DANCE, FOOLS, DANCE (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1931), directed by Harry Beaumont, is not a movie starring The Three Stooges participating in an all night dance marathon, nor is it a musical starring the comedy team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey. Oddly enough this is only a title, though there are some dancing sequences involved, but not enough to categorize this as a musical. Overall, this is a Depression-era story that opens with high society party, followed by newspaper/newsroom melodrama before shifting to the its popular genre of the time, a crime story. With the leading players being Joan Crawford and Lester Vail, by the time the movie reaches its conclusion at 82 minutes, the names of Joan Crawford and Clark Gable immediately come to mind for their first on-screen collaboration together.The story opens with a society party on a yacht hosted by socialite Bonnie Jordan (Joan Crawford). Bonnie is loved by Robert Townsend (Lester Vail), but she prefers her carefree lifestyle with her rich friends as opposed to becoming his wife. After the Stock Market Crash of 1929, which results to a fatal heart attack on Bonnie's father, Stanley (William Holden). leaving both Bonnie and her spoiled younger brother, Rodney (William Bakewell) paupers. With most of their personal possessions sold at public auction andf dismissing their servants, Rodney refuses to take the family lawyer Selby's (Hale Hamilton) advice by going to work. As for Bonnie, she breaks away from her former high society lifestyle and friends by getting an apartment in the Chicago district and working for a newspaper under her editor, Mr. Parker (Purnell Pratt. Rodney, however, gets in with the wrong crowd where his friend, Wally Baxter (Earle Foxe) introduces him to Jake Luva (Clark Gable), nightclub owner, bootlegger and tough crime boss. When Bonnie's reporter friend, Bert Scranton (Cliff Edwards), gets shot down by one of Luva's gang for learning too much about his organization, Bonnie is assigned to go undercover as Mary Smith from Missouri, to not only work as a dancer at Luva's cabaret, but to gather enough information to convict Scranton's killer. While her assignment goes well as planned, Bonnie eventually learns too much for her own good. Others in the cast include: Natalie Moorehead (Della); Joan Marsh (Sylvia); Russell Hopton (Whitey); and Sam McDaniel.While DANCE, FOOLS, DANCE, is early Crawford at best, it's also early Gable, sans mustache, treating 'em rough, and giving all the orders. After entering the scene 36 minutes into the story, Gable no doubt gathers the most attention in the story as both villain and aggressor trying to get Crawford's Bonnie to "be nice to him." William Bakewell resumes his type-casting in his usual cowardly rich brother more concerned about what his father left him in the will as opposed to his death. He spends much of the time smoking and drinking, and learning the hard way that crime does not pay. Lester Vail, whose name comes second after Crawford's, is definitely a forgotten name in cinema history. The only thing to recommend for his performance is that his role might have worked to better advantage had it been played by the up and rising Robert Montgomery. Natalie Moorehead as Jake Luva's tough/blonde mistress, has the film's most notable scene where Jake Luva blows cigarette smoke in her face followed by her blowing out the fire of the lighted match held on Luva's hand. Being a pre-code motion picture, no doubt there's suggestive dialogue, but nothing as suggestive where the society guests cool themselves off on a hot summer night by taking a swim in their underwear. DANCE, FOOLS, DANCE starts off well, slows down a bit before picking up speed during the newspaper vs. underworld segment. Distributed on home video in 1990 as part of "Forbidden Hollywood" tapes with Leonard Maltin, movie critic, doing an introduction about the movie itself. Also available on DVD, DANCE, FOOLS, DANCE is in a class in itself, especially when Crawford and Gable are concerned. Watch it next time it comes on cable television's Turner Classic Movies. (***)

This is not a great precode, but it's good enough to keep your interest, particularly if you are fans of Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, or even Cliff Edwards. As others have already mentioned, it is historical for being the initial teaming of Joan Crawford and Clark Gable, although Gable is sixth or seventh billed at this point. Don't expect Gable the gallant cad in this one - here he is pure cad.The film is largely an unremarkable morality tale about the follies of the very wealthy spoiling their children even into adulthood to the point where they complain about having to "get up in the middle of the night (9 AM) to eat breakfast.", which are the sentiments of the two Jordan children. When Wall Street crashes, dad dies from the shock and Bonnie Jordan (Joan Crawford) and her brother are left penniless. Bonnie chooses to break into newspaper reporting, but her brother chooses a less honest option which brings him into contact with Gable the gangster. After her close friend, reporter Bert Scranton (Cliff Edwards), is shot to death, Bonnie decides to go undercover as a dancer at Gable's nightclub to try to get to the bottom of the murder. She solves the crime, but at great personal cost.The best parts of this film are watching Joan Crawford in a dance number and watching the great chemistry Crawford and Gable have together. You get bigger doses of Crawford and Gable together in "Possessed", which was made later this same year - 1931. Joan Crawford was already a big star at this point. As for Clark Gable, he has to wait until he manhandles Norma Shearer in "A Free Soul" before he catapults to true stardom.

Joan Crawford had just begun her "working girl makes good" phase with the dynamic "Paid" (1930). She had never attempted a role like that before and critics were impressed. So while other actresses were wondering why their careers were foundering (because they were clinging to characters that had been the "in" thing a few years before but were now becoming passe) Joan was listening to the public and securing her longevity as an actress. The depression was here and jazz age babies who survived on an endless round of parties were frowned upon. Of course, if you became rich through immoral means but suffered for it - that was alright.This film starts out with a spectacular house boat party. Bonnie Jordan (Joan Crawford) is the most popular girl there - especially when she suggests that everyone go swimming in their underwear!!! However, when Bonnie's father has a heart attack, because of loses on the stock market, both Bonnie and her brother, Rodney (William Bakewell) realise who their real friends are. After Bob Townsend (Lester Vail - a poor man's Johnny Mack Brown) offers to do the "right thing" and marry her - they had just spent a night together when Bonnie declared (with abandon) that she wants love on approval - she starts to show some character by deciding to get a job.She finds a job at a newspaper and quickly impresses by her will to do well. Her working buddy is Bert Scranton (Cliff Edwards) and together they are given an assignment to write about the inside activities of the mob. Rodney also surprises her with the news that he also has a job. She is thrilled for him but soon realises it is bootlegging and he is mixed up with cold blooded killer, Jake Luva (Clark Gable). Rodney witnesses a mass shooting and goes to pieces, "spilling the beans" to the first person he sees drinking at the bar - which happens to be Bert. He is then forced to kill Bert and after- wards he goes into hiding. The paper pulls out all stops in an effort to find Bert's killer and sends Bonnie undercover as a dancer in one of Jake's clubs. (Joan does a very lively dance to "Accordian Joe" - much to Sylvie's disgust). The film ends with a gun battle and as Rodney lies dying, Bonnie tearfully phones in her story.This is a super film with Crawford and Gable giving it their all. Natalie Moorehead, who as Sylvie shared a famous "cigarette scene" with Gable early in the film, was a stylish "other woman" who had her vogue in the early thirties. William Bakewell had a huge career (he had started as a teenager in a Douglas Fairbanks film in the mid 20s). A lot of his roles though were weak, spineless characters. In this film he played the weak brother and was completely over-shadowed by Joan Crawford and the dynamic newcomer Clark Gable - maybe that was why he never became a star.Highly Recommended.

Lots of familiar faces in this one - Joan Crawford stars as Bonnie Jordan, with Clark Gable as the gangster Jake Luva. Cliff Edwards is Bert, and a 20 year old Ann Dvorak is still playing chorus-girl parts at this point. Bonnie's brother "Rodney" is played by William Bakewell, much less-well known, but had made 166 films and TV shows, starting in the silents. Even Sam McDaniel, Hattie's brother, plays the butler in this one. You can tell it's pre-code, since they are buying illegal liquor, and having naughty conversations here and there. Dad goes broke in the stock market crash, and the mooching "kids", now adults, must go to work. Their choices of professions give them separate dilemmas, and they both have decisions to make. Joanie does a dance number in Jake's club in this one, to be able to cozy up to him, shocking all her old high-society "friends". Plain and simple story, no real surprises, but a likely-enough gangster plot, I guess. Everyone was heavy on the makeup, and Joan Crawford does her big, obvious facial expressions which had been so necessary in her earlier silent films, but now seem overdone. I didn't see her slap anyone in this film, but I guess she hadn't started that trend yet in 1931. Entertaining film. Crawford and Gable had come a long way since they were both extras in "Merry Widow" 1925.