Our Dancing Daughters

Harry Beaumont's 1928 film is the work that made Joan Crawford a star. The story runs between two young women: Diana, who looks wild from outside but is honest, and Ann, who plays the innocent while looking only for a rich husband. Both are pursuing the same millionaire. The film belongs to the last years of the silent era and works as a visual document of the jazz age. The dancing, the art deco interiors and the clothes record America at the end of the twenties directly. Crawford's dance scenes are the most remembered part. Its moral structure fits the mould of the time: the gap between appearance and character is rewarded. But the film does not condemn flapper culture; women making their own choices is presented as ordinary, which is notable for 1928. Who it's for: those curious about silent-era Hollywood and jazz age aesthetics. Who it's not for: viewers wanting a complex story; the plot is simple and the outcome is predictable from the start.