory texts play out. The ensemble cast has antagonists which prove to be red herrings. It's loaded with interesting camera compositions. A train is gained and quit at night in a pouring rainstorm. A sandwich is used as a romantic device. And what I enjoyed the most was the personal and up close feeling the directors give scenes. Skelly, after pratfalling from wing to wing, sings "True Blue Lou" so personally it would seem he was oblivious to the camera which closed in three times during the song.A snapshot of a lost form of American entertainment, The Dance Of Life stands apart from its roots as a great film. See it!

F Gwynplaine MacIntyre 'The Dance of Life' (1929) is the film version of a hit Broadway play called 'Burlesque', which starred Barbara Stanwyck. The original title was considered too racy for movie audiences, so the film producers bought the rights to a best-selling NON-fiction book about sex, 'The Dance of Life', just so they could use the book's title for this movie based on 'Burlesque'.Skid Johnson is a baggy-pants comedian who can't make it on the vaudeville circuit. He meets Bonny Lee, a bright young dancer who is pretty and talented but who just can't catch a break. Stranded in a train station between vaudeville bookings, the two decide to team up and try a new act together. To save money, they get married: if they travel the vaudeville circuit with a marriage license to prove they're husband and wife, they can share a single hotel room. As their act gets better, Skid and Bonny get bookings which bring them closer to Broadway, and soon they are genuinely in love with each other. But, just when stardom is within their grasp, Skid gets a big head. And then the trouble starts...'The Dance of Life' is a fascinating early talkie. Nancy Carroll (in the Stanwyck role) is an excellent actress and a fine dancer. Dramatic actor Hal Skelly had difficulty getting roles because of his clownish face; in this film, he puts his unusual appearance to good tragicomic advantage as a comedian who encounters problems in his offstage life. Skelly does a funny skidding dance which probably explains his character's nickname.Oscar Levant had a small role in the Broadway cast of 'Burlesque', in a party scene which gave him a chance to play the piano and make a few wisecracks. He makes his film debut in 'The Dance of Life', repeating his Broadway role ... but the screenplay cuts Levant's role to a mere walk-on, giving him no opportunities to play the piano or crack any jokes. Don't expect any of those great Levant witticisms.I was excited to see Al Saint John's name in this film's cast list, in the role of Skid Johnson's slapstick comedy sidekick Bozo. Al Saint John was one of the great acrobatic comedians of the silent screen, working prominently with his uncle Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle and with Buster Keaton. Seeing him cast as a comedian in this dramatic backstage story, I expected St John to do some of his brilliant acrobatic pratfalls in 'The Dance of Life'. Unfortunately, we never see Bozo doing any of his act onstage, so St John's comedic talents are wasted in this film. But he handles the dramatic aspects of his supporting role very well.Some of the dialogue in 'The Dance of Life' was considered quite racy at the time, but it will seem very tame now. Like this example:GIRL: You wouldn't kid me, would you, mister?BOY: I would if I could, sister, I would if I could.In 1929, that was pretty close to a dirty joke. I recommend 'The Dance of Life' as a fascinating example of early talking pictures