Barbara Stanwyck

Ricardo Cortez

Monroe Owsley

Sally Blane

Blanche Friderici

Phyllis Crane

Olive Tell

Victor Potel

Al Hill

Jack Byron

Abe Lyman

Pat Harmon

Martha Sleeper

David Newell

Sidney Bracey

Harry Todd

Aggie Herring

Peggy Doner

James Ford

Hal Price

Bess Flowers

Ernie Alexander

Lee Phelps

Virginia Verrill

Florence Wix

Jean Reno

Lionel Barrymore

Gilbert Warrenton

Harry Cohn

Ernest Haller

Arthur Huffsmith

Edward C. Jewell

Richard Rosson

Frank Fouce

Dorothy Howell

C. Bakaleinikoff

Edward Buzzell

Jo Swerling

Richard Rodgers

Lorenz Hart

Russell Malmgren

Mischa Bakaleinikoff

Drama

Romance

Ten Cents a Dance

Columbia Pictures

United States of America

CinemaSerf

"Barbara" (Barbara Stanwyck) works in one of those dance halls where the managers charge 10 cents to dance with her - unless they are at table drinking (she's partial to milk!). It's not really a marriage of true love, but she ends up marrying the petty waster "Eddie" (Monroe Owsley) - a man who steals left, right and centre from his boss to stay one step ahead of his gambling debts. When she realises the size of the hole he's in, she borrows $5,000 from a wealthy client to bail him out. His reaction is the final straw for her patience with this relationship and she turns to a more practical solution with her loved-up benefactor "Carlton" (Ricardo Cortez). Thing is, that doesn't really make anyone very happy either... Lionel Barrymore directs this and he keeps it engaging enough as the plot itself regurgitates a fairly well trammelled triangular romantic drama. It's really Stanwyck who stands out as a star - she steals each scene simply by being on screen. There is a degree of chemistry between all three of the characters, but the ones with the pretty odious "Eddie" worked better as tempers fray. There is also a strong sense of camaraderie depicted between the gals who are trapped in a cycle of paw or be pawed and though the production is basic, it's still a watch hinting at what's to come from this actress.

English