They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Sydney Pollack

Writers:

Horace McCoy (novel)
James Poe (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

10 September 1970 (West Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

People are the ultimate spectacle

Plot:

The lives of a disparate group of contestants intertwine in an inhumanely grueling dance marathon.

Plot Keywords:

Dance Marathon | Marathon | Hollywood | Dance | Suicide

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 6 wins & 20 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Nov. 22

4:45 AM

TCM

Cast

Jane Fonda	...	Gloria
Michael Sarrazin	...	Robert
Susannah York	...	Alice
Gig Young	...	Rocky
Red Buttons	...	Sailor
Bonnie Bedelia	...	Ruby
Michael Conrad	...	Rollo
Bruce Dern	...	James
Al Lewis	...	Turkey
Robert Fields	...	Joel
Severn Darden	...	Cecil
Allyn Ann McLerie	...	Shirl
Madge Kennedy	...	Mrs. Laydon
Jacquelyn Hyde	...	Jackie
Felice Orlandi	...	Mario
Art Metrano	...	Max (as Arthur Metrano)
Gail Billings	...	Lillian
Lynn Willis	...	Coley James
Maxine Greene	...	Agnes
Mary Gregory	...	Nurse
Robert Dunlap	...	College Boy
Paul Mantee	...	Jiggs
Tim Herbert	...	Doctor
Tom McFadden	...	Second Trainer
Noble 'Kid' Chissel	...	First Trainer (as Noble 'Kid' Chissell)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ian Abercrombie	...	Male Dancer #74 (uncredited)
Hugh Bell	...	Band Member (uncredited)
Ronnie Bright	...	Band Member (uncredited)
Teddy Buckner	...	Band Member (uncredited)
Hadley Calliman	...	Band Member (uncredited)
Teddy Edwards	...	Band Member (uncredited)
Thurman Green	...	Band Member (uncredited)
Joe Harris	...	Band Member (uncredited)
Marilyn Hassett	...	Dancer #75 (uncredited)
Bobby Hutcherson	...	Band Leader (uncredited)
Ike Isaacs	...	Band Member (uncredited)
Peggy Adams Laird	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Harold Land	...	Band Member (uncredited)
Philo McCullough	...	Audience Extra (uncredited)
Beverlee McKinsey	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Cynthia Myers	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Flower Parry	...	Marathon Spectator (uncredited)
Les Robertson	...	Band Member (uncredited)
Sheela Tessler	...	Marathon Dancer (uncredited)

Directed by
Sydney Pollack

Writing credits
Horace McCoy		(novel "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?")
James Poe		(screenplay) and
Robert E. Thompson		(screenplay)

Produced by
Robert Chartoff	....	producer
Johnny Green	....	associate producer (as John Green)
Theodore B. Sills	....	executive producer
Irwin Winkler	....	producer

Original Music by
Johnny Green		(music) (as John Green)

Cinematography by
Philip H. Lathrop

Film Editing by
Fredric Steinkamp

Casting by
Lynn Stalmaster
James Martell		(uncredited)
Jack Roberts		(uncredited)

Production Design by
Harry Horner

Set Decoration by
Frank R. McKelvy		(as Frank McKelvey)

Costume Design by
Donfeld

Makeup Department
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist: Miss Fonda (as Sidney Guilaroff)
Frank McCoy	....	make up
Ina Claire	....	hair stylist: Miss York (uncredited)
Carla Hadley	....	hairdresser (uncredited)
Shirley Kirby	....	hairdresser (uncredited)
Maggie O'Connor	....	body makeup artist (uncredited)
Lenore Weaver	....	hairdresser (uncredited)
Sherry Wilson	....	hairdresser (uncredited)

Production Management
Edward Woehler	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Al Jennings	....	assistant director
Joel Chernoff	....	second unit director (uncredited)
C.E. Dismukes	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Lynn Guthrie	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Ben L. Goldman	....	property master
Mort Rabinowitz	....	production illustrator
Danny Beneducci	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Norval D. Crutcher	....	sound effects editor (as Norval Crutcher)
Tom Overton	....	sound
Ora Hudson	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Brandon Kellogg	....	recordist (uncredited)
Tex Rudloff	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Blondie Anderson	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Chad Evans	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Duke Callaghan	....	camera operator (as Duke Callahan)
William Classen	....	grip (uncredited)
Richard Doran	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Cliff King	....	first assistant camera (uncredited)
Craig Novak	....	grip (uncredited)
Art Say	....	stills (uncredited)
Barry Wexler	....	grip (uncredited)
Robert Willoughby	....	special still photographer (uncredited)
Lee Wilson	....	gaffer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Michael J. Harte	....	costumer: men (as Mike Harte)
Mina Mittelman	....	costumer: women
Vou Lee Giokaris	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Violet B. Martin	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Thalia Phillips	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Bob Scott	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Joe Somaruga	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Ronald Wind	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Don Guidice	....	assistant film editor

Music Department
Johnny Green	....	orchestral arrangements (as John Green)
Harry King	....	music editor
Randy Ravelen	....	music coordinator
Albert Woodbury	....	orchestral arrangements
Dan Wallin	....	score mixer (uncredited)

Other crew
Herbert DuFine	....	dialogue coach (as Herb Dufine)
Mort Heilig	....	production executive (as Morty Heilig)
Phill Norman	....	titles
Tom Panko	....	marathon dancers supervisor
Emily Torchia	....	unit publicist
Joyce Webb	....	script supervisor
Noble 'Kid' Chissel	....	technical advisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• American Broadcasting Company (ABC)
• Palomar Pictures

Distributors

• Cinerama Releasing Corporation (1969) (USA) (theatrical)
• ABC Pictures International (????) (USA) (all media)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1975) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Buena Vista Pictures (1995) (worldwide) (all media)
• Transvídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera cranes (uncredited)
• Cinefx  titles
• National Screen Service  opticals
• Solters & Digney  publicity (uncredited)

Runtime:

129 min (original version) | USA:120 min (current version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | UK:15 | USA:M (original rating) | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica, California, USA

Company:

American Broadcasting Company (ABC)

Trivia:

Barbara Parkins was offered, but turned down, a role in this film.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Robert tells Gloria about a film he saw starring Anita Louise and Richard Cromwell in which Anita Louise's character has a brain tumor. However, Louise and Cromwell only made two films together, The Most Precious Thing in Life (1934) and The Villain Still Pursued Her (1940). The depression-era dance marathon, which is the subject of the film, presumably takes place in 1932. Earlier in the movie, we hear Mrs. Layton tell Robert and Gloria that they are her favorite couple because they are number 67, the same year that she was born (1867). Shortly thereafter, Gloria tells Robert that she's figured out Mrs. Layton is 65-years-old. Sixty-five years after 1867 is 1932, which is prior to either of the Louise/Cromwell films.

Quotes:

Nurse: Can I get you something for your feet?
Gloria Beatty: How about a saw.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Les triplettes de Belleville (2003)

Soundtrack:

Body and Soul

A Grisly, Sickly Entertaining Film

A brutally bleak screen adaptation of the pulpy Horace McCoy novella, about a Depression-era dance marathon where down-and-outers drive themselves to the brink of exhaustion to win the cash prize.

This film has become relevant again today in the age of reality T.V., where people tune in to watch strangers be humiliated, rejected and made fun of. Meanness and suffering sells today, and apparently it sold back then as well. The M.C. of the dance marathon, played wonderfully by Gig Young in one of his last (if not the last) film performances before the troubled actor murdered his wife and then killed himself, creates little narratives and dramas around each of the dancers, so that the audience can have their favorites to root for. Every once in a while, someone will show off a special talent, singing a song or hoofing a little dance number, and the audience will throw change at them, which the performer then frantically scrabbles up like a desperate pigeon. The cast of dancers is led by Jane Fonda, in a break-out role as Gloria, the jaded woman-of-the-world who's seen it all and doesn't want to see anymore; Susannah York, as a pretentious wannabe actress, who acts up a storm during a mesmerizing breakdown scene; Red Buttons, as an aging ex-serviceman who struggles to keep up with the young kids around him; and Bruce Dern and Bonnie Bedelia, as a sweet couple of country bumpkins who are desperate to win the cash for their unborn baby. And yes, that is Al Lewis (aka Grandpa Munster) lurking around in the background as one of the dance marathon officials.

Director Sydney Pollack vastly improves on the source material, making something much richer and deeper out of McCoy's lurid novella. He uses an edgy, jarring style that's suited perfectly to the material, and which he would never again display.

"They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" holds a sort of grisly fascination over its audience. Bleak as it is, it's also entertaining in a rather morbid way, making us feel like we're members of the audience watching this sick spectacle and making it that much harder for us to condemn the film audience without labeling ourselves as hypocrites.

Grade: A