Main Cast: Joan Crawford, Johnny Mack Brown, Dorothy Sebastian, Anita Page, Kathlyn Williams
Release Year: 1928
Country: US
Run Time: 98 minutes
Plot
Even those who can't recall the plot of the silent Our Dancing Daughters (and there admittedly isn't much to remember) can never forget the indelible images of Joan Crawford tearing loose with one Charleston after another. Since everyone in the film is rich, the wild parties that dominate Our Dancing Daughters are played out in the biggest mansions this side of Windsor castle. Jazz-baby Crawford is actually a good girl despite her hedonistic lifestyle. She wants to marry young millionaire Johnny Mack Brown, but he is tricked into marriage by deceitful Anita Page. After drinking herself blotto at a party, Anita brags about her subterfuge, then conveniently tumbles down a long flight of stairs to her death ("Poor little rich girl" is the general consensus of opinion amongst the many servants, though few in the audience are shedding any tears). Thus, Crawford is able at last to link up with Brown, presumably to live happily ever after. Released with synchronized music and sound effects, Our Dancing Daughters manages to convey the "noise" of the Roaring '20s without sound, relying instead on inserted shots of art-deco statuary and the bubbling-over performance of Joan Crawford in the role that made her a star. Crawford was reunited with her Dancing Daughters co-stars Anita Page and Dorothy Sebastian in two follow-up films (not sequels), Our Modern Maidens (1929) and Our Blushing Brides (1930). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
"Dangerous Diana" Medford (Crawford) is outwardly flamboyant and popular but inwardly virtuous and idealistic, patronizing her parents (Dorothy Cumming and Huntley Gordon) by telling them not to stay out late. Her friend Ann (Anita Page) chases boys for their money and is as amoral as her mother (Kathlyn Williams).
Crawford and Brown
Diana and Ann are both attracted to Ben Blaine (Brown). He takes Diana's flirtatious behavior with other boys as a sign of disinterest in him and marries Ann. Diana becomes distraught for a while. Later, Diana throws a party which Ann hopes to attend with her lover, Freddie (Edward J. Nugent). She gets into an argument with her husband about the party but attends anyway; Ben attends behind Ann's back. Ben and Diana realize their love for each other, and, when Ann falls to her death due to drunkenness, the two are free to unite. Others in the cast include Nils Asther as Norman, Dorothy Sebastian as Beatrice, Evelyn Hall and Sam De Grasse as Freddie's parents.
Reception
Bland Johnson in the New York Mirror commented, "Joan Crawford...does the greatest work of her career."[1] It grossed $1,099,000 worldwide.
