Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)

 Dorothy Arzner's "Dance, Girl, Dance"


Dorothy Arzner's 1940 musical comedy "Dance, Girl, Dance" deals with the ideas or art versus commerce and does so through a very feminist lens. Centering on two young women, played by Maureen O'Hara and Lucille Ball, who both try to make it as dancers, but in very separate ventures. O'Hara's Judy wants to be a ballet dance, while Ball's Bubbles wants to be a burlesque star. What's evident in both cases is that both have a deep love for their profession, but also must get entangled in the very notions of the male gaze, as both dance for the sake of entertaining or titillating men. When the film was released in 1940, it received very mixed reviews. However, in retrospective appraisal, many have noted the feminist backbone of the picture and have praised it for its enduring themes and commentary of art, commerce, entertainment, and feminism. 



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