Barbara O'Neill may sell her soles for ten cents a dance, but her soul is not for sale. Barbara Stanwyck once again shines through the detritus of the Depression as a smart, wisecracking gal who can handle her own whether it be fisticuffs or verbal sparring. Stanwyck is so genuine and earnest in her role it’s heartbreaking.
Barbara is a Taxi Dancer who lives night to night earning her living by dancing with any man who has a ticket. She is disillusioned but reticent, accepting her place in the social hierarchy while at the same time rebelling against it. This frisson creates the energy that propels her character throughout the story. She’s in love with Eddie Miller, a down-on-his-luck young man who grudgingly accepts her help and vows to pay her back. A rich businessman Bradley Carlton has also become smitten by the beautiful dancer and tips her $100 (which she gives to Eddie to pay his rent) and buys her an expensive dress. His affections seem authentic and it’s to the story’s strength that he isn’t portrayed as a tyrant or bully, though it sets up the eventual showdown between love interests. But here, expectations are upended and it’s the wealthy man who has the moral high ground!
Barbara gets Eddie a job in Carlton’s accounting office and she and Eddie soon secretly marry. Barbara spurns Bradley in the nicest way possible (which makes me love her performance even more) and again, to his credit, he graciously accepts her declination of his affections. She returns the expensive dress unworn, and he turns it in to the coat-check and gives her the ticket: if she ever changes her mind, she can always come back for it. Richard Cortez as Bradley is wonderfully nuanced, he’s handsome and charismatic yet humble and sincere, as we the audience expect some twist that reveals him for a Cad! Instead, we are led to empathize with Eddie as he struggles to support himself and Barbara (who never complains, mind you) but as the narrative progresses his true self emerges. My wife and I called him Sniveling Little Rat Faced Git! When Barbara Stanwyck loves you unconditionally, is willing to struggle with you emotionally, financially and physically through thick and thin, professes unwavering support and you condemn her, blame her for your shortcomings...you’re a fucking Sniveling Little Rat Faced Git. To Monroe Owsley’s credit, he makes the audience feel sort of bad for Eddie at first then gradually becomes a prick: he’s very convincing!
The denouement involves Eddie stealing $5,000 from his office which he lost in the Stock Market (which makes me even angrier at him, it’s 1931 for fuck’s sake!). Barbara has to swallow her pride and go to Bradley and ask for a loan to keep her husband out of prison. It’s heart-wrenching to see this willful lady ask her once-upon-a-time suitor for a loan she can probably never pay back. She doesn’t prostitute herself (physically or emotionally) and it doesn’t seem to cross Bradley’s mind: he sees a woman he loved in need, so he helps her. No strings attached. However, once Eddie learns where she got the money, he’s sure she “earned” it and goes on a tirade against her. But Barbara holds her own and destroys his manhood with a few well-placed words. Now in charge of her own affairs, she retrieves her destiny for the cost of a single dance: ten cents.
Final Grade: (B)