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Rating:  - 7 male stars and ONE MARVELOUS JOAN
Along with A WOMAN'S FACE this is one of my favorite Joan Crawford films. This is early Joan Crawford, but she was allready clearly a STAR. She has romantic scenes with Franchot Tone, trades punches and pawing with Clark Gable, trades quips with Ted Healy and the 3 stooges, and goes toe to toe with Fred Astaire in his first movie... he has only ONE line and the big production number, and struggles to sing in HER key.
Study some dance history before you fault her dancing. Joan was a nightlife and film CHARLESTON dancer. With knees akimbo - the style of the day - she flaps her way with abandon (which is what she was known for in clubs), and she holds her own with intricate tap steps that are on par with today's best. The style is dated, but so is Nelson Eddy's singing in the "Rhythm of the Day" number.
This film has 7 males stars and... JOAN - not just holding her own, but LEADING them. This plot is flimsy, but a lot sterner stuff than most musicals of that day; and very risque, too! Enjoy this teaser-to-tapper treat. Thank you Karl and Patty for the gift of an all time favorite.
Rating: - "Dancing Lady" is MGM's way of sticking it to Warners' "42nd Street"
"Dancing Lady" is MGM's way of sticking it to Warners' "42nd Street." I much prefer "Dancing Lady." There are so many Stars in it! Of course, Joan Crawford is the biggest movie star in it. Did anyone else know that she could dance like that? Taking second-billing is Clark Gable and getting third billing is Joan's second husband (they weren't married when the movie was made), Franchot Tone. Also included in this classic film is a rare dancing number with Fred Astaire; this was his first movie! And, even The Three Stooges have a part in this unforgettable masterpiece! Not since "Grand Hotel" was Joan surrounded with such unprecedented talent!
Rating:  - All Star Cast
I have a lot of good impressions of "Dancing Lady" but I don't want to oversell it. After all, the plot's pretty obvious; we know who'll end up with who from the moment we see who every who is. There weren't any musical numbers that I'll be singing to myself later on. However, I was impressed by the number of stars in this production. The fact that Nelson Eddy and Fred Astaire played bit parts ought to say something. The Three Stooges were present as well although I would have preferred they had a little more screen time. The stars of the movie were stars of their day; Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, and Franchot Tone but there were also some other up-and-comers in Sterling Holloway and Eve Arden.
The musical numbers reminded me of the absurdity that Hollywood musicals of the 1930's got into when they showed "Theater Productions" in movies. The scene is always the same; a Broadway musical has its' opening night and everything hinges on how the new "star" handles his or her big chance. That's all well and good but the way the stage seems to expand way beyond the confines of a legitimate theater is mind-bogglying. There's a number in "Dancing Girl" where the core of the stage turns into a sort of flying carpet with Joan Crawford and Fred Astaire carefully continuing their dance routine. To pull that number off in a theater would have required something bigger than the Rose Bowl. Another neat trick had everyone and everything get "modernized" when crossing through a large portal in mid-stage. People's costumes changed as they waled through that entry, horse and carriage turned into limosine, etc. I guess back then it was a sort of "artistic license" but it looks odd to see it today. Most viewers probably have more sense than me and just enjoy the production without needing a justification.
When I was a teenager, Joan Crawford made a sort of "comeback" by playing bizzare roles in hatchet-murder "B" movies. It was nice to realize what a lovely, glamorous actress she was in her prime. Beyond all the "Mommy Dearest" there was a real star. I'm glad to have replaced all those negative images (even if I had to stretch my imagination in doing so).
Rating: - Extraordinary time capsule
There is a lot going on here visually, musically and artistically- and much of it is specific to the style of the time -1933.
Most surreal is seeing the Three Stooges next to Joan Crawford and Fred Astaire. This was at MGM, before the boys went over to Columbia. There are a couple of other Stooge shorts on the disk- also made by MGM with Busby Berkely-type chorus girl shots! The production values were far more lavish than their Columbia shorts. Makes me wonder what they would have accomplished had they stayed at the bigger and richer studio.
Joan Crawford was hot! She looked good next to Gable, and it makes me wish they would release "Possessed" (1931). I would also like to see some of her other early films, including some of the silents, where she plays dancer/hottie.
Rating: - "My Dancing lady, There is nobody like you..."
And no movie like this one! If you have never seen a Joan Crawford movie before, this is the one to see. Every one will love it,and there is something in it for everyone I promise...the suprisingly talented and moreover stunningly beautiful 1933 incarnation of Joan Crawford is one you wont believe. Joan is Janie Barlow;a street smart,no-nonsense, ambitious and beautiful aspiring dancer.She is determined to make herself succeed in this business, no matter what the pratfalls, waiting to catch a break and relying on her sheer will and hard work to dance her way to the top .....and "yes, it's GOT to be dancin!".Sound familair?
One night, the burelesque house where janie is dancing at is raided,and her indignation worsens when she gets put in the slammer, however she is delighted when rich playboy Todd Newton(husband number two,Franchot Tone)bails her out.But much like our Joanie, our Janie is no fool, and wholeheartedly insists she will pay him back with the cash and nothing else.Undeterred, she hikes it to Broadway "uptown where it's art" to get a hold of "Patch" Gallagher(Clark Gable)the shows cranky but equally no-nonsense producer.Janie knows early on she wants the part and the producer, but not if Todd has anything to say about it....perfection pretty much ensues in some of the memorable scenes I have ever seen ,beautiful cinematography and the direction is very clever especially during janie's relentless pursuit of "patch" early on in the movie.Although it was common for joan to portray a character like this in part to appeal to depression era audiences, it was the combination of her fierce independence and wise-cracking gusto that made this one work.Her sexual chemistry with Gable is so powerful, they not only made 7 more movies together,but you can feel it this radiate out of the tv 74 years later.This movie does have something for everyone... Fred Astaire in his movie debut makes a luminious vision dancing with joan/janie and LOOK CLOSELY and you will spot the munchkinland and Emerald City sets( during the Bavaria and Rythym of the Day sequences)which would be used 6 years later in The Wizard of Oz.Also of interest: this film is pre-code meaning there is sex, sex SEX..in a tasteful and funny manner ,of course.I I cannot say enough about this film... go watch it.
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