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The Dance of Life main poster

The Dance of Life

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5.5/10 • 11

1929-08-161h 55m

RomanceDramaMusic

Glamorous! Gorgeous! Heart Breaking!

A vaudeville comic and a pretty young dancer aren't having much luck in their separate careers, so they decide to combine their acts. In order to save money on the road, they get married. Soon their act begins to catch on, and they find themselves booked onto Broadway. They also realize that they actually are in love with each other, but just when things are starting to look up, the comic starts to let success go to his head.

Directors
John Cromwell, A. Edward Sutherland
Editors
George Nichols Jr.

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Hal Skelly

    Hal Skelly

    Ralph 'Skid' Johnson

  2. Nancy Carroll

    Nancy Carroll

    Bonny Lee King

  3. Dorothy Revier

    Dorothy Revier

    Sylvia Marco

  4. Ralph Theodore

    Ralph Theodore

    Harvey Howell

  5. Charles D. Brown

    Charles D. Brown

    Lefty Miller

  6. Al St. John

    Al St. John

    Bozo

  7. May Boley

    May Boley

    Gussie

  8. Oscar Levant

    Oscar Levant

    Jerry Evans

  9. Gladys DuBois

    Gladys DuBois

    Miss Sherman

Reviews1

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Mar 19, 2025

6/10

“Skid” (Hal Shelly) is a journeyman Vaudeville performer who meets dancer “Bonny” (Nancy Carroll) on the circuit and they fall in love. They marry and make a go of things on the road until he gets spotted and next thing he’s on Broadway whilst she keeps up with the daily grind. He proves to be a bit of an hit, and pretty quickly is reunited with ex-gal “Sylvia” (Dorothy Revier) who is soon sharing more than just the billing. When “Bonny” finds out she decides that two can play at that game, especially as she is being courted by a wealthy cattleman (Ralph Theodore). Despite his own ghastly behaviour, “Skid” can’t bear the thought that she could be with someone else, and so takes rather heavily to the bottle. That slippery slope sees him fall from grace, and it seems his only hope is that “Bonny” might actually forgive him - but why should she? Will she? Fans of song and dance cinema will enjoy this, even though the embryonic production and some distinctly ropey choreography do leave them looking a bit rough round the edges. That said, though, there are still some good numbers here, like “True Blue Lou” to compensate for the well travelled rags to riches story that isn’t so hot on the jeopardy front but it does shine a light on the fickleness of fame. This also has the benefit of quite seamlessly marrying the theatrical with the cinematic quite effectively, and though at times that doesn’t always come off, the efforts from Shelly, Carroll and from Revier showcase just how multi-talented people had to be in the 1920s if they had any hope of making a living in this cutthroat business whilst still delivers plausible - if not always so likeable, characters. It is a bit routine, sure, but it has a watchable freshness and vitality to it, too.

Media

  • The Dance of Life poster
  • The Dance of Life poster
  • The Dance of Life poster
  • The Dance of Life poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
show businessalcoholismpre-codeburlesque