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Dance, Girl, Dance

Play trailer Poster for Dance, Girl, Dance 1940 1h 30m Musical Play Trailer Watchlist
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83% Tomatometer 12 Reviews 64% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
A burlesque queen (Lucille Ball) competes with an aspiring ballerina (Maureen O'Hara) for a divorced playboy (Louis Hayward).
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Dance, Girl, Dance

Critics Reviews

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Richard Brody The New Yorker 05/30/2016
Arzner films it with fascination and enthusiasm, and the choreography is marked by the point of view of the spectators and the dancers' awareness that they're being watched. Go to Full Review
Dave Kehr Chicago Reader 09/28/2015
The themes are female friendship and a woman's fulfillment, and it is one of Arzner's most coherent and accomplished films. Go to Full Review
Paul Taylor Time Out 09/28/2015
Arzner's internal critique of Hollywood ideology (woman as silent object of male scrutiny). It works within the confines of a stock vaudevillian golddiggers comedy-drama. Go to Full Review
Douglas Davidson Elements of Madness 06/09/2020
4/5
With this release and its wonderful supplemental interviews, an opportunity is created to shed some light on a forgotten director and her work. Go to Full Review
Matt Brunson Film Frenzy 06/07/2020
3/4
Not surprisingly, the scene where O'Hara's character directly lambasts an audience for its collective "male gaze" retains its topicality. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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John H @jhritz 03/12/2024 A romp with a drunken trust fund baby lead, a lot of marginal dancing, non-titillating burlesque, and a soliloquy followed by a cat fight. See more ashley h @ashleyhobgood87 07/10/2022 Dance, Girl, Dance is a decent film. It is about a a troupe of danseuses who become unemployed. Maureen O'Hara and Lucille Ball give good performances. The screenplay is a little slow in places. Dorothy Arzner did an alright job directing this movie. I liked this motion picture because of the humor and drama. See more William L 03/19/2021 A solid enough comedy-drama that uses a pretty conventional Horatio Alger-esque narrative about hard work, talent, and passion sustaining a sympathetic protagonist to eventual success, infused with a distinctly feminine perspective and a Lucille Ball performance that together give the film its identity in a sea of similar films of the period. The film's critical revival has hinged largely on its feminist stance, capped by a scathing speech from O'Hara's Judy to a crowd of jeering onlookers; there's a dated, somewhat conservative flair to it (the whole narrative includes a focus on traditional ballet's superiority to modern performance styles, and part of O'Hara's speech includes references to a "mother's disappointment"), but considering this stance in the context of the day reveals a greater significance and daring. Ball is the real star in her supporting role, just eating up the screen at each opportunity as the opportunistic and bawdy Bubbles/'Tiger Lily'; even if she's not the focus, it's a perfect encapsulation of the type of character that she excelled at. (3/5) See more 12/22/2016 Some interesting proto-feminist stuff here with a fascinating early Lucille Ball performance, but not much of interest otherwise. See more s r @ScottR 12/12/2016 I enjoyed it. Lucille ball was a ball of fire, while Maureen's motivations were oddly placed. Had it been better written it could have been great. 1001 movies to see before you die. See more 11/11/2015 Fantastic! Nothing like it today. An overt and amazing commentary on the woman's right to work with subtle insight into the self sabotage that keeps them from success. A definite studio movie in style and tone, but with some really modern, arresting moments thrown in. See more Read all reviews
Dance, Girl, Dance

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Movie Info

Synopsis A burlesque queen (Lucille Ball) competes with an aspiring ballerina (Maureen O'Hara) for a divorced playboy (Louis Hayward).
Director
Dorothy Arzner
Producer
Erich Pommer
Screenwriter
Tess Slesinger, Frank Davis, Vicki Baum
Production Co
RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
Genre
Musical
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 30, 1940, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 11, 2008
Runtime
1h 30m
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