They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)

The lives of a disparate group of contestants intertwine in an inhumanely grueling dance marathon.

Director:

Sydney Pollack

Writers:

Horace McCoy (novel), James Poe (screenplay)

Stars:

Jane Fonda, Michael Sarrazin, Susannah York

Won 1 Oscar. Another 9 wins & 25 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jane Fonda	...	Gloria
Michael Sarrazin	...	Robert
Susannah York	...	Alice
Gig Young	...	Rocky
Red Buttons	...	Sailor
Bonnie Bedelia	...	Ruby
Michael Conrad	...	Rollo
Bruce Dern	...	James
Al Lewis	...	Turkey
Robert Fields	...	Joel
Severn Darden	...	Cecil
Allyn Ann McLerie	...	Shirl
Madge Kennedy	...	Mrs. Laydon
Jacquelyn Hyde	...	Jackie
Felice Orlandi	...	Mario

Storyline

Gloria is a young woman of the Depression. She has aged beyond her years and feels her life is hopeless, having been cheated and betrayed many times in her past. While recovering from a suicide attempt, she gets the idea from a movie magazine to head for Hollywood to make it as an actress. Robert is a desperate Hollywood citizen trying to become a director, never doubting he'll make it. Robert and Gloria meet and decide to enter a dance marathon, one of the crazes of the 1930's. The grueling dancing takes its toll on Gloria's already weakened spirit, and she tells Robert that she'd be better off dead, that her life is hopeless - all the while acting cruelly and bitterly, alienating those around her, trying to convince him to shoot her and put her out of her misery. After all, they shoot horses, don't they?

---

Plot Keywords:

dance marathon | great depression | contest | depression | competition | 

---

Taglines:

People are the ultimate spectacle

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

M

Did You Know?

Trivia

Gig Young was sick with the flu when he acted in this movie.

---

Goofs

Robert tells Gloria about a film he saw starring Anita Louise and Richard Cromwell in which Anita Louise's character has a brain tumor. However, Louise and Cromwell only made two films together, Most Precious Thing in Life and The Villain Still Pursued Her. The depression-era dance marathon, which is the subject of the film, presumably takes place in 1932. Earlier in the movie, we hear Mrs. Layton tell Robert and Gloria that they are her favorite couple because they are number 67, the same year that she was born (1867). Shortly thereafter, Gloria tells Robert that she's figured out Mrs. Layton is 65-years-old. Sixty-five years after 1867 is 1932, which is prior to either of the Louise/Cromwell films.

---

Quotes

Gloria Beatty: Maybe it's just the whole world is like central casting. They got it all rigged before you ever show up.

---

Connections

Referenced in California Dreams: They Shoot Videos, Don't They? (1992)

---

Soundtracks

California, Here I Come
(1924) (uncredited)
Music by Joseph Meyer
Played at the Dance Marathon during a race

User Reviews

A Grisly, Sickly Entertaining Film

A brutally bleak screen adaptation of the pulpy Horace McCoy novella, about a Depression-era dance marathon where down-and-outers drive themselves to the brink of exhaustion to win the cash prize.

This film has become relevant again today in the age of reality T.V., where people tune in to watch strangers be humiliated, rejected and made fun of. Meanness and suffering sells today, and apparently it sold back then as well. The M.C. of the dance marathon, played wonderfully by Gig Young in one of his last (if not the last) film performances before the troubled actor murdered his wife and then killed himself, creates little narratives and dramas around each of the dancers, so that the audience can have their favorites to root for. Every once in a while, someone will show off a special talent, singing a song or hoofing a little dance number, and the audience will throw change at them, which the performer then frantically scrabbles up like a desperate pigeon. The cast of dancers is led by Jane Fonda, in a break-out role as Gloria, the jaded woman-of-the-world who's seen it all and doesn't want to see anymore; Susannah York, as a pretentious wannabe actress, who acts up a storm during a mesmerizing breakdown scene; Red Buttons, as an aging ex-serviceman who struggles to keep up with the young kids around him; and Bruce Dern and Bonnie Bedelia, as a sweet couple of country bumpkins who are desperate to win the cash for their unborn baby. And yes, that is Al Lewis (aka Grandpa Munster) lurking around in the background as one of the dance marathon officials.

Director Sydney Pollack vastly improves on the source material, making something much richer and deeper out of McCoy's lurid novella. He uses an edgy, jarring style that's suited perfectly to the material, and which he would never again display.

"They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" holds a sort of grisly fascination over its audience. Bleak as it is, it's also entertaining in a rather morbid way, making us feel like we're members of the audience watching this sick spectacle and making it that much harder for us to condemn the film audience without labeling ourselves as hypocrites.

Grade: A

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1970 (Norway)

Also Known As:

They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

Filming Locations:

Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$12,600,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Palomar Pictures (I), American Broadcasting Company (ABC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

129 min (original) 120 min (current)

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1