Don't let the poster and title mislead you. This is a pretty substantial movie as Pre-Code melodrama goes. When a wealthy man dies, his children quickly learn that they have no inheritance and must make it on their own. The daughter (Joan Crawford) takes an honest route, while her brother (William Bakewell) falls in with a shady gang of liquor peddlers headed by Luva (Clark Gable). The star players are great, and the supporters do well too. Since it's set during The Great Depression and Prohibition there is a feeling of desperation going around, with people often doing whatever it takes to get by. The Pre-Code elements are all there, right from the start with the infamous underwear bathing party aboard a yacht, later with a bedroom scene between Crawford and her unmarried paramour (Lester Vail), and there's plenty of drinking, smoking, gunplay and sexual innuendo to go around. Highly recommended.
Review of Dance, Fools, Dance
