Bolero

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.

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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.

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.

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.

"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.