Dancing in the Dark

It must the be the saddest thing in the world to have had it all and suddenly see oneself in circumstances below what one once new. This is the case for Emery Slade, the famous luminary of Hollywood we encounter eking out a life while trying to hold to his dignity. In another medium, the change would perhaps not have been the disgrace it presents this forgotten man, but in the fantasy world of the movies, Emery is a has been and his former nasty self stands in the way as others, more generous people, want to help him come out of poverty.

Irving Reis, presents us a haughty Emery Slade, a man that is easily hated, as he prepares to redeem himself and make amends of his former life. By the kindness of Jean Hersholt, the famous humanitarian of Hollywood, he is connected to the head of the 20th Century Fox studio, who engages him as a talent scout that is sent to New York to audition possible candidates for the female lead of the upcoming "Brigadoon".

Emery is assigned young Bill Davis, who immediately dislikes Slade and his methods. Davis wonders who could have given a job to this man that has no clue as to what has to be done. At the same time, he wants to introduce his former girlfriend, Julie, an aspiring actress and singer, to Slade. Well, he needed not to worry, as Slade meets the young woman on his own and falls under her spell. They both discover how much alike they are. Needless to say, Slade changes for the better in an about face that's hard to believe, but one roots for him and the young Julie.

William Powell plays Emery Slade with bravado. He makes us see why this man is so much hated, until he comes to his senses. Mark Stevens is good as the studio handler. Betsy Drake has good chances as the young Julie Clarke. Adolph Menjou plays the studio head.

While not one of the best William Powell's vehicles, the film is mildly pleasant. It offers tamed fun whenever Mr. Powell is around.

This is the sort of movie that makes me think, "Please don't let some new viewer of musicals think that this is what great musicals are like." William Powell and Betsy Drake are horribly miscast, and the wonderful Dietz-Schwartz songs that shine four years later in "The Band Wagon" are staged here in unappealing, off-kilter ways. For example, the final number tries to jazz up the sexy ballad "Dancing in the Dark," renders it in a completely unromantic manner with some very odd dancing, and inserts a ridiculous Dutch couple skit in the middle of it in order to include the song "I Love Louisa" (which was conceived as a German-style song).

IMDb says the film was originally in color, but the print I saw looked for all the world like something that had been colorized! I am not dismissive of all Fox musicals, but thank heaven MGM got hold of the title and the songs and made a much better movie with them.

Betsy Drake must have been "Dancing in the Dark" in this 1949 film starring William Powell, Mark Stevens, Adolph Menjou and Gene Hersholt. Black and white with not much budget, 20th Century Fox apparently used this movie musical to promote "The Prince of Foxes" (which they also didn't bother to shoot in color) rather than Betsy Drake. Nobody was doing her any favors by putting her in this film.

William Powell plays a much hated has-been movie star named Emery Slade. Down on his luck and too proud to accept charity, he convinces Melville Crossman, the head of 20th Century Fox, that he can sign a Broadway star to a contract for a big film (not this one). The star is the daughter of his former show business partner. Fox puts him on as an agent and sends him to New York with a publicist, Bill Davis (Mark Stevens). Bill is in love with an aspiring performer, Julie Clarke (Drake). But she won't marry him until she's had her chance. Unbeknownst to Bill, Julie goes to see Slade to try and get an audition for the movie, not realizing that an item about it in the trade papers isn't really true. Drunk and half asleep, when Emery wakes up and sees Julie, he thinks she's an old girlfriend. There's a good reason for that. Maybe you can guess what it is. He did. Anyway, Emery discourages the Broadway star from taking the role and works with Julie so that Crossman will cast her.

There are a couple of problems with this film. The first one is that it looks cheap. The second one is Betsy Drake. A pretty woman, Drake was only a fair actress, a non-dancer and a non-singer. So what is she doing in a musical playing an aspiring musical performer? Good question.

William Powell is wasted here, as is Mark Stevens.

At the end of the movie, there is a big premiere for "The Prince of Foxes." Crossman's office was apparently a replica of Zanuck's office, and name Melville Crossman was apparently a pseudonym that Darryl F. Zanuck used when he wrote scripts. I hope he didn't write this one.

William Powell became exceedingly picky about roles late in his career, so it's a mystery why he chose this one. The guise of a conceited, self-centered has-been movie star gives him no chance to show off his finely honed light comedy style, and his character's conversion to a good sport taxes the talents of even this actor. One of several Hollywood-looks-at-Hollywood mid-budget musicals of the year, it's hampered by 20th Century Fox's relentless self-promotion and too few musical numbers. Even the ones that are there are exceedingly modest, perhaps because Betsy Drake is obviously dubbed and no great shakes as a dancer, either. The feeble screenplay presents her as the answer to the Hollywood musical's prayers, but she comes across as a nice kid who probably shouldn't be in movies. A great Schwartz-Dietz stage score gets trammeled; most of these songs were presented to far better effect a few years hence, in MGM's "The Band Wagon."

This is a good film for fans of William Powell, Betsy Drake, Jean Hersholt, and/or films about Hollywood or the road to success. Inspirational in that "we're gonna make it" way, however corny that can be. The plot twists are good, if melodramatic, the "schemes" hatched by the characters to achieve their objectives are clever, and there are some good musical numbers, although these are far fewer than in the musical, "Bandwagon," which is based on the same source. I found it a very pleasant evening's entertainment.