Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920), Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940), Sorry, Wrong Number (1948), The Devil's Brother (1933), Strictly Ballroom (1992), The Promoter (1952), Bread and Roses (2000), Dil To Pagal Hai (1997) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Dance Hall movies.
Storyline: Approaching their senior years, British sisters Sandra and Bif have been estranged for ten years because of their differences. Sandra, newly minted Lady Abbott in her lawyer husband Mike Abbott having been knighted, does whatever needed to present a perfect upper crust life and marriage, including maintaining a proper decorum. Older Bif is the carefree one, living for the moment, including not caring that her council estate apartment in inner city London is a pigsty, just as long as she can find whatever she needs. While Sandra has no place for someone like Bif in her life, Bif laments what Sandra has become when she married Mike, Sandra once having had a real zest for life. When Sandra learns first hand that Mike has been having an affair for five years with one of her closest friends Pamela and eventually asks for a divorce in wanting to marry Pamela, Sandra, feeling like her planned retirement life with Mike has been pulled out from under her, turns to Bif for emotional support in not being able to turn to any of her friends in the shame. While Bif does whatever she can to accommodate Sandra, Sandra feels like a fish out of water in Bif's environs, which includes the adult community dance class she attends and which is populated by who are her closest friends. Among those is Charlie Glover, who, like Sandra, is going through a relationship crossroads in his marriage as his institutionalized wife Lilly is slowly slipping away from him with her Alzheimer's. In finally opening up to the joys of the dance and making connections with Bif's friends including Charlie, Sandra will have to evaluate her life in its entirety including if she is ready to put her upper crust life behind her and embrace a new life with someone caring like Charlie. Bif going through her own challenges may provide a deeper perspective for Sandra in what she really wants.—Huggo
Plot Keywords: jilted lover, husband, best friend, sister, man, amusing, charming ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Diana is outwardly the hit of the party but inwardly virtuous and idealistic. Her friend Ann is thoroughly selfish and amoral. Both are attracted to Ben Blaine, soon-to-be millionaire. He takes Diana's flirtations with other boys as a sign of disinterest in him and marries Ann. Big mistake.—Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>
Plot Keywords: flapper, mother, wealthy man, young woman, lover, wild, amusing ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: 1932. Jimmy Gralton is back home in the Irish countryside after ten years of forced exile in the USA. His widowed mother Alice is happy, Jimmy's friends are happy, all the young people who enjoy dancing and singing are happy. Which is not the case of Father Sheridan, the local priest, nor of the village squire, nor of Dennis O'Keefe, the chief of the fascists. The reason is simple: Jimmy is a socialist activist. So when the "intruder" reopens the village hall, thus enabling the villagers to gather to sing, dance, paint, study or box, they take a dim view of the whole thing. People who think and unite are difficult to manipulate, aren't they? From that moment on they will use every means possible to get rid of Jimmy and his "dangerous" hall.—Guy Bellinger
Plot Keywords: adult, business woman, businessman, club owner, heartwarming, dance hall, life story ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Four sisters in New Zealand fall for four U.S. soldiers en route to the Pacific theater in WWII—johnno.r@xtra.co.nz
Plot Keywords: marine, salesgirl, military officer, unwed mother, sister, wife, emotional ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Lady of the Night ~ the story of two baby girls, born near in proximity, but worlds apart in life, - Molly Helmer, the daughter of a thief, and Florence Banning the daughter of the judge who would send Molly's father to prison. The girls' lives come together as young women at eighteen as Florence leaves the security of the exclusive Girls Select School, and Molly, now orphaned, begins her life free from reform school. Norma Shearer plays both young women, but the apparent differences in their worldliness will also make them most unfamiliar in appearance. Molly's new world consists of nights at Kelly's Dance Hall and her ever-present worshiper, Chunky Dunn. On one of her nightly dance hall outing's Molly meets David Page, an up and coming inventor, whom she quickly falls in love with. Molly persuades David to seek an honest buyer for his new safe-cracking device; against the advice of Chunky whose shadier side see's this as an opportunity for himself, and to corrupt David in the process. Following Molly's advice, David meets with a group of investors, including the now retired Judge Banning, father of Florence. While at the Judges' home, David meets Florence and is instantly engaged by her charm and innocence, a characteristic not so present in Molly, although she tries hard to become such. We then begin to watch the personal struggles of two young women, both in love with David, yet both willing to give him up; Florence thinking the other has a stronger claim and Molly believing she is not good enough. Through strong direction and subtle acting intermixed with false bravado, we see Molly mature into one who sacrifices all for the sake of others, and become the person she so often imitated. -- Very sentimental - Excellent movie for the person who believes there is no good silent film.—glenn
Plot Keywords: street urchin, daughter, friend, inventor, judge, girl, melodramatic ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Men pay a dime to dance with Barbara and her fellow taxi dancers. She marries Eddie and quits dancing, but before that, she meets with the handsome and very rich Bradley. Barbara eventually starts dancing again, since her marriage is plagued by financial tension, and Bradley begins visiting her again. Eddie becomes jealous, accusing his wife of infidelity. He sees that alleged infidelity as an excuse to steal money from Bradley.—Ulf Kjell Gür
Plot Keywords: dance hall girl, neighbor, patron, husband, mistress, old friend, moving ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Ellen Hallet is in love with her playboy boss, Douglas Morrison, but is too timid to do anything about it. To help her, her roommate Chris decides to step in and devises a plan. Chris follows Morrison on his trip to Sun Valley, Idaho and plays the over-attentive female in hopes that he will send for Ellen who often plays his "fiancée" when he has a female he can't discourage otherwise. Complications arise when Chris catches the eye of band leader Dick Layn and finds herself caught in a triangle between the two men.
Plot Keywords: secretary, dancer, playboy, band leader, boss, charming, emotional ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: The film begins on Mother's Day, 1938 when 14-year-old Ziggy Brennan (Mona Freeman) buys a gardenia for her mother. Ziggy's youthful exuberance disappears when she enters their apartment and finds her mother, Natalie (June Duprez), drinking with a strange man. Natalie introduces Ziggy as her "sister" and quietly cautions Ziggy against calling her "mother." Later, dispensing some motherly-advice, Natalie tells Ziggy that if she learns all the tricks, she'll never have to work for a living. Ziggy goes right out and applies parts of this advice by stealing a valuable lapel pin from a fellow high-school student, and is promptly expelled from school. About five years later, Ziggy has made progress and meets Denny Reagan (James Dunn), who persuades her to go into his racket. Ziggy's role is to telephone people who are planning to move and make arrangements to provide a truck to move the furniture. The departing truck is the last that the owners see of their furniture as it is taken to a warehouse and sold by Denny and his gang. Hanging out in a nightclub one evening, circa 1943, the still-underage Ziggy flirts with a young naval officer from Minnesota, Mart Neilson (William Marshall), who promptly falls in love with Ziggy and proposes marriage. Ziggy, to ensure that Mart knows her background, introduces him to Natalie (at her worst), but Mart doesn't change his mind and still insists on the marriage. Shortly after the wedding ceremony, Mart is shipped out to war-duty and is killed in action. Ziggy learns that she is expecting a baby, while the law catches up to Denny and ships him out to prison. Ziggy is still living with her mother but Natalie, horrified at the prospect of being a grandmother, kicks her out and Ziggy moves into Mrs. Merryman's (Rosalind Ivan) boarding-house. Ziggy has the baby and some time passes, circa 1944-45, and Ziggy---still making her nightclub rounds---runs into the just-paroled Denny. This Denny is a new-and-thoughtful version, and he does not approve of Ziggy leaving her baby with a sitter while she makes her rounds. Denny shows great interest in the baby and sees more and more of Ziggy. Returing from a date, Ziggy finds the baby's crib vacant. In her absence the baby-sitter had gone out to her boyfriend's car for some heavy necking and, in her absence, the baby had almost choked to death before being discovered by Mrs. Merryman, who promptly called the police. At the trial, the baby-sitter denies responsibility (negligence-of-duty) and Ziggy loses custody of her baby. The new-and-thoughtful Denny will have nothing to do with Ziggy, even though his mother, knowing that Denny and Ziggy really love each other tries to bring them together. But - Ziggy has disappeared. Ziggy, having moved to another boardinghouse, drops by a church and finds an abandoned baby. Later, Denny finds her, while she and the baby are sunning in a park, and he is greatly impressed with new-and-thoughtful mother-instincts, and he is convinced that she has become a perfect mother. With Denny's help, Ziggy appeals her case in order to regain custody of her own child and, when the judge learns that she has been caring for an abandoned baby, he is much impressed and returns her own infant to her.
Plot Keywords: woman, con artist, sailor, mother, gutsy, melodramatic, emotional ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Charming tale of mountaineer-trapper Murphy's first taste "big city" life with young, sweet Sandra Dee in tow. She flees her family, which tried to trade her for some of Murphy's beaver pelts, and tags along with the reluctant Murphy. They get into all manner of trouble in town, and Murphy has to shoot the sheriff to rescue Dee from her job as a dancehall girl.—<rita.richardson@arch2.nara.gov>
Plot Keywords: trapper, nephew, daughter, vagabond, sheriff, parent, charming ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: In a typical western (movie) town (possibly described as 'hick' by someone who possibly hasn't seen the film) Gene Autry and his friend Jack Beaumont are present when the bank is robbed and Sheriff Whiteside is killed. Judge Beaumont, Jack's father, appoints Gene the new sheriff. When Jack learns that his father is making a new will in his disfavor, they quarrel and Jack leaves under suspicious circumstances. Rocky Morgan who has been swindling the judge murders him and Gene has to jail his friend, who thinks Gene is double crossing him. But Gene has a plan to clear Jack.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
Plot Keywords: gene autry, judge, son, saloon owner, brother, bank manager, spirited ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Katharine Hilliard, mousy dean of a stuffy music school, meets and is insulted by swing band leader Barry Clayton on a train. To "show" him she takes a friend's advice, removes her glasses, and puts on a designer gown. Naturally, she becomes gorgeous. Soon, both Barry and crooner Jimmy Hale are after her, and she finds herself in the midst of triangles and misunderstandings.—Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>
Plot Keywords: teacher, headmistress, singer, bandleader, musician, cheery, frenetic ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Steve is a shy quiet man who is an executive for a shipping firm. He meets Dot at the Opera where she had his seats and the next day she shows up as his temporary secretary. Then Coffee Cup comes to town to see Dot, his gal. When Steven is with Cecilia, everything is boring. When he is with Dot and Coffee Cup, everything is exciting and he falls for Dot. But Coffee is getting out of the Navy in a few days and he plans to marry Dot.—Tony Fontana <tony.fontana@spacebbs.com>
Plot Keywords: executive, secretary, sailor, mafioso, wrestler, social climber, amusing ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: During WWII, the United States set up army bases in Great Britain as part of the war effort. Against their proper sensibilities, many of the Brits don't much like the brash Yanks, especially when it comes to the G.I.s making advances on the lonely British girls, some whose boyfriends are also away for the war. One Yank/Brit relationship that develops is between married John, an Army Captain, and the aristocratic Helen, whose naval husband is away at war. Helen does whatever she needs to support the war effort. Helen loves her husband, but Helen and John are looking for some comfort during the difficult times. Another relationship develops between one of John's charges, Matt, a talented mess hall cook, and Jean. Jean is apprehensive at first about even seeing Matt, who is persistent in his pursuit of her. Jean is in a committed relationship with the kind Ken, her childhood sweetheart who is also away at war. But Jean is attracted to the respect with which Matt treats her. Despite Ken and Jean getting engaged during one of his leaves, Jean and Matt continue to see each other and fall in love. Beyond the issue of Jean's mother's disdain for Yanks and Ken and Jean's engagement, Matt and Jean still have to overcome the differences between the two worlds in which they live. Regardless, the goings-on of the war may override any of their immediate wishes.—Huggo
Plot Keywords: soldier, military officer, young woman, socialite, friend, passionate, moving ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Jed Potter looks back on a love triangle conducted over the course of years and between musical numbers. Dancer Jed loves showgirl Mary, who loves compulsive nightclub-opener Johnny, who can't stay committed to anything in life for very long.—Diana Hamilton <hamilton@gl.umbc.edu>
Plot Keywords: singer, dancer, showgirl, fan, radio host, amusing, lighthearted ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Right before the dancing Tobins ought to film a new production, his wife tells Freddy Tobin that she's pregnant. So the producer desperately has to seek a replacement and starts a countrywide competition among all college girls. However the contest is bogus: young dancer Patty Marlow is sent to a little college in the Midwest. Only Pug, a college reporter, suspects something.—Tom Zoerner <Tom.Zoerner@informatik.uni-erlangen.de>
Plot Keywords: dancer, college student, editor, secretary, producer, publicist, lighthearted ...
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