The Dance of Life *** (1929, Hal Skelly, Nancy Carroll, Dorothy Revier) – Classic Movie Review 11,253

Directors John Cromwell and A Edward Sutherland’s all-talking musical romantic drama The Dance of Life (1929) from Paramount Pictures is the first of three film adaptations of the popular 1927 Broadway play Burlesque by George Manker Watters and Arthur Hopkins, followed by Swing High, Swing Low (1937) and When My Baby Smiles at Me (1948).

The Dance of Life was shot at Paramount’s Astoria Studios, in Astoria, Queens, and includes one Technicolor sequence. The 779 feet two-strip Technicolor footage occurs in reel seven and consists of the Ziegfeld Follies production number, but it only survives in archival holdings and currently circulates in black and white.

Hal Skelly stars as burlesque comic Ralph ‘Skid’ Johnson, who decide to team up with specialty dancer Bonny Lee King (Nancy Carroll) and apply for work with a much better show. They get married to save money on the road, soon find themselves booked on Broadway, and realise that they are in love with each other, but then Skid starts to get big headed.

Also in the cast are Dorothy Revier as Sylvia Marco, Ralph Theodore as Harvey Howell, Charles D Brown as Lefty, Al St John as Bozo, May Boley as Gussie, Oscar Levant as Jerry, Gladys DuBois, James Quinn, Jim Farley, George Irving and Marjorie Kane.

The film entered the public domain in the US in 1957.

Music by Richard A Whiting, lyrics by Sam Coslow and Leo Robin.

Here is the full film:

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,253

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com