They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (Serpent's Tail Classics)

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The story follows the narrator, Robert Syverten, a naive young man in Hollywood who dreams of being a film director.

Simels, Steve (June 21, 1996). "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on January 28, 2018 . Retrieved November 30, 2021. Failed actress Gloria is hoping to make it big in Hollywood . The realization this is never gonna happen turns her into a cynic . She hates the World and Everyone in it . She just wants to die . Quite literally . They Shoot Horses, Don't They DVD review". Digitally Obsessed. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015 . Retrieved September 20, 2020. It’s not exactly a florid character study but what did you make of the key protagonists? Gloria? Robert? Why were they presented as they were? THEY SHOOT HORSES DON'T THEY? This movie stays in the memory, partly because it stands out from other mainstream Hollywood products of its time in subject matter (the dance marathons of the 20s and 30s) and tone (pitilessly and harshly negative; even the humor is bleak). The message: life (the marathon) is a desperate rat race with a rigged outcome.Horace McCoy, author of the 1935 novel ‘They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?’, had been a bouncer at one of those marathons so he was writing from personal experience. He saw the dance marathons as a perfect metaphor for the futility of existence and Gloria Beatty is the perfect antiheroine for such a bleak vision. She is, in the eyes of her dancing partner, Robert Syverten, the gloomiest person he ever met. She cares about nothing and no one, not even herself. Countless times throughout the novel she says she wishes she were dead. It brings to mind the scene in Bonnie and Clyde where Faye Dunaway says, "Baby, I've got the blues." And, this book is about the blues. It takes place during the depression and two young kids meet on the street in Hollywood, seeking their fortune as actors, but getting nowhere fast. Gloria is from West Texas and, as crappy as life is in Hollywood without a dime to your name, it's better than living with her aunt and uncle in Texas with him making passes at her and the aunt yelling at her. She first went to Dallas and found that dull and boring and empty. California is no better. Gloria is bitter and unhappy and wishes she had the courage to end it all. Published in 1935 , nothing much happened . Only later was it hailed as " senselessly exciting " and " lurid beyond itself " They Shoot Horses, Don't They? is a masterful re-creation of the [dance] marathon era for audiences that are mostly unfamiliar with it. In addition to everything else it does, " Horses" holds our attention because it tells us something we didn't know about human nature and American society. It tells us a lot more than that, of course, but because it works on this fundamental level as well. It is one of the best American movies of the 1970s. [14] To create more excitement, there are derbies where the couples have to race each other with the loser couple being eliminated. If your partner falls down, the fallen partner goes to the pit while the other partner has to complete an extra penalty lap.

The idea of a deadly dance marathon has existed for centuries. From the 14 th century to the 17 th century, a phenomenon known as “Dance Mania” swept central Europe. Men, women, and children would orchestrate an impromptu, wild, and unstoppable dance, one that would only cease when the participants would cave in from exhaustion. To this day, the exact cause of this outbreak has not been determined but symptoms have been linked with an early form of mass hysteria, where people would join the throng out of fear, or out of a desire to copy. During the Great Depression, what had once been classified as a disturbing psychological occurrence was transformed into a human spectacle when dance marathons became a trend. Participants would shuffle around a dancefloor for hours, carried along by a glimmer of hope that their ordeal would end in a cash prize. Adding to the theatricality of the event, audiences would pay to see the dancers suffer breakdowns and crash to the floor in a heap. I don’t mean to denigrate the power of McCoy’s novel. The entire concept and the hapless characters of Gloria and Robert are his inventions. The climactic scene where Gloria pulls out the pistol, hands it to Robert, and asks him to do her a favor is one of the most moving passages. Robert observes that in her death she is finally at peace and smiling with what’s left of her face.a b "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on 16 October 2007 . Retrieved 23 June 2018. Gloria makes an offhand remark about the dance marathon by the pier: ‘free food and free bed as long as you last and a thousand dollars if you win’. Producers and directors go to them and spot potential talent among the dancers. She suggests it to Robert. He declines at first, telling her that he’s still recovering from the flu. He’s all right now though and the marathon does have medical staff on hand to monitor the health of the participants. Horace McCoy was hired as a bouncer at a dance marathon in Santa Monica, and this first hand experience informs a vivid description of that hellish world. It's a brutal and bleak parable about American life. Variety said, "Puffy-eyed, unshaven, reeking of stale liquor, sweat and cigarettes, Young has never looked older or acted better. Fonda... gives a dramatic performance that gives the film a personal focus and an emotionally gripping power." [16]

A gritty tale from the impoverished America of the 1930s , it certainly is . And its cleverly told by the narrator as he hears the Judge pronounce the Death Sentence . And its certainly got pace . McCoy's novel was more popular abroad than in America when it was published at the height of the Depression. The book was read in the existentialist circles of France. Although the novel had been distributed by underground literary groups during World War II, its first French edition did not appear until 1946. [2] Turns out, Gloria was raised in the most dreadful way, by abusive, cruel people in West Texas. She eventually escaped, moving to Los Angeles, looking to make it in Hollywood movies. Can there ever be a staler, more pathetic aspiration, to see the pretend, artificial world of Hollywood as your salvation? Gloria curses another male contestant because he will not allow his pregnant partner to get an abortion. Robert learns indirectly that Gloria is having sex with one of the promoters. When Robert tells her of his suspicions, Gloria tells him she does not feel she is worthy of doing anything else. Two elderly women from the local morals society threaten the promoters with shutting down the dance, and Gloria is asked to witness the meeting. Left in the room with Mrs. Higby and Mrs. Witcher, Gloria curses the women as spoiled, interfering hypocrites.Do you plan to have a public wedding next week or was that merely an announcement to draw a crowd of morons?” – They Shoot Horses Don’t They? The basis for this story is concerning the promotion of a dance marathon during the Great Depression. The winner is promised cash and free food. And, unlike the many reality shows we see today, there is a realness and desperation to this contest that is quite grotesque, disturbing and bizarre.