We Were Dancing was one of the small playlets that Noel Coward wrote for his show Tonight At 8:30. Two years earlier Coward told anyone who wanted to hear how much he disliked what MGM did to his production of Bittersweet when Jeannete MacDonald and Nelson Eddy starred in it. MGM must have had the rights for this show before that because Coward said that he would never allow another of his shows to be filmed in Hollywood.
Back in the day Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery did Coward's Private Lives back in 1931 to good acclaim. It's the only reason I can think of why Shearer chose to do this film as opposed to Mrs. Miniver which she was also offered. Other than Greta Garbo, Shearer as Mrs. Irving Thalberg had first refusal on any part there. Of course it was Thalberg who did the choosing and he was gone.
Whatever possessed the folks at MGM to take Coward's British based story about a pair of titled individuals who make a living as permanent party guests and bring it to an American setting we'll never know but through séance. Occasionally you'll hear some flashes of Coward's witty dialog, but it only shows how mediocre the rest of the words are.
Norma Shearer and Melvyn Douglas do get a solid supporting cast of decent players, but the whole bunch can't lift this film above average.
