Some things I liked some I did not.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Copyright 1 September 1928 by William Randolph Hearst's Cosmopolitan Productions. Released through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. New York opening at the Capitol: 7 October 1928. U.S. release: 1 September 1928. 9 reels. 7,652 feet. 85 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Diana Medford, a vivacious, high-spirited girl, falls in love with a young, handsome millionaire. Unfortunately, she has competition. COMMENT: Oddly, this one is a triumph for Anita Page. She just creams the rest of the cast. True, Joan Crawford is absolutely delightful as the dancing Diana, but acting-wise she has little to do other than look vampish or soulful. Miss Page has by far the showiest role and she makes the most of it. Wise girl! She had another great opportunity to show what she was made of in Broadway Melody, but then she fell foul of Hollywood politics and was pushed aside. Dorothy Sebastian also registers strongly here as the appealing Beatrice, but the men are a complete wash-out. The worst are surly Asther, overly exuberant Nugent and two-expressions Brown (smile on, smile off). Production values, fortunately, are agreeably lavish. As with Our Blushing Brides, the DVD is currently only available from Warner. A silent film, the movie was originally issued with a continuous music sound track and occasional sound effects.

Our Dancing Daughters (1928) is routine melodrama at best and hypocritical tripe at worst.This film is famous for supposedly celebrating the liberated youth of the Roaring Twenties, but if anything, it's espousing a more conservative views in terms of romance and sexuality. Joan Crawford plays a flapper who's really a virginal innocent underneath it all. All shine, no substance.The plot itself is predictable, with little to distinguish it. The way the romantic triangle is resolved at the end is beyond convenient and almost laughable.Joan Crawford is fun and the underrated Anita Page does well with her role, but they cannot save this ship. Cool party scenes do not a great movie make. ODD is a great time capsule, but that is the most I can say.

When I give this movie a score of 8, it is relative to other silents of the era. Seen today, viewers might be a little less charitable, though it is still a good and involving film.The first portion frankly did not impress me. You had lots of party animals dancing about and the wildest among these was the flapper, Joan Crawford. She was uninhibited and not exactly the girl you'd take home to meet your folks--although deep down she really was a nice girl. She and the other two ladies featured in the film were trying to balance having a good time with finding a good husband. Unfortunately, Joan didn't play the game so well--convincing the man of her dreams that she wasn't exactly pure and innocent.After Joan's love is taken, the movie moves into high gear. Up until then, the movie looked more like somewhat random film footage of flappers partying--with very little in the way of plot. However, the second half is much more plot driven and interesting. Some of this was because of how frankly the film dealt with sex for 1928 and some was because the overall messages were quite interesting. Joan, while a wild flirt, was a basically honest and decent flirt. Her rival was much more coy and "nice" but a liar through and through--leading to a dandy and rather amazing conclusion scene on the stairs (you have to see it to believe it).An excellent silent Pre-Code film, though you may notice that the film moves too fast and jerky. While this isn't always noticeable, when the people are dancing, they appear to be hyperactive, amphetamine-pumping gerbils!!! This is because someone forgot to adjust the film speed to compensate for the differing frame rates for silents (between 16 and 22 frames per second) and talkies (always 24 frames per second). If the film were restored, the film could be slowed slightly and the occasionally dirty print could be cleaned (there are some hairs stuck on the print in a couple scenes, for instance). TCM or some film archive, I hope you are reading this!!

If anyone ever doubted Joan Crawford's beauty - I would recommend this film. It is pure soap opera but I LOVE it.This film transports you to the "jazz age" from the opening scene. A snappy charleston sets the scene as as energetic Joan dresses up for a big party. Joan Crawford, Dorothy Sebastian and Anita Page star as three very different types of flapper.Joan is absolutely radiant as Diana Medford, a wealthy, fun-loving flapper with understanding parents. She is a good, moralistic girl who would never do anything mean or under-handed. Dorothy Sebastian is Bea, a girl with a past and is the quietest of the group. Her parents are strict and over- protective.If there were Academy Awards given back then, in my opinion, Anita Page would have been sure to win one as the scheming Ann. She acts everyone off the screen as the girl who is being coached by her mercenary mother to marry a wealthy man using any means at her disposal. Johnny Mack Brown is the wealthy southern gentleman, who is instantly smitten with the lovely Diana. Ann and her mother (Kathlyn Williams, an early serial queen) are determined to "land" him and do, using the "you have kept me out all night, you must make an honest woman of me" excuse. Diana tries to forget him. Bea has meanwhile married Norman (Nils Asther). He is eaten up with jealousy, knowing he wasn't the first and is becoming too controlling, not approving of her old friends and often walking out on her.The story reaches a dramatic conclusion at a going away party given to Diana by Bea.The film I saw had an original musical soundtrack and was full of very peppy music - although "I Loved You Then and I Love You Now" and "Here Am I, Brokenhearted" were pretty dreary songs. There is so much more to "Our Dancing Daughters". There are the beautiful art-deco sets, the huge staircases, the mad parties, Joan's frenzied dances, the elegant Adrian dresses and the mad, glorious whirl that was the twenties ( or the way MGM thought the 20s should be.)"Our Dancing Daughters" had a massive influence on girls at the time. Apart from seeing the movie in droves (there was often only standing room only), a survey done in the early thirties found that Diana's character, that of a party girl who has morals and decency made other "party girls" realise that they could have a good time but still retain a "play fair" attitude.