While it is certainly refreshing to see, right smack dab in the middle of sexist 1930s/40s Hollywood, a film directed by a woman, Dorothy Arzner, with the two leads both women who end up with careers rather than husbands and seem quite happy about it (although boring Ralph Bellamy lurks in Maureen O'Hara's wings) this is, alas, not a great or even particularly good film. The big problem for me, aside from the cheesy background shots from vehicles and even phonier back lot sets, was the lack of conflict between Maureen O'Hara's ballerina and Lucille Ball's burlesque queen. Indeed the scenes between them are so tepid that when they finally have their knock down/drag out onstage it's more energetic than effective because it has not been sufficiently motivated like, say, the fight between Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins in "Old Acquaintance", a better film to which this one has been compared by one of my IMDB colleagues below. Part of the blame for this dearth of struggle between Bubbles and Judy must be laid at the typewriter of scenarists Tess Slesinger and Frank Davis of "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn" fame, for not providing more emotional, visceral scenes with these two working gals at loggerheads. And part of the blame must go to Ms. O'Hara who proves once again that when she doesn't have John Ford around to light a fire under her sightly backside she is one dull actress. Even her angry speech to the male gazers at the burlesque house falls kinda flat. Ms. Ball, on the other hand, has never been better in a non comedic role, in my opinion, so I don't think you can blame Arzner unduly for O'Hara's lack of fire. Give it a C plus. PS...Ironically, Louis Hayward, the third leg of the triangle, was married to another pioneering woman director, Ida Lupino.
Review of Dance, Girl, Dance
