Vintage Movie Fun- "Dance, Girl, Dance"

Last night, my husband was out for a business dinner and I stayed home and ordered sushi. After picking up my food, I went home and watched one of the Turner Classic Movies recorded on my TiVo. "Dance, Girl, Dance" was released in 1940 and starred pre-"I Love Lucy" (and blond!) Lucille Ball as "Bubbles" and a young Maureen O' Hara ( How Green Was My Valley, The Quiet Man, and The 1960 version of the Parent Trap) as Judy.

Bubbles is a tough-talking, burlesque dancer who would do anything for fame and money. Judy is a gentle, kind-hearted, Irish girl who hopes to be a ballet dancer. Both girls started out as dancers in a burlesque hall in Ohio and after the hall is raided and shut down by police, they make their way to New York to find their dreams.

Throughout the movie, Judy and Bubbles, find their friendship falling apart due to their different styles of dance and because they are trying to win the affections of a recently-divorced rich man, Jimmy.

After a New York burlesque talent scout selects Bubbles to be the latest star of Broadway, she becomes Tiger Lily White and is the toast of the town. As Bubbles makes the papers and is decked out in jewels and furs, poor Judy struggles to find a ballet company that will take on as a ballerina.

The movie is full of vintage fashion, dance, music, romance, and heartbreak. I love Maureen O'Hara's hair in this film, especially when she dances the hula for the talent scout.

An interesting note, this movie is considered to be a "B-movie." Granted, it is no "Casablanca," but it is a good story nonetheless!