They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

1969

Action / Drama

21
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 82% · 34 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 89% · 5K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.8/10 10 22022 22K

marathon dance contest dancing based on novel or book great depression dance competition boardwalk

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Plot summary

In the midst of the Great Depression, manipulative emcee Rocky enlists contestants for a dance marathon offering a $1,500 cash prize. Among them are a failed actress, a middle-aged sailor, a delusional blonde and a pregnant girl.

Director

Sydney Pollack Photo
Sydney Pollack

Top cast

Ethelreda Leopold Photo
Ethelreda Leopold as Marathon Spectator
Bruce Dern Photo
Bruce Dern as James
Fritzi Burr Photo
Fritzi Burr as Nurse
Michael Conrad Photo
Michael Conrad as Rollo
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
889.95 MB
1280*544
English 2.0
M
Subtitles
23.976 fps
2 hr 9 min
Seeds 10
1.83 GB
1920*816
English 2.0
M
Subtitles
23.976 fps
2 hr 9 min
Seeds 37

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by CinemaSerf 7 / 10

Despite the constant streams of sweat on display

Despite the constant streams of sweat on display here, there is something physically and emotionally arid about this two hours of cinematic torture. With the depression in full swing, the down-at-heart “Gloria” (Jane Fonda) heads to California in the hope of becoming a starlet. Meantime, equally disheartened “Robert” (Michael Sarazin) is frustrated that he can’t make a career at the other end of the camera. Desperate for cash, they join a throng of other unfortunate folks in a dance marathon which awards the winners $1,500 (minus deductions!). The whole thing is rather cynically administered by “Rocky” (Gig Young) and as the dancers go round the floor, so we go round the dancers and we meet an group of people whose problems and demons are laid bare. First amongst those somewhat tragic equals would appear to be “Alice” (Susannah York) but it’s a close run thing with a pregnant couple really struggling to keep pace and with, for me anyway, the most poignant of all - the sailor (Red Buttons) who had done his bit for Uncle Sam, but was now reduced to this most torturous form of fund raising which his body was now ill equipped to handle. As the days pass, and the excellent make-up artists do their work, the visceral nature of the characterisations emerge unrelentingly, leaving us with a distinctly uncomfortable watch that exposes a fruitlessly venal culture based on the premise of dog eat dog. Perhaps, though, as these people endure physically and psychologically, they might begin to realise that the pot of gold at the end of this rainbow isn’t actually the cash, but a sense of self-respect. The last ten minutes settle things in quite traumatic fashion and suffice to say there is no chocolates and Champagne. The dialogue is sparingly potent with gentleness and optimism gradually replaced by a stoic realisation of the relentlessness of their predicament and I think Sarazin, Fonda and particularly York give the performances of their careers in the slow-burning exposé of human toxicity.
Reviewed by

Reviewed by claudio_carvalho 9 / 10

Nothing but Cattle

In 1932, in the Great Depression, a group of hopeless people participates of a dance marathon contest on the Santa Monica Pier in California. Among them are the bitter and disillusioned Gloria (Jane Fonda); a sailor (Red Buttons) that fought in the war; the aspirant actress and actor Alice (Susannah York) and Joel (Robert Fields); the farmer James (Bruce Dern) and his pregnant wife Ruby (Bonnie Bedella); all of them expecting to win the award of US$ 1,500.00. Gloria's partner has a threatening cough and is disqualified before the contest. However, the Master of Ceremony Rocky (Gig Young) summons the stranger Robert (Michael Sarrazin) to replace her partner and dance with Gloria. Along more than forty days, the weakest couples are disqualified from the contest. When Rocky proposes that the exhausted Gloria and Robert get married during the dance marathon to raise money with the gifts, Rocky discloses that the winners will have their expenses deducted from the prize resting almost nothing from the US$ 1,500.00. Gloria leaves the contest with Robert and asks him for an ultimate solution for her suffering. "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" is one of the most impressive and depressive movies I have ever seen. I read Horace McCoy's unforgettable novel when I was a fourteen year-old teenager and I recall how sad I was with this tragic story of human suffering and the comparison of people with cattle. Later I saw this movie twice on VHS (last time on 16 March 2000) and yesterday I saw it on DVD. The direction and performances are top-notch and in the end I was weirdly depressed despite knowing the story and the conclusion. My vote is nine. Title (Brazil): "A Noite dos Desesperados" ("The Night of the Desperate")

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