Hollywood obviously saw potential in Arthur Lake, even though talkies revealed his to be the whiniest voice ever - he still made an extraordinary 15 films in 1929!!! But in a "Filmfax" interview he came across as a genuinely nice guy and he also revealed how he had married into Marian Davies' family and that the part of "Dagwood" was a shoe-in. All "Dagwoods" mannerisms and voice inflections are there to be seen in "Dance Hall" - filmed almost ten years before "Dagwood" was thought of. His co-star was the beautiful Olive Borden who was in the middle of a comeback that seemed to be successful. She had made a few unwise decisions (like leaving Fox studios) and now with a new bobbed hairdo she hoped to get back to the sort of light comedies she felt she did best. Unfortunately she was only offered romances and crime dramas.
Tommy Flynn (Lake) has three loves, dancing, beautiful Gracie (Olive Borden is very fetching as a blonde) and his mother, who keeps his dancing cups polished on the mantle for him. Just as they are about to enter yet another dance contest, Gracie meets playboy aviator, Ted Smith, and instantly falls for his lies. For me, there is not enough dancing in it - Lake gave a nifty demonstration of his fancy footwork at the beginning but, soon after, the story takes a dramatic turn with the doomed romance of torch carrying Gracie, who goes to pieces when she thinks Ted's plane has disappeared. Tommy is left to tear his hair out and just emote all over the place.
The plane didn't go down and Ted is back, hale and hearty, and in the arms of his old steady Bee - he thinks Gracie is too much of a kid to take seriously. Grace, meanwhile, has slipped into a coma (yes, it's that type of film) and only recovers with the careful nursing of Tommy and his mother. There are other friends as well, the crusty but benign dance hall proprietor (Joseph Cawthorne), the Flynn's boarder (Lee Moran) and Gracie's best friend (Natalie Joyce, who was Olive Borden's cousin but whose career didn't exactly take off).
Definitely not the worst film I have seen from this period. Films of this early vintage occasionally had lip synching problems, it was just that in "Dance Hall" the synching was out for the entire movie!! RKO and Radio had merged the year before and decided they would only produce talking films so they developed the sound on film Photophone system which also had a synchronized disc system as well. The adverts at the time claimed it was superior and clearer than any other system - of course a week later Vitaphone refuted that claim.
Vina Delmar was a young writer of racy tales who hit pay dirt with her first novel "Bad Girl" which was turned into a Broadway play (with Sylvia Sidney) then a movie (with Sally Eilers). "Dance Hall" was her first story written directly for the screen.
Tommy Flynn (Lake) has three loves, dancing, beautiful Gracie (Olive Borden is very fetching as a blonde) and his mother, who keeps his dancing cups polished on the mantle for him. Just as they are about to enter yet another dance contest, Gracie meets playboy aviator, Ted Smith, and instantly falls for his lies. For me, there is not enough dancing in it - Lake gave a nifty demonstration of his fancy footwork at the beginning but, soon after, the story takes a dramatic turn with the doomed romance of torch carrying Gracie, who goes to pieces when she thinks Ted's plane has disappeared. Tommy is left to tear his hair out and just emote all over the place.
The plane didn't go down and Ted is back, hale and hearty, and in the arms of his old steady Bee - he thinks Gracie is too much of a kid to take seriously. Grace, meanwhile, has slipped into a coma (yes, it's that type of film) and only recovers with the careful nursing of Tommy and his mother. There are other friends as well, the crusty but benign dance hall proprietor (Joseph Cawthorne), the Flynn's boarder (Lee Moran) and Gracie's best friend (Natalie Joyce, who was Olive Borden's cousin but whose career didn't exactly take off).
Definitely not the worst film I have seen from this period. Films of this early vintage occasionally had lip synching problems, it was just that in "Dance Hall" the synching was out for the entire movie!! RKO and Radio had merged the year before and decided they would only produce talking films so they developed the sound on film Photophone system which also had a synchronized disc system as well. The adverts at the time claimed it was superior and clearer than any other system - of course a week later Vitaphone refuted that claim.
Vina Delmar was a young writer of racy tales who hit pay dirt with her first novel "Bad Girl" which was turned into a Broadway play (with Sylvia Sidney) then a movie (with Sally Eilers). "Dance Hall" was her first story written directly for the screen.