History Film / TheyShootHorsesDontThey

Robert Syverton (Michael Sarrazin), an unemployed young man and aspiring film director, wanders into the shabby La Monica Ballroom on the Santa Monica Pier just as contestants are getting signed up for a dance marathon with a cash prize of $1,500. When the partner of cynical would-be actress Gloria Beatty (Creator/JaneFonda) is disqualified for having a cough that could be a sign of tuberculosis, Rocky (Creator/GigYoung), the fast-talking MC of the marathon, recruits Robert to be her new partner. Among the other contestants are middle-aged retired sailor Harry Kline (Creator/RedButtons), aspiring actress Alice (Creator/SusannahYork) and her partner Joel (Robert Fields), and farm worker James (Creator/BruceDern) and his heavily pregnant wife Ruby (Creator/BonnieBedelia).

* TheLivingDead: Robert mentions having played pa dead French villager in a film called ''Fallen Angels''.

-->'''Rocky:''' Not for them. For you, maybe, but not for them. You think they're laying out two bits a throw just to watch you poke your head up into the sunlight? Or Alice look like she just stepped out of a beauty parlor? They don't give a damn whether you win, or James and Ruby, or Mario and Jackie, or the Man in the Moon and Little Miss Muffet. They just want to see a little misery out there, so they can feel a little better, maybe. They're entitled to that.

* ImmoralRealtyShow: The marathon is basically one of these in-universe, as lampshaded by Rocky after [[spoiled:he admits to having stolen and destroyed Alice's second gown.]]

* CompositeCharacter: Rocky in the film is a composite of the novel's Rocky (the emcee) and Socks (the promoter).

* TheLivingDead: Robert mentions having played a dead French villager in a film called ''Fallen Angels''.

** At one point Rocky announces to the crowd that movie director Mervyn [=LeRoy=] is in attendance.

* ShaggyDogStory: Although the real story is the shattering of the last remnants of Gloria and Robert's sense of hope for the future, the dance marathon functions as a shaggy dog story. When the film ends, there are still seven couples left, and we never find out who wins.

** In the novel, Mrs. Laydon, Robert and Gloria's sponsor, is killed by a stray bullet when a fight breaks out in the bar of the ballroom. She survives in the film.[[note]] Although we never learn her reaction to Robert and Gloria dropping out of the marathon.[[/note]]

** Rocky's "Yowsa!" catchphrase is borrowed from Depression-era bandleader Ben Bernie.

* TitleDrop: As the police are arresting Robert for Gloria's murder, they ask him why he did it. When his first answer, "She asked me," does not satisfy them, he remembers having seen his grandfather put a wounded horse out of its misery as a boy (seen in a stylised flashback during the opening credits) and answers with the film's title.

** After a fashion, the marathon itself; in the novel, it is shut down after the fight in the ballroom, but it's still going at the end of the film.[[note]]The final shot has Rocky continuing to exhort the spectators, as the counters above the bandstand show six couples remaining and 1,491 hours elapsed.[[/note]]

** After a fashion, the marathon itself; in the novel, it is shut down after the fight in the ballroom, but it is still going at the end of the film.

* TimeCompressionMontage: After the main characters of the film are established and the dance marathon begins in earnest, there is a montage of shots of the dancers on the floor, Rocky excitedly talking into the microphone, and audience members coming and going as hours turn into days, and days turn into weeks, and still the marathon continues.

* CrapsackWorld: It would be difficult indeed to argue that the characters don't inhabit one of these. With the United States deep in the vise-like grip of TheGreatDepression, the contestants are not just unemployed and penniless, but, with ''very'' few exceptions (such as Gloria's sometime dance partner Joel), unlikely to find work any time soon, and many of them only signed up for the marathon for the free food (one of them drops out at the very first break, snarking that maybe he'll try flagpole sitting next). As days turn into weeks, the contestants suffer various levels of physical and mental breakdown, while Rocky exploits them for the entertainment of the paying spectators. Finally, unbeknownst to any of dancers, [[spoiler:expenses will be deducted from the winners' cash prize, leaving them with almost nothing]].

* CatchPhrase: Rocky is very fond of peppering his speeches to the audience with the word "Yowza!".[[note]]Creator/GigYoung patterned his performance as Rocky after '30s bandleader and radio personality Ben Bernie, who also used "Yowza!" liberally.[[/note]]

The rules are simple: they dance round the clock with ten minute breaks every two hours (contestants have to learn to "sleep" standing up), and the last couple standing wins the cash prize. The marathon drags on for days, then weeks, and the contestants' tempers quickly fray. Gloria and Robert attract the attention of local widow Mrs. Laydon (Madge Kennedy), who persuades a local iron-tonic maker to sponsor the couple in exchange for wearing [[ProductPlacement sweatshirts advertising their business]]. However, Gloria becomes jealous of the attention Robert is giving Alice, and exchanges partners with her. This proves short-lived, as Joel receives a job offer and abandons Gloria, who pairs off with Harry.

* CastingCouch: Gloria aggressively seduces a more-than-willing Rocky to improve her chances of winning the marathon.

* ProductPlacement: Some of the dancers are sponsored by local businesses, who give them clothes with advertisements on them to wear during the marathon.

* OneSceneTwoMonologues: Gloria and Joel engage in this while they're temporarily paired up together (she reminiscing about an aunt she lived with who ran a boarding house and refused to let her keep a dog, he talking about an assistant director who's supposed to be in the audience and possibly has a job for him on a movie shoot). She jolts him to attention with a comment about threatening to tell her aunt's husband she was "screwing one of the boarders".

* CrapsackWorld: It would be difficult indeed to argue that the characters don't inhabit one of these. With the United States deep in the vice-like grip of TheGreatDepression, the contestants are not just unemployed and penniless, but, with ''very'' few exceptions (such as Gloria's sometime dance partner Joel), unlikely to find work any time soon, and many of them only signed up for the marathon for the free food (one of them drops out at the very first break, snarking that maybe he'll try flagpole sitting next). As days turn into weeks, the contestants suffer various levels of physical and mental breakdown, while Rocky exploits them for the entertainment of the paying spectators. Finally, unbeknownst to any of dancers, [[spoiler:expenses will be deducted from the winners' cash prize, leaving them with almost nothing]].

Rocky keenly exploits the dancers' various vulnerabilities for audience amusement, and periodically organises hellish "derbies" in which the contestants must complete several circuits of the ballroom, with the last three couples automatically eliminated from the overall marathon. During one such derby, Harry suffers a fatal heart attack and is dragged across the finish line by Gloria; his dead body falls into Alice's arms, causing her to suffer a nervous breakdown and withdraw from the competition, re-uniting Robert and Gloria as dancing partners. Rocky tries to persuade the two of them to get married on the dance floor, but after Gloria refuses and states her determination to win the marathon, Rocky makes a devastating revelation.

Rocky keenly exploits the dancers' various vulnerabilities for audience amusement, and periodically organises hellish "derbies" in which the contestants must complete several circuits of the ballroom, with the last three couples automatically eliminated from the overall marathon. During one such derby, Harry suffers a fatal heart attack and is dragged across the finish line by Gloria; his dead body falls into Alice's arms, causing her to suffer a nervous breakdown and withdraw from the competition, re-uniting Robert and Gloria as dancing partners. Rocky tries to persuade them to be married on the dance floor, but when Gloria refuses and states her determination to win the competition, Rocky makes a devastating revelation.

Would-be film director Robert Syverton (Michael Sarrazin) wanders into the shabby La Monica Ballroom on the Santa Monica Pier just as contestants are being signed in for a dance marathon with a cash prize of $1,500. When the partner of cynical aspiring actress Gloria Beatty (Creator/JaneFonda) is disqualified for having a cough that could be a sign of tuberculosis, Rocky (Creator/GigYoung), the fast-talking MC of the marathon, recruits Robert to be Gloria's new partner. Other contestants include middle-aged former sailor Harry Kline (Creator/RedButtons), aspiring actress Alice (Creator/SusannahYork) and her partner Joel (Robert Fields); and farm worker James (Creator/BruceDern) with his heavily pregnant wife Ruby (Creator/BonnieBedelia).

Would-be film director Robert Syverton (Michael Sarrazin) wanders into the shabby La Monica Ballroom on the Santa Monica Pier just as contestants are being signed in for a dance marathon with a cash prize of $1,500. When the partner of cynical aspiring actress Gloria Beatty (Creator/JaneFonda) is disqualified for having a cough that could be a sign of tuberculosis, Rocky (Creator/GigYoung), the fast-talking MC of the marathon, recruits Robert to be Gloria's new partner. Other contestants include "Sailor" Harry Kline (Creator/RedButtons), a middle-aged former Navy man; aspiring actress Alice (Creator/SusannahYork) and her partner Joel (Robert Fields); and farm worker James (Creator/BruceDern), with his heavily pregnant wife Ruby (Creator/BonnieBedelia).