--- title: "Dance, Girl, Dance" year: 1940 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/dance-girl-dance" fi1m_id: "dance-girl-dance" imdb_id: "tt0032376" tmdb_id: 32196 wikidata_id: "Q2132842" fi1m_score: 66 critics_reviews: 3 published: "2026-09-25T03:07:37.598059+00:00" updated: "2026-09-25T03:07:37.949713+00:00" region: "SA" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Dance, Girl, Dance (1940) Directed by Dorothy Arzner · 1h 30m · Drama, Comedy, Romance ## Identity Dance, Girl, Dance - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/dance-girl-dance - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** dance-girl-dance - **IMDb ID:** tt0032376 - **TMDB ID:** 32196 - **Wikidata ID:** Q2132842 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032376/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/32196, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2132842 **Fi1m score: 66** · Critics: 3 of 6 reviews so far *In a sentence:* Lucille Ball looks ready for stardom; the men look ready for another subplot > Lucille Ball makes Dorothy Arzner’s uneven drama worth considering, and its interest in women’s working lives has force. The romance repeatedly gets in the way. ## Synopsis Judy (Maureen O’Hara) and Bubbles (Lucille Ball) are performers whose ambitions put them in competition. Their rivalry develops alongside romantic complications, with Jimmy Harris (Louis Hayward), Elinor Harris (Virginia Field) and Steve Adams (Ralph Bellamy) in their orbit. Both women face expectations about what they should offer an audience, and how much of themselves they should put on display. Getting noticed brings pressure to be sexually appealing, while personal attachments add to the difficulties of pursuing a career. Their competing ambitions make the relationship between the women difficult to separate from the demands of performing. ## Review Dorothy Arzner’s *Dance, Girl, Dance* has a worthwhile subject and a persistent habit of getting distracted from it. The pressure on women to make themselves sexually appealing in pursuit of success gives the film something sharp to examine. Too often, the romance interrupts that examination without offering much interest of its own. This is an uneven 90 minutes, worth considering for Lucille Ball and for the seriousness with which women’s professional ambitions are treated. Lucille Ball makes Bubbles entertaining without making her ambition look like a defect. We perked up whenever she appeared. There is such assurance in the performance that even the business of attracting attention becomes interesting: she seems to have assessed what will work before anyone else has understood the situation. She also gives the film some badly needed fun, keeping its concerns about women’s careers from weighing down every exchange. Maureen O’Hara’s Judy is less immediately arresting, but there is a sincerity in the performance that the film needs. A story concerned with the price of being noticed ought to have room for a woman who does not dominate every exchange. The difficulty is that the writing does too little to make her compelling on those quieter terms. Beside Bubbles, Judy too often has to get by on our sympathy, and the contrast becomes dramatically limiting. The screenplay by Tess Slesinger and Frank Davis has trouble making its male characters worth the time spent on them. Neither Louis Hayward as Jimmy Harris nor Ralph Bellamy as Steve Adams can supply the interest missing from the writing. Romantic complications require some curiosity about the people involved, and here they too often arrive as obligations. The women have already given the film a subject; the men do too little to justify taking attention away from it. Joseph H. August and Russell Metty’s cinematography gives the performers room to register, with Lucille Ball’s assurance doing much of the work within the frame. The visual interest depends heavily on the actors, which makes the weaker characterisation difficult to overlook. Robert Wise’s editing keeps things moving without curing that imbalance. The shifts back into romance remain awkward because the characters have not earned the attention. Edward Stevenson’s costume design helps make appearance part of the drama: these women are being judged on what others see. Dorothy Arzner takes that scrutiny seriously enough to give the rivalry some weight beyond the usual competition for attention. The film is at its most persuasive when it lets ambition be an understandable response to the demands made of a performer. That concern supplies a reason to stay interested even when the comedy and romance fail to support it. Within the backstage drama, Dorothy Arzner finds something worth examining in the conditions attached to a woman’s success. The treatment is too uneven to make this a recommendation for everyone, but there is enough intelligence here to reward an interest in performers’ working lives. Keep expectations for the romance modest and let Lucille Ball take charge. *Fi1m score 66, published 25 September 2026.* ## Straight answers **Is Dance, Girl, Dance worth watching?** *Dance, Girl, Dance* is worth considering for Lucille Ball and its serious interest in women’s working lives; we score it 66 out of 100. Ball gives the backstage drama assurance and fun, but the romantic complications repeatedly distract from the more compelling business of women pursuing careers under pressure to be sexually appealing. **How long is Dance, Girl, Dance, and what is it rated?** *Dance, Girl, Dance* runs 1h 30m. It is a drama and comedy film. **Where can I watch Dance, Girl, Dance in Saudi Arabia?** *Dance, Girl, Dance* is not on any streaming or rental service in Saudi Arabia at the moment. It is available in 1 other country; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How does Dance, Girl, Dance compare to The Red Shoes?** *Dance, Girl, Dance* is the more qualified recommendation beside [*The Red Shoes*](https://film.one/film/the-red-shoes), which makes a dancer’s ambition feel more urgent and dangerous. Both concern performers facing demands that leave little room for themselves, but we recommend *The Red Shoes* more broadly; *Dance, Girl, Dance* chiefly rewards an interest in women’s working lives and Lucille Ball’s performance. **What should I watch after Dance, Girl, Dance?** After *Dance, Girl, Dance*, try [*The Red Shoes*](https://film.one/film/the-red-shoes) (1948, Fi1m 92): For another dancer facing demands that leave little room for herself. Then [*Stage Door*](https://film.one/film/stage-door) (1937, Fi1m 85): More performers chasing scarce opportunities, with friendship complicating the competition; and [*All About Eve*](https://film.one/film/all-about-eve) (1950, Fi1m 90): Theatrical ambition and female rivalry, with sharper writing and colder smiles. ### Reviews we read (3) - **Slant Magazine**, Clayton Dillard (3.5/5): The review finds the film compelling but held back by its male love interests. It praises Lucille Ball’s magnetic performance and the film’s critique of how women are expected to sexualize themselves for stardom. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/review-dorothy-arzner-dance-girl-dance-on-criterion-blu-ray/) - **The New York Times** (64/100, inferred): The headline indicates a review discussing rivalry and sympathy, but the article text is inaccessible. Its verdict and any specific praise or complaint cannot be verified. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1975/01/29/archives/dance-girl-dance-blends-rivalry-and-sympathy.html) - **Radio Times**, Robyn Karney (2/5): Karney finds the film uneven, blaming its inadequate script and miscast Maureen O’Hara. She says Dorothy Arzner brings it to life at times, especially when Lucille Ball is on screen. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-8yytt9/dance-girl-dance/) ## Details - **Director:** Dorothy Arzner - **Director:** Dorothy Arzner - **Screenplay:** Frank Davis, Tess Slesinger - **Story:** Vicki Baum - **Cinematography:** Russell Metty, Joseph H. August - **Editor:** Robert Wise - **Costume design:** Edward Stevenson - **Producer:** Erich Pommer - **Cast:** Maureen O'Hara as Judy; Louis Hayward as Jimmy Harris; Lucille Ball as Bubbles; Virginia Field as Elinor Harris; Ralph Bellamy as Steve Adams; Maria Ouspenskaya as Madame Basilova; Mary Carlisle as Sally; Katharine Alexander as Miss Olmstead - **Runtime:** 1h 30m - **First release (the US):** 30 August 1940 - **Genres:** Drama, Comedy, Romance ## Where to watch in Saudi Arabia Not streaming, renting or buying in Saudi Arabia at the last check. Also available in: CA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *The Red Shoes* (1948), Fi1m 92: For another dancer facing demands that leave little room for herself. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-red-shoes.md) - *Stage Door* (1937), Fi1m 85: More performers chasing scarce opportunities, with friendship complicating the competition. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/stage-door.md) - *All About Eve* (1950), Fi1m 90: Theatrical ambition and female rivalry, with sharper writing and colder smiles. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/all-about-eve.md) - *The Young Girls of Rochefort* (1967): Sisters with artistic ambitions, in a musical more generous about pleasure. - *The Fits* (2015): A young dancer’s wish to belong becomes something strange and unsettling. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/dance-girl-dance