''Those Who Dance'' is a 1930 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 ...

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combi ...

produced and distributed by Warner Bros., directed by

William Beaudine William Washington Beaudine (January 15, 1892 – March 18, 1970) was an American film actor and director. He was one of Hollywood's most prolific directors, turning out films in remarkable numbers and in a wide variety of genres. Life and car ...

, and starring Monte Blue,

Lila Lee Lila Lee (born Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel; July 25, 1905 – November 13, 1973) was a prominent screen actress, primarily a leading lady, of the silent film and early sound film eras. Early life The daughter of Augusta Fredericka Appe ...

, William "Stage" Boyd and Betty Compson. It is a remake of the 1924 silent film '' Those Who Dance'' starring

Bessie Love Bessie Love (born Juanita Horton; September 10, 1898April 26, 1986) was an American-British actress who achieved prominence playing innocent, young girls and wholesome leading ladies in silent and early sound films. Her acting career spanned e ...

and

Blanche Sweet Sarah Blanche Sweet (June 18, 1896 – September 6, 1986) was an American silent film actress who began her career in the earliest days of the Hollywood motion picture film industry. Early life Born Sarah Blanche Sweet (though her first na ...

. The story, written by George Kibbe Turner, was based on events which actually took place among

gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix ''-ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

s in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Plot

A police detective (Monte Blue) is after a famous gangster (William Boyd). The detective disguises himself and lives incognito in the house of the famous gangster by pretending he is an out-of-town gangster who has just murdered someone. The detective pretends he is the sweetheart of an innocent girl (Lila Lee) who suspects her brother has been framed for murder by Monte Blue. Blue's moll (Betty Compson) is also in on the conspiracy as she had become fed up with his cheating, lying and brutal treatment. The life of Lee's brother, who has been sentenced to death in the electric chair, depends on them getting evidence against Boyd.

Cast

Foreign-language versions

Foreign-language version A multiple-language version film, often abbreviated to MLV, is a film, especially from the early talkie era, produced in several different languages for international markets. To offset the marketing restrictions of making sound films in only one ...

s were made in Spanish (''Los Que Danzan''), German '' The Dance Goes On'' (''Der Tanz geht weiter'') and French '' Counter Investigation'' (''Contre-Enquête''). They are all apparently lost.

Pre-Code material

The film contains a lot of Pre-Code material. For example, Lila Lee's character is called "a professional virgin" and two unmarried couples live together. There is also a reference to homosexuality where a man is vaguely called being "that way" about Tim Brady (played by

William Janney William Janney (born Russell Dixon Janney, February 15, 1908 – December 22, 1992) was an American actor who appeared in 39 films between 1929 and 1937. He was the son of author and theatrical producer Russell Janney,(28 December 1940)William ...

), etc.

Preservation

The complete film survives in 16 mm. It was remastered in this format by

Associated Artists Productions Associated Artists Productions, Inc. (a.a.p.) later known as United Artists Associated was an American distributor of theatrical feature films and subjects for television. Associated Artists Productions was the copyright owner of the ''Popeye ...

in 1956 and included in a package of vintage feature films syndicated to television stations. A 16 mm print is housed at the Wisconsin Center for Film & Theater Research. Another print exists at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...

References

External links

* * {{William Beaudine 1930 films 1930 crime drama films 1930 multilingual films American black-and-white films American crime drama films American gangster films American multilingual films 1930s English-language films Films directed by William Beaudine Films produced by Robert North Sound film remakes of silent films 1930s American films