Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

William "Stage" Boyd's main claim to fame was that he was often mistaken for the other William Boyd (of Hopalong Cassidy) fame) who for a while went by the name of Bill Boyd just to avoid confusion. Early in the 1930s "Stage" made front page news for a alcohol and drug arrest - the only problem was that the paper had put in the wrong actor's photo and it almost derailed Hoppy's career!! After that bad boy William inserted the "Stage" into the middle of his name to avoid confusion, however by 1935 he was already dead of alcohol and drug abuse. In his day "Stage" was a dependable character actor more at home as a mobster or crook!!An excellent psychological gangster yarn, it may not have had a lot of "shoot 'em up" action as talkie films in 1930 were still finding their feet, so it concentrated on the "molls" and Betty Compson had a role that ranked with her best. She plays Kitty, the kicked around and beaten up girl of thuggish mobster "Diamond Jim" (Boyd) who carries around hatred and resentment of him that is instrumental in bringing the crime boss down.Lila Lee is another player who gets a role she can really get her teeth into, she plays Nora who is desperate to clear her impulsive brother's name - he is on death row on a "cop killing" rap!! She believes Jim when he says he is working night and day, leaning on his pals in high places to exonerate her brother but after a particularly brutal beating Kitty has some news for Norah!! Jim has no intention of going into bat for Tim, not only is Jim the actual murderer but it is his crooked cop pal who has framed young Tim and allowed Jim to walk free!!Because it is a pre-code and a very daring one at that there is no attempt to pretty up the surroundings. After accusing Norah of being a "professional virgin", Kitty suggests they work together to bring Jim down. Norah meanwhile has gone to the police - enter Dan Hogan (stalwart silent actor Monte Blue), the policeman brother of the young cop killed during the robbery. He goes undercover as Norah's new boyfriend, "Scar" Turner, a Detroit thug and in blatantly realistic fashion he moves in with her, into the digs she has just started to share with Jim and Kitty. Lila Lee was an actress who really earned her stripes in the early talkie days (in 1929 she was in 9 movies, 1930 - 6, 1932 - 9) but it then suddenly all went wrong. "Those Who Dance" proved she was a very fine actress and could tackle more than flapper parts!!The rest of the movie is a terrifically exciting cat and mouse game with "Scar" even bugging Jim and Kitty's room, Jim getting increasingly suspicious and Kitty, after discovering "Scar's" ruse, barely holding it together!! The film climaxes at a gangster's ball, the notes "Scar" has been tossing out the window to his colleagues - of course the one that really counts gets swept down a drain!! So that leaves "Scar" and Norah going to the dance without the police presence that they expect!!Cornelius Keefe who only a couple of years before had been Lila's love interest in "The Adorable Cheat" soon descended to uncredited roles - he was the young policeman whose killing sparks the story and as Lila's kid brother Tim who was missing for most of the movie - William Janney was a young actor who competently played kid brothers and young leads until the mid thirties!!Highly Recommended!!

...largely because it is never shown. TCM owns the rights since this is a Warner Brothers film, and the reason they probably never show it is that the leads are completely unknown today, although the players were well known at the time this movie was made. All four of the leads (Betty Compson, Lila Lee, William Stage Boyd, and Monte Blue) were silent film actors who made a successful transition to talkies, although they were never big names in spite of this. Everybody gives a very natural performance, and this keeps your attention on the plot, which has absolutely nothing to do with dancing, as the title might make you think.This is not your typical early talkie. It's a very riveting and well-paced gangster picture, and if someone well-known to classic film fans such as Edward G. Robinson had been playing mob leader Diamond Joe Jennings instead of lesser known William Stage Boyd, it would probably be much better remembered today. There's plenty of precode material in here too such as Lila Lee's character being called "a professional virgin" and two unmarried couples living together, with the unspoken understanding that this is not true love forever, just a temporary situation for the sake of convenient sex for all parties concerned and hot meals on the table for the men as long as the situation lasts.You'll also see the beginnings of the social consciousness that Warners injected into so many of their Depression era dramas as the plot centers around a woman (Lila Lee) trying to make sure her brother (Willliam Janney) doesn't go to the chair for murder after a burglary he was involved in goes wrong. Prior to the burglary, Janney mentions when talking to his sister that he wouldn't have gotten involved in crime if only he could find a job - a rare commodity in 1930. Thus, from the beginning both brother and sister have your sympathy. I highly recommend it, if you can ever find a copy.

Nora Brady (Lila Lee) comes up with a scheme to prove that her brother, accused of murder, is innocent. She is helped by a cop, Daniel (Monte Blue), who poses as a gangster in order to get the goods on the real killer. As with most of these early talkies, you should not expect a major "A" production. Still, this is a fairly good one. The film's 75 minutes zip by thanks to efficient direction by William Beaudine and good performances by the 3 leads. Both Lila Lee and Betty Compson prove why they successfully made the transition to talkies. Story-wise, there's nothing new but it does manage to hold your interest. All in all, a pretty good film.