Dancing Lady (1933)

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Giving her all to this big budget musical, Joan Crawford goes from the 42nd Street burlesque houses to the star of a lavish musical revue (that couldn't fit on any Broadway stage) and proves herself to be quite the dancer if not one of the better singers of the early movie musicals. She looks great in her evening gowns but in rehearsal clothes appears to be rather odd looking with a rather wide head that made her seem older than she was. Put her in frills and sequins, however, she's the glamorous Joan that made her one of the biggest stars of the 1930's, and certainly MGM's most financially successful.The men here are second string in supporting Joan with Franchot Tone a Park Avenue man about town who happens to spot Joan in the chorus of the burlesque show and takes her out, glamours her up and then tries to keep her from the big musical revue's producer, the rugged Clark Gable. She is unaware that Tone has manipulated her success by putting money in the show and withdrawing it when her initially cool working relationship with Gable seemed to be turning into romance. But Gable, like Warner Baxter in the same year's "42nd Street", is determined to make sure that the show goes on.1933 saw the return of the movie musical in a major way, and MGM produced several that rivaled the Busby Berkley dance extravaganzas being made over at Warner Brothers. Joan, however, isn't Ruby Keeler, the innocent chorus girl who gets a lucky break; It's obvious from the get-go that she's tough, sharing wisecracks with burlesque star Winnie Lightner and even getting some laughs with her brief encounter with none other than the Three Stooges. Like Marian Davies in MGM's "Going Hollywood", she is meant to be more window dressing than Jeanette MacDonald, and looks fabulous in her Adrian gowns. When all of a sudden she begins to dance with Fred Astaire in an outrageously lavish production number, she proves herself to be practically his equal, giving her the distinction of being his first screen dancing partner.Nelson Eddy leads the big production number of "Rhythm of the Day", giving "Dancing Lady" the distinction of having the two leading men who would become part of famous twosomes in musicals for the rest of the decade. "Rhythm of the Day" is almost laughably pretentious, but not as outrageous as "Heigh Ho the Gang's All Here" which has Fred and Joan dancing on a whirling gadget that flies through the sky and lands in the middle of a big festival with chorus boys and girls clad in liederhosen. "Let's Go Bavarian!" is actually ironic for a 1933 release with its Germanic themes considering that this was the same year that Hitler began his rise to power and ultimate reign of terror.May Robson, already having played Joan's mother in "Letty Lynton", is Tone's hard of hearing grandmother, with Grant Mitchell as a theater owner and in an unbilled role, the future Eve Arden as a chorus girl rejectee who had tried to feign a Southern accent. Of course, Arden would go on to support Joan in a larger way years later in "Mildred Pierce", so there's an irony in seeing her here. The blowzy Winnie Lightner, after a brief leading lady stint at Warners, gets in some good gags and an amusing musical number.While certainly not among the best of the 1930's big budget musicals, "Dancing Lady" is still fun, frivolous and frilly. Gable seems a bit out of sorts putting on a show, and his role is rather secondary. Tone's character lacks motivation, but somebody's got to be the heavy, even if the script gives no real indication as to why. This is Joan's picture all the way.

Aspiring Broadway dancer Janie (Joan Crawford) works as a burlesque stripper and is arrested in a raid. Rich playboy Tod Newton (Franchot Tone) is instantly attracted to her and bails her out. But Janie won't sleep with him so he decides to help her with her career to further ingratiate himself to her. He really wants her bad! Anyway, Tod gets her an audition with producer Patch Gallagher (Clark Gable), but it's Janie's own talent that gets her the job. Over time Patch and Janie develop feelings for each other but Tod still wants her, going so far as to propose ("I'll buy a ring and the license if it'll make everything cozier"). What ever is a girl to do? Lovely young Joan and Clark have great chemistry. There's a fun, sexy scene with them exercising that's probably my favorite. Franchot Tone is right at home playing a horndog. Winnie Lightner is terrific as Joan's friend. Film debut of Fred Astaire. Early appearances by Nelson Eddy, Eve Arden, Robert Benchley, and the Three Stooges. Joan's dancing isn't very polished. This is especially noticeable when she's dancing with Astaire. The final production numbers for the "big show" are implausible for a supposed stage show but still good fun to watch. The plot of a struggling dancer getting her big break with a Broadway show was a staple of 1930s' musicals but it's all carried off well enough I didn't care. It's a good movie and lots of fun. One of Joan's best from the '30s.

The plot is nothing much in the originality stakes -- to be honest, the musical numbers (with the exception of the tuneful "Everything I Have is Yours", featured off-stage in a party sequence) aren't anything much either -- but it doesn't matter. With its sassy dames (I'd have liked to see more of Winnie Lightner as the cynical older roommate), Depression-era morals, sharp script and high-octane performances all round, this is unmistakably a 1930s product, fizzing with energy and entertainment.Joan Crawford is well cast as the ambitious dancer determined to thrust her way up out of a sleazy burlesque show; in fact, the few moments when her character is intended to melt into genuine feminine tenderness are the least convincing, in acting terms. Crawford was born to sparkle with sharp edges.Clark Gable as the street-smart producer trying to manage the whims of his wealthy patron is full of charisma in a tough-guy role, and teams well with his backstage foils Ted Healy and Robert Benchley; the Three Stooges put on a rather infantile finger-poking act in the background which apparently had audience appeal, but fortunately for my taste there wasn't much of it. Franchot Tone makes the role of the moneyed Society boy and would-be 'protector' of the heroine a surprisingly sympathetic one, glowing with genuine enthusiasm at her achievements even when this undermines his own aims, and shows off a well set-up figure in expensive tailoring and a swimming suit; not to be beaten, Clark Gable strips off to display his muscles in the gym, while Miss Crawford models a series of backless costumes that leave very little to the imagination -- and nor does that nightdress! Strong character performances, a coherent plot and a good script win out over standard backstage material and uninspiring musical arrangements in this MGM picture; I enjoyed it, and felt it had the edge over "Broadway Melody of 1938", screened the previous night.

I enjoyed "Dancing Lady" despite the fact that the titular "Lady" (Joan Crawford) is about as graceful as a pregnant camel. Other than her lead-footed dancing, Joan give a good performance. How many other movies can claim to feature The 3 Stooges, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone, Joan Crawford, Fred Astaire and Nelson Eddy? Even Eve Arden shows up in a bit part (years before being reunited with Joan in "Mildred Pierce"!) Only MGM could have come up with a cast like this! Nevertheless, it's apparent that MGM was still learning how to put on a proper musical. Warner's musicals of the period are light years ahead of this. The songs are terrible and, other than Fred Astaire's numbers, the dancing is mediocre. Maybe I'm making it sound awful but it really isn't. It's a fun 90+ minutes to pass away a rainy afternoon.