Our Dancing Daughters (1928)

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

Blistering performances.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The movie that launched Joan Crawford's career, and which so nicely captured some of the spirit of the flappers in the late 1920's. The scenes of her cutting loose with the Charleston amidst art deco furnishings are certainly the highlight. The plot itself is a pretty thin morality tale. Crawford and Anita Page pursue the same newly minted millionaire, who confuses who is "the pure one" and of course gets it wrong. Perhaps it's understandable, since there is a lot of dancing, legs, and playful kissing of guy friends to go around. There is an undercurrent of the double standard common for the time (how interesting this was made in the same year Woolf gave her 'A Room of One's Own' speeches); Dorothy Sebastian plays another character who must live down her past, and convince her husband to forgive her for it. The movie is silent and not in the greatest shape anymore, but that might have added a little to its charm. It's also interesting to see the short hairstyles, cloche hats, and the dialog:Offering a drink: "Li'l hot baby want a cool li'l sip?"After a big kiss: "What a service station *you* turned out to be!"By the shoreline, to a pretty song; ah youth: "It's such a pleasant thing – just to be alive!" "You want to taste all of life – don't you?" "Yes – all! I want to hold out my hands and catch it – like the sunlight."

Our Dancing Daughters (1928) *** (out of 4) This here is without question one of the most popular silent film and one that new fans seem to discover each passing year. The film isn't known for being great but for turning Joan Crawford into a movie star. In the film she plays Diana, a good natured girl with the reputation of being a party animal. Her best friend Ann (Anita Page) is a real gold digger who doesn't have a good bone in her body. Diana eventually falls for a guy named Ben (Johnny Mack Brown) and while he eventually falls for her, the reputation keeps him at distance but he makes a mistake when he falls for Ann who is only after one thing no matter what act she puts on for him. This certainly isn't the greatest movie ever made but there's enough entertainment here for fans of Crawford to want to check it out. Silent film fans will also want to check it out as it's another early attempt at putting sound onto a film. The synchronized soundtrack consists of various crowd noises in the background as well as a few lines of dialogue being spoken by people in the background. I'm sure this was very exciting back in 1928 but today it sounds incredibly fake and rather funny. Outside of that the movie delivers a lot of great performances, which is the real reason to check this out. Crawford is wonderful as the bright eyed, soft hearted girl and she really delivers a very memorable character. I loved the way she pulls off being goofy one second but at the snap of a finger she could switch gears and make it believable. Page never seems to get the credit she deserves but she too is good here and makes for a great villain. The ending where she and Crawford really go at it was wonderfully pulled off. Johnny Mack Brown, Mils Asther and Dorothy Sebastian, as the third friend, also do nice work. The actual ending and how this triangle gets worked out is really forced and rather stupid but it's only a mild error. This jazz age love story does a nice job at capturing the youth of this era and that's enough to make the film worth checking out. Throw in the performances and you've got a nice little gem that should keep most entertained.

It sounds absurd, but I would suggest that Harry Beaumont's 1928 silent film Our Dancing Daughters would make an amusing double bill with Whit Stillman's 1990 film Metropolitan. Both films are rather sophisticated critiques of life among society's elite, the gala balls, the flippant attitudes, and crushing realities of romance, treachery and friendship. Written by three women, Our Dancing Daughters is an interesting example of early female empowerment, teaching women that being true to yourself is better than letting others shape you to their ends.A young Joan Crawford, Anita Page, and Dorothy Sebastian play three wild girls in the early Jazz age who are coming to terms with their place in society and the repercussions of their "flapper" ways. Crawford is "dangerous" Diana, wild, intelligent, and sexual beyond her years. She's unapologetically flirtatious and provocative. Page is Anne, saucy and flirtatious as well. Anne is also poorer than her friends and her mother is counting on her to marry into wealth, urging her to use her virtue as a tool. Sebastian's Beatrice is largely reformed, but she has some kind of past, which bothers her more than it bothers the man who's devoted to her (at first, at least). When Johnny Mack Brown's Ben Blaine (a millionaire and former college football star) enters the picture, he falls for Diana and Anne decides that she will win his heart.In one of her earliest roles, Crawford is amazing. If you've only seen her later performances (like her Oscar winning Mildred Pierce) or Faye Dunaway's impression of her in Mommie Dearest, it's possible to forget just how beautiful and lively she was. She's a marvelously liberated character, the type woman Hollywood frequently featured in the late silent period before forgetting about them for decades of regressive female characters. She is supported by her parents and feels strength in her independence. When she sees herself falling in love, she seems genuinely surprised and when Anne steps in, she seems genuinely heartbroken.Our Dancing Daughters (lensed by George Barnes, who later shot several Hitchcock classics like Rebecca) is a rather joyous production when it isn't commenting on society and gender. The film had a jazzy original score written for it and the film comes alive during the several large party/dance scenes. Showing all of the freedom that late-silent films allowed, the camera is mobile and amidst the dancing. The film also features several moments of synchronized sound, mostly involving applause from the crowd.Our Dancing Daughters is intellectually ahead of its time and it features excellent performances and fine writing. I'm telling you, look at it with Metropolitan. I bet it works well.I'd give this one a solid and positive 7.5 out of 10.

Great Roaring 20's silent melodrama that made Joan Crawford a household name. She plays a wild flapper who falls in love with millionaire Brown, but looses him to another woman Page. Sounds typical, but it is a must see for film buffs and Crawford fans. Packed with party scenes, gin, and Charlestons. Contains crowd noises and sound effects.