They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
(1969)
In director Sydney Pollack's Depression-Era drama:
- the cruel scenes of the brutal, predatory days-long
dance Monster Marathon at the Aragon Ballroom in Ocean Park, California
(on Santa Monica pier)
- the beleaguered, pained and anguished contestant-couples
competing for the grand prize of 1,500ドル: ("It isn't a contest,
it's a show")
- the character of marathon master of ceremonies Rocky
(Oscar-winning Gig Young) noted for his phrase: "Yowza! Yowza!
Yowza!" and for warning: "There can only be one winner,
folks, but isn't that the American way?"
- the 'derby' dance-sprint scene of contestant Gloria
(Jane Fonda) dragging and stumbling along with her weak-hearted partner-sailor
Harry Kline (Red Buttons) across the finish line - and realizing
that he had died in his arms of a fatal heart attack
- the surprise nihilistic ending - the shooting death
of Gloria - shot in the head outside the music-hall (and her imagining
herself falling in a grassy field) by her dance partner-drifter/farm
boy Robert (Michael Sarrazin) who confessed: "They shoot horses,
don't they?"