Dancing Lady (1933)

Director:

Robert Z. Leonard

Writers:

Allen Rivkin (screenplay) and
P.J. Wolfson (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

24 November 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Comedy | Romance

Plot:

An attractive dancer is rescued from jail by a rich man, who helps her to have her first big opportunity at a musical play on Broadway.

Plot Keywords:

Dancer | Director | Jail | Burlesque | Producer

Cast

Joan Crawford	...	Janie Barlow
Clark Gable	...	Patch Gallagher
Franchot Tone	...	Tod Newton
May Robson	...	Dolly Todhunter - Tod's Grandmother
Winnie Lightner	...	Rosette LaRue
Fred Astaire	...	Himself
Robert Benchley	...	Ward King
Ted Healy	...	Steve - Patch's Assistant
Arthur Jarrett	...	Himself (as Art Jarrett)
Grant Mitchell	...	Jasper Bradley, Sr.
Nelson Eddy	...	Himself
Maynard Holmes	...	Jasper Bradley, Jr.
Sterling Holloway	...	Pinky - the Show's Author
Gloria Foy	...	Vivian Warner
Moe Howard	...	Moe - Stagehand
Curly Howard	...	Curly - Stagehand (as Jerry Howard)
Larry Fine	...	Harry - Pianist
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jean Alden	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Eve Arden	...	Marcia - the Southern Actress (uncredited)
Gail Arnold	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Lee Bailey	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Lynn Bari	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Bonita Barker	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Kathryn Barnes	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Jack Baxley	...	Burlesque Barker (uncredited)
Stanley Blystone	...	Traffic Cop (uncredited)
Harry C. Bradley	...	Pinky's Pal (uncredited)
Esther Brodelet	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Edna Callahan	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Lorena Carr	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Shirley Chambers	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Dalie Dean	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Shirley Deane	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Dorothy Dearing	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Dale Dee	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Nadine Dore	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Veleda Duncan	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Eleanor Edwards	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Bill Elliott	...	Cafe Extra (uncredited)
Fay Estelle	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Muriel Evans	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Kay Gordon	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Ferdinand Gottschalk	...	Judge (uncredited)
Frank Hagney	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Mary Halsey	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Edith Haskins	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Jean Howard	...	Girl with Tod (uncredited)
Peaches Jackson	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Isabelle Keith	...	Miss Allen - Secretary (uncredited)
Patsy Lee	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Robert Lees	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Harry Leroy	...	Burlesque Patron (uncredited)
Jean Malin	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Chicquita Marcia	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Miriam Marlin	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Margaret McConnell	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Matt McHugh	...	Marcia's Agent (uncredited)
Florine McKinney	...	Grace Newton (uncredited)
Lucille Miller	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Ruth Moody	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Edmund Mortimer	...	Man in Bradley Sr.'s Outer Office (uncredited)
Iris Nicholson	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Patsy O'Dea	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
May Packer	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Jackie Page	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Linda Parker	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Lee Phelps	...	Bailiff (uncredited)
Victor Potel	...	Worker (uncredited)
Frances Sawyer	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Geneva Sawyer	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
C. Montague Shaw	...	First Nighter (uncredited)
John Sheehan	...	Pinky's Pal (uncredited)
Pat Somerset	...	Tod's Friend (uncredited)
Larry Steers	...	First Nighter (uncredited)
Charles Sullivan	...	Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Anita Thompson	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Irene Thompson	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Marjorie Timm	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Ardelle Unger	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Zelda Webber	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Marion Weldon	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Mary Wilbur	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Charles Williams	...	Man Arrested in Burlesque Theater (uncredited)
Charles C. Wilson	...	Club Manager (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Z. Leonard

Writing credits
Allen Rivkin		(screenplay) and
P.J. Wolfson		(screenplay)
James Warner Bellah		(book)
Robert Benchley		uncredited
Zelda Sears		uncredited

Produced by
John W. Considine Jr.	....	associate producer
David O. Selznick	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Maurice De Packh		(uncredited)
Louis Silvers		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Oliver T. Marsh		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Margaret Booth

Art Direction by
Merrill Pye

Costume Design by
Adrian		(gowns)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Robert A. Golden	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Edwin B. Willis	....	interior decorator

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director
Paul Neal	....	sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Slavko Vorkapich	....	special effects

Stunts
Harvey Parry	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Eddie Fitzgerald	....	camera operator (uncredited)
James Manatt	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Kyme Meade	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Ted Wurtenberg	....	chief electrician (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Eugene Joseff	....	jeweller (uncredited)

Editorial Department
W. Donn Hayes	....	supervising editor: musical sequences (uncredited)

Music Department
Louis Silvers	....	conductor (as Lou Silvers)
Wayne Allen	....	music arranger (uncredited)
Maurice De Packh	....	music arranger (uncredited)
Paul Marquardt	....	music arranger (uncredited)
Charles Maxwell	....	music arranger (uncredited)
David Snell	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
Jack Virgil	....	music arranger (uncredited)

Other crew
Sammy Lee	....	ensembles director
Eddie Prinz	....	ensembles director
Eddie Prinz	....	dance instructor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1933) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Bros. Television (????) (USA) (TV)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #1307-R: 26 August 1935 for re-release) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Ted Healy is actually credited as 'Ted Healy and His Stooges,' but because the Stooges are also credited individually later (as Stagehands), he is listed just as 'Ted Healy'.

Goofs:

Continuity: While chasing Patch, Janie is splashed by mud from a passing car; when she hops out of a cab minutes later, her shoes and stockings are clean.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Girl with Tod:I don't like the looks of this place Todd.
Tod Newton:Ah, come on. You'll get a lot of laughs.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Hollywood Hist-o-Rama: Joan Crawford" (1962)

Soundtrack:

Everything I Have Is Yours

MGM goes to 42nd Street, sort of

Where else are you going to see Joan Crawford dancing to the accompaniment of The Three Stooges? Add to that Winnie Lightner with a Shirley Temple hairdo doing a striptease, Fred Astaire in his screen premiere and enough Art Deco to fill a warehouse.

However, for those used to the Warner Brothers musicals of that time, "Dancing Lady" does have its drawbacks. The pace is a good bit slower (over 90 minutes with only two complete musical numbers!) and the choreography has little of the saucy snap Berkeley was providing at the WB. Joan Crawford isn't as bad in the Terpsichore department as everyone has said, even holding her own against Astaire. The drawbacks are the songs which are putrid. The Astaire-Crawford number is "Let's Go Bavarian" as they sing about the glories of beer! One can only hope Hitler saw it and got indigestion. MGM does have one advantage over the more famous competition; Clark Gable, who brings a good bit more heat to the screen than Warner Baxter. One pre-code moment: in the last musical number historical figures march through an arch which turns them into modern characters. A knight in armor goes under and turns into a mincing handkerchief-waver!