CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

atlasmb The first film to pair Joan Crawford and Clark Gable, "Dance, Fools, Dance" is a pre-Code morality tale that is mostly forgettable, but it does contain some noteworthy moments.Chief among these are the scenes of Crawford where she shows the beauty and fire of her youth. When Gable, playing a bootlegger, is attracted to her raw sexuality, it is believable (by any standards, but especially by the standards of the early thirties; she appears wanton).Crawford is playing a lady of privilege who, due to the Great Crash, must now make it on her own. But she is not a mere cabaret dancer like Gable thinks.Crawford's character is, above everything else, proud. She is an individualist and someone who will not marry for other than love, no matter her circumstances. It's the portrait of a character worth watching, but the script undermines this portrayal with its formulaic resolution.Special kudos to Adrian, the designer who dressed Crawford and so many other MGM actresses in strikingly beautiful creations.

ksf-2 Lots of familiar faces in this one - Joan Crawford stars as Bonnie Jordan, with Clark Gable as the gangster Jake Luva. Cliff Edwards is Bert, and a 20 year old Ann Dvorak is still playing chorus-girl parts at this point. Bonnie's brother "Rodney" is played by William Bakewell, much less-well known, but had made 166 films and TV shows, starting in the silents. Even Sam McDaniel, Hattie's brother, plays the butler in this one. You can tell it's pre-code, since they are buying illegal liquor, and having naughty conversations here and there. Dad goes broke in the stock market crash, and the mooching "kids", now adults, must go to work. Their choices of professions give them separate dilemmas, and they both have decisions to make. Joanie does a dance number in Jake's club in this one, to be able to cozy up to him, shocking all her old high-society "friends". Plain and simple story, no real surprises, but a likely-enough gangster plot, I guess. Everyone was heavy on the makeup, and Joan Crawford does her big, obvious facial expressions which had been so necessary in her earlier silent films, but now seem overdone. I didn't see her slap anyone in this film, but I guess she hadn't started that trend yet in 1931. Entertaining film. Crawford and Gable had come a long way since they were both extras in "Merry Widow" 1925.

ccthemovieman-1 In one respect, this film was ahead of its time and in another respect a typical story from the classic film era.It was about 35 years ahead of its time in some of the immoral characters and general sleazy atmosphere - early sleaze, if you will, and it's not bad. It's not great, either, by any stretch of the imagination. A lot of pictures were similar back in the early '30s, right before the Code was instituted. It features many unlikeable characters, low morals and two stars that were, at least to me, unappealing: a young Joan Crawford and a young Clark Gable. Both, for some reason, thought they were big sex symbols back then. Well, Gable made it to that status eight years later as one but Crawford, who always thought she was no matter what age, was never one. Before he became a star at the end of the decade with "Gone With The Wind," Gable played a lot of sleazy roles himself early in the '30s. This is another, where he's a gangster ("Jake Luva"). He's modeled in here after "Jake Lingle," a real-life gangster from the period who was involved in the famous "St. Valentine's Day Massacre."Anyway, he and his sister "Bonnie," played by Crawford, go from prosperous to penniless when the stock market crashes in 1929 and their dad is ruined. (He had been financing them.)Jake then goes the crooked way, and Bonnie goes straight as a reporter. This is was very cliché-ridden and the story was used in similar situations throughout films of the 30s and '40s, often with childhood pals going in opposite directions.If you are a classic-era film buff, this movie will interest you. Younger audiences will find this film way too dated to be enjoyed. I found myself somewhere in the middle, intrigued at watching these stars when they were young but not enamored with the story.

timmauk This is the third Crawford film that I have seen, the others were "Whatever happened to Baby Jane" and "Mildred Pierce". What a beauty she was back then and what a personality too. Much different than the one she would show later in her film career. This movie was a joy to watch. This is a story about a girl who's wealthy father dies leaving her and brother penniless. She finds a job as a reporter and her brother a job as a bootlegger with the mob. Newcomer Clark Gable plays the head of the mob. Trouble happens and kid brother talks then sister comes running to help, though she has to deal with Gable first. This is the movie that put Gable on the map. It would be the first of nine films they would star together at M-G-M. The storyline is typical but Crawford and Gable made it good. The supporting cast is good as well. This was Lester Vail's first film(though he only made four more). William Bakewell, playing the brother, was funny when he was telling Bonnie to become a runway model and did that strike a pose! Hello!!I would recommend this film to anyone who wants a glimpse into Crawford's early work.