Our Dancing Daughters (1928)

This might have made for a better story had either of the women vying for the hand of millionaire "Ben" (Johnny Mack Brown) actually had a real man to chase. The parade of rather similar, foppish, characters on offer for them here really do make you wonder whey they didn't just pick each other. Except, of course, that would defeat the purpose - and that's to marry into money. So to that end the outgoing, vivacious "Diana" (Joan Crawford) sets her cap at our charm-free hero only to find that the more shrewd "Ann" (Anita Page) has adopted a rather more cunning, low-key, approach to her goal. Whilst society likes "Diana", it takes a pretty dim view of her as marriage material and of course "Ben" just takes the easy option. Once married, though, he begins to realise he's make a mistake. His wife is a spoilt, boozing and rather unpleasant woman who plays around with the handsome but boyish "Freddie" (Edward J. Nugent). Things come to an head when "Diana" decides to go to the continent for a year or two and sister "Bea" (Dorothy Sebastian) holds her a going away party. In vino veritas and all that now follows, with tragic results. The story is a bit whimsical, and the characters play largely to the stereotypes of spoiled and shallow rich folks - but it's very clear right from the outset that Crawford is a star. Her characterful joie-de-vivre, her lively dancing and delightful facial expressiveness show clearly that she is the owns the screen here, and that she is going to continue to do so moving forward too. The photography captures both the joy and intensity of the story nicely as this story of 1920s unhappiness and conformity plays out before us.