Why Those Who Dance (1930) is a weirdly fun, clunky relic

Should you actually watch this?

If you have a soft spot for the days when movies sounded like they were recorded inside a tin can, you'll probably like this. It’s perfect for a rainy afternoon when you want to see guys in huge fedoras growling at each other.

However, if you can't stand slow scenes where people stand perfectly still so the hidden microphones can hear them, you will likely hate it. It’s a movie that takes its time, even when it shouldn't.

Those Who Dance is a remake of a silent film, and you can really tell. Some of the actors, like Lila Lee, still have those wide, expressive eyes that feel like they are waiting for a title card to pop up.

The plot is pretty simple stuff. A young guy gets caught up in a crime, and his sister is desperate to save him from the law.

Then we get Monte Blue playing a cop who goes undercover. He has to act like a 'gunman' to get close to the mob, and he’s actually pretty good at looking like he’s about to punch someone.

There is this one scene with a car accident that genuinely surprised me. The sound is so harsh and loud that it actually made me jump, which is weird for a movie that is almost a hundred years old.

I noticed that the guns in this movie look like toys. They have these long barrels and the actors hold them kind of awkwardly, like they aren't sure if they're supposed to actually point them at people.

One thing that kept distracting me was the background noise. You can hear this constant hissing sound throughout the whole film.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Those Who Dance (1930) through its definitive frames.

It’s not bad, it just reminds you that they were still figuring out how technology worked back then. It’s like listening to an old vinyl record that’s been left out in the sun.

The dialogue is a bit of a mixed bag. Sometimes it’s really snappy, and other times it feels like they are reading a grocery list with extreme intensity.

I loved the character of the mob boss. He sits behind a desk and looks very important, but he doesn't really do much of anything except look disappointed.

There’s a scene in a warehouse with some really great shadows. It reminded me a bit of the atmosphere in The Little Giant, though that one came out a few years later and felt a bit more sure of itself.

I also kept thinking about how much different it is from Mother Knows Best, which was another early sound experiment. Those Who Dance is much more interested in being 'tough' than being sentimental.

The pacing gets a little weird in the middle. There is a lot of walking into rooms, sitting down, and then walking back out of those rooms.

I think they were just happy they could record the sound of footsteps. Speaking of which, the floorboards in this movie must have been made of paper because every step sounds like a thunderclap.

William 'Stage' Boyd is in this, and he has such a theatrical voice. He sounds like he’s trying to reach the back row of a theater in another city.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Those Who Dance (1930) through its definitive frames.

It’s funny to see how they handled 'action' back then. A punch is usually just a very slow swing that clearly misses by a foot, but the sound effect makes it sound like a bomb went off.

I wish Betty Compson had more to do in this. She shows up and looks great, but the movie doesn't seem to know where to put her half the time.

The ending feels like it happens in about thirty seconds. One minute the undercover cop is in trouble, and the next, everyone is being arrested and it's over.

It doesn't really explain how they got out of the mess, it just sort of... stops. Which I guess is one way to handle a climax.

If you’re into the history of film, like seeing stuff like America Preparing, then this is a cool piece of the puzzle. It shows that awkward middle ground between silent art and modern talking pictures.

It’s not a masterpiece, and I probably won’t watch it again for a long time. But I’m glad I saw it, even if it was just to see those absurdly wide lapels on the suits.

Sometimes a movie is just about the vibe. And the vibe here is '1930s basement with too much cigarette smoke.'

Check it out if you want a dose of grit that feels a bit like a stage play. Just don't expect it to make total sense all the time.