“Dancing Lady” is a delightful romantic comedy and a film that really showcased the best of the Crawford/Gable together onscreen, but also a film with a few surprises of appearances of legendary film/TV stars before they became famous. Recommended!
DVD TITLE: Dancing Lady
DATE OF FILM RELEASE: 1933
DURATION: 92 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Black and White, English, 2.0 Stereo with Closed Captions, English, Francais and Espanol Subtitles
COMPANY: Warner Bros.
RATED: NOT RATED
Directed by Robert Z. Leonard
Screenplay y Allen Rivkin, P.J. Wolfson
Based on the Book by James Warner Bellah
Diary Editor: Tom Skeyhill
Produced by Jesse L. Lasky, Hal B. Wallis
Music by Max Steiner
Cinematography by Sol Polito
Edited by William Holmes
Art Direction by John Hughes
Set Decoration by Fred M. Maclean
Starring:
Joan Crawford as Janie Barlow
Clark Gable as Patch Gallagher
Franchot Tone as Tod Newton
May Robson as Dolly Todhunter (Tod’s Grandmother)
Winnie Lightner as rosette LaRue
Fred Astaire as Fred Astaire
Robert Benchley as Ward King
Ted Healy and His Stooges
Arthur Jarret as Art Jarrett
Grant Mitchell as Jasper Bradley, Sr.
Nelson Eddy as Nelson Eddy
Maynard Holmes as Jasper Bradley Jr.
Moe Howard as Moe
Curly Howard as Curly
Larry Fine as Harry, the Pianist
A Broadway chorine (Joan Crawford) needs a little help with her hoofing, so her dance director (Clark Gable) gets an idea. A good idea. “Do you feel like going through that opening number with Mr. Astaire?” And Fred Astaire, making his screen debut, shows the lady how it’s done. Three film icons give the backstage musical a jolt of superstar electricity in a song-, dance-, and romance-filled extravaganza featuring support by Nelson Eddy, Robert Benchley and The Three Stooges and tunes by Rodgers and Hart, Burton Lane, Dorothy Fields and more musical greats. Gable and Crawford had such stellar chemistry that MGM teamed them for eight movies. Here, as always, they have street-smart glamour and charisma to burn. Add Astaire’s sophistication and Dancing Lady can take a well-deserved bow.
Back in the early 1930’s, both Joan Crawford and actor Clark Gable were the top couple in American cinema.
And in their four film together, “Dancing Lady” was a film that while Gable and Crawford would be known for their performances, it was also a film that would introduce to the world, Fred Astaire (his first film) and Nelson Eddy (his first film).
The film would also star Winnie Lightner, Franchot Tone, and also Ted Healy and the Stooges (better known later as The Three Stooges), featuring Moe and Curly Howard and Larry Fine.
The film begins with millionaire playboy Tod Newton (portrayed by Franchot Tone) attending a burlesque show and quickly becomes attracted to one of the show’s dancers, Janie Barlow (portrayed by Joan Crawford).
The show is abruptly canceled as the police close it down for indecent exposure. She is bailed by Tod Newton, who desperately wants to be with Janie.
Janie is thankful but she resists Tod’s flirting and is determined to making it as a dancer on Broadway. She tries to get an audition but director Patch Gallagher (portrayed by Clark Gable) tries as much as he can to distance himself from her.
Wanting to help Janie, Tod contacts Broadway showrunner Jasper Bradley, Sr. (portrayed by Grant Mitchell), who immediately has Gallagher to consider Janie for a role, as Tod hints that he will put his money into the show, only if Janie is given the part in the chorus.
Of course, no one takes Janie seriously until Patch’s assistant, Ted Healy along with the Stooges, watch Janie dance and realize how incredible of a dancer she is.
Ted gets Patch to watch her dance and immediately, Janie is hired.
And as Janie becomes a popular member among the staff due to her becoming the main star, replacing Vivian Warner (portrayed by Gloria Foy) and dancing with the lead, Fred Astaire, Patch starts to become interested in Janie because she is tough as nails and unlike other women he has met.
Patch is jealous of her relationship with Tod Newton, while Tod, he worries that if Janie becomes popular, he will never have time with her.
This leads to a dilemma for both men, who have fallen for Janie.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Dancing Lady” is presented in black and white and English and Francais Dolby Digital 2.0. Subtitles are in English, Francais and Espanol.
I do hope that “Dancing Lady” will be released on Blu-ray or 4K UHD someday.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Dancing Lady” comes with two shorts starring Ted Healy & the Stooges, a black and white short titled “Plane Nuts” and colorized short “Roast Beef & Movies”. Also, a theatrical trailer is included.
For those not familiar with Joan Crawford films, many probably are aware of her being a legendary actress and fashionista. But since she was a child, she always wanted to become a dancer and often took on dance competitions, where she was well-known for the Charleston and the Black Bottom dances performances.
She worked hard on screen as an actress and a dancer and with the release of the Robert Z. Leonard 1933 film “Dancing Girl”, she would be paired with up-and-coming actor, Clark Gable, but it was also a film where she would be able to shine and dance with a man who would later become Hollywood’s dancing legend, actor/dancer Fred Astaire.
This is a film that is a drama (love triangle between the character of Janie, her millionaire friend who likes her – Tod Newton (actor Franchot Tone, would become Joan Crawford’s second husband a few years later) and her director, Patch Gallagher (often screen partner, Clark Gable). A dancing film featuring the dances of Crawford and Fred Astaire, but also singing by Nelson Eddy.
And a comedy featuring Ted Healy and the Stooges, before “The Three Stooges” and focused during a time when Ted Healy, was involved in Stooges hijinks.
Overall, “Dancing Lady” is a delightful romantic comedy and a film that really showcased the best of the Crawford/Gable together onscreen, but also a film with a few surprises of appearances of legendary film/TV stars before they became famous.
Recommended!