The Taxi Dancer

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Movie
Original title The Taxi Dancer
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1927
length 64 minutes
Rod
Director Harry F. Billion
script AP Younger
production Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
camera Ira H. Morgan
cut George Hively
occupation

The Taxi Dancer is a 1927 American film with Joan Crawford in her first leading role.

action

The impoverished southern beauty Joslyn Poe comes to New York hoping for a career as a dancer. The need finally forces her, as a female dancer , a so-called “taxi dancer”, to do the rounds on the floor with customers in a cheap dance hall for a small fee. She falls in love with the card player Lee Rogers, who keeps overly intrusive admirers at bay. A big disappointment with a supposed millionaire leads Joslyn to realize that Lee is basically a good man.

background

Joan Crawford was discovered as a showgirl under her maiden name Lucille Le Sueur by a talent scout who brokered a seven-month film contract with the newly founded film company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer . Since her arrival in January 1925, she had first landed extra roles through iron discipline and the development of a durable network. Within a few weeks, the studio managers discovered their potential and induced the actress to adopt the stage name Joan Crawford.

A supporting role alongside Jackie Coogan in Old Clothes brought her the attention of aspiring director Edmund Goulding , who eventually hired Crawford for Sally, Irene and Mary . The success of the film helped Crawford lead roles in low-profile films like Paris , which nurtured her talent and gave her the opportunity to develop her acting skills. The Taxi Dancer takes elements from Paris again and presents Joan Crawford as a fun-loving young woman who loves to dance, but always tries to meet her own high moral standards. Joslyn dances with her customers for money, but is above any suspicion of any further confidentiality.

Her impeccable moral reputation is clearly highlighted in the middle of the plot by an intertitle, when the - alleged - millionaire Joslyn tries to submissive with alcohol.

"He is convinced of Joslyn's innocence when she refuses a cocktail before dinner."

The film joins a whole series of cinematic depictions of the dangers and problems that young women have to overcome, who come to town with high hopes only to end up disaffected and unworthy of employment. The fate of female dancers, so-called taxi dancers , was thematized again in 1931 under the title Ten Cents a Dance with Barbara Stanwyck . The singer Tina Turner describes in the song Private Dancer in the mid-1980s how little the job description had changed since 1927.

A few decades later, Joan Crawford was no longer very impressed with her performance, as she confessed to Roy Newquist:

“My only good memories of 'Taxi Dancer' are the fact that I was better than the movie. It was the first time I dared to ignore the director's instructions and play the role on my own terms. And it worked. "

Theatrical release

At a production cost of $ 143,000, it was a film that was below average by MGM standards. He made a relatively small sum of $ 263,000 in the United States. With foreign receipts of $ 100,000 and a cumulative total income of $ 363,000, the value was pretty much the same as Paris . In the end, the studio was able to realize a profit of $ 67,000.

Reviews

The critics were very fond of Joan Crawford.

James R. Quirk pointed out the potential of the leading actress in Photoplay and called her, based on Clara Bow , an It girl :

“Joan Crawford […] is much better than the inferior script. Here is a girl of unparalleled beauty and talent. And it certainly has that certain something. What she needs are good directors. "

"Sid" pointed out attractions for all generations in the industry journal Variety :

“And another southern girl who comes north only to be followed by the men. […] Miss Crawford can be highlighted as the real discovery of this film. One of those films that will have a lot of success in one town only to flop in the neighboring town. Flapper and her suitors will follow the story with interest, while older men will have no problem focusing on Miss Crawford and her sequence of nightgowns. "

literature

  • Roy Newquist (Ed.): Conversations with Joan Crawford . Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ 1980, ISBN 0-8065-0720-9 .
  • 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. ↑ He is convinced of Joslyn's purity when she refuses a cocktail before dinner.
  2. ↑ My only fund memories of Taxi Dancer is the fact that I was better than the picture. It was the first time I dared do a part my way, the hell with the director's ideas, and it worked.
  3. ^ Joan Crawford [...] rides high over the inferior material. Here is a girl of singular beauty and promise. And she certainly has IT. Just now she is very much in need of good direction.
  4. ↑ Just another Southern girl come north to be pursued by men, but not unentertainingly…. Miss Crawford could be termed as an in and outer in this picture. Every so often comes a flash of power that may indicate this girl has something, while at other times she's too coy and clinging… [O] ne of those pictures that will do well in one town and flop in another. The flaps and their undergraduate will remain interested, while older men won't find it hard to gaze on Miss Crawford and her array of nightgowns.