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Movie Source: Internet Archive (archive.org)
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The Dance of Life

1929

From the Wikipedia entry for "The Dance of Life": "The Dance of Life (1929) is the first of three film adaptations of the popular Broadway play Burlesque, the others being Swing High, Swing Low (1937) and When My Baby Smiles at Me (1948). The Dance of Life was made with Technicolor sequences, directed by John Cromwell and A. Edward Sutherland, and was released by Paramount Pictures." Original text can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dance_of_Life License terms may be found at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ All Technicolor prints are lost, only the black and white copies made in the 1950s for TV have survived. This copy is from VHS and consequently has inferior image quality.

Dance of Life}}

The Dance of Life (1929 in film) is the first of three film adaptations of the popular Broadway play Burlesque (play), the others being Swing High, Swing Low (film) (1937) and When My Baby Smiles at Me (film) (1948).
The Dance of Life was shot at Paramount's Kaufman Astoria Studios in Astoria, Queens, and included Technicolor sequences, directed by John Cromwell (director) and A. Edward Sutherland.
In 1957, the film entered the List of films in the public domain in the United States due to the claimants failure to renew its copyright registration in the 28th year after publication.<></>

Cast

  • Hal Skelly - "Skid" Johnson
  • Nancy Carroll - Bonny Lee King
  • Dorothy Revier - Sylvia Marco
  • Ralph Theodore - Harvey Howell
  • Charles D. Brown - Lefty
  • Al St. John - Bozo
  • May Boley - Gussie
  • Oscar Levant - Jerry
  • Gladys DuBois - Miss Sherman
  • James Quinn (actor) - Jimmy
  • Jim Farley (actor) - Champ Melvin
  • George Irving (American actor) - Minister
  • Gordona Bennet - Amazon Chorus Girl
  • Miss La Reno - Amazon Chorus Girl
  • Cora Beach Shumway - Amazon Chorus Girl
  • Charlotte Ogden - Amazon Chorus Girl
  • Kay Deslys - Amazon Chorus Girl
  • Magda Blom - Amazon Chorus Girl
  • Thelma McNeil - Gilded Girl (as Thelma McNeal)
  • John Cromwell (director) - Doorkeeper
  • A. Edward Sutherland - Theater Attendant

Plot

Burlesque comic Ralph 'Skid' Johnson (Skelly), and dancer Bonny Lee King (Carroll), end up together on a cold, rainy night at a train station, when he's thrown out and she's rejected from the same show.
The two things they have in life are dancing and each other, if she could only keep him away from the booze, long enough to keep dancing.
A tragi-comedic, burlesque version of All That Jazz (film), from an earlier era.

Soundtrack

  • "True Blue Lou"
  • Music by Richard A. Whiting
    Lyrics by Sam Coslow and Leo Robin
    Sung by Hal Skelly
  • "The Flippity Flop"
  • Music by Richard A. Whiting
    Lyrics by Sam Coslow and Leo Robin
  • "King of Jazzmania"
  • Music by Richard A. Whiting
    Lyrics by Sam Coslow and Leo Robin
  • "Ladies of the Dance"
  • Music by Richard A. Whiting
    Lyrics by Sam Coslow and Leo Robin
  • "Cuddlesome Baby"
  • Music by Richard A. Whiting
    Lyrics by Sam Coslow and Leo Robin
  • "Mightiest Matador"
  • Music by Richard A. Whiting
    Lyrics by Sam Coslow and Leo Robin
  • "Sweet Rosie O'Grady"
  • Written by Maude Nugent
  • "In the Gloaming"
  • Music by Annie Fortescue Harrison
    Lyrics by Meta Orred
  • "Sam, the Old Accordion Man"
  • Written by Walter Donaldson

    Preservation status

    No color prints survive, only black-and-white prints made in the 1950s for TV broadcast.

    See also

  • List of early color feature films

  • The Dance of Life at AMCTV.com
  • The Dance of Life at Yahoo
  • The Dance of Life at OVGuide.com
  • http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/5467709
  • The Dance of Life] at


    Category:1929 films
    Category:1920s musical films
    Category:American musical films
    Category:Films directed by A. Edward Sutherland
    Category:Films directed by John Cromwell
    Category:Paramount Pictures films
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