History Literature / TheyShootHorsesDontThey

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Robert sees Creator/FrankBorzage in the audience one night and has a brief chat with him about his own directorial ambitions.

* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: One of the contests is an escaped murderer from Illinois, who is recognized by a couple of detectives in the audience, arrested, and taken away. Socks the promoter is initially angry at having a criminal mixed up with the marathon, but after a newspaper article draws about the arrest draws in bigger crowds he states that it “was the best break we ever had”.

However, as the marathon continues to drag on, couples break down physically and are forced to drop out. After 879 hours (just over five weeks), with twenty couples remaining, there is a shooting in the bar of the ballroom (Mrs. Laydon, the widow who obtained Robert and Gloria's sponsorship, is killed by a stray bullet), and the marathon is shut down, with the prize money split between the twenty couples ($50 each). Gloria, who has spent the marathon repeatedly telling Robert that she wishes she were dead, takes a pistol out of her purse and, [[ICannotSelfTerminate admitting she lacks the courage to shoot herself]], asks Robert to do it for her; he complies, and as the police arrest him and ask why he shot her, he recalls watching his grandfather put a wounded horse out of its misery as a child and answers: "[[TitleDrop They shoot horses, don't they?]]"

However, as the marathon continues to drag on, couples break down physically and are forced to drop out. After 879 hours (just over five weeks), with twenty couples remaining, there is a shooting in the bar of the ballroom (Mrs. Laydon, the widow who obtained Robert and Gloria's sponsorship, is killed by a stray bullet), and the marathon is shut down, with the prize money split between the twenty couples ($50 each). Gloria, who has spent the marathon repeatedly telling Robert that she wishes she were dead, takes a pistol out of her purse and, [[ICannotSelfTerminate admitting she lacks the courage to shoot herself]], asks Robert to do it for her; he complies, and as the police arrest him and ask him why he shot her, he thinks back to seeing his grandfather put a wounded horse out of its misery and answers, "[[TitleDrop They shoot horses, don't they?]]"

The marathon promoters engage in various schemes to spark audience interest: a contestant is arrested for murder, two contestants are married on the dance floor, and nightly "derbies" are held in which the remaining dancers compete in a race around the perimeter of the ballroom, with the last couple automatically eliminated from the marathon. As the audiences grow, some of the contestants (including Robert and Gloria) are sponsored by local businesses, who give them [[ProductPlacement clothes promoting their merchandise]] to wear during the marathon.

As the novel opens, the narrator, would-be director Robert Syverten, is being sentenced for the murder of Gloria Beatty. [[HowWeGotHere In a series of flashbacks]], we learn that Robert and Gloria met in Hollywood after auditioning as extras for the same film; when they are turned down, Gloria suggests to Robert that they participate in a dance marathon at a rundown oceanside ballroom in Los Angeles. The rules of the marathon are simple: the dancers dance round the clock apart from ten minute breaks every two hours, and the last couple standing receives a $1,000 cash prize. The 144 participating couples, suffering from the poverty and desperation of the Depression, are drawn almost as much by the free food as by the cash prize.

''They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'' is a 1935 novel by Horace [=McCoy=] about the participants in a grueling dance marathon during TheGreatDepression.

''They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'' is a 1935 novel by Horace [=McCoy=] about the participants in a gruelling dance marathon during TheGreatDepression.

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The promoters of the marathon engage in various schemes to spark audience interest: a contestant is arrested for murder, two contestants are married on the dance floor, and nightly "derbies" are held in which the remaining dancers compete in a race around the perimeter of the ballroom, with the last couple automatically eliminated from the marathon. As the audiences grow, some of the contestants (including Robert and Gloria) are sponsored by local businesses, who give them [[ProductPlacement clothes promoting their merchandise]] to wear during the marathon.

* TheEeyore: By Gloria's own admission, she's been depressed all of her life and people hate her because [[TheBore she's a colossal "Debbie Downer"]]. The novel is just the point in which [[DrivenToSuicide she finally snaps]].

* GoOutWithASmile: Robert recalls Gloria's expression as she dies.