''Ten Cents a Dance'' is a 1931 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

romance-drama film directed by Lionel Barrymore and starring Barbara Stanwyck as a married

taxi dancer A taxi dancer is a paid dance partner in a partner dance. Taxi dancers are hired to dance with their customers on a dance-by-dance basis. When taxi dancing first appeared in taxi-dance halls during the early 20th century in the United States, mal ...

who falls in love with one of her customers. The film was inspired by the popular song of the same name, which is sung over the title sequence. The film was also made in a

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a global language with more than 500 million native speakers, mainly in th ...

version, titled, ''Carne de Cabaret'', directed by Christy Cabanne.

Plot

A beautiful streetwise

named Barbara O'Neill works at a New York City dance hall called Palais de Dance. One of the dance hall's wealthy patrons, Bradley Carlton, comes to the hall and gives Barbara $100. Concerned about her unemployed friend and neighbor Eddie Miller, Barbara asks Bradley to give him a job, and he agrees. That night they have dinner together. When Barbara gets home, Eddie is in the process of packing his bags; he can no longer afford to pay his rent. Barbara gives him the $100 she received from Bradley and tells him about his new job. Later, Eddie and Barbara meet in the park and realize that they are in love. The next night at the dance hall, Barbara receives a gift of a new dress, but is disappointed when she sees that it was sent by Bradley. Eddie arrives at the dance hall and asks Barbara to marry him. Barbara accepts his proposal and soon quits her job. Five months later, Eddie meets an old friend Ralph Clark and his sister Nancy, and does not reveal that he is now married. They play cards together and Eddie loses $240, something he hides from Barbara. He claims to be at a convention, but in fact he meets a woman, Nancy. Later, Eddie returns to find the rent and utilities past due because he has spent his pay gambling. Meanwhile, Barbara returns to work at the dance hall, where she sees Bradley occasionally. Later, Barbara returns home and discovers Eddie packing his bags. Admitting that he stole $5,000 from Bradley's office safe, he tells her that he lost that money playing the stock market. Barbara is able to talk him into staying, and she visits Bradley and asks him for a $5,000 loan. Bradley agrees because he is in love with her. The next morning, Barbara presents the money to Eddie who accepts it immediately. When Eddie returns from work, he and Barbara engage in a jealous fight. Soon after, she packs her belongings and returns to the dance hall, where she is met by Bradley who has two tickets for the Ile de France, where Barbara can obtain a divorce and marry him.

Cast

* Barbara Stanwyck as Barbara O'Neill * Ricardo Cortez as Bradley Carlton *

Monroe Owsley Monroe Righter Owsley (August 11, 1900 – June 7, 1937) was an American stage and film actor. Early years The son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Owsley, he was born in Atlanta, Georgia. His father was a manufacturing executive, and his mother was a c ...

as Eddie Miller *

Sally Blane Sally Blane (born Elizabeth Jane Young; July 11, 1910 – August 27, 1997) was an American actress who appeared in over 100 movies. Early life Blane was born in Salida, Colorado. She was the sister of actresses Polly Ann Young and Loretta Young ...

as Molly * Blanche Friderici as Mrs Blanchard *

Martha Sleeper Martha Sleeper (June 24, 1910 – March 25, 1983) was a film actress of the 1920s–1930s and, later, a Broadway stage actress. She studied dancing for five years with Russian ballet master, Louis H. Chalif, at his New York dancing studio. ...

as Nancy Clark * David Newell as Ralph Sheridan *

Victor Potel Victor Potel (October 12, 1889 – March 8, 1947) was an American film character actor who began in the silent era and appeared in more than 430 films in his 38-year career. Career Victor Potel was born in Lafayette, Indiana in 1889, and hi ...

as Smith *

Sidney Bracey Sidney Bracey (born Sidney Bracy; 18 December 1877 – 5 August 1942) was an Australian-born American actor. After a stage career in Australia, on Broadway and in Britain, he performed in more than 320 films between 1909 and 1942. Early li ...

as Wilson * Abe Lyman and His Orchestra * Aggie Herring as Mrs Carney * Harry Todd as Mr Carney * Phyllis Crane as Eunice * Olive Tell as Mrs Carlton * Al Hill as Jones * Pat Harmon as Casey (Cast list as per

AFI AFI may refer to: * ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol * Ashton Fletcher Irwin, an Australian drummer * AFI (band), an American rock band ** ''AFI'' (2004 album), a retrospective album by AFI rele ...

's database)

Production

The film was also shot in a

version, directed by Christy Cabanne. The Spanish version stars

Lupita Tovar Guadalupe Natalia Tovar (27 July 1910 – 12 November 2016), known professionally as Lupita Tovar, was a Mexican-born American actress best known for her starring role in the 1931 Spanish-language version of '' Drácula'', filmed in Los Angeles b ...

, Ramón Pereda, and

René Cardona René Cardona (October 8, 1905 in Havana, Cuba – April 25, 1988, in Mexico City) was a director, actor, producer, screenwriter, and film editor in the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. Biography René Cardona was born in Havana, Cuba, on Oc ...

References

External links

* * * {{Christy Cabanne 1931 films 1931 romantic drama films American romantic drama films American black-and-white films Columbia Pictures films Films based on songs Films directed by Lionel Barrymore Films set in New York City Films with screenplays by Jo Swerling 1930s English-language films 1930s American films