Main Cast: Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone, May Robson, Winnie Lightner, Fred Astaire
Release Year: 1933
Country: US
Run Time: 93 minutes
Plot
Virtually everybody except President Roosevelt was in the lavish MGM backstage musical Dancing Lady. Joan Crawford stars as Janie Barlow, an impoverished dancer reduced to working in a seedy Manhattan burlesque house. While on a slumming party with his society friend, wealthy young Tod Newton (Franchot Tone) spots Janie in the burleycue chorus line and immediately falls in love with her. When the joint is raided, Tod pays Janie's bail, but she resists his entreaties to become his mistress, promising instead to pay back every cent she owes him "honestly." With Tod's help, Janie is able to secure work in a big-time Broadway musical being staged by Patch Gallegher (Clark Gable), who is certain that the girl is an untalented opportunist and does everything he can to sabotage her audition. When he realizes that the girl "has something," he refuses to admit it but does, grudgingly, hire her for the show. Through a combination of skill and damned hard work, Janie ends up as the star of the show, whereupon Tod, worried that he'll lose the girl to the Great White Way, buys the show and promptly closes it. But Janie, who's fallen in love with Patch, teams with her new sweetheart to restage the show with their own meager savings -- and surprise of surprises, it's a smash hit. Truly an embarrassment of riches, Dancing Lady introduced Fred Astaire to the movie-going public, solidified the popularity of MGM's new tenor Nelson Eddy, and offered a wide berth for the comedy antics of Ted Healy and his Three Stooges -- Moe Howard, Curly Howard and Larry Fine (Larry, performing his role in a Jewish dialect, has a wonderful double-take bit with a jigsaw puzzle which turns out to be a portrait of Adolf Hitler). As a bonus, the film offers spectacular musical production numbers, not to mention the enduring song hit "Everything I Have is Yours." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Cedric Gibbons - Art Director, Harry Oliver - Art Director, John W. Considine, Jr. - Associate Producer, Sammy Lee - Choreography, LeRoy J. Prinz - Choreography, Eddie Prinz - Choreography, Adrian - Costume Designer, Robert Z. Leonard - Director, Margaret Booth - Editor, Harold Adamson - Composer (Music Score), Nacio Herb Brown - Composer (Music Score), Dorothy Fields - Composer (Music Score), Arthur Freed - Composer (Music Score), Lorenz Hart - Composer (Music Score), Burton Lane - Composer (Music Score), Jimmy McHugh - Composer (Music Score), Richard Rodgers - Composer (Music Score), Louis Silvers - Composer (Music Score), Louis Silvers - Musical Direction/Supervision, Merrill Pye - Production Designer, Oliver Marsh - Cinematographer, David O. Selznick - Producer, Cedric Gibbons - Set Designer, Edwin B. Willis - Set Designer, Henry Oliver - Set Designer, Slavko Vorkapich - Special Effects, Alan Rivkin - Screenwriter, Zelda Sears - Screenwriter, P.J. Wolfson - Screenwriter, James Warner Bellah - Book Author
Dancing Lady is a 1933 musical motion picture starring Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Franchot Tone. In the film, Crawford plays Janie Barlow, a young New Yorkburlesque dancer rescued from jail by a rich man. Janie later decides to better her life by moving uptown and gets her first big opportunity by being placed in a Broadway play. Dancing Lady is the fourth of eight cinematic collaborations between Crawford and Gable.
The film features the screen debut of dancer Fred Astaire (who appears as himself), as well as the first credited film appearance of Nelson Eddy and an early feature film appearance of The Three Stooges (in support of their then-partner Ted Healy, who had a small role in the film). Dancing Lady was directed by Robert Z. Leonard, and produced by John W. Considine Jr. and David O. Selznick. It was based on the novel of the same name by James Warner Bellah, published in 1932.
Millionaire Tod Newton takes his friends on a slumming trip to a burlesque show and finds himself attracted to Janie Barlow, one of the strippers. When the club is raided by the police, Tod bails the broke Janie out, but she accepts the money only as a loan. That same night, Tod also sends her fifty dollars to buy herself a dress "without a zipper." She decides to move uptown and try out for a new show directed by Patch Gallagher, but when she can't get past the doorman, and even following Patch everywhere won't help, Tod again comes to her rescue by secretly arranging to back the show on condition that Patch hire Janie for the chorus. Patch doesn't want anything to do with a rich man's girlfriend, but when he sees how well Janie dances, he places her in the front row. Tod soon proposes and Janie accepts, but only if the show fails. Meanwhile, Patch has realized that neither his show nor his star, Vivian Warner, is right, so he gives Janie the lead of the new version. Although Patch and Janie are attracted to each other, Janie decides to go away with Tod when he secretly withdraws his backing and rehearsals stop. While they are away, Patch uses his own money for the show. When Janie returns and discovers Tod's deception, she begs Patch to take her back. On opening night, Janie is a big hit in her numbers with Fred Astaire and Nelson Eddy, and Tod realizes that Broadway, not Park Avenue, should be Janie's address. Patch and Janie also realize that they are more than just star and director.
Dancing Lady was a box office hit upon its release and drew mostly positive reviews from critics.
Mordaunt Hall in the New York Times wrote, "It is for the most part quite a lively affair.... The dancing of Fred Astaire and Miss Crawford is most graceful and charming. The photographic effects of their scenes are an impressive achievement....Miss Crawford takes her role with no little seriousness."
The Silent Command •Heritage •Judge Not; or The Woman of Mona Diggings •Secret Love •The Crippled Hand •The Love Girl •Little Eve Edgarton •The Plow Girl •The Eagle's Wing (with Rufus Steele) •On Record •A Mormon Maid •The Primrose Ring •At First Sight •Princess Virtue •Face Value •The Bride's Awakening •Her Body in Bond •Modern Love •Danger, Go Slow •The Scarlet Shadow •The Delicious Little Devil •What Am I Bid? •Big Little Person •The Way of a Woman •The Miracle of Love
