Those Who Dance
Those Who Dance | |
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| |
Directed by | William Beaudine |
Produced by | Robert North |
Screenplay by | Joseph Jackson |
Story by | George Kibbe Turner |
Starring |
Monte Blue Lila Lee Betty Compson |
Cinematography | Sid Hickox |
Edited by | George Amy |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 75 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Those Who Dance is a 1930 American Pre-Code crime film produced and distributed by Warner Bros., directed by William Beaudine, and starring Monte Blue, Lila Lee, William "Stage" Boyd and Betty Compson. It is a remake of the 1924 silemt film Those Who Dance starring Bessie Love and Blanche Sweet.[1] The story, written by George Kibbe Turner, was based on events which actually took place among gangsters in Chicago.
Plot
Monte Blue plays as a police detective who is after a famous gangster (played by William Boyd). He disguises himself and lives in the very house of the famous gangster by pretending he is an out-of-town gangster who has just murdered someone. He pretends he is the sweetheart of an innocent girl (played by Lila Lee) who suspects her brother has been framed for murder by Monte Blue. Blue's moll, played by Betty Compson, is also in on the conspiracy as she had become fed up with his cheating, lying and brutal treatment. The life of Lee's brother, who has been sentenced to death in the electric chair, depends on them getting evidence against Boyd.
Cast
- Lila Lee - Nora Brady
- Monte Blue - Dan Hogan
- William "Stage" Boyd - Diamond Joe Jennings
- Betty Compson - Kitty
- William Janney - Tim Brady
- Wilfred Lucas - Big Ben Benson
- Cornelius Keefe - Pat Hogan
- DeWitt Jennings - Captain O'Brien
- Gino Corrado - Tony
- Richard Cramer - Steve Daley
- Harry Semels - Hood
- Nick Thompson - Hood
Foreign-language versions
Foreign-language versions were made in Spanish (Los Que Danzan), German The Dance Goes On (Der Tanz geht weiter) and French (Contre-Enquête). They are all apparently lost.
Pre-code material
The film contains a lot of pre-code material. Some examples include: Lila Lee's character is called "a professional virgin". Two unmarried couples live together, with the unspoken understanding that this is not true love forever, just a temporary situation for the sake of convenient sex for all parties concerned and hot meals on the table for the men as long as the situation lasts. There is also a gay reference about a man being "that way" about Tim Brady (played by William Janney), etc.
Preservation
The film survives complete. It was remastered in the 16 mm format by Associated Artists Productions in 1956 and included in a package of vintage feature films syndicated to television stations. A 16 mm print is housed at the Wisconsin Center for Film & Theater Research.[2] Another print exists at the Library of Congress.[3]
References
- ↑ White Munden, Kenneth (1997). The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films, 1921-1930. University of California Press. p. 802. ISBN 0-520-20969-9.
- ↑ Wisconsin Center for Film and Theatre Research, Feature Film Database..Retrieved July 14 2018
- ↑ Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress by The American film Institute, (<-book title) p.183 c. 1978