Watch They Shoot Horses, Don't They? For Free

Best movie ever!

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

The early 1930's. Various down and out contestants put themselves through sheer physical, emotional, and psychological hell while participating in a grueling dance marathon for $1,500 dollars in prize money.Director Sydney Pollack offers a vivid and convincing evocation of the Great Depression-era period setting, maintains an unsparingly harsh and downbeat tone throughout, and astutely captures an overwhelming sense of despair, futility, and utter hopelessness. The pungent script by James Poe and Robert E. Thompson not only offers a potent and provocative meditation on the desperate measures people will resort to for the sake of fame, money, success, and survival, but also makes an equally profound statement on our culture's obsession with instant celebrity and how the premise of cruelty as entertainment serves as a means of enabling miserable spectators to take their minds off their own troubles for a while.The uniformly superb acting by the terrific cast helps a whole lot: Jane Fonda delivers a bang-up performance full of rage and defiance as the bitter and broken down Gloria, Michael Sarrazin makes a fine and sympathetic impression as the gentle and sensitive Robert, Gig Young totally deserved his Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his fabulously lived-in portrayal of the corrupt and cynical emcee, Susannah York likewise excels as glamorous aspiring actress Alice, Red Buttons contributes a wonderfully exuberant turn as the hearty Sailor, Bonnie Bedelia projects a sweet innocence as the pregnant Ruby, Bruce Dern does his usual ace work as Ruby's fierce ox of a husband James, and Robert Conrad and Paul Mantee are appropriately stern and steely as a pair of hard-nosed referees. Philip H. Lathrop's crisp cinematography thrusts the viewer right into the harrowing thick of the punishing ordeal. By no means a pleasant or comforting film, but nonetheless a highly effective and unforgettable one.

one of the most powerful films. for its pure honesty. for its perpetual truth. for its actors. for the looks and for dance and for symbols who reminds Bruegel. for the first scenes. and for something who remains always a state. because it gives only a personal message to each viewer. it is strange to write about it. because the essence remains hided. because the splendid performances are more than a good job. because it is one of films beginning after the final credits. short, it is a film about cruelty of social desires. and about the price. and it did it almost a parable. or reflection in mirror. because all must be reduced at illusion. and at a bitter form of tragic poetry.

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 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.