''The Dance of Life'' is a 1929 American
pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...
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 ...
. It is the first of three film adaptations of the popular 1927 Broadway play ''Burlesque'', with the others being ''
Swing High, Swing Low'' (1937) and ''
When My Baby Smiles at Me'' (1948). The film was directed by
John Cromwell (who also appeared in the film with a small part) and
A. Edward Sutherland.
Hal Skelly appeared in the lead role as Ralph “Skid” Johnson after playing the same role in the Broadway version at the Plymouth Theater. He took part in the production for fifty two weeks before leaving his role to take part in the film. Charles D. Brown, Ralph Theodore and Oscar Levant also appeared in the Broadway production.
''The Dance of Life'' was shot at Paramount's
Astoria Studios
The Kaufman Astoria Studios is a film studio located in the Astoria section of the New York City borough of Queens. The studio was constructed for Famous Players-Lasky in 1920, since it was close to Manhattan's Broadway theater district. The p ...
in
Astoria, Queens
Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City to the southwest, Sunnyside to the southeast ...
, and included
Technicolor
Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades.
Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...
sequences, directed by
John Cromwell and
A. Edward Sutherland.
Plot
Burlesque
A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. comic Ralph "Skid" Johnson, and specialty dancer Bonny Lee King, end up together on a cold, rainy night at a train station, after she fails an audition with a vaudeville company and he complains about her treatment by the impresario of the show and is fired. They decide to team up and apply for work with a much better show on "the big wheel" called the High Steppers Burlesque Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, run by Lefty Miller.
[
Miller hires the duo and the two fall in love. Later Skid asks her to marry him, but he gets drunk and ruins their wedding night. During this time a female comic, Sylvia Marco, who is attracted to Skid, tries to come between them. Skid is offered a solo part in the Ziegfeld Follies in New York and Bonnie encourages him to take it, but stays behind. Unbeknownst to Bonnie, Sylvia is also hired for the show. After his success on the big stage he neglects to send for her so after Lefty's show closes, Bonnie travels to New York to see him. She sends him a telegram letting him know she's coming to see him and to meet her backstage at the theater. After she arrives Skid has already left the theater, but she is told he may be at a speakeasy. She talks the doorkeeper into letting her in to see her husband but she finds him kissing Sylvia. Bonnie leaves him a note that says she will be filing for divorce which leaves him devastated.
The two are separated and Bonnie plans to marry Harvey Howell. Skid is still heartbroken over the break up and finds solace in alcohol, which is ruining his career. Lefty hires him for the lead role in his upcoming show provided Skid can stay sober, but Skid's drinking problem leaves him unable to perform, which puts the show in jeopardy. In order to save the show, Lefty sends for Bonnie to help Skid sober up so that he can perform and the two are reunited. But Skid passes out on stage on opening night which ruins the show. Bonnie joins him on stage the following night and Skid is able to perform.][
]
Cast
* Hal Skelly
Hal Skelly (James Harold Skelley; May 31, 1891 – June 16, 1934) was an American Broadway and film actor.
Biography
He was born James Harold Skelley in Alleghenyville, Pennsylvania to James and Martha Skelley. His family moved to Daven ...
as "Skid" Johnson
* Nancy Carroll
Nancy Carroll (born Ann Veronica Lahiff; November 19, 1903 – August 6, 1965) was an American actress. She started her career in Broadway musicals and then became an actress in sound films and was in many films from 1927 to 1938. She was t ...
as Bonny King
* Dorothy Revier
Dorothy Revier (born Doris Valerga; April 18, 1904 – November 19, 1993) was an American actress.
Early years
Born as Doris Valerga in San Francisco on April 18, 1904, Revier was one of five siblings of the famous Valerga performing fami ...
as Sylvia Marco
* Ralph Theodore as Harvey Howell
* Charles D. Brown
Charles D. Brown (July 1, 1887 – November 25, 1948) was an American stage and film actor.
Born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Brown wrote and directed a single short film in 1914. As an actor, he appeared in more than 100 films, stretching fro ...
as Lefty
* Al St. John
Al St. John (also credited as Al Saint John and "Fuzzy" St. John; September 10, 1892 – January 21, 1963) was an early American motion-picture comedian. He was a nephew of silent film star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, with whom he often performed on ...
as Bozo
* May Boley
May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the third of seven months to have a length of 31 days.
May is a month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, May ...
as Gussie
* Oscar Levant
Oscar Levant (December 27, 1906August 14, 1972) was an American concert pianist, composer, conductor, author, radio game show panelist, television talk show host, comedian and actor. He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for reco ...
as Jerry
* Marjorie Kane
Marjorie Kane (April 28, 1909 – January 8, 1992) was an American film and stage actress born in Chicago. She appeared in more than 60 films between 1929 and 1951, occasionally under the name Babe Kane.
Career
Kane appeared on stage for 11 ...
(uncredited)
* John Cromwell as Speakeasy Doorkeeper
Soundtrack
* "True Blue Lou"
:Music by Richard A. Whiting
:Lyrics by Sam Coslow
Sam Coslow (December 27, 1902 – April 2, 1982) was an American songwriter, singer, film producer, publisher and market analyst. Coslow was born in New York City. He began writing songs as a teenager. He contributed songs to Broadway revues, ...
and Leo Robin
Leo Robin (April 6, 1900 – December 29, 1984) was an American composer, lyricist and songwriter. He is probably best known for collaborating with Ralph Rainger on the 1938 Oscar-winning song "Thanks for the Memory," sung by Bob Hope and Shirl ...
:Sung by Hal Skelly
* "The Flippity Flop"
:Music by Richard A. Whiting
:Lyrics by Sam Coslow and Leo Robin
* "King of Jazzmania"
:Music by Richard A. Whiting
:Lyrics by Sam Coslow and Leo Robin
* "Ladies of the Dance"
:Music by Richard A. Whiting
:Lyrics by Sam Coslow and Leo Robin
* "Cuddlesome Baby"
:Music by Richard A. Whiting
:Lyrics by Sam Coslow and Leo Robin
* "Mightiest Matador"
:Music by Richard A. Whiting
:Lyrics by Sam Coslow and Leo Robin
* "Sweet Rosie O'Grady"
:Written by Maude Nugent
* "In the Gloaming"
:Music by Annie Fortescue Harrison
:Lyrics by Meta Orred
* "Sam, the Old Accordion Man"
:Written by Walter Donaldson
Copyright status
In 1957, the film entered the public domain (in the USA) because the claimants did not renew its copyright registration
The purpose of copyright registration is to place on record a verifiable account of the date and content of the work in question, so that in the event of a legal claim, or case of infringement or plagiarism, the copyright owner can produce a cop ...
in the 28th year after publication.
Preservation status
No color prints survive, only black-and-white prints made in the 1950s for TV broadcast.
See also
* List of early color feature films
This is a list of early feature-length color films (including primarily black-and-white films that have one or more color sequences) made up to about 1936, when the Technicolor three-strip process firmly established itself as the major-studio fa ...
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
''The Dance of Life''
at ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dance Of Life
1929 films
1929 musical films
1920s color films
American black-and-white films
American musical films
American films based on plays
Films partially in color
Films directed by A. Edward Sutherland
Films directed by John Cromwell
Films scored by Adolph Deutsch
Films scored by John Leipold
Paramount Pictures films
Articles containing video clips
Films shot at Astoria Studios
1920s English-language films
1920s American films