Our Dancing Daughters (1928)
*** (out of 4)
This here is without question one of the most popular silent film and one that new fans seem to discover each passing year. The film isn't known for being great but for turning Joan Crawford into a movie star. In the film she plays Diana, a good natured girl with the reputation of being a party animal. Her best friend Ann (Anita Page) is a real gold digger who doesn't have a good bone in her body. Diana eventually falls for a guy named Ben (Johnny Mack Brown) and while he eventually falls for her, the reputation keeps him at distance but he makes a mistake when he falls for Ann who is only after one thing no matter what act she puts on for him. This certainly isn't the greatest movie ever made but there's enough entertainment here for fans of Crawford to want to check it out. Silent film fans will also want to check it out as it's another early attempt at putting sound onto a film. The synchronized soundtrack consists of various crowd noises in the background as well as a few lines of dialogue being spoken by people in the background. I'm sure this was very exciting back in 1928 but today it sounds incredibly fake and rather funny. Outside of that the movie delivers a lot of great performances, which is the real reason to check this out. Crawford is wonderful as the bright eyed, soft hearted girl and she really delivers a very memorable character. I loved the way she pulls off being goofy one second but at the snap of a finger she could switch gears and make it believable. Page never seems to get the credit she deserves but she too is good here and makes for a great villain. The ending where she and Crawford really go at it was wonderfully pulled off. Johnny Mack Brown, Mils Asther and Dorothy Sebastian, as the third friend, also do nice work. The actual ending and how this triangle gets worked out is really forced and rather stupid but it's only a mild error. This jazz age love story does a nice job at capturing the youth of this era and that's enough to make the film worth checking out. Throw in the performances and you've got a nice little gem that should keep most entertained.
