''Born to Dance'' is an American

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

starring

Eleanor Powell Eleanor Torrey Powell (November 21, 1912 – February 11, 1982) was an American dancer and actress. Best remembered for her tap dance numbers in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s, she was one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's top dancing stars du ...

and James Stewart, directed by

Roy Del Ruth Roy Del Ruth (October 18, 1893, Delaware – April 27, 1961) was an American filmmaker. Early career Beginning his Hollywood career as a writer for Mack Sennett in 1915, Del Ruth later directed his first short film ''Hungry Lions'' (1919) ...

and released in 1936 by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

. The score was composed by

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

Plot summary

While on leave, sailor Ted Barker (played by James Stewart) meets Nora Paige (Eleanor Powell) at the Lonely Hearts Club, which is owned by Jenny Saks (Una Merkel), the wife of fellow sailor Gunny Saks (Sid Silvers). Ted instantly falls in love with Nora. Ted later meets Broadway star Lucy James (Virginia Bruce) aboard a submarine while she's on a publicity tour. Her

Pekingese The Pekingese (also spelled Pekinese) is a breed of toy dog, originating in China. The breed was favored by royalty of the Chinese Imperial court as a companion dog, and its name refers to the city of Peking (Beijing) where the Forbidden City i ...

falls overboard, Ted rescues it, and Lucy falls in love with him. Though Ted has already scheduled a date with Nora, he is ordered by his captain, Dingby (Raymond Walburn), to meet Lucy in a nightclub. Nora, who lives with Jenny and her daughter, Sally (Juanita Quigley), aspires to become a Broadway dancer. However, her newfound career is in serious jeopardy when she inadvertently comes between Lucy and her boss McKay (Alan Dinehart). Nora distances herself from Ted after seeing pictures of him and Lucy in a newspaper the next morning. Lucy convinces McKay to stop the press campaign, threatening to leave the Broadway production if any more photos or articles about her and Ted are published. Nora becomes Lucy's understudy and thinks about her behavior towards Ted. Nora gets fired suddenly after McKay tells her to perform a dance that Lucy considers undanceable. But Ted knows exactly what to do after he's told the whole story.

Cast

as Nora Paige * James Stewart as Ted Barker *

Virginia Bruce Virginia Bruce (born Helen Virginia Briggs; September 29, 1910 – February 24, 1982) was an American actress and singer. Early life Bruce was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As an infant she moved with her parents, Earil and Margaret Briggs, ...

as Lucy James *

Una Merkel Una Merkel (December 10, 1903 – January 2, 1986) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actress. Merkel was born in Kentucky and acted on stage in New York in the 1920s. She went to Hollywood in 1930 and became a popular film ...

as Jenny Saks *

Sid Silvers Sid Silvers (January 16, 1901 in Brooklyn, New York – August 20, 1976 in Brooklyn) was an American actor, comedian, lyricist, and writer. Silvers began his career in vaudeville in the early 1920s as a comedy partner of Phil Baker. As part of ...

as "Gunny" Sacks *

Frances Langford Julia Frances Newbern-Langford (April 4, 1913 – July 11, 2005) was an American singer and actress who was popular during the Golden Age of Radio and made film and television appearances for over two decades. She was known as the "GI Nighting ...

as "Peppy" Turner *

Raymond Walburn Raymond Walburn (September 9, 1887 – July 26, 1969) was an American character actor of stage and screen who appeared in dozens of Hollywood movie comedies and an occasional dramatic role during the 1930s and 1940s. Life and career Born i ...

as Captain Dingby *

Alan Dinehart Mason Alan Dinehart Sr. (born Harold Alan Dinehart; October 3, 1889 – July 18, 1944) was an American actor, director, writer, and stage manager. Biography Dinehart initially studied to be a priest, but he turned to the theater instead. ...

as McKay *

Buddy Ebsen Buddy Ebsen (born Christian Ludolf Ebsen Jr., April 2, 1908 – July 6, 2003), also known as Frank "Buddy" Ebsen, was an American actor and dancer, whose career spanned seven decades. One of his most famous roles was as Jed Clampett in the CBS ...

as "Mush" Tracy *

Juanita Quigley Juanita Quigley (24 June 1931 – 29 October 2017) was an American child actress in motion pictures of the 1930s and 1940s. She had a sister, Rita Quigley, who was also a child actress. Career Juanita Quigley was billed as "Baby Jane" in severa ...

as Sally Saks * Georges and Jalna Toregas as themselves *

Reginald Gardiner William Reginald Gardiner (27 February 1903 – 7 July 1980) was an English actor on the stage, in films and on television. Early years Gardiner was born in Wimbledon, England, and he was a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.Katz, ...

as Conducting

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

Policeman *

Barnett Parker Barnett Parker (September 11, 1886 – August 5, 1941) was a British actor. Biography He appeared in the films '' The Misleading Lady'', ''Roaming Lady'', ''The President's Mystery'', ''Adventure in Manhattan'', ''Born to Dance'', ''We Who Are A ...

as Floorwalker *

Marjorie Lane Marjorie Lane (February 21, 1912 – October 2, 2012) was an American singer of the 1930s who is best known for providing the singing voice of actress Eleanor Powell's characters in the movies ''Born to Dance'' (1936), ''Broadway Melody of 1936'', ...

as Nora Paige (singing voice) * J. Marshall Smith, L. Dwight Snyder, Ray Johnson,

Del Porter Del Porter (April 13, 1902, Newberg, Oregon – October 4, 1977, Los Angeles) was an American jazz vocalist, saxophonist, and clarinetist who, in the 1930s, performed on Broadway, toured with Glenn Miller, and recorded with Bing Crosby, Dick Powe ...

as The Foursome

Soundtrack

Unless otherwise noted, Information is taken from

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

's soundtrack section for this movie. * ''Rolling Home'' (1936) ** Music and Lyrics by

** Sung by The Foursome,

, James Stewart and male chorus * ''Rap, Tap on Wood'' (1936) (Also called "Rap-Tap on Wood") ** Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter ** Danced by

and The Foursome ** Sung by

and The Foursome ** Also danced by Eleanor Powell at a rehearsal * ''Hey, Babe, Hey'' (1936) ** Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter ** Danced by Eleanor Powell, James Stewart, Sid Silvers, Buddy Ebsen,

and The Foursome ** Sung by Marjorie Lane, James Stewart, Sid Silvers, Buddy Ebsen, Una Merkel, Frances Langford and The Foursome ** Hummed by Una Merkel ** Played also as background music * ''Entrance of Lucy James'' (1936) ** Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter ** Sung by

, The Foursome, and male chorus * ''Love Me, Love My Pekinese'' (1936) ** Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter ** Sung by Virginia Bruce and male chorus ** Danced by Eleanor Powell * '' Easy to Love'' (1936) ** Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter ** Played during the opening credits and as background music ** Sung by Marjorie Lane and James Stewart, Frances Langford, danced by her and Buddy Ebsen ** Eleanor Powell - visual performance **Mock conducted by

as the

Policeman A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

, who spoofs conductor

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appear ...

, incorporating his long hair and dramatic gestures **

Reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any repe ...

d by the cast at the end * ''I've Got You Under My Skin'' (1936) ** Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter ** Danced by Georges and Jalna ** Sung by Virginia Bruce ** Played also as background music * ''Swingin' the Jinx Away'' (1936); (Also called "Swinging the Jinx Away") ** Music and Lyrics by

** Played during the opening credits ** Sung by Frances Langford, Buddy Ebsen, The Foursome and male chorus ** Danced by Buddy Ebsen and Eleanor Powell * ''Sidewalks of New York'' (1894) ** Music by

Charles Lawlor Charles B. Lawlor (June 2, 1852 – May 31, 1925) was an American vaudeville performer and composer of popular songs. He was born in Ireland and emigrated to the United States in 1869. Lawlor is primarily remembered today as the composer of th ...

** Lyrics by James W. Blake ** In the score during the "Rolling Home" number * ''Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean'' (1843) ** Written by David T. Shaw ** Arranged by Thomas A. Beckett ** In the score during the "Rolling Home" number; Also in the score during the "Swingin' the Jinx Away" number and partially sung by the chorus * ''The Prisoner's Song (If I Had the Wings of an Angel)'' (1924) ** Music and Lyrics by Guy Massey ** In the

underscore An underscore, ; also called an underline, low line, or low dash; is a line drawn under a segment of text. In proofreading, underscoring is a convention that says "set this text in italic type", traditionally used on manuscript or typescript a ...

when 'Gunny' Saks is shown in the brig

Production

The film's working title was ''This Time It's Love''. The film stars dancer Eleanor Powell and was a follow-up to her successful debut in '' Broadway Melody of 1936''. The film co-stars James Stewart as Powell's love interest and

as the film's resident femme fatale and Powell's rival. Powell's ''Broadway Melody'' co-stars

and

return to provide comedy and musical support. Highlights of the film include a rare musical number by Stewart (which the actor later poked fun at in the ''

That's Entertainment! ''That's Entertainment!'' is a 1974 American compilation film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to celebrate the studio's 50th anniversary. The success of the retrospective prompted a 1976 sequel, the related 1985 film ''That's Dancing!'', and a ...

'' retrospective), and a bombastic finale called "Swingin' the Jinx Away". Set amidst a pre-

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

backdrop, the

Depression-era The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

"feel good" number (which runs nearly 10 minutes) makes topical references to the economy and political leaders (with a "shout out" to

Cab Calloway Cabell Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, conductor and dancer. He was associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he was a regular performer and became a popular vocalist ...

thrown in for good measure) sung by Powell, adds in an eccentric dance routine by Ebsen, and ends in a flurry of

tap dancing Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perfo ...

by Powell culminating in a patriotic salute, and finally a blast of cannon fire. This finale was also lifted in its entirety and re-used in another Powell film, ''

I Dood It ''I Dood It'' (UK title ''By Hook or by Crook'') is a 1943 American musical-comedy film starring Red Skelton and Eleanor Powell, directed by Vincente Minnelli, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The screenplay is by Fred Saidy and Sig Herzig ...

'', co-starring

Red Skelton Richard Red Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program ''The Red Skelton Show''. He has stars ...

. Although considered one of Powell's (and MGM's) most memorable musical numbers, and often featured in retrospectives such as ''That's Entertainment!'', musical director

Roger Edens Roger Edens (November 9, 1905 – July 13, 1970) was a Hollywood composer, arranger and associate producer, and is considered one of the major creative figures in Arthur Freed's musical film production unit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the "go ...

was often quoted as being embarrassed by the segment. In 1936, a part was written for

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

wrote in his diary that It was his "great Joy" that he was writing for a film featuring Garland. However, her part was written out of the film before she could begin any work on the film The film introduced the Porter standards "

You'd Be So Easy to Love "(You'd Be So) Easy to Love" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for William Gaxton to sing in the 1934 Broadway show '' Anything Goes''. However Gaxton was unhappy about its wide vocal range and it was cut from the musical. Porter re-wrote ...

" (performed by Stewart and Marjorie Lane, dubbed for Powell) and "

I've Got You Under My Skin "I've Got You Under My Skin" is a song written by American composer Cole Porter in 1936. It was introduced that year in the Eleanor Powell musical film ''Born to Dance'' in which it was performed by Virginia Bruce. It was nominated for the Aca ...

" (performed by Bruce), which was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed th ...

. It was the first film in which Stewart sang. Some of the musical numbers were recorded in

stereophonic sound Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

, making this one of the first films to utilize multi-channel technology.

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species ...

included the stereo tracks in its soundtrack album, released on CD, including Jimmy Stewart's and Marjorie Lane's performance of "You'd Be So Easy to Love."

Accolades

The film was nominated for two

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

;

was nominated for Best Song for "

," and Dave Gould was nominated for Best Dance Direction. The film is recognized by

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

in these lists: * 2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs: ** "

" – Nominated

References

*Green, Stanley (1999) Hollywood Musicals Year by Year (2nd ed.), pub. Hal Leonard Corporation page 63

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Born To Dance 1936 films 1936 musical films American musical films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films Films directed by Roy Del Ruth Films set in New York City Films scored by Cole Porter Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1930s American films