Our Dancing Daughters (1928)

Diana is outwardly the hit of the party but inwardly virtuous and idealistic. Her friend Ann is thoroughly selfish and amoral. Both are attracted to Ben Black, soon-to-be millionaire. He ... See full summary »

Director:

Harry Beaumont

Writers:

Josephine Lovett (story), Marian Ainslee (titles),

Stars:

Joan Crawford, Johnny Mack Brown, Nils Asther

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Joan Crawford	...	Diana Medford
Johnny Mack Brown	...	Ben Blaine (as John Mack Brown)
Nils Asther	...	Norman
Dorothy Sebastian	...	Beatrice
Anita Page	...	Ann
Kathlyn Williams	...	Ann's Mother
Edward J. Nugent	...	Freddie (as Edward Nugent)
Dorothy Cumming	...	Diana's Mother
Huntley Gordon	...	Diana's Father (as Huntly Gordon)
Evelyn Hall	...	Freddie's Mother
Sam De Grasse	...	Freddie's Father (as Sam de Grasse)

Storyline

Diana is outwardly the hit of the party but inwardly virtuous and idealistic. Her friend Ann is thoroughly selfish and amoral. Both are attracted to Ben Black, soon-to-be millionaire. He takes Diana's flirtations with other boys as a sign of disinterest in him and marries Ann. Big mistake. Ben and Diana begin to realize their true love for each other and plan a new life together as drunken Ann falls down the stairs to her death.

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Plot Keywords:

millionaire | flirtation | party | engagement | seashore | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 September 1928 (USA)

Also Known As:

Garotas Modernas

Box Office

Budget:

$173,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min 84 min (Turner library print) 85 min (copyright length)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System) (musical score and sound effects) Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When he meets Diana, Ben Blaine is introduced to her as "Ben Blaine of Birmingham. The finest halfback the University of Alabama ever had." In fact, actor Johnny Mack Brown had previously been a halfback for the University of Alabama's 1926 national championship football team. At the 1926 Rose Bowl, Brown had earned the Most Valuable Player award by scoring 2 of Alabama's 3 touchdowns in an upset win over the University of Washington. (When the movie was released in 1928, Brown's status as a college football star would have been familiar to movie audiences.)

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Quotes

Diana 'Di' Medford: Mother - how vicious
Diana 'Di' Medford: Comment - Compare modern use - How wicked

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Connections

Featured in Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Ain't We Got Fun"
(1921) (uncredited)
Music by Richard A. Whiting
Lyrics by Ray Egan and Gus Kahn
Played as background music when Freddie leaves his parents
Reprised at the party

User Reviews

Joan Crawford's First Cinematic Hurrah

Wealthy and flashy Diana falls hard for Ben Blaine--who unjustly interprets her vivacity as looseness and in turn falls hard for prim and proper Anne--who is in fact a vicious gold digger with a heart of stone. Will Ben ever see through Anne's facade and realize Diana's true worth? Directed by Harry Beaumont with sets by the legendary Cederick Gibbons, OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS was bright, sharp, pretty to look at, and just sexy enough to make the censors fume--the type of film that MGM seemed to produce by the bushel during the late silent era. The studio expected it to perform well, but there was no reason for anyone to think it would generate more than passing interest, much less a legendary star. But it did.

Born in 1904, Lucille Le Sueur endured a hardknocks childhood to become a popular chorus girl in New York night spots before signing with MGM in 1925--and renamed Joan Crawford she churned out some two dozen films in three years without setting the world on fire. Until, that is, MGM allowed her dance on table tops and despair of winning her true love in this slickly produced, well acted, but essentially formula melodrama. And even today it is still possible to see what all the fuss was about: not only was she bursting with youthful energy and appeal, it was the first film in which Joan Crawford really LOOKED like Joan Crawford, and although still limited her acting chops weren't half bad either.

The overall cast is particularly strong, with Anita Page turning in a memorable performance as the pretty but wicked Anne and Dorothy Sebastian as Bea, a good girl with a few missed steps in her past; male leads Johnny Mack Brown, Nils Aster, and Edward J. Nugent provide solid support as various love interests; and Kathlyn Williams proves memorable as Anne's manipulative mother. While OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS will never rival the truly great films of the late silent era, it is still a lot of fun, and those who want to see Crawford's first cinematic hurrah will not be disappointed.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer