Bolero (1934) User Reviews

Dancing Man

[lugonian · 8/10 · 6 July 2004]

BOLERO (Paramount, 1934), directed by Wesley Ruggles, stars movie tough guy George Raft(1895-1980), in a change of pace playing a dancer, not in the sense of Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly, but that of an ambitious night club dancer working solely on a "strictly business" deal with his female partners, in spite of how some try to throw themselves on him.

The plot: Raoul De Baere (George Raft), working as a coal digger by day and dancer on amateur shows by night, is an unscrupulous young man determined to succeed. Advised he would do better with a partner, he borrows a large sum of money from his brother, Michael (William Frawley) to set up a dancing act for himself. He lands a job dancing at a Hoboken Beer Garden, moves to France where he rises from tea salon gigolo to featured dancer at the Cabaret Montmarte. After acquiring the temperamental partner, Leona (Frances Drake) and Lady Clare D'Argon (Gertrude Michael) as his sponsor, he joins professional forces with the self sufficient Helen Hathaway (Carole Lombard). Starting his own night club, Chez Raoul, he plans on dancing the "Bolero" with Helen on opening night, surrounded by black natives pounding the drums. During their debut performance, patrons have more interest discussing the war outbreak in Europe than watching the dance. Raoul cancels his performance and announces he's enlisting in the service for his native land Belgium. When Helen finds that Raoul enlisted in the Army as a publicity stunt rather than showing his true patriotism, she leaves him. After the war ends in 1918, Raoul returns to civilian life, diagnosed with a bad heart. Going against doctor's orders, he reopens his night club to resume where he had left off five years ago, dancing the "Bolero." Helen, who has since married, to Lord Robert Coray (Ray Milland), are both seated with the crowd to watch the re-opening of Chez Raoul. Because Annette (Sally Rand), Raoul's new partner whom he had known before, arrives drunk, he cancels her out intends on doing a solo dance instead. As for Michael, more worried about the risk Raoul is about to take and knowing how important this night is to him, goes over to Helen to see if she would consider substituting for Annette.

In spite of many dance numbers, BOLERO is not a musical, and should not be categorized as one. It is, however, a drama about a dancer. There are no songs or vocalizing whatsoever, only instrumental scoring to dance numbers to popular songs from the 1914-1918 era, including "In My Merry Oldsmobile," "Alexander's Ragtime Band" (time-stepping solo by Raft), "The Missouri Waltz," "The Tango," among others. Aside from Raft taking much of the spotlight on the dance floor either alone or with a partner, the story does break away once from Raft on Sally Rand, in a very rare movie role, doing her famous fan dance, lasting three minutes, leaving Michael (Frawley) to comment, "I never get tired looking at that number."

George Raft has always credited BOLERO as a personal favorite of all his movies, as well as Carole Lombard as his best dancing partner. While the story is about dancers, Raft and Lombard portray dancers, but for the "Bolero," they were doubled by professionals, Veloz and Yolanda, in the long shots and difficult movements. This had been a well-kept secret until revealed in a mid 1970s documentary, "That's Hollywood" narrated by Tom Bosley, and shortly after-wards in a segment from "Entertainment Tonight" profiled by Leonard Maltin. Aside from the now famous "Bolero" dance, Raft and Lombard earlier in the photo-play perform a dance to an untitled jazzy tune, once in a dressing room with Lombard in her undergarments, and later, in a night club act with Raft sporting top hat and tuxedo, and Lombard all gowned up.

George Raft is ideally cast as a self-centered dancer who won't let anything stand in his way. He performs well opposite Carole Lombard, with whom he appeared again in RUMBA (Paramount, 1935), a rehash to BOLERO, but not as good. RUMBA is as forgotten as BOLERO is better known. William Frawley as Raoul's half-brother, best known for his recurring role as the grumpy, bald-headed landlord, Fred Mertz, in the classic 1950s TV series, "I Love Lucy," starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz and Vivian Vance, not only has a sizable role here, but a full head of dark hair, probably a toupee. Ray Milland, some years prior to achieving star status and an Academy Award for THE LOST WEEKEND (1945), has several small but key scenes as the wealthy Lord Coray, sporting a mustache, loving Helen from a distance and following her wherever she's performing. Contrary to the fact to when the story takes place (1914-1918), Maurice Ravel's composition of "Bolero" was actually written in 1928, making it totally impossible for Raoul and Helen to perform a dance that didn't existed then.

Out of circulation on the commercial television markets in various states since the mid 1970s, BOLERO was resurrected on cable channel's American Movie Classics (1990-91) with some fine informative insights by its host, Bob Dorian. Never distributed on video cassette, BOLERO was the sort of movie Raft needed to break away from some offbeat assignments Paramount offered him. With few musicals to his credit, he would seem to always return to the pattern of gangsters or hard-boiled tough guys, the sort of roles that suit him best. At least Raft had BOLERO to his long list of screen credits as something personal and special in his career. (***)

George Raft as a guy who will do anything for cash and Ray Milland in a ridiculous mustache

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 24 April 2016]

George Raft's character, Raoul, is embarrassed at a talent show as the film opens and he does his very fast Charleston - it really is a sight to see - and the crowd boos as he is pulled off stage by the "cane around the neck" method.

He vows to succeed at dancing, and finds a good female dancing partner, but she is demanding that she be his romantic partner as well. Hungry to continue the fame and cash, Raoul pretends that he likes her that way. One night when she quits in a jealous rage, in walks Helen Hathaway (Carole Lombard) and offers to be his dance partner. Raoul accepts on the condition that she pass an audition, and promptly shows the clingy partner the door.

One of the oddest scenes to somebody who doesn't know about the precode era is the scene where Helen auditions. She strips down to her underwear in Raoul's hotel room so she can freely move as Raft says that she could be naked for all he cared, this is strictly business. Six months later this would not have been allowed, but from about 1930-1934, scenes such as this were very common in film.

Helen and Raoul do become a famous dance team, all the time talking a little too much about how they do not care for each other romantically, that they are strictly business. Things look like they might be turning romantic for awhile. Then, while in France, the native Belgian Raoul, noticing all of the soldiers in the audience, stops mid performance to tell the audience he will be enlisting in the army tomorrow. Helen is impressed with his patriotism, only to find out it is all a stunt - Raoul says the war should last "two weeks tops", but will be great publicity after this little skirmish is over. This type of blatant manipulation repulses Helen and she walks out on the partnership and the building relationship. How will this all work out since we know WWI did not last just two weeks? Watch and find out.

Points of interest include Ray Milland with one of the silliest looking fake mustaches of all time as a wealthy suitor of Helen's, Carole Lombard early in her career when she was playing the tall elegant type, not the screwball comedienne, fan dancer Sally Rand doing an actual fan dance number, and of course George Raft being given an entire film in which to display his tremendously graceful dancing talents. Finally, there is William Frawley, later of I Love Lucy fame, as Raoul's brother and irascible agent.

I'd recommend it, if only to see Raft dance. Some movies that were actually about Raft as a dancer such as "Stolen Harmony" seemed to go to great trouble to NOT show Raft dancing. Why I'll never know.

George Raft's best musical

[ROCKY-19 · 8/10 · 5 January 2007]

This is a surprisingly good '30s dance film from Paramount. It is neither a frothy comedy nor a dated revue like so many musicals of the day. There's a bit of a story, some nifty dialogue and a whole lot of style.

The story follows Raoul (perfectly cast George Raft) as he rises from coal mine laborer to be a top dancer in pre-Great War Europe. Unrelenting and egocentric, he goes through a line of dance partners from whom he flees romantic entanglements until war changes everything. As unlikely as the plot sounds on paper, director Wesley Ruggles easily guides the action from Raoul's unfortunate experience in an amateur theater to a beer garden to a Paris nightclub to a London club to his own hot spot. Along the way there is the desperately possessive Frances Drake, erotic fan dancer Sally Rand, and best of all Carole Lombard as Helen, the woman Raoul really falls for.

Those who are watching the film just to see Lombard have to wait a while before she first shows up. In fact, it is even longer before we first hear the music of "Bolero" itself. But it's all worth the wait.

The dances are a great representation of Raft's vaudeville and nightclub act before he hit Hollywood. The portrayal of the first Paris club, in fact, recalls a very young Raft's real employment as a tea-room gigolo - dancing with dowagers for tips with the possibility of having to fulfill other obligations afterward. Sex has a constant presence here, as is usually the case with Raft's adult fare. The hint of it spices the dialogue and drives the action. Rand's famous fan dance is a sensual highlight, and Lombard easily strips down to her skivvies as well.

A major part of the consistent mood is Leo Tover's cinematography. He dramatically captured the dances as well as emphasizing the performances of the actors with light and shadow. Even in the distance shots of the Bolero number when dance doubles do the heavy lifting, there is never a break in the moment. Tover and Ruggles set up the film to play to Raft's strengths and let Lombard be Lombard.

As with so many movies, the grotesquely gruesome World War I is hacked down to about two minutes, but it does cause a huge turn in the plot. And believably so, as the long-term effects of poison gas really did ruin the lives of those who survived the war itself.

It is odd to see Raft and William Frawley playing brothers (they are almost different species), and it is not explained until very late in the film that they are only half-brothers. Also coming late is the sudden information that Raoul's mother was Belgian, making it convenient for him to join the Belgian army as a publicity stunt.

But the movie isn't about plot - it's about mood and style. This is the only "A" musical Raft was fortunate enough to get. The studios threw him into other musicals occasionally, but they were all cheaper, slap-dash affairs (like the vastly inferior "Rumba" with lover Carole again) trying to make the same buck without half the production value and certainly without quality direction.

Famous 30s Dance Film--Bolero!

[drednm · 1 August 2005]

George Raft is excellent as an ambitious dancer (he was a Broadway dancer before coming to Hollywood) who is never satisfied. He works his way up thru beer gardens and honky tonks in the US to the height of London and Paris supper clubs, finally owning his own nightclub. Even if some of the long shots are doubled by a dance act, there is enough footage here to show that Raft could dance. Not an Astair or Kelly, but Raft could certainly move--in total opposition to his screen persona as rigid tough guy. Bolero is one of Raft's most likable and best film performances.

Carole Lombard, in horrible makeup, cashes in on her breakthrough year of 1934 (this film and Twentieth Century) in her role as Helen. Lombard and Raft were a good team and are quite believable as dancers. Lombard slinks thru a few numbers here before the big Bolero production number--she even danced in her underwear for her audition. Quite racy. Lombard remains one the the screen's great treasure even 60 years after her death.

Sally Rand is surprisingly good as Annette, and yes Rand does her famous "fan dance" complete with see-through negligee. She has a couple of really solid acting scenes as well. William Frawly is good as the Irish brother (Raft plays a Belgian), while Gertrude Michael and Frances Drake are solid in support. Ray Milland has a small role as Lombard's husband.

Bolero was a hit, a change of pace for Raft, a star-making role for Lombard. It spawned 1935's Rumba, which was not a hit. And even if the long shots are of Veloz and Yolanda, they are extremely well done. We see enough of Raft and Lombard in dance action to believe that ALL the dancing is done but them.

Nice film though I wish the Bolero dance number had been longer. This and Night After Night rank among Raft's best performances.

A view of an era that time has forgotten

[cfl-1 · 7/10 · 1 April 2005]

This movie from 1934 shows the viewer an era that must have seemed alien at the time and downright forgotten and strange to modern audiences.. Watching it is like a history lesson. George Raft shows us why he was known as the fastest dancer in the world at the beginning of the movie when he was a young man and just starting out on his career. The story line is not something we would see again especially as it is set in Europe. We get to see Paris and Brussels amongst other great cities with horse drawn-carriages, strange dance routines and the basic idea that you can dance your way out of poverty in nightclubs and make that career last. Carole Lombard stripped down to her underwear with stocking and suspenders to say the least, is a sight to behold. A year later and this wouldn't be allowed, the crotch of her panties on view. In a scene where Raft tells her that if she stripped naked he wouldn't be interested shows us how much more natural films were before the Hays code ; granny wasn't so innocent. Raft's lecherous and lascivious grin in one particular dance routine put him at odds with the cool elegance of Carole Lombard. They seem an odd couple -I believe at the time they had a romance- when not dancing and it is easy to see why she marries some-one else. Nothing comes between Raft and his dancing. A rare screen appearance by Sally Rand shows us that this lady's talents were limited to her fantastic fan dance, but who can tire of watching that????? Not enough of Bolero though, the theme of the movie being this music but we see very little of the dance routine or music considering the length of the composition. Raft is a better actor here than in many later parts in better movies, he knew this world and felt comfortable with it . Watch and enjoy.

Pleasant...and NOT by the numbers!

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 15 June 2019]

"Bolero" is a pleasant little film....not one I'd rush out to see but one still worth seeing. It's particularly nice because although George Raft is known more for playing tough guys, here he's actually doing what he did best...dance.

When the film begins, Raoul (Raft) is working in a dance hall...dancing with old ladies for a pittance. He knows he's too good for that and soon find himself a dance partner and they hit it big in nightclubs. But there's a problem...Raoul always maintained that this was business but his partner is more interested in romance and her professionalism was lacking. Soon, he meets Helen (Carole Lombard) and she agees with him...it's business. And, not surprisingly, the act hits it even bigger...so big that Raoul has the money to do what he's drempt about...open his own nightclub. But a pesky little thing called WWI intervenes....so what's next?

The most interesting thing about this film for me was its Pre-Code sensibilities. Because Hollywood routinely ignored the old Production Code, a few shocking things occur in this one...such as a supporting actress being Sally Rand (doing a cleaned up version of her famous fan dance) and Raft with his hands on Lombard's boobs during the Bolero number! Shocking to imagine but things were pretty rique back before July, 1934!

Overall, a pleasant musical which is a tad better because again and again, the film surprised me by not using all the usual cliches and story elements. See the picture...see what I mean.

"I'm Too Good For This Joint"

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 14 January 2009]

Bolero, the film named after Maurice Ravel's classic instrumental orchestral composition is one of George Raft's very few non-gangster successes. That's because it takes advantage of Raft's other great talent, that of a dancer. It's how he started out in show business and like James Cagney, got to display that aspect of his talent way too little.

Raft is perfectly cast as the stop at nothing to get to the top man who uses and discards women partners like Kleenex. The only one who really understands him is his down to earth brother William Frawley who serves as his manager. But when Carole Lombard comes into his life, it throws his game plan off kilter. But just a little bit.

The film is set in the years before, during, and just after World War I. Just as he's really got it made with the opening of his own club in Paris, the war breaks out which Raft considers something done to hurt him personally. But he decides unlike Gene Kelly in For Me And My Gal to turn things to his advantage. The war will be over in a few weeks he reasons, why not enlist and get great publicity as the biggest patriot in show business. That enlistment sets off a chain of events that ends in tragedy.

Speaking of Gene Kelly, if Bolero had been done at MGM instead of Paramount a decade or two later this film would have been great for him. Raft was a good dancer, but he was not a creative individual the way Kelly was. Look at what he did with An American In Paris, this could have been another film like that.

Still it's not bad, Raft and Lombard, make an exciting couple on the dance floor, especially doing that dance to an abbreviated version of Ravel's Bolero. There's also good performances by Frances Drake and Sally Rand as a couple of Raft's discarded dames and by up and coming Ray Milland as the English lord also interested in Lombard.

In other hands though, Bolero could have been a classic.

What Big Fans You Have, Sally Rand

[boblipton · 7/10 · 28 August 2019]

Belgian-born miner George Raft's dancing gets booed off the stage, so he starts dancing with dames for flash. He keeps dragging brother William Frawley and his inexhaustible wallet along as his manager to France. There his act clicks with Frances Drake as his partner, but she insists on mixing business with pleasure, so he dumps her for ever-increasing success with like-minded Carole Lombard. On the eve of his opening his own club in Paris, World War One intervenes, as it so often does in movies like this.

Raft shows off his flashy dancing to good effect, and Miss Drake certainly keeps up with him -- she had danced in British night clubs -- but Miss Lombard clearly has a dance double for long shots. Once you get past the idea of Raft and Frawley being half-brothers, the movie rolls right along, with its symbolism of sexuality entwined with Terpsichore, and the plot progression clearly works along to the progressions in Ravel's famous piece.

Sally Rand appears to do her famous fan dance. For me, it was the highlight of the show, although I wish she had smaller fans.

Raft and Lombard Dancing the Bolero!

[JLRMovieReviews · 8/10 · 26 February 2015]

In "Bolero," George Raft is in the limelight as part of a dancing duo. This is his passion and his life. But it all comes to a head when his partner wants more. She's the jealous type anyway. Any attention he gives to another woman, she flies off the handle. She's temperamental and fiery. Enter Carole Lombard. When his partner gives him more grief than she's worth, he drops her and takes Carole as his partner and eventual love interest. This early drama is helped by the stars' chemistry, as they make a very intense and sensual couple. But his fame and prosperity are hampered by his health and by his ex-partner's jealousies. This is a very good yet not very well-known film. In my experience, I have noticed an attribute of some of the early 1930s films: they had very abrupt endings. In some cases, they didn't know exactly how or when to end well, and others ended on the pinnacle of drama, when there was nothing further to elaborate on, where less is more. "Bolero" is one of those. And, that dramatic ending is what gives this film another plus. Discover "Bolero" today, if you can and see Raft and Lombard in action.

Raft and Lombard Rumba

[view_and_review · 7/10 · 25 April 2024]

Raoul De Baere (George Raft) wanted nothing more than to be a dancer. He was wasting his talents in a coal mine when he could be burning up the dance floor, but he had two problems:

1. He needed money. He couldn't focus on dancing while slaving away in a coal mine.

2. He needed a female partner. No one wanted to see a man dance solo.

He was able to solve both problems. First, he got money from his brother Mike (William Frawley) which allowed him to focus on dancing. Second, he found a female partner, who became the first of several. But Raoul's dreams always took him past where he currently was. He wanted to keep climbing to greater and greater heights.

His break came when he moved to Paris to dance. There he made a name for himself and even landed a new and better partner: Helen Hathaway (Carole Lombard). He had only one rule for her: don't fall in love with him because business and pleasure didn't mix. His previous partner, Leona (Frances Drake), fell in love with him and it ruined their working relationship. However, telling a person not to fall in love is like telling a person not to breathe.

It was interesting seeing George Raft in a role other than a gangster or a New York cabbie. I don't think he has a lot of range, but he held his own in this film. Carole Lombard is almost always good. I especially liked her in "Twentieth Century."

The storyline of "Bolero" was shockingly original and compelling. I was expecting a standard romance with Raoul and Helen with a standard rise, fall, and rise again rollercoaster that we get with sports and entertainment movies, but we didn't get that. I liked the direction it went even if the ending was bittersweet.

Free on YouTube.

Dancing with the stars

[1930s_Time_Machine · 2/10 · 4 October 2023]

A remarkably dull and insignificant piece of nothingness which was surprisingly popular in 1934 primarily because of the sex appeal of its two stars. There's absolutely nothing else to this.

That this was such a hit when it came out is testament to the appeal of George Raft and Carole Lombard. This film exists entirely to show to the masses what good looking people these were. Whilst it was, and still is common for films to focus on the attractiveness of its female lead (in the early thirties including the obligatory lingerie and bathtub scene), dwelling on the looks of the male lead as much as this does is s bit more unusual. George Raft seems to me a reasonably good looking guy but clearly in 1934 he was the one making the women go weak at the knees. Whilst it seems predictable and acceptable to see Carole Lombard in her undies and some very sexy dresses, there's a lot more screen time devoted to Mr Raft in various states of undress. Were I one of those people who get hot under the collar about such things I'd by shouting that the poor man's being sexually exploited..... oh and given hundreds of thousands of dollars, a life of sheer unadulterated luxury and the most beautiful women in Hollywood throwing themselves at the foot of his bed.

Not being a 1930s girl, I can't see George Raft's appeal. His 'thing' is cold insouciance and expressionless detachment.... some might call it 'inability to act' but good luck to him for making a career by not having much talent - you've got to admire him for that. This doesn't go as far as recommending this film though. It's ok I suppose but it's really, really, really dull. Maybe if you like that kind of dancing you might appreciate a few minutes of this but the story is lifeless and predictable.

George Raft is completely characterless. I know that's deliberate - he's meant to be 100% focussed on his ambition to dance but not having any personality because of his obsession with dancing doesn't make for a character you can emote with in any way whatsoever. Carole Lombard is ok in this, she looks pretty, dances quite elegantly but she doesn't do anything most stock actresses would be able to do. She was better than this.

So, if you want to see moderately good dancers do their thing for a couple of minutes amongst a load of trivia...... watch Strictly Come Dancing (Dancing with the stars in the US)!

Much better than I expected

[richard-1787 · 9/10 · 11 June 2014]

This is really quite a remarkable movie, folks, and one that I strongly urge you to see.

Why? Because of the dancing? Not so much. But because Raft and Lombard give two very fine performances here, and have real chemistry. (Could it have been hard to have chemistry with Lombard????) The script is more than just the series of clichés one might expect, and the characters have real complexity.

And then there is Sally Rand's fan dance. It is truly very beautiful to watch. There isn't much to the rest of her role, but her 3 minutes dancing are more than worth the price of admission.

This is, in a sense, the original "Dirty Dancing". And it's a great predecessor to that other movie. Before Astaire and Rodgers, and the Hayes Office, we see what dancing could also be used to suggest, and it's quite exciting.

Blah-lero

[HarlowMGM · 4/10 · 3 November 2013]

BOLERO is the worst 1930's film I have yet seen with major stars and a big budget. This phenomenally boring melodrama wastes the talents of the cast and despite reportedly being a hit in 1934 is a very minor title in their filmographies. I'm guessing this was made to cash in on the surprise success of the dancing team of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and Paramount decided to whip up a star dance team of their own. Problem is neither star appears to have been able to do the more complicated dance moves and their dance numbers together are shot either from a distance with obvious doubles or so close you don't really see much of their dancing. That might not be so bad if the story held your interest but it just doesn't, a paper-thin tale of a scheming, smalltime dancer from the working class named Raoul (George Raft) who learns the public is basically only interested in male dancers if they have beautiful dance partners so he goes through a couple of girls, upgrading as he moves into ritzier circles. He has a harsh "don't mix business with pleasure" motto though which leads to complications from partners who want more than a dance.

He meets his match when Helen (Carole Lombard) shows up one night and blatantly announces she wants to be his new partner, even while he is currently enjoying success with Frances Drake! Lombard is perfectly fine with Raft's no-romance angle, she too wants to use her dance skills to climb in society and possibly nab a rich spouse. She attracts the attention of a handsome young Lord (Ray Milland) when in England and Raft discovers he just might not be so disinterested in his partner after all.

I love Lombard but this role doesn't offer much for her, she's supposed to be kind of predatory as well but we never see this in her personality. She doesn't even make her entrance into the film until almost a half hour. Despite being in almost every scene, George Raft is not given a fully developed character either, it's never really explained why Raoul is so frosty to his early dance partners even with not wanting a romantic angle on their relationship. William Frawley is pretty good as Raft's long-suffering brother who finances his schemes during his early struggling years and later becomes his manager when things are going good. Famed "fan dancer" Sally Rand shows up in the middle of the picture as Annette, a headliner on bill with Raft and Lombard, and is certainly offers the film's most memorable moments with her legendary feather dance with the camera discreetly at a distance in the moments the feathers aren't quite covering her faux-nude leotards.

The movie suffers though from a bad script and at times bad direction. A ludicrous bit of Raft's character being condescending to others has him haughtily raising a tea cup to sip repeatedly through the movie. The "war" scenes are very badly done with stock footage packaged around Raft and Frawley virtually alone on the battlefield. Beautiful Lombard has some nice fashions but a rather unflattering flattened short hairstyle. Raft looks sharp in his suits but his character comes across so self-centered it's hard to believe all of these women are just falling over themselves in hopes of landing him. This one is only for completist devotees of Raft or Lombard although perhaps the rare chance at seeing Sally Rand in action makes it worth at least one viewing.

A must see; for the dancing, if not for the plot.

[firework · 15 May 2000]

This is a dance film very much in the classic mold. An arrogant but popular dancer is dumped by his/her partner/lover and takes a new partner in order to win a contest against the former, only to fall in love again, this time for real.

"Saturday Night Fever" any one?

What makes this movie so worth watching is not the plot, nor even the dancing: it is the manner in which it is presented.

George Raft, sleazy as ever, tells Carole Lombard, who has come to audition in his hotel room, to do so in her underwear. She complies without complaint. Later in the film Sally Rand performs her famous Fan Dance. Properly done, a woman hides her complete nudity behind two enormous ostrich feather fans, while keeping herself and the fans in constant motion.

It is safe to say that neither of these scenes would have been possible a year later, nor for another thirty after that.

If you enjoy precode films, and would like to see how far the studios would go in order to get those depression dollars, or could go to irritate the censors, this is a fine example.

Rare George Raft Dancing Movie

[springfieldrental · 8/10 · 3 March 2023]

Like James Cagney, actor George Raft rarely was given the opportunity to show off his chops on the dance floor. Cast in gangster film roles early on, both actors got their foot in the door in Hollywood in the early 1930s through their success as professional dancers, appearing in a number of stage musicals on and off Broadway. Raft had the chance to show off his lithesome dance moves in February 1934's "Bolero."

As a child, Raft's mother taught him to dance. His specialty became the Charleston. "I could have been the first X-rated dancer," bragged Raft later. "I was very erotic. I used to caress myself as I danced. I never felt I was a great dancer. I was more of a stylist, unique." His talents were so great he toured in Europe's biggest cities, popularizing the tango as he performed. Fred Astaire remembers him as a quick-on-his-feet dancer, and he did "the fastest Charleston I ever saw." During the Broadway musicals before live audiences, Raft was encouraged by the reception he received from the appreciative crowds to pursue a Hollywood career beginning in 1929, breaking into film as talkies were emerging on the scene. He appeared in several small dancing sequences until he slid into his more popular gangster role in 1932's "Scarface," showing off his trademark coin flipping.

Raft knew Maurice Mouvet, the American dancer the film "Bolero" was based. The actor claimed he taught Maurice some dance steps. Unlike Mouvet, who constantly fell for his female dance partners, in the movie Raoul De Barre (Raft) made a point never to have affairs with women, even though several came on to him. After several partners, Raoul turns to Helen Hathaway (Carole Lombard). He vows not to fall in love with her, but eventually does. Trouble is, Lord Robert Coray (Ray Milland), is an admirer of hers and makes an effort to have her return the favor.

Lombard, never a professional dancer, was light on her feet. She took the place of Miriam Hopkins, who was recovering from an illness. Lombard was offered the role of Ellie in "It Happened One Night," but was tied up with "Bolero." Director Wesley Ruggles substituted Lombard and Raft during the difficult climatic number 'Bolero' with international ballroom dance stars Veloz and Yolanda, using extreme wide shots to mask their real identities. The pair also choreographed the movie's dance moves. The film, and particularly that climatic dance, impressed ice skaters Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean so much they copied the exact movements onto the ice for their memorable 1984 Olympic Game gold medal performance.

Burlesque sensation Sally Rand displayed her famous but provocative ostrich feather fan dance during an interlude in Raft's nightclub performance in "Bolero." The Hays Production Code censors were initially troubled by Rand's scheduled appearance in the movie. But once they saw the 'tasteful' routine from the controversial dancer, they allowed her trademark number to remain in the film. Rand was responsible for popularizing dancing with large ostrich feathers, a trend that Busby Berkeley capitalized on with his jaw-dropping 'Spin A Little Web of Dreams' number in 1934's "Fashions of 1934."

William Frawley's (Fred Mertz on "I Love Lucy") had one of his bigger roles on film in "Bolero." Appearing in over 100 movies, Frawley plays Raoul's brother who provides financial support as well as managerial advice. Surprisingly, his character was not written into the follow-up to "Bolero," Paramount Pictures' "Rumba," that Raft and Lombard appeared in the following year. Quite possibly because of the absence of Frawley, this caused "Rumba" to not live up to its predecessor's wildly successful theater run.

Good ideas, deficient execution

[I_Ailurophile · 5/10 · 26 March 2022]

I love old movies. Whether one is talking about the 30s, 40s, 50s, or the silent era, I think there's a vast ocean of tremendous value that's been largely, sadly overlooked in subsequent years. That's not to say that all of classic cinema is equal, however, and inevitably one sometimes stumbles across titles that fail to capture one's imagination in the way one would hope. Unfortunately, I feel that 'Bolero' is one of those titles.

There is a nonchalance about the picture that reduces its flourishes of levity to a sense of mild amusement in which not even a smile is cracked. There's an ease to the picture that so diminishes even the most dramatic moments such that the loudest of raised voices can impart nothing more than people pretending to be upset, and turns in the plot almost uniformly evoke a reaction no greater than "Oh. Okay." All this would be fine if the cast were portraying fictional actors in the roles of these characters, putting on sardonic airs - but of anything else 'Bolero' may be, meta it is not, and so the most severe arguments and profound shifts simply come across as rather passé. To that point, too - I think George Raft, Carole Lombard, Frances Drake, and all others here demonstrate a suitable level of range and nuance in their performances. The laidback fluidity of the course of events in this feature, however, prevent them from exercising their capabilities to their fullest extent - and in those rare instances when someone truly explodes, it feels purely like overacting. I assume the frustrating overarching casualness can be chalked up to the artistic choices of director Wesley Ruggles, and I don't want to cast aspersions on the basis of just this one film, but it doesn't inspire confidence.

In fairness, 'Bolero' distinctly represents a simpler entertainment from a simpler time. One is accustomed to pictures with dance also including song - that is to say, musicals, which haven't changed a great deal since the advent of the talkies. There's nothing inherently wrong with the fact that 'Bolero' focuses exclusively on the former while disregarding the latter in any meaningful sense. Yet for all the swinging, fancy moves of lead Raft and his co-stars, the lively frolicking only does so much to grab or keep one's attention, and it's not so stimulating as to be able to provide able counterbalance to weak direction and plot progression.

Frankly, it's a real shame - the story is wonderful in concept, and I recognize some terrific ideas in the screenplay. Yet it's only in the last several minutes that all the disparate parts come together with the strength and cohesion 'Bolero' should have had all along. We get at long last an invigorating dance sequence, acting that is on point, and drama that is allowed to unfold at exactly the right pace and amplitude. And still the very, very end seems extraneous, and moreover, this long-awaited highlight is informed by a turn in the plot at the one-hour mark in the runtime - a strikingly unwieldy few minutes plagued by rushed, shoddy editing and sequencing, abusing eyes and ears alike. And at no point throughout the length have we been given much of a reason to care about the protagonist, so even at its best, 'Bolero' can't carry the weight that it should.

Storytelling is an art, and art is subjective. Other viewers will watch this and find it far more enjoyable and impactful than I have. That's fine. Everyone has their own opinions. Mine is that 'Bolero' languishes under questionable direction, more than anything else, that dwindles the feature to a shade of what it could and should have been. It's far from the worst film one could ever watch, and even among pictures of the 20s, 30s, and 40s that I admire so greatly, there are more regrettable clunkers than this one. Unless you're a diehard fan of dance, however, or someone in the cast, then I just don't see much need to go out of your way for this movie.

No thumbs up or down - just one disappointed shrug.

A cold, hard to love hero makes for a cold, hard to love film

[hudecha · 5/10 · 30 November 2020]

Bolero is a rather strange film, a spitting-image of its central character Raoul : good-looking, sleek, cold, single-minded - and quite uneasy to love. Raoul does not have two ideas to drive his life, just one - his obsession to become the most famous cabaret dancer in a place he will own. Equally the film, which "owns" Raoul, is driven by a single purpose, to show whether and how he will fulfill his objective (dream would definitely not be the right word - Raoul is anything but a dreamer, there is not an ounce of poetry in his brain). Not surprisingly, love is what could mainly deviate Raoul's and the film's obdurate trajectories. Not really so, because they leave little real room for it. Women love Raoul - though it is hard to understand what they find in him beyond his good looks and sentiment-free winning smile. Raoul does not love women, he just loves himself. Or more precisely there is no room in his heart for anything but self-centered ambition. Dancing lady partners, who with boring regularity fall passionately and possessively for him, are brief one-sided stories - just temporary useful instruments to further his career and then to be discarded, preferably quickly so as not to create deep attachments, as disposable as paper tissues. And when real love, or what looks like it, knocks at Raoul's door in the shapely shape of equally hard-headed Helen, he is as slow to recognize it as he is fast to throw it away inadvertently later on. Without saying too much, it is not even clear that he experiences real regrets about it - did he lose the love of his life, or just his best dancing partner? Whichever the case, another event - wholly unexpected that one -, World War I, then invites itself into the plot to derail Raoul's life plan more surely and inexorably than love ever could. And the film decides to make him even less sympathetic, if that is possible, in war than in love. When he hears the news about the war declaration, he abruptly cuts short his big number to announce to large public applause that he will enlist in the Belgian army (yes, believe it or not, here George Raft is supposed to play a Belgian immigrant in the US); but he immediately disappoints Helen by informing her that new-found patriotism had nothing to do with his spectacular decision, he just designed it as a clever publicity stunt to be used within one or two weeks, when he comes back from the victoriously-ended war... A tightly-edited one-minute graphic rendition of the long years of gory slaughterhouse which were WWI is then used, very insensitively, as a kind of ironic plot foil to punish Raoul for his poorly-calculated hubris. Nor has this eye-opening experience of collective suffering made Raoul less self-centered and cold-hearted. In a post-Hollywood production, this story could have served as a study of a deeply-flawed egotistical character. One can strongly doubt that this was the main intention of this film, and if it had been neither the simplistic script nor the narrow range of George Raft's acting would have served it well. As to Carole Lombard, she gets an acceptable but far from fascinating part. Helen starts as a strong-willed but none too lovable character either - an equal of Raoul in cold-blooded ambition, though hers does not pursue any specific purpose other than social climbing. She then softens just to fall into Raoul's extended arms, thus becoming nicer but also losing any originality she might have had - not counting the fact that Raoul has not obviously become a more loving and lovable person. And then, when her eyes finally open to the fact he is still the same, she drops him for a bland but truly-loving British lord. That's the moment in the film when she fully earns the viewer's sympathy, especially as the story later avoids one pitfall of a cliche, having her to regret having left. She does not - nor should she. Still, for admirers of Carole Lombard, this shallow and mostly humorless story is perfectly watchable but it offers her one of the least interesting roles in her career. A last word on the musical side. Despite its numerous dancing numbers, the film does not impress as a musical. There is a strangely suggestive one in the middle called The Fan by a specialty dancer which clearly indicates that at the time of Bolero the Hays Code was not in full swing - apparently it was considered fairly scandalous at the time. Another reminder of the period is the way Raoul orders Helen to strip down in her lingerie in order to prove her dancing abilities - he even tells her that for what he cares she could dance naked, which leaves the definitely un-prudish Carole Lombard very unaffected. There are a number of duets, none too sophisticated when Lombard is the partner as she is not an experienced dancer. The exception being the promised Ravel's Bolero which titles and concludes the film, in which professional dancers are obviously substituted in the most difficult parts - it is not bad, though it pales when compared with the enthralling much later version of Maurice Bejart. And then there is the opening number of George Raft as a virtuoso hoofer, which he indeed had been in real life. Despite its complete lack of any artistic ambition this is the only number I found rather enjoyable, especially his worried looks towards the unappreciative public - this is ironic as it is also the only time when he is booed by the public, for lack of an attractive feminine partner. It also determines the future of Raoul as he says "never more", and concludes that unfortunately for him, women will have to be a necessary prop on his path towards higher aims. A real nice ladies' man...

Save the last dance for me.

[dbdumonteil · 28 June 2007]

In his eighties extravaganza "Les Uns et Les Autres" ,Claude Lelouch tried a new choreography for le Bolero de Maurice Ravel.It cannot hold a candle to the wonderful Raft/Lombard dancing.This extraordinary finale has also emotion and heart going for it,an emotion totally absent of Lelouch's too perfect and terribly cold sequence.

The story takes place in France 1910.A miner (Raft) becomes a Danseur Mondain.He 's not interested in his female partners and is a real heart breaker.His only purpose is to marry a rich woman.Enter a gorgeous woman (Lombard) who registers the same desire :she 's looking for a money match.So both agree not to fall in love with each other.

Outside the finale ,best scene is the first interrupted ballet : Raft realizes his military audience is not watching them ,talking about the war which has just begun.So they stop dancing and the band segues from Ravel's work to "La Marseillaise" oddly sung in English.

Pre-Code Dandy

[Bucs1960 · 30 August 2011]

I love this film.....not so much for the story which is pretty basic but for a two minute dance between George Raft, the ultimate gigolo and a young Carole Lombard. The use of Ravel's Bolero has been used many times from the ghastly Bo Derek film of the same name to the beautiful 1984 Olympic Gold Medal winning ice dance by Torvil and Dean. But this is the grandaddy of them all and it is sexy beyond belief. Granted, dance doubles were used in the long shots for the difficult lifts but it is very well done and there is enough of Raft and Lombard to retain authenticity. Raft was a dancer in another life so he had the moves and if Lombard was not a dancer, she does a damn good imitation. The plot of the film has been discussed in detail by the other reviewers so I will just call attention to the dance sequence which makes it all worthwhile.