Dancing Lady
|
List Price: Our Price: $13.50 You Save: $6.48 (32%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $8.23 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Dancing Lady
Movie Review: All singing, all dancing, all hokum!
Summary: 4 Stars
Clark Gable may have been the right star at the wrong studio - just think what Warner Bros. could have done with him in the Thirties - but he still had enough star quality to overcome even the most dubious casting. Take Dancing Lady, MGM's take on Warners' backstage Busby Berkeley musicals. It's a terrific movie put together with no expense spared, but somehow Gable isn't the first name that springs to mind when you think of a musical director putting on a Broadway revue. But then Joan Crawford isn't the first name you'd think of for a downtown gal going from Burlesque to Broadway and exhibiting the singing ability of Lee Marvin and the dancing skills of a fugitive from a chain gang (there's a difference between dancing and just knowing the steps).
All clichés are present and correct, from Joan replacing an `untalented' star who can dance her off the screen to the chorus girls with great faces but horrendous voices. Somehow it doesn't matter: it's too much fun and too ridiculous for that, especially in the absurdly overproduced musical finale which would need a theatre the size of Times Square to stage (great lyrics too: "Here in Bavaria/We'll take good care of ya"). Franchot Tone provides the romantic rivalry, Fred Astaire the only discernible dancing ability. Far more enjoyable than it has any right to be.
There are a few minor print glitches in the first half hour, but otherwise this is a pretty good restoration.
Movie Review: Buy for the Movie Not the Stooges
Summary: 4 Stars
A surprisingly good movie. Disreputable dancer becomes star. Joan Crawford seen as a dancer, not as a dark character as portrayed in her later films. Also the First film of Fred Astaire. Other future stars can be spotted, for instance Eve Arden (Palmolive lady, Grease,etc...) Ted Healy and the Stooges really have a limited role, nevertheless an enjoyable film to watch.Movie Review: it's old but good
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this dvd because I had never seen Joan Crawford dance before and she was fair. This film also introduced Fred Astaire and Nelson Eddy not to mention the 3 Stooges. I wanted it for my collection and am very satisfied.Movie Review: All Star Cast
Summary: 3 Stars
I have a lot of good impressions of "Dancing Lady" but I don't want to oversell it. After all, the plot's pretty obvious; we know who'll end up with who from the moment we see who every who is. There weren't any musical numbers that I'll be singing to myself later on. However, I was impressed by the number of stars in this production. The fact that Nelson Eddy and Fred Astaire played bit parts ought to say something. The Three Stooges were present as well although I would have preferred they had a little more screen time. The stars of the movie were stars of their day; Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, and Franchot Tone but there were also some other up-and-comers in Sterling Holloway and Eve Arden.
The musical numbers reminded me of the absurdity that Hollywood musicals of the 1930's got into when they showed "Theater Productions" in movies. The scene is always the same; a Broadway musical has its' opening night and everything hinges on how the new "star" handles his or her big chance. That's all well and good but the way the stage seems to expand way beyond the confines of a legitimate theater is mind-bogglying. There's a number in "Dancing Girl" where the core of the stage turns into a sort of flying carpet with Joan Crawford and Fred Astaire carefully continuing their dance routine. To pull that number off in a theater would have required something bigger than the Rose Bowl. Another neat trick had everyone and everything get "modernized" when crossing through a large portal in mid-stage. People's costumes changed as they waled through that entry, horse and carriage turned into limosine, etc. I guess back then it was a sort of "artistic license" but it looks odd to see it today. Most viewers probably have more sense than me and just enjoy the production without needing a justification.
When I was a teenager, Joan Crawford made a sort of "comeback" by playing bizzare roles in hatchet-murder "B" movies. It was nice to realize what a lovely, glamorous actress she was in her prime. Beyond all the "Mommy Dearest" there was a real star. I'm glad to have replaced all those negative images (even if I had to stretch my imagination in doing so).
Movie Review: There is No Hitler
Summary: 2 Stars
Funny how my taste runs...
Frankly, I enjoyed the accompanying short, "Plane Nuts", much more than Dancing Lady. DL is a fabulous production, with a strong story. And a boring story. Joan Crawford and Clark Gable just don't hold it up for me. Too bad they cut out so much of Larry Fine's business; the running joke with the jig-saw puzzle doesn't even come across as an ongoing theme (you can hardly tell what he's doing), and you don't--that is, do NOT--get to see that the puzzle turns out to be Hitler! Apparently a print of the more complete version exists somewhere, but this isn't it. Pity. I guess the other reviewer didn't actually see this release (happens a lot in these reviews). DL has a lot of history in it in many ways--censorship, popular taste, dress styles, pre-code costumes; and celebrity history: introducing Fred Astaire, Joan Crawford dancing, and many brief appearances of others who would become well known. If you like the actors and don't mind 90 minutes of leisure story-telling, you'll like it well enough. Personally, I would rather watch the much-maligned "Soup to Nuts" with Ted Healy and the 3 (original) Stooges.