They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)

★ 7.6 2h 0m 359 votes IMDb

In the midst of the Great Depression, manipulative emcee Rocky enlists contestants for a dance marathon offering a $1,500 cash prize. Among them are a failed actress, a middle-aged sailor, a delusional blonde and a pregnant girl.

They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

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Cast

Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda as Gloria Beatty Age 88 · New York City, New York, USA Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress, activist, and former fashion model. She is the recipient of various accolades including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film...
Michael Sarrazin
Michael Sarrazin as Robert Syverton Died 2011 · Québec City, Québec, Canada From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Michael Sarrazin (May 22, 1940 – April 17, 2011) was a Canadian film and television actor who found fame opposite Jane Fonda in the drama film They Shoot Horses...
Susannah York
Susannah York as Alice LeBlanc Died 2011 · Chelsea, London, England, UK Susannah York (9 January 1939 – 15 January 2011) was a British film, stage and television actress. She was awarded a BAFTA as Best Supporting Actress for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) and was...
Gig Young
Gig Young as Rocky Gravo Died 1978 · Saint Cloud, Minnesota, USA Gig Young (born Byron Elsworth Barr; November 4, 1913 – October 19, 1978) was an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in Come Fill the...
Red Buttons
Red Buttons as Sailor Died 2006 · New York City, New York, USA Although Red Buttons is best known as a stand-up comic, he is also a successful songwriter, an Academy Award-winning actor (and has been nominated for two Golden Globe awards) and an accomplished sing...
Bonnie Bedelia
Bonnie Bedelia as Ruby Bates Age 78 · New York City, New York, USA Bonnie Bedelia (born Bonnie Bedelia Culkin; March 25, 1948) is an American actress. After beginning her career in theatre in the 1960s, Bedelia starred in the CBS daytime soap opera Love of Life and m...

Audience Reviews

CinemaSerf 7/10 Jul 15, 2025
Despite the constant streams of sweat on display here, there is something physically and emotionally arid about this two hours of cinematic torture. With the depression in full swing, the down-at-heart “Gloria” (Jane Fonda) heads to California in the hope of becoming a starlet. Meantime, equally disheartened “Robert” (Michael Sarazin) is frustrated that he can’t make a career at the other end of the camera. Desperate for cash, they join a throng of other unfortunate folks in a dance marathon which awards the winners $1,500 (minus deductions!). The whole thing is rather cynically administered by “Rocky” (Gig Young) and as the dancers go round the floor, so we go round the dancers and we meet an group of people whose problems and demons are laid bare. First amongst those somewhat tragic equals would appear to be “Alice” (Susannah York) but it’s a close run thing with a pregnant couple really struggling to keep pace and with, for me anyway, the most poignant of all - the sailor (Red Buttons) who had done his bit for Uncle Sam, but was now reduced to this most torturous form of fund raising which his body was now ill equipped to handle. As the days pass, and the excellent make-up artists do their work, the visceral nature of the characterisations emerge unrelentingly, leaving us with a distinctly uncomfortable watch that exposes a fruitlessly venal culture based on the premise of dog eat dog. Perhaps, though, as these people endure physically and psychologically, they might begin to realise that the pot of gold at the end of this rainbow isn’t actually the cash, but a sense of self-respect. The last ten minutes settle things in quite traumatic fashion and suffice to say there is no chocolates and Champagne. The dialogue is sparingly potent with gentleness and optimism gradually replaced by a stoic realisation of the relentlessness of their predicament and I think Sarazin, Fonda and particularly York give the performances of their careers in the slow-burning exposé of human toxicity.

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