They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

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They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

PG,

1969,

2h 1m,

Drama

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Watchlist

82%

34 Reviews

Tomatometer

89%

5,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

82%

Tomatometer

34 Reviews

89%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

In the midst of the Great Depression, manipulative emcee Rocky (Gig Young) enlists contestants for a dance marathon offering a $1,500 cash prize. Among them are a failed actress (Jane Fonda), a middle-aged sailor (Red Buttons), a delusional blonde (Susannah York) and a pregnant girl (Bonnie Bedelia). Days turn into weeks as the competition drags on and people either drop out or expire. Rocky, however, will do anything for publicity and initiates a series of grueling derbies.

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

May 26, 2008

The material is simple and irresistible, and Sydney Pollack stages it well (though without transcending the essential superficiality of his talent).

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Variety Staff

Variety

May 26, 2008

A sordid spectacle of hard times, a kind of existentialist allegory of life.

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Time Out

Jun 24, 2006

The acting is strident and overblown, the narrative technique gimmicky and obvious, and the implication that the competitors' situation is a microcosm of a wider-reaching American malaise rather pretentious.

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Elizabeth Hardwick

Vogue

Jun 20, 2023

In They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, agony, pain, endurance are not in the bodies of the actors nor somehow mysteriously evoked by their images. Instead, they remain locked in the camera, mechanical, the product not of human knowledge but of technology.

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Ernesto Diezmartinez

Cine Vértigo

Nov 10, 2021

3.5/4

What has happened to Hollywood cinema that it seems impossible that a movie like this could be produced today? Spoiler: Hollywood infantilism.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Sep 22, 2021

3.5/4

To this day, They Shoot Horses, Don't They? holds the record for the most Oscar nominations (9) received by one film without Best Picture being among them.

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Abraham W

Jan 18, 2019

They Shoot Horses, Don't They? is technically strong with a particularly good soundtrack and excellent performances across the board with Jane Fonda being the most memorable member of the cast. But the movie is otherwise very weak on all fronts with the melodramatic elements being forced, overdone and depressing, the metaphor being pretentious and the film plays like that dance marathon in it - it becomes pointless and exhausting way too quickly.

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Rey G

Oct 18, 2017

One word review: extraordinary! (is that 4 words?)

Draco G

Apr 22, 2017

They Shoot Horses Don't They? is a harsh portrayal of the ruthless consequences of the Great Depression over common people's spirits.

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Leia S

Jun 11, 2013

The justification falls just short without the background shared in stage adaptations. Still, much of its depth succeeds. Susannah York is phenomenal!!!

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Sydney Pollack

Director

Jane Fonda

Gloria

Michael Sarrazin

Robert

Susannah York

Alice

Gig Young

Rocky

Red Buttons

Sailor

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Synopsis

In the midst of the Great Depression, manipulative emcee Rocky (Gig Young) enlists contestants for a dance marathon offering a $1,500 cash prize. Among them are a failed actress (Jane Fonda), a middle-aged sailor (Red Buttons), a delusional blonde (Susannah York) and a pregnant girl (Bonnie Bedelia). Days turn into weeks as the competition drags on and people either drop out or expire. Rocky, however, will do anything for publicity and initiates a series of grueling derbies.

Director: Sydney Pollack
Producer: Irwin Winkler, Robert Chartoff, Sydney Pollack
Distributor: Cinema Releasing Corporation
Production Co: Palomar Pictures, American Broadcasting Company (ABC)
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 10, 1969, Limited
Release Date (DVD): Oct 19, 2004
Runtime: 2h 1m

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