Dance, Girl, Dance

1940 "Heartbreak Behind Gayety of a Girly-Girl Show!"
6.8| 1h30m| en
Details

Judy O'Brien is an aspiring ballerina in a dance troupe. Also in the company is Bubbles, a brash mantrap who leaves the struggling troupe for a career in burlesque. When the company disbands, Bubbles gives Judy a thankless job as her stooge. The two eventually clash when both fall for the same man.

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Reviews

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%
Fulke Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama
Prismark10 Dorothy Arzner one of the few female directors of the era injects a feminist subtext at the conclusion of this rather formulaic movie. I think she was also lucky to get around the censor with some of the cheeky and revealing stage routines.The film is about a troupe of dancers struggling in the depression. Bubbles (Lucille Ball) is sultry and sexy, a wow in the burlesque scene. Judy (Maureen O'Hara) aspires to be a serious dancer, a ballerina but ends up being Bubbles stooge in her stage show suffering humiliation each night as the audience jeer at her classical dance routine.Both become interested in wealthy playboy Jimmy (Louis Hayward) who is going through a divorce and who once helped Judy out when they were left stranded with no money in a police raid. Bubbles wants his money, Judy prefers his personality even though Jimmy likes a drink.The films sparkles with Ball being brassy and sexy, O'Hara striving to be independent, sensitive and striving to succeed as an artist. Both end up being vindictive with each other as they get involved in a cat fight as both desire Jimmy. Ralph Bellamy plays a Broadway choreographer who also gets interested in Judy.It is not a plausible film, I can see why Bubbles would become a hit with the revue audience but I can also understand them booing Judy's ballet routine. The film is rather clichéd and the male characters seem to be too thinly drawn.
dsewizzrd-1 This confused film appears to be made from the traditional "Girl's Own" type story, butchered inexpertly to make a marketable film.Maureen O'Hara plays the heroine, a "Grade A" pill, who weeps and bawls her way through the film, performing as a ballerina (badly !) at a burlesque show in contrast to the main act (Lucille Ball as "Tiger Lily").Like all these girl's stories, it begins when a good person is run down by a tram (sorry, a bus this time). The raucous burlesque show scenes fit badly with the "poor but innocent girl" story and the wonderfully daft (contemporary) interpretative ballet company acts.Both dancers vie for the affections of a playboy - who frankly is a bit of a dope - and the traditional ending has been altered to give the "good girl" a happy (sort of) ending.
kenjha Aspiring dancers try to make it big in New York City. This is a forgettable movie that can't decide if it wants to be a comedy, a drama, or a musical when it grows up. A good cast is wasted. Ball is the main attraction here, energetically singing and shaking her groove thing as a dancer named Bubbles. O'Hara, playing Miss Goody Two-Shoes, isn't given much to do, but handles herself well. Hayward is underwhelming as a ladies' man. Bellamy fares better as a decent fellow who's smitten with O'Hara. Arzner, while historically important as a female director in Hollywood, fails to make this interesting. Despite the cast, it feels like a B movie.
zetes I love classical Hollywood as much as anyone I know, but I am also aware that the films are often mechanical and emotionally distant. Very few reach the level of Dance, Girl, Dance. The plot is great. It is not exactly original, but it seemed that way to me. I was entirely hypnotized. This is due to the direction, characterizations, and acting. This is one of the few Hollywood films of the era directed by a woman, Dorothy Arzner. Generally, you can't tell this fact, except for in the climactic scene of the film, where Maureen O'Hara delivers a powerful feminist speech. The direction is amazing, but it's definitely subtle and sometimes hard to catch. All the characters in this film, especially the lead two, are very well realized. They're people, and we believed them. The acting is the best of all. Lucille Ball may be best known for her television show, but she was a great movie actress, as well. I can't say that I've seen too many of her films, but it would shock me if she was ever better than she is in Dance, Girl, Dance. She is the spark of the film, and Maureen O'Hara is the emotional core. I think that her part represents one of the best female characters to be found in the cinema. O'Hara is simply fabulous as a ballet dancer who has to lower her artistic standards to make a living. And, like I mentioned before, listen for that speech she gives near the end of the film. I hadn't heard of this film before. I had never heard of Dorothy Arzner. I love the feeling that I've made a major cinematic discovery. This is most definitely one of those. 10/10.