Dancers in the Dark
| Dancers in the Dark | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | David Burton |
| Written by |
James Ashmore Creelman (play) Herman J. Mankiewicz |
| Starring |
Miriam Hopkins Jack Oakie George Raft |
| Music by | Dana Suesse |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 74 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Dancers in the Dark is a 1932 American Pre-Code film about a taxi dancer (Miriam Hopkins), a big band leader (Jack Oakie), and a gangster (George Raft).[1] The screenplay was written by Herman J. Mankiewicz (Citizen Kane), Brian Marlow and Howard Emmett Rogers from Jazz King, a stage drama by James Ashmore Creelman, and directed by David Burton.
Plot
The story takes place at a downtown dance hall in which Duke Taylor is the band leader, Gloria Bishop the singer, Floyd Stevens the saxophonist and Louie Brooks a local gangster and regular patron.
Gloria has a "past" with both Duke and Louie but as the film opens is falling for Floyd. Floyd is steady and true but might not be if he knew more about her romantic history. Duke thinks Gloria is not good enough for Floyd who he treats as a brother. Louie is interested in having her back but not as much as he wants to rob premises upstairs from the dance hall.
Floyd proposes to Gloria; she accepts but is worried about her past and puts him off. Duke manoeuvres him out of town for a few months and sets about luring Gloria back to him to expose her shallow nature. The ploy fails because he starts to fall in love with her as well. In the meantime the robbery takes place (off screen) and Louie kills someone but isn't caught. Floyd comes back and after a rapid sequence of misunderstandings and the arrival of the police looking for Louie everything works out nicely.
Cast
- Miriam Hopkins as Gloria Bishop
- Jack Oakie as Duke Taylor
- George Raft as Louie Brooks
- William Collier, Jr. as Floyd Stevens
- Eugene Pallette as Gus
- Lyda Roberti as Fanny Zabowolski
- Paul Fix as Benny
- Adelaide Hall (Hall's singing voice is used but she is uncredited on the movie credits)
References
- ↑ Everett Aaker, The Films of George Raft, McFarland & Company, 2013 p 21