Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Dance, Fools, Dance Blu-ray Movie Review

Here comes Ms. Jordan.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III November 9, 2023

An early sound showcase for Joan Crawford's considerable talents as well as her first on-screen pairing with frequent "collaborator" Clark Gable, Harry Beaumont's Dance, Fools, Dance is a pre-Code melodrama that packs a lot into just 81 minutes. Maybe a little too much, even: it concerns the fall, rise, and second life of two formerly wealthy siblings, both of whom work opposing sides of a bootlegger's ruthless organization and may not make it out alive.

In its extended opening sequence, carefree socialite Bonnie Jordan (Crawford) and her brother Rodney (William Bakewell) enjoy a lavish gala event complete with swimming, drink, and dancing with her devoted boyfriend Bob (Lester Vail) while their curmudgeonly father Stanley (William Holden) talks business with his associates. It won't be the last time work consumes him: Stanley suddenly dies of a heart attack days later after the stock market crash of 1929, and word soon gets out that the family fortune has all but evaporated overnight. Forced to sell their possessions, fire their staff, and -- gasp! -- work for a living, the siblings have very different ideas of what to do next. Headstrong Bonnie flat-out refuses Bob's condescending marriage proposal and sets out to do "man's work" at the local paper, where she soon becomes the New York Star's only female cub reporter. Rodney, on the other hand, secretly takes a cushier job by working for smooth bootlegger Jake Luva (Gable), selling liquor to his wealthy friends.

Sadly, a fierce rivalry between Luva's organization and a competing gang leads to multiple murders investigated by Bonnie's friend and fellow reporter Bert Scranton (Cliff Edwards), and she's the perfect candidate to dig deeper. Still unaware of Rodney's involvement with Luva, she infiltrates his swanky nightclub as performer "Mary Smith" and he immediately falls for her. As expected, the web only gets more tangled as both Bonnie and Rodney's separate but similar charades go on... especially after she has to make a hasty escape from Luva's pawing advances.

Dance, Fools, Dance is something of a mini-epic, making several stops and detours through 81 melodramatic minutes. It takes longer than expected to really get going and doesn't find a comfortable groove until right around the halfway point, but is well-acted and at least interesting even during its less impressive stretches, and to its credit makes us genuinely care for two spoiled rich kids to actually have to face real life. Its better moments are well above average for an early pre-Code film of this vintage, as select members of the cast have exceptionally good chemistry and other fundamentals are solid too, including its production design and gradually more claustrophobic atmosphere.

Committed to preserving films as far back as the WB and MGM vaults will take them, Warner Archive's excellent Blu-ray presentation of Dance, Fools, Dance is yet another fine effort from the boutique label. Although its new A/V restoration may not score quite as high as their other titles on paper, it's a proportionately solid effort that will appeal to fans of pre-Code cinema and features a handful of solid extras including an MGM documentary newly scanned in HD.

Dance, Fools, Dance Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sourced from a new 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative, Dance, Fools, Dance looks overwhelmingly solid during the bulk of its brief running time with a clean and stable appearance that keeps its original film textures intact. Fine detail is impressive in close-ups of faces, hair, and costume details, with a reasonable amount of depth and steady black levels that don't succumb to crush. Stray moments, from single shots to a handful of short scenes, show a slight dip in quality with softer textures, lower grain levels, and broader contrast, even exhibiting trace amounts of blooming; in all honesty, had it not been advertised as sourced entirely from the negative I might have guessed these were brief interpositive inserts. But considering Dance, Fools, Dance is well past its 90th birthday, this is truly a best-case scenario for fans of pre-code Hollywood: not only is it a generally excellent-looking restoration, but as usual Warner Archive's welcome Blu-ray is expertly encoded and avoids any tangible amount of compression artifacts.

Dance, Fools, Dance Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Things are little more complicated in the audio department, but not for lack of trying. Warner Archive's DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix -- a split presentation of its original mono source -- again sounds generally good, although source-related issues stand a bit more in the way this time. The most noticeable is persistent hiss which, during some scenes, might make one think that Dance, Fools, Dance was shot a few hundred meters away from a river or waterfall. It's not always distracting... but it's never not noticeable, if that makes sense. (One other curious defect arrives at the 72:40 mark, where a short, two-word remark by Clark Gable's character is mouthed but no dialogue is heard.) Regarding the former, a light hand on the controls was probably required to preserve the film's fragile dynamic range, which otherwise dodges most era-specific issues with intelligible dialogue and background effects. The end result is clearly an adequate effort under the circumstances, though it's hardly the best-sounding disc on Warner Archive's résumé.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only, not the extras listed below.

Dance, Fools, Dance Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with bold red poster-themed cover artwork and no inserts of any kind. Bonus features include an excellent mid-length historical documentary and two vintage Merrie Melodies shorts.

• Hollywood: The Dream Factory (50:36) - Newly restored in HD from original film elements, this 1972 made-for-TV documentary shares an abridged history of MGM during Hollywood's Golden Age. Directed by Irwin Rosten with narration by Dick Cavett, it's a thoughtfully-produced and entertaining production that includes ample film clips from some of MGM's best-known works as well as insight about the studio system of that era, behind-the-scenes still and footage, and coverage of many different aspects of filmmaking, from actors and musicians to landscapers, publicists, and gourmet chefs. A delight, and possibly worth the price of admission alone.

• One More Time (7:04) - Previously seen in a nicely-restored version on Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6, this early Merrie Melodies short has been further cleaned up and looks great on Blu-ray. Animated by Friz Freleng and Paul Smith with direction by Rudolf Ising, it's a decent cartoon -- and one of only three starring the short-lived character "Foxy" -- that's only the third in MM history. (The first, Lady, Play Your Mandolin, was included on Warner Archive's recent release of the original Cimarron.)

• Smile, Darn Ya, Smile (7:00) - Rewinding to a month earlier that same year, this 1931 Merrie Melodies cartoon was animated by Friz Freleng and Carman Maxwell, was again directed by Rudolf Ising, and is the second MM short. I suppose this completes the epic trilogy of Foxy on Blu-ray, so that's something.

Dance, Fools, Dance Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Harry Beaumont's Dance, Fools, Dance isn't quite at the level of "forgotten masterpiece", but it's a minor early career highlight for both Joan Crawford and Clark Gable, who would be linked together on and off movie sets during the next decade. At a surprisingly slim 81 minutes, it nonetheless has the scope of a longer film and, though it doesn't quite hit every target, this one's well worth a watch for fans of the cast and pre-Code cinema in general. Warner Archive's Blu-ray adds support with a solid A/V restoration and several worthwhile bonus features. Recommended.