I only dance for you

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title I only dance for you
Original title Dancing lady
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1933
length 95 minutes
Rod
Director Robert Z. Leonard
script Allen Rivkin ,
PJ Wolfson
production David O. Selznick for MGM
music Songs by Dorothy Fields & Jimmy McHugh ,
Harold Adamson & Burton Lane ,
Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart ,
Arthur Freed & Nacio Herb Brown, among others
camera Oliver T. Marsh
cut Margaret Booth
occupation

I dance only for you (OT: Dancing Lady ) is an American film musical with the popular screen couple Joan Crawford and Clark Gable and directed by Robert Z. Leonard . Fred Astaire and Nelson Eddy both made their film debuts.

action

One evening the millionaire Tod Newton and his friends come to a cheap burlesque show and instantly falls in love with Janie Barlow, who works there as a stripper. Shortly before the end of the show, there is a raid and Death uses his influence to get Janie out of prison on bail. Janie fends off Death's attempt to take advantage of the situation. Death impresses her moral integrity even more, and he enables Janie to make the leap to Broadway, where she quickly becomes an acclaimed revue star. Through Tod's mediation, Janie is hired by Patch Gallagher, a well-known choreographer, for his latest revue. After the two fight violently at the beginning, the rejection soon turns into love.

Even so, Janie still feels dead in her word and out of gratitude she accepts his proposal, but only if the show is a failure. Death decides to hurry things up by withdrawing his investment in Revue. The rehearsals are stopped and Janie is about to leave for the registry office with death when she learns the truth. She rushes back to Patch, who initially harshly rejects her. Only when Janie confesses her love to him is Patch ready to forgive her. With the help of well-known artists such as Fred Astaire and Nelson Eddy, the revue is a great success. Death recognizes who Janie's heart beats for and waives all claims.

background

Joan Crawford had risen from abject poverty to a highly paid film star. She began her career as a dancer in Chicago and finally joined MGM as an actress in 1925 through an engagement on Broadway . After several years in supporting roles, she had become a star as a flapper in Our Dancing Daughters in mid-1928 and had gained a large fan base, especially with the portrayal of ambitious young women who manage to rise from nothing to the top of high society. In early 1933, however, her career stalled after both the artistically sophisticated adaptation of Rain and Today We Live , a weird melodrama nominally based on a screenplay by William Faulkner , were financial failures. Dissatisfied with the support from the previous production manager Irving Thalberg , whom Crawford accused of caring too much about the career of his wife Norma Shearer , the actress turned directly to studio boss Louis B. Mayer with the request to give her a good script.

Mayer commissioned his son-in-law David O. Selznick , who had just switched from RKO to MGM, to do the job . Selznick developed a story that took elements from Crawford's own biography - ascent from Tingeltangel to celebrated star - and at the same time tried to benefit from the audience's newly awakened interest in musicals . Dancing Lady was openly based on films like 42nd Street , which told simple stories about the rise of a dancer from the background to a star and combined the whole thing with elaborately choreographed revue numbers in the style of Busby Berkeley . Crawford was initially not taken with the role. It was only when Selznick threatened to make the film with Jean Harlow that the actress gave up. However, she requested Clark Gable as a co-star, with whom she had already made a number of very successful films. Gable, who was struggling with massive health problems at the time and was also overworked, persistently refused to accept the commitment. He only gave in to massive pressure from the studio management. As the second man in the love triangle, Crawford pushed her current lover Franchot Tone through after Robert Montgomery was unavailable. Selznick, knowing how important the revue numbers would be to the success of the film, managed to get Fred Astaire on board. Together with Crawford, he dances the big number at the end of the film, which includes the part Let's Go Bavarian . Crawford and Astaire appear complete with dirndls and plait wigs as well as lederhosen and chamois beard. The song The Gang's All Here , which Crawford and Astaire sing, became a popular hit of the time.

Crawford's talent as a dancer was limited to a few standard dances, so Astaire had to try hard not to overshadow his partner. However, the finished result did not satisfy the perfectionist Astaire. The collaboration between Crawford and Gable was far from good. Gable, who was struggling with an ulcerated wisdom tooth and the rather shallow part, was mostly unable to concentrate. In early August 1933, the trade press reported that his illness would lead to his replacement by Lee Tracy , but the actor recovered somewhat. Previews initially brought a devastating result and Gable was forced to re-shoot a number of love scenes with Crawford.

In retrospect, the actress was pleased with her performance, as she confessed to Roy Newquist:

“... have fun - at Clark's side again, and the chance to dance with Fred Astaire and sing some pretty good songs. It was a hit. "

Theatrical release

With production costs of 923,000 dollars was Dancing Lady one of the most expensive productions of the studio for the year 1933. The film was at the height of the Great Depression in the rental and played in the US alone the then enormous sum of 1,490,000 US dollars , to which more than 916,0000 US dollars came on the global market, which corresponded to a cumulative box office of 2,406,000 US dollars and a profit of 744,000 US dollars. Alongside Queen Christine , Greta Garbo's comeback , it became one of MGM's most successful films of the year.

Reviews

Richard Watts Jr. found kind words in the New York Herald Tribune :

“The plot is terribly conventional and doesn't leave out a single one of the familiar clichés, but overall, everything is played pleasantly enough and staged with great taste, so that it becomes very good cinema entertainment. […] Miss Crawford is, in my opinion, extremely charming as a hopeful girl and she plays the role with humor, feeling and a certain friendliness that make the heroine a brave young woman. Miss Crawford's tap dance is excellent and the music is good. "

literature

  • Roy Newquist (Ed.): Conversations with Joan Crawford . Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ 1980, ISBN 0-8065-0720-9 .
  • Shaun Considine: Bette and Joan. The Divine Feud . Dutton, New York 1989, ISBN 0-525-24770-X .
  • Lawrence J. Quirk : The Complete Films of Joan Crawford . Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ 1988, ISBN 0-8065-1078-1 .
  • Lawrence J. Quirk, William Schoell: Joan Crawford. The Essential Biography . University Press, Lexington, KY. 2002, ISBN 0-8131-2254-6 .
  • Alexander Walker: Joan Crawford. The Ultimate Star . Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 1983, ISBN 0-297-78216-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ... great fun - Clark again, and a chance to dance with Fred Astaire and sing a few pretty fair numbers. It was a hit.
  2. ↑ The story… is almost furiously conventional in the manner in which it eludes none of the familiar cliches of its familiar school, but it is pleasantly enough played and effectively enough produced to make for pleasant if far from exciting cinema entertainment. [...] Miss Crawford, I think, is decidedly charming as the hopeful show girl, playing the role with humor, enough feeling, and with a sort of good-natured gayety which makes the heroine a rather gallant young woman. Miss Crawford's tap dance is excellent and the music is fair.