They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)

It's the Great Depression at the Santa Monica Pier near Hollywood. Robert Syverton (Michael Sarrazin) happens upon a dance marathon and is pulled in to participate. As a child, he witnessed the mercy killing of his horse. MC Rocky (Gig Young) makes him the replacement to Gloria (Jane Fonda)'s sick partner. She's a bitter woman and the years have not been kind to her. Other participants include confident elderly sailer Harry Kline (Red Buttons), aspiring actors Alice (Susannah York) and Joel (Robert Fields), and poverty-stricken James (Bruce Dern) and his pregnant wife Ruby (Bonnie Bedelia) who are willing to dance simply for the food.Director Sydney Pollack is able to bring a sense of rising desperation to the movie. Fonda has a great broken character. They are all great. This is a broken world full of broken people. It does meander a bit with the flashbacks and internal squabbles but each derby injects more harrowing energy to the movie. It has great desperation.

In 1932, in the Great Depression, a group of hopeless people participates of a dance marathon contest on the Santa Monica Pier in California. Among them are the bitter and disillusioned Gloria (Jane Fonda); a sailor (Red Buttons) that fought in the war; the aspirant actress and actor Alice (Susannah York) and Joel (Robert Fields); the farmer James (Bruce Dern) and his pregnant wife Ruby (Bonnie Bedella); all of them expecting to win the award of US$ 1,500.00. Gloria's partner has a threatening cough and is disqualified before the contest. However, the Master of Ceremony Rocky (Gig Young) summons the stranger Robert (Michael Sarrazin) to replace her partner and dance with Gloria. Along more than forty days, the weakest couples are disqualified from the contest. When Rocky proposes that the exhausted Gloria and Robert get married during the dance marathon to raise money with the gifts, Rocky discloses that the winners will have their expenses deducted from the prize resting almost nothing from the US$ 1,500.00. Gloria leaves the contest with Robert and asks him for an ultimate solution for her suffering. "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" is one of the most impressive and depressive movies I have ever seen. I read Horace McCoy's unforgettable novel when I was a fourteen year-old teenager and I recall how sad I was with this tragic story of human suffering and the comparison of people with cattle. Later I saw this movie twice on VHS (last time on 16 March 2000) and yesterday I saw it on DVD. The direction and performances are top-notch and in the end I was weirdly depressed despite knowing the story and the conclusion. My vote is nine. Title (Brazil): "A Noite dos Desesperados" ("The Night of the Desperate")

In They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, an extensive dance marathon slowly turns into a brutal exploration of the human spirit. Just about the entire film takes place within the confines of one building, the setting for the marathon lasting weeks, with a group of varied characters coming together in an attempt to outlast the rest for the grand cash prize. It's an interesting premise and has been used several times, mostly for comedic purposes, but the idea of it holds so much dramatic potential. Playing it for comedy would be easy, but the script by James Poe and Robert E. Thompson, adapted from a novel by Horace McCoy, goes for the harsh reality of it all and what comes out is a grueling, tragic display.The experience these characters put themselves through is torturous, always putting on a show for the crowd and at the mercy of the judges and Gig Young's announcer Rocky. It's like watching animals in a zoo, slowly being pushed down to their dying breath. The film provides an interesting social commentary in the way that the crowd starts off minimal, only a few spectators in the stands as the participants are relatively fresh and alert, but as the days go on and their hope dwindles the crowd grows and grows. They want to see the chaotic potential of the marathon, they want to see these human beings brought to their breaking point, and they get that in spades.Focusing on the young Robert (Michael Sarrazin) and Gloria (Jane Fonda), two loners who partner up for the contest, the film explores some dark themes through their experience of the contest and the downward spiral they are pushed through. There are flashes to Robert being arrested for an unknown crime that we see several times throughout the film, which provide an interesting look at his character and a curious mystery to try and decipher, but the primary focus of the film is on those themes of bringing a person to their breaking point and seeing what comes out as a result.The performances are uniformly strong, from the powerfully broken Fonda, to the borderline psychotic Susannah York, to the energetic and determined Red Buttons, but special note should be given to Young who is charismatic and malicious as the host of ceremonies but in his moments out of the spotlight presents a sort of bitter melancholy towards the world that adds another layer to his character. Pollack's direction here is understated but absolutely remarkable. He doesn't use a lot of flash or technique, but he seamlessly gives the film the sensation of it being a marathon itself. You can feel the days and weeks pressing on as they grow weaker, more tired and more hopeless.By the time the final act comes, the audience is in as much as a weary daze as the participants are. It all comes around to it's final sequence, which is tragic beyond the definition of the word. The revelations are powerful and finding out the true meaning of the title is a revelation for the ages. A strange, unique and utterly brilliant work.

I saw this movie 41 years ago, and decided then and there never to go to bummer movies again. I'm not sure why I went. I wasn't really interested in dance marathons or the Depression. Perhaps it was because the cast was top-notch. In fact, the acting was good--all too believable! The script was OK, too. This movie was memorable, all right--haunting and brutal would be more fitting. If you want to be bummed out, watch this movie--it's a guaranteed downer! So this movie did me a great service. It scarred me for life. I look at reviews before I go to movies, and I avoid any movies that would leave me feeling like this one did. I like life, and I don't feel a need to create intense negative emotions like this movie fostered.