After the Dance (1935)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Leo Bulgakov

Writers:

Harold Shumate (screenplay)
Harrison Jacobs (story)

Release Date:

26 July 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Romance

Plot Keywords:

Fight | Escaped Convict | Apartment | Detective | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Nancy Carroll	...	Anne Taylor
George Murphy	...	Jerry Davis
Thelma Todd	...	Mabel Kane
Jack La Rue	...	Mitch
Arthur Hohl	...	Louie
Wyrley Birch	...	Warden
Thurston Hall	...	District Attorney
Victor Kilian	...	Kennedy
Robert Middlemass	...	King
George McKay	...	Danny
Harry Barris	...	Tommy Tucker (scenes deleted)
Virginia Sale	...	Edna

Also Known As:

Song of the Damned (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

60 min (Sony print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

USA:TV-G (TV rating) | USA:Approved (PCA #1043)

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Many actors in studio records/casting call lists did not appear or were not identifiable in this movie. These were (with their character names, if any): Benny Ross (Master of Ceremonies), Phil Dunham (Meek Husband), Jean De Briac and Ernest F. Young (Head Waiters), Fred Parker (Secretary to Oliver), George Cleveland (Workman), Marie Wells and Louis LaVoie and J.C. Fowler (Penitentiary Guests) and La Gretta.

Soundtrack:

Without You I'm Just Drifting

nifty little thing

This short and snappy crime drama about nightclub dancers plunges us into the action from scene one. Three elements give the movie its special flavor: Thelma Todd as an alluring but nasty vixen; Nancy Carroll as her alluring and kindhearted opposite; and the insertion of full blown song and dance sequences without which the movie would clock in at around 45 minutes! The songs and dances themselves are nothing special but pleasant enough. And it must be noted that after seeing Murphy and Carroll trip the light fantastic you clearly understand why it was Astaire and Rogers who are remembered today. Murphy was physically more attractive than Astaire but heavy footed in comparison. And his singing voice was thin like Astaire's but there is no life in his delivery. It makes sense that Murphy eventually abandoned performing to become a politician. It does not make sense that Nancy Carroll's career had to end so soon. She is absolutely winning every moment she is on the screen. And poor Thelma Todd was murdered the year this film was released so we will never know what she might have done with her comic (and, as revealed here) dramatic talents.