PROFILPELAJAR.COM

We Were Dancing
We Were Dancing
Directed by	Robert Z. Leonard
Screenplay by	Claudine West; Hans Rameau; George Froeschel
Based on	We Were Dancing; 1935 play; by Noël Coward
Produced by	Robert Z. Leonard; Orville O. Dull
Starring	Norma Shearer; Melvyn Douglas
Cinematography	Robert Planck
Edited by	George Boemler
Music by	Noël Coward; Bronislau Kaper
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	April 30, 1942; (New York)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1,085,000
Box office	$1,079,000

We Were Dancing is a 1942 MGM romantic comedy film directed by Robert Z. Leonard, written by Claudine West, Hans Rameau and George Froeschel, and starring Norma Shearer and Melvyn Douglas.^[2]^[3] It is based loosely on Noël Coward's 1935 play of the same name, together with ideas from Ways and Means, another play in Coward's Tonight at 8.30 play cycle, and Coward's Private Lives.

Plot

Vicki Wilomirska, an impoverished Polish princess, falls madly in love while dancing with the charming but penniless Austrian baron Nicki Prax. She ends her engagement to wealthy lawyer Hubert Tyler. Nicki and Vicki marry secretly, but are soon exposed by one of Nicki's ex-girlfriends, home decorator Linda Wayne. Nicki and Vicki support themselves by being professional house guests, in the homes of American nouveau riche, who are impressed by Old World aristocracy. Eventually, Nicki decides to do the unthinkable, and get a job. Linda still pursues Nicki, and Vicki, brokenhearted, sues Nicki for divorce. Attorney Hubert represents Vicki in the divorce case, and despite Nicki's tender declaration of his love, the teary judge grants the divorce.

When Nicki returns from South America, Linda asks him to see her. At her office, Nicki learns from Linda that Vicki and Hubert are now engaged. Nicki soon persuades Linda to help him get a decorating job with her competitor, who is decorating the new house that Hubert is building for Vicki. Nicki begins the work by behaving professionally, but eventually confesses that he still loves only Vicki. Vicki tells Nicki that he is now too late. At the fancy betrothal party for Hubert and Vicki, Nicki comes to say goodbye to Vicki. Then, they dance to the same waltz that had ignited their passion when they first met, and the magic returns. Nicki and Vicki elope once more.

Cast

Norma Shearer as Vicki Wilomirska
Melvyn Douglas as Nicki Prax
Gail Patrick as Linda Wayne
Lee Bowman as Hubert Tyler
Marjorie Main as Judge Sidney Hawkes
Reginald Owen as Major Tyler-Blane
Alan Mowbray as Grand Duke Basil
Florence Bates as Mrs. Vanderlip
Heather Thatcher as Mrs. Tyler-Blane
Connie Gilchrist as Olive Ransome
Nella Walker as Mrs. Janet Bentley
Adriana Caselotti as Opera Singer
Florence Shirley as Mrs. Charteris

Norma Shearer
Melvyn Douglas
Gail Patrick
Lee Bowman
Marjorie Main
Reginald Owen
Alan Mowbray

Reception

According to MGM records the film made $581,000 in the US and Canada and $498,000 elsewhere, making the studio a loss of $409,000.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
^ Day, Barry. "We Were Dancing (1942)", Coward on Film: The Cinema of Noël Coward, Scarecrow Press (2005), pp. 36–37 ISBN 0810853582
^ Landazuri, Margarita. We Were Dancing, TCM.com, accessed 16 September 2014