We Were Dancing (1942)

What a waste of my time!!!

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

This film, "We Were Dancing" from 1942 is a combination of two Noel Coward plays, and neither one was his best work.The film stars Norma Shearer and Melvin Douglas, with a good supporting cast including Gail Patrick, Lee Bowman, Alan Mowbray, Connie Gilchrist, Norma Varden, Reginald Owen, and Marjorie Main. Norma Shearer, with a blondish wig, plays Princess Victoria 'Vicki' Wilomirska who, when she gets excited, spouts outrageous Polish. At her engagement party (she is to marry the Lee Bowman character), she dances with Baron Nicholas Prax (Douglas) and they fall in love immediately. She breaks her engagement and marries the Baron.The profession of these two is that of houseguests. They wander from place to place staying in the homes of socially ambitious people, usually Americans, who like the pedigree.It's the usual break up to make up scenario.Norma's big problem was that she couldn't get out of the '30s, and without her husband around, she couldn't choose films either. She obviously was concerned about her age and unfortunately, she had a right to - at 40, she was about 10 years past the age where most leading ladies in those days actually were leading ladies and not character actors. It's a shame, because she would have done so well in other films more appropriate for her.This film has the same problem as "Her Cardboard Lover" - it came out at the wrong time, when this type of film had come and gone, and people were looking to more serious films or films that put the war into the story: "Mrs. Miniver," "The More the Merrier," "A Yank in the RAF," etc.Norma Shearer was a hard-working, dedicated actress, but her ego got in the way of her final film choices. If only she had stopped with the wonderful "Escape" -- but she didn't.

I may listen or read the critics comments, but I never take their reviews as gospel. I'd rather watch a movie and pass my own judgement. This movie is another example where a critic in the old days with a powerful pen completely downplayed a great classic. I watched this movie on the AMC channel and just loved it. And, I was very disappointed when I couldn't find this movie on DVD to add to my collection. Being a history buff, this movie provides a window back into 1942. Loved the cast, wardrobes, set designs, old cars, and the plot was cute. I'd definitely recommend this movie to friends who also enjoy the classics! Does anyone know where I could purchase this in VCR format since it's not available on DVD?

For all the new scholarship about this neglected actress, people still need to see her in action. Yes-- let's accept the fact that, by 1942, Norma Shearer was past caring about a career in the movies, and let's take this romp for what it is: fun, vibrant, and a showcase for Norma. Her penultimate film brings out her exquisite comic timing, and her bursts of Polish round out the very amusing character of Vicky. Realize that Norma is winking at the camera and her public all through this film, asking only that we accept it on its terms: a fun exercise to help finish out her career (though there is evidence that she, in retrospect, didn't care much for it).

In 1936, MGM Producer, Irving Thalberg died, leaving his widow, Norma Shearer, to pick her own scripts. An example of Miss Shearer's lack of good judgment is her appearance in this dud that she chose to do rather than play Kay Miniver in "Mrs. Miniver," which won Greer Garson an Academy Award. Based on Noel Coward's "Tonight at 8:30," critics called this comedy as sparking as "flat champagne." Norma Shearer made only one more film after this and retired from the screen at age 40.