They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (film)
| They Shoot Horses, Don't They? | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Sydney Pollack |
| Produced by |
Robert Chartoff Irwin Winkler |
| Screenplay by | Robert E. Thompson James Poe |
| Based on |
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? by Horace McCoy |
| Starring |
Jane Fonda Michael Sarrazin Susannah York Gig Young |
| Music by | Johnny Green |
| Cinematography | Philip H. Lathrop |
| Edited by | Fredric Steinkamp |
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Production
company |
ABC Pictures
Palomar Pictures |
| Distributed by |
Cinerama Releasing Corporation (1969, original) MGM (2004, DVD) |
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Release date
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Running time
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120 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $4.86 million |
| Box office | $12,600,000 |
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? is a 1969 American drama film directed by Sydney Pollack. The screenplay by James Poe and Robert E. Thompson is based on the 1935 novel of the same name by Horace McCoy. It focuses on a disparate group of characters desperate to win a Depression-era dance marathon and the opportunistic emcee (MC) who urges them on to victory. It stars Jane Fonda, Michael Sarrazin, Susannah York, Bruce Dern, Bonnie Bedelia, and Gig Young. Fonda, Young and York won awards for their performances.
Robert Syverton (Michael Sarrazin), who once dreamed of being a great film director, recalls the events leading to an unstated crime. In his youth, he saw a horse break its leg, after which it was shot and put out of its misery. Years later, in 1932 during the Great Depression, he wanders into a dance marathon about to begin in the shabby La Monica Ballroom, perched over the Pacific Ocean on the Santa Monica Pier, near Los Angeles. He is recruited by MC Rocky (Gig Young) as a substitute partner for a cynical malcontent named Gloria (Jane Fonda), when her original partner is disqualified because of an ominous cough.
Among the other contestants competing for a prize of 1,500 silver dollars is Harry Kline (Red Buttons), a middle-aged sailor; Alice (Susannah York) and her partner Joel (Robert Fields), both aspiring actors; and an impoverished farm worker James (Bruce Dern) and his pregnant wife Ruby (Bonnie Bedelia). Early in the marathon the weaker pairs are eliminated quickly, while Rocky observes the vulnerabilities of the stronger contestants and exploits them for the audience's amusement. Frayed nerves are exacerbated by the theft of one of Alice's dresses and Gloria's displeasure at the attention Alice receives from Robert. In retaliation, she takes Joel as her partner, but when he receives a job offer and departs, she aligns herself with Harry.
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Wikipedia