Product Details

• Actors: Maureen O'Hara, Lucille Ball, Ralph Bellamy, Maria Ouspenskaya
• Directors: Dorothy Arzner
• Format: Subtitled, NTSC, Black & White, Full Screen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 1.0)
• Subtitles: English, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Turner Home Ent
• DVD Release Date: June 19, 2007
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000O76ZQM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #98,394 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Dance, Girl, Dance" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

If you only know Lucille Ball from her phenomenal success as a TV comedienne, Dance, Girl, Dance will be a surprising revelation. Not only can Lucy dance and sing with the best of them (after all, she spent part of the 1930s playing a glamorous showgirl in various Goldwyn musicals), but she handily steals the spotlight from Maureen O'Hara in this good-looking RKO production from 1940. Lucy's big break had come only three years earlier (in Stage Door), but she'd been working in Hollywood for seven years when this enjoyable movie demonstrated the potential for movie stardom that Lucy deserved but never fully achieved. She's a bit brassy and a bit sassy, but she's got a heart of gold as Bubbles, a struggling ballet dancer who takes a skin-baring job in a burlesque club (under the man-teasing stage name of "Tiger Lily White") to boost her chances of show-biz success. She's a saucy gold-digger compared to the modestly forthright Judy (O'Hara), but their friendship sees them through as they share a dangerous dalliance with a millionaire playboy (Louis Hayward) before Judy discovers true love with Steve (Ralph Bellamy) the gentlemanly leader of a ballet company.

It's not a classic by any means, but Dance, Girl, Dance is still briskly entertaining, and there's a touch of surprising melodrama involving O'Hara's ballet mentor (played by Maria Ouspenskaya). This movie also has the greater distinction of being directed by Dorothy Arzner, one of the only women (along with Ida Lupino) to break into the male-dominated profession of directing in golden-age Hollywood. Working from a savvy screenplay by Tess Slesinger and Frank Davis, Arzner gives Dance, Girl, Dance a feminist sensibility that was ahead of its time, later embraced by fans and critics as one of this movie's most enduring qualities. Also included in The Lucille Ball Film Collection, this DVD includes two short subjects from 1940: The 20-minute Vitaphone "two-reeler" "Just a Cute Kid," from a story by Damon Runyon and featuring comedy star Frank Faylen, and "Malibu Beach Party," a pun-filled Merrie Melodies cartoon hosted by "Jack Bunny" and featuring a variety of sun-tanned cameos from animated Hollywood stars. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

Would-be ballerina Maureen O'Hara takes her high-brow dance routines to a low-brow burlesque house, where she competes with stripper Lucille Ball for the affections of playboy Louis Hayward. Offbeat musical tale, helmed by Dorothy Arzner, also stars Ralph Bellamy, Maria Ouspenskaya. 89 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English, French; bonus shorts "Just a Cute Kid" (1940), "Malibu Beach Party" (1940).

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars BALL SHINES IN SHOWY ROLE..... June 19, 2007

By Mark Norvell

Format:DVD

Fine drama directed by a gay woman---Dorothy Arzner---examines women's roles in society and how men perceive them and what it means to follow your dream. Maureen O'Hara is lustrous as Judy, a struggling dancer in a knock about all girl dance troup who longs to dance in ballet. Also in the troop is Bubbles (Lucille Ball) who just longs for the Big Time and any road will do to get there. While Judy is sweet, sincere and wants to use her talent for success, Bubbles is raw and vulgar and uses sex to get what she wants. When Bubbles (now Tiger Lily White) lands in burlesque she gets Judy a job to dance ballet in come-on spots between her strip acts knowing Judy is just her "stooge". Judy reluctantly agrees to suffer for her art. Complicating things are a wealthy married playboy (Louis Hayward) and a ballet entrepeneur (Ralph Bellamy) who sees a star in Judy. O'Hara is lovely and has a great scene telling off the rowdy burlesque audience. And Ball as Bubbles/Tiger Lily is wonderful playing a bad girl with "pay me" on her forehead. This film is a keeper and offers a great b&w DVD print. And it's interesting to note the feminist angles, unusual for the time. Highly recommended.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun & Enjoyable! Smile! July 26, 2007

By S. Frye

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I always loved Lucille Ball & Maureen O'Hara and this is a very likeable, enjoyable and funny movie for the whole family. My children loved it, and now that I own the DVD of Dance, Girl, Dance my grandchildren love it.
Miss O'Hara as the Ballarina and Lucille Ball as the stripper is a funny and laughable movie. They make the characters come alive and seem real. Ralph Bellamy, he adds to the Story as too, does the rest of the cast.
Buy it, I promise you'll enjoy it.
Shirley Frye; actually to me this movie is worth 10 stars!
Grin!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars "You'd land in the gutter and come up with diamonds" October 23, 2007

By Byron Kolln HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:DVD

Cannily-directed by Dorothy Arzner, DANCE GIRL DANCE is a splendid showcase for two of Hollywood's great female talents: Maureen O'Hara and Lucille Ball.

Hard-working ballet dancer Judy O'Brien (Maureen O'Hara), and her ballsy gal-pal Bubbles (Lucille Ball) work as members of a small-time dance troupe operated by Madame Basilova (Maria Ouspenskaya). When Bubbles leaves to become a burlesque headliner, Madame organises for Judy to get her big break with New York's leading ballet company...until fate takes a cruel turn. Instead, Judy is recruited as the "stooge" for Bubbles in her burlesque act. Complications arise when both girls fall for the charms of recently-divorced society gent Jimmy Harris (Louis Hayward); leading to an all-out catfight when Bubbles secretly marries him.

DANCE GIRL DANCE features the perfect combination of zingy comedy and purehearted sentiment; a fascinating backstage tale with enough rough edges for it to ring true. Both Maureen O'Hara and Lucille Ball give top performances, but Ball steals the whole movie with her ferocious comedy skills. This is yet another film where the male actors seem insignificant, with Louis Hayward and Ralph Bellamy relegated to the background--you just can't take your eyes away from O'Hara and Ball.

A must-see for fans of Lucy. The DVD includes Vitaphone short "Just a Cute Kid", and the Merrie Melodies cartoon "Malibu Beach Party".